I’m attempting to implement a multi-zone audio system.
I was planning to get the following hardware:
Monoprice 6 Zone Home Audio Multizone Controller and Amplifier Kit
RS232 to Ethernet module (for HA to control the amp)
Polk Audio RC80i
6X chromecast audio (one for each zone)
Additionally, I would like to set up a voice assistant (not sure which is best, rhasspy/ada/mycroft?) at each zone.
The idea here would be to set up the assistants running on a pi using ReSpeaker mic arrays and have the voice assistant reply back on the in ceiling speakers in which the assistant is in (So if the voice assistant is in zone 1, then it replies back on the zone 1 ceiling speakers).
Maybe there’s a different way to do it? For example, a pi that is just a mic array which is monitored directly by my HA server?
Has anyone done something like this before? Is it even possible?
I think what you are proposing is an interesting solution and one I have also considered to varying degrees myself. The one problem I think you might encounter is the issue of bleeding sound to another rooms microphone. Devices like Apple HomePods are using intelligence to determine which speaker you are talking to, but even with their billion dollar development there are times where I am in a “sweet spot” where two or three of my speakers can “hear me” and it’s a turkey shoot which one replies to the request. Sure you could use decibel levels to help determine that but I would be astonished if that weren’t part of mass produced assistants now, proving to me that this is only one piece of the puzzle and not 100%.