HomeTroller with 2 sound cards?

[MStan]

Quote:
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=alt2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset">Originally Posted by dschoppe
I accomplish this with my Russound CAV6.6 by using two sound cards in the PC: one for music (feeding one of the six input sources on the CAV) and one that feeds the CAV's paging input. When an audio signal is present on the paging input, the CAV6.6 automatically mutes other sources and routes the paging audio to all output zones. The only "issue" is that the CAV can take a second or so to detect the paging audio, and sometimes you may loose the first word of an announcement. I typically prepend a word like "Hello" on all HS announcements so I don't care if it gets cut off. You can also activate the page functionality via a 12v trigger on the CAV, so you could use homeseer to assert this input before making each announcement, and then de-assert it afterwards. I think there exist at least one or two speech plug-ins available (speak-easy?) that could help with this, but I haven't tried them. I'm only using HS's in-built speech capabilities.


Don
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I was thinking of doing the same thing.

I was wondering if it was possible to add a sound card to the orig hometroller, that way I could separate the iTunes and media player music
and the TTS.

I could then feed the one sound card into a zone of the CAV6.6 and the
other to the page input that way you would here what homeseer had to
say no matter what zone you were on with the CAV6.6.

The only problem may be that you would hear the TTS on all zone's.. I am not sure if their is way to control which zones get the TTS?

Also I am using the Russound Plugin, It works Great with the iTunes and Media Player plugin. You can select songs and playlists from the UnoS2 keypads and see the song info.

Thanks,
Mark
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[Bill Brower]

Go to geeks.com and look for USB sounds cards (doggles).
I hear people have had success with that route.

[tmcgowan]

Go to geeks.com and look for USB sounds cards (doggles).
I hear people have had success with that route.

Like this one?

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?inv...-S2-DT&cpc=SCH

[macromark]

I have some first hand experience with the Turtle Beach unit. Works very nicely and sound quality is good.

If you're looking for something with even better sound quality, check out the M-Audio Transit. I haven't had a chance to check it out yet but I've heard it's quite good and I do use their Audiophile 24/96 card in my home PC.

[Mountainman]

I have some first hand experience with the Turtle Beach unit. Works very nicely and sound quality is good.

I have a couple of these Turtle Beach Audio Advantage devices and they work great under Windows XP. I have only used the analog output.

[MStan]

I have some first hand experience with the Turtle Beach unit. Works very nicely and sound quality is good.

If you're looking for something with even better sound quality, check out the M-Audio Transit. I haven't had a chance to check it out yet but I've heard it's quite good and I do use their Audiophile 24/96 card in my home PC.

So you are suggesting a USB solution,

I was thinking of either adding a PCI sound card with either 1 output and using the on board sound output of the hometroller

or adding a pci sound card with multiple outputs so to be able to direct the TTS to one output and iTunes to another on the russound cav.

What would work the best with the russound plugin and TTS and iTunes redirect of sound output?

Thanks
Mark

[Bill Brower]

Get is from a website that has reviews like Newegg so you can see how other people think they perform. But those units work.

[macromark]

In my case, I tried running shielded audio cables from my HomeSeer system (in the basement) to my audio system (upstairs in the living room). However, the run of cabling was too long (25 ft) and I picked up a lot of hum in the audio feed. So, I cascaded two USB 'repeater' cables and placed the Turtle Beach unit at the end, positioned near my audio receiver. From there, I just added a short run of audio cable (3 ft) and voila! No more noise.

[Bill Brower]

In my case, I tried running shielded audio cables from my HomeSeer system (in the basement) to my audio system (upstairs in the living room). However, the run of cabling was too long (25 ft) and I picked up a lot of hum in the audio feed. So, I cascaded two USB 'repeater' cables and placed the Turtle Beach unit at the end, positioned near my audio receiver. From there, I just added a short run of audio cable (3 ft) and voila! No more noise.

Ya but we don't all have the big bucks like an HST VP of Sales.

[MStan]

In my case, I tried running shielded audio cables from my HomeSeer system (in the basement) to my audio system (upstairs in the living room). However, the run of cabling was too long (25 ft) and I picked up a lot of hum in the audio feed. So, I cascaded two USB 'repeater' cables and placed the Turtle Beach unit at the end, positioned near my audio receiver. From there, I just added a short run of audio cable (3 ft) and voila! No more noise.

Sounds good, I am able to connect to the russound which is in the same rack as the hometroller so I sound have no noise problems.

But I was thinking of installing a sound card like the m-audio 410, would that allow me to direct the TTS to the page input and the iTunes to a zone on the russound? and how would I be able to control it with the
russound plugin?

Thanks
Mark

[jackpod]

I have an M-audio Delta 1010lt in my second HT (which runs mainlobby) and it works great (i had to put a small 1/8 notch in the cover by the pci slot because the card is taller than the bracket) Drivers work fine and it has 4 analog pairs in, 4 analog pairs out and an spdif in and out, and the Delta mixer/router software is awesome!

BTW, if you have to run the audio more than 10' get some balanced line drivers (not cheap) but I am running line level audio a couple hundred feet

[Bill Brower]

I have an M-audio Delta 1010lt in my second HT (which runs mainlobby) and it works great (i had to put a small 1/8 notch in the cover by the pci slot because the card is taller than the bracket) Drivers work fine and it has 4 analog pairs in, 4 analog pairs out and an spdif in and out, and the Delta mixer/router software is awesome!

BTW, if you have to run the audio more than 10' get some balanced line drivers (not cheap) but I am running line level audio a couple hundred feet

Ya but we don't all have the big bucks like an retired fellow in Flagstaff. .

[jackpod]

Hey, not retired anymore (not since October) Home automation forced me back in the workforce. Besides, I still have a few good years left, and someone needs to keep the youngin's on their toes

[computernerd]

I got the Audio Advantage Micro today based on good reviews. I have a ceiling speaker that has a red and black wire connection. How do I hook up the Audio Advantage Micro to the ceiling speaker from the PC? The ceiling speaker is about 11 ft from the PC.

[macromark]

I got the Audio Advantage Micro today based on good reviews. I have a ceiling speaker that has a red and black wire connection. How do I hook up the Audio Advantage Micro to the ceiling speaker from the PC? The ceiling speaker is about 11 ft from the PC.

The Audio Advantage Micro is basically a sound card and its output must be connected to an amplifier of some type to drive any speaker. It doesn't have enough power on it's own to drive a speaker directly.