I have used the search button and google but I’m still not sure what’s a good or the best option for the following setting:
21 in-ceiling speakers in 18 different audio zones. I could reduce the zones to 16. one zone is an AV-receiver. all other zones are wired in-ceiling speakers. all speakers are wired to one server rack.
music sources are spotify, amazon music, youtube music, local nas, etc.
streaming via airplay 2 should be possible.
smooth integration in home assistant with mucis assistant or another HA integration is very important.
I dont want sonos. too closed and too expensive.
I know that it will cost some bucks but don’t want to spend a fortune. used hardware/amplifier is also an option.
I’m tending to avoid a fully “homemade” solution. it should work reliable for years.
which hardware do you recommend for this setup? do you further have recommendations for in-ceiling speakers with good cost-performance ratio?
I have chosen a Rpi0W with a HifiBerry DAC+ Zero hat.
And on that I run a SnapCast Client.
I have then a VM with the SnapCast server running, which handle the zone setup and can join/unjoin speakers, just like Sonos.
I have a few instances of MPD running with MyMPD web interfaces on the VM with the SnapCast server, but it could also be Mopidy or other music sources. If the MPD/Mopidy can not do what you want, then I bet there are some other setup that can, which can be plugged into the SnapCast server.
I also run an IceCast2 server on the same VM, which is just a standard HTTP streaming service for the devices that can not take the input from the Rpi with a SnapCast client, like my Medion internet radio.
The IceCast2 server will not play in sync, like the SnapCast, though.
The RPi is just installed with a standard Debain and then the SnapCast Client is added.
I have set up a buildroot for it, which makes it easy to install several RPis with the generally same image.
The RPi have lousy sound output, so you need a HAT.
HifiBerry is one brand, but there are others.
The HATs can be basic DACs (soundcards) or it can be DACs with Amps, so they can drive passive speakers.
thanks, I scrolled already through the HifiBerry homepage. my understanding is that I would need an Amp board instead of a DAC board. but is having 17 raspberries for the audio system a good solution?
Well, most DACs are stereo setups, so if it makes sense then you can lower the number a bit.
I see no problem with many RPis though. I use 7 myself for 7 stereo speaker pairs (14 speakers.)
+1 for LMS (Logitech, now renamed to Lyrion, Media Server) with RPi’s (PiCorePlayer) and HiFiBerry amps.
Reasons: FOSS, active development, no proprietary HW, integration with HA, features, running on older RPi’s (have 1 Zero 1st gen and 3B’s)
That depends on the amps.
Often you would be able to turn the volume down on separate speakers, but getting them to play different sound sources might be lacking or severely limited.
My RPi’s are close to the speakers (I had no speaker cables running through the house) but it all depends on your situation.
If all the speaker cables are going to a central point, then it’s obvious that you put the RPi’s there.
I have a mix of ethernet and WiFi connected players which amazingly are able to play the same media synchronized but TBH, sometimes one might drift off a little. This happens mostly when music is already playing and one additional is powered.
LMS has a way to correct this somehow.
I don’t know if it’s possible to control the 2 channels separately from a stereo amp from HA, I think it can be done in the configuration of piCorePlayer.
which RPI hardware would you recommend? I read that hifiberry does not recommend the RPI zero due to limited resources. but one RPI 4 + hifiberry stereo amp is around $ 100.
Well, there is very few maintenance: they run from SD cards but pCP (piCorePlayer) is loaded into memory so SD card wear is not so much an issue like regular setups.
The software is being actively developed and with the current features you could run this version for a long time.
You really don’t need RPi 4 but when you buy new ones, you might not have many options.
Since I have been using RPi’s for quite some time, I repurposed the older ones as media players when buying newer models.
My point of the zero is that pCP can run on it but TBH I’m not up to speed with all the possibilities of all the models combined with pCP.
I’m really stoked about this solution since this gives me exactly what I wanted.
Mostly music is streamed from a local collection (+28k library) and sometimes online radio but streaming services are possible too.
I have my LMS running in a container on my server but this can also be a RPi
Because of the RPi 5 being released for some time now, there are quite some older models sold 2nd hand.
With long speaker cables it is important that you can set the delay on each device independently, so you can get it in sync. I know SnapCast can, but I do not know LMS.
Well, you got wired ceiling speakers already so I would advice using a XAP800 unit (or two).
Those are industrial standard boardroom audio mixers. Dirt cheap and I got one running 24/7 for more then 10 years already. You can chain more XAP800 devices to get more channels. Up to 96 channels. I used them also for inter room conversations and speech recognition because it can handle also microphones. The unit got also a load of extra such as noise cancellation, volume control, line delays to match speakers and more. If you want you can even hook a land line and with an additional unit make and receive phone calls over your mics and speakers. I have it stable running in HA. If you plan to go that route I would happily share my config details with you and how to set things up.
Monoprice has a 6-zone audio amp that can combine up to 3 of them for 18 zones total. It has a core integration that works OK.
If you don’t want to go the route of building a RPi I can recommend the WiiM series of devices (WiiM Pro would be great here, but so would the Mini.) They can do Airplay 2, and support multiple providers directly as well as work with Music Assistant plug-and-play.
I was going to go the RPi / HiFiBerry DAC route, but the Wiim was 1 day Amazon shipping vs 2 weeks for the DAC, so I took the easy button. So far, I don’t regret it.
@AshaiRey
thanks for your note. if I understand this setup correctly, the XAP would only be the mixer. in this case I do still need the audio streamer (RPI?) and the amplifier, right?
I read some recommendations about russound MCA-C5 controller/amp as used device.
but how would this config work? I assume that one RPI or WiiM can only stream one audio instance, right? so if I want at least four differt audio streams simulanously, I need four RPI/WiiM, right?
Yes, that’s the one. It has a serial port which is connected to Home Assistant. I have one with the network-to-serial adapter Monoprice sells and it works well. You can run it (them) without the keypads if you don’t want physical local zone controls. The integration can replace the keypads with the companion app (for example).
Yes, the WiiM and RPi can only stream a single instance at a time. You need multiple for multiple sources. The Monoprice amp support up to 6 independent sources. Right now, I have a single WiiM mini optical output connected to my amp. It has been working well.