Volume Control?

[kevind]

Anyone know if Ray is thinking about adding "Volume control" to this very cool speaker switch?

At one of the local audiophile shops I was talking with the guy about speaker switches and he told me he has one that is 4 pair switch via IR and volume attenuation. Problem is it costs way to much money.

That being said, the technology is obviously out there.
Would it not be the cat's meow to have volume attenuation control along with on off? Would'nt need those ugly in-wall volume controls anymore.

Could all be done through direct control, or with Switchlinc Keypads assigned to virtual devices that would volume up, down, on or off the correct speaker pair.

Just a thought.

[dkindred]

Kevin,

Ray brought up volume control at one point to me, but it's not what you were hoping for. He was thinking about putting little volume control pots on the speaker switcher, itself. I don't believe he was talking about having them controlled electronically. I told him it wasn't anything I'd be interested in. I mean, who wants to walk down to the basement to adjust the volume level for a room? It sounded like making the volume remote controllable would be really, really expensive.

As for the ugly volume controls, we paint them all (including the knob) the same color as the walls, and they really blend in.

--David

[kevind]

Yea...it's not so much the volume controls on the wall as more the ability to control all aspects of audio through the touchscreen and HS.

I agree volume controls on the unit itself is not the right idea. However, I would be interested in the remote capability...perhaps a "deluxe" version of the AB8SS. Standard volume controls also add to the price especially when you have many of them. Could you bring it up with him again? I think there is a market there...at least for me

[GreenAcres]

So how many votes does it take to get remote volume control


Count me in

Thom

[Rupp]

I would be interested. Unless it drove the price over $300 it would be a nice option.

[trouty00]

I currently have my flatmate in the process of creating a exe by which using parameters you can set all aspects of pc volume, play,midi, line in. I'm not particullay hot on this subject and i dont know what good amps can do but using a remote to trigger events set in homeseer to trigger this app with particular paremeters. this will be able to change main control but not per each room.

Discuss as you will, I'll just get advice from it all!

[GreenAcres]

Now hopefully they will read thid post and buid it with the volume option



Thom

[jdr2bpa]

possible solution

are you not getting enough volume? Why don't you just turn up the whole house amp (just to the point before you have static) and then have homeseer adjust system volume based on the number of speakers on (i.e. 1 speaker is 20%, 2 speakers 40%.........) and then add a volume control event to turn up and down volume as needed (I do this with a remote - a1 recieved is volume up, a2 is volume down although my speakers are not through the ab8ss)

[Rupp]

jdr2bpa,
I personally want localized volume control so that each zone can be controlled separately. I have volume controls in most locations but the ability to do this via HS would be a nice option.

[kevind]

are you not getting enough volume? Why don't you just turn up the whole house amp (just to the point before you have static) and then have homeseer adjust system volume based on the number of speakers on (i.e. 1 speaker is 20%, 2 speakers 40%.........) and then add a volume control event to turn up and down volume as needed (I do this with a remote - a1 recieved is volume up, a2 is volume down although my speakers are not through the ab8ss)

I think you are confusing the original post...that's ok...no worries. What I was talking about is about independent volume attenuation for each speaker pair at the AB8SS itself, controlled via the current IR, RS232 or X10 interface to the AB8SS.

The benefits I think are huge:

1 - eliminate the need for hardwired volume impedence matching controls

2 - Volume controls for any given stereo pair could be controlled via: Touchscreens, VR, HSPhone, Switchlinc keypads, Scenes...etc..


Example layout option for Switchlink 8 button keypad.

button 1 - Light Load
button 2 - speaker on/off
button 3 - speaker volume up
button 4 - speaker volume down
button 5 - Main stereo on/off
button 6 - Main stereo mute
button 7 - Scene 1
button 8 - Random play music


Personally I am paying more than $300 for the speaker switcher and all the manual volume controls. $300 would be a steal...if the sound quality remained stable. I could use one right now actually.

[trouty00]

I have been doing some research in to setting a HA system up but still have some q's that you "audio geeks" will be able to solve for me,

Say I want 6 different sets of speakers (doesnt mater where they are)
aeach set must connect to a impedence matching vol control, then this connects to a splitter. the amp then connects your source (PC jukebox for example) and then the output from the amp then goes in to a splitter which the speakers are connecting too.

can someone give me some example prodcuts that are available so i can look them up on the web. I know all about the vol controls. its just the splitter thats confusing me!!

Cheers
Stu

[Rupp]

trouty00,
One of the best and most affordiable is the AB8SS that is being discussed throughtout this thread. http://www.hacs.com/ab8ss.html

[dkindred]

OK, guys, I caught Ray Newman in IM last night. If you remember any of my previous notes on communications exchanges with him, you'll recall that I said that it's very difficult. He's just an uber-engineer, and doesn't communicate the same way we do.

That being said, I conveyed what we were talking about here, and if I understand correctly, here's what he said:

- He was beginning to run out of cases for the AB8SS, so he was thinking about re-engineering it, anyway.

- I was wrong about putting trim pots on the AB8SS system board. He was talking about doing that for the video switcher. It wouldn't work for speaker level voltage.

- He's considering making a separate volume control box/module that could be hooked to the AB8SS, rather than building the functionality into the AB8SS, itself. (A benefit to those of us wanting to add this capability.) He'd think about making this electronic volume control box in 4x, 8x and 16x configurations. My understanding is that means one box would handle 4, 8 or 16 speaker pairs independently.

- It was a brief exchange, but I asked him if he might figure out what such a device might cost. I also mentioned that we'd be interested in serial port control, but didn't think that some might like IR control of such a thing. Is IR a big deal?

What are your thoughts on this?

--David

[kevind]

David,

I think the Module idea is excellent and probably easier for Ray. I ordered up one via PayPal on Monday but have not heard a peep about it. Is Ray in town?

IR: I personally think this is very important for control. Well if I new how to get it working with the ocelot and Secu16IR modules this is the route I would take.

Cheers.

[stevene]

I would be very interested in a volume control box. I think IR would be important, but why not USB over serial ? Just a thought.

StevenE