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    #46
    +1 for Sonos as well

    A few years ago I got 6 ZP100 amps for $1200 total, which was a steal. 6 hard-wired zones for only $1200!

    However, only one ZP100 is still working and the rest have been replaced with ZP120's (Connect:AMP).

    Anyway, Sonos lets you play any source in any room or one source in all rooms, etc. You can play spotify in 2 rooms, rhapsody in another 2 rooms, and pandora in the last 2 rooms, or just group them all together.

    Here's a quick screenshot of the Sonos controller for windows. It shows all the zones I have, the queue (currently empty), and all the sources that I have enabled currently.

    We also have 2 wireless zones (the rest are hard wired), and 6 controllers (5 of the old water resistant ones with the clickwheel (CR100) and 1 of the newer touchscreen ones (CR200)) but mostly just use our iPhones and iPads now.

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      #47
      Currently I use a Russound CAM6.6 unit I found used on ebay a few years ago (the unit and 4 keypads was about 600 bucks total) and monoprice speakers (about 200 total for the 4 zones). Works and sounds good. Totally like the announcements throughout the house and the control I have. Really solid units, and there is no need to purchase the newest units... it's just audio being pushed to speakers. They use quality parts that just last (I think my unit is over 10 years old).

      I have been/am considering using Sonos as a source to my Russound unit. I use Raspberry Pi's as well for squeezebox, but have two concerns. First, how long will this setup last? Squeezebox is dead for development and has become hackers land which I don't mind, but also know it could disappear over night. Second, the Spotify support of squeezebox is really lacking, which goes back to point one.

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        #48
        Maybe a minor issue, but doesn't the Russound require you to have paid subscriptions to some of the streaming services to use it?

        Not to be cheap ( ) but we have just been using the ad-based versions of Pandora, etc. for years. I only go to these for part of my music as I also have hundreds of CDs collected over decades which I've burned to MP3. I've seen people say if you don't have the paid accounts the Russound won't work.

        My thought is a Kodi-based system and Pioneer or Yamaha ( HS3 compatible ) units for handling the zones. I haven't mapped this out yet as I'm focusing on security and lighting at this stage so I may be missing something.

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          #49
          Here utilize Squeezebox and Kodi with my Russound zoned amps. There still is much Squeezebox stuff going on. That said Kodi does have many music / radio plugins.

          Currently have the Russound set up integrated to my Leviton OmniPro 2 panel and OmniTouch screens, Russound keypads and a mini serial server such that Homeseer can talk to the Russound boxes here concurrent with the OmniPro 2 panel (and using HSTouch for this sort of stuff).

          Utilize Jogglers here for that sort of stuff and have a few of them around running Wintel and Linux (many HS users are running Android on them today).

          Note I am not knocking Sonos here and many Homeseer users are using it with their zoned audio systems.
          - Pete

          Auto mator
          Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
          Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
          HS4 Lite - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenovo Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram

          HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
          HSTouch on Intel tabletop tablets (Jogglers) - Asus AIO - Windows 11

          X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

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            #50
            After trying several different systems, I finally settled on Sonos. I am extremely happy with the system.

            I did a write up here.
            HS4 Pro, 4.2.19.0 Windows 10 pro, Supermicro LP Xeon

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              #51
              Which whole house audio hardware integrates best with HS3

              Whole home audio is still a ways out for me. I did a little research on the topic when I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I still have not found the system I will commit to yet...
              I like the Sonos units. from what I could tell the Sonos amp units are $499 have outputs for 2 speakers and a sub. For inputs they have a single audio RCA. I would still have to pickup speakers and wire them. The sound bars are pretty sweet looking allow you to add wireless subs and rears. To me it seems that in order to get more audio sources you either have to have to use a Built in web app, or buy another unit for another room and use its RCA audio input on it.
              What they do offer is the ability to forgo wiring which is big in houses that are already finished and where you don't have access to run your cabling. Additionally there is no need for control panels in every room since there is a smartphone app, which is a huge benefit IMO.

              Now if I can just get my hands on 3 of the amps used for 200 a piece and 2 of the sound bars with sub for 300 a piece I would go with the sonos.

              I am still looking into the Russound 6 zone receiver/amp. My current limiting factor would be wiring in my basement as it is already finished so running wire will be difficult.

              For my music management system I am planning on setting up this https://volumio.org on an RPI and then get a really nice DAC with good filtering ability. Then I can set up another RPI for pandora.


              Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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                #52
                Being in a small house it was important for me to be able to play all zones in perfect lockstep throughout the house. That meant no wireless and as few amps as possible. When the music on my Yamaha rx-v479 in the basement is cranked up I can hear the sub-woofer everywhere, then the mono-price feeding ceiling speakers balances out the mids and trebles as I move around the house. No delays or weird out of phase issues when moving between zones.
                https://forums.homeseer.com/forum/de...plifier-plugin

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                  #53
                  Must be my age. I have kept some old audio equipment here which I do not utilize today but was very impressed with the technology. IE: Nakamichi Dragon, 1956 Jensen stereo speaker cabinets, et al.

                  Towards the 1990's I did zone my main home audio amplifier with externally mounted speakers which concurrently tinkered with a nice cabinet wireless speaker that we would utilize outside for family get togethers. In the middle 90's helped the neighbour set up his wireless surround sound as he preferred this over wiring new speakers.

                  New home in the early 2000's went to wiring everything and decided to utilize in wall speakers in two new homes.

                  While today I do not profess to be an audiophile I prefer my wired speakers over wireless and I do like the Sonos advertisements creating an aura of the preferred audiofile's Sonos systems.

                  What is nice it is whatever that individual chooses and if they want HS to control it; it does.
                  - Pete

                  Auto mator
                  Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
                  Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
                  HS4 Lite - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenovo Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram

                  HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
                  HSTouch on Intel tabletop tablets (Jogglers) - Asus AIO - Windows 11

                  X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

                  Comment


                    #54
                    Forgot to mention, Agwan has a really nice plugin for yamaha amps that allows complete control of every feature on my RX-V479 right down to the subwoofer cross over frequency. https://forums.homeseer.com/showthre...=157837&page=8 Some idiot even made a plugin for the mono-price amp. https://forums.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=176027 The only thing I'm still looking for is a good media player for my music library and streaming etc.. since moving to linux I lost my BLMedia player.
                    https://forums.homeseer.com/forum/de...plifier-plugin

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                      #55
                      I am loving my 2 Russound CAV66 controllers. I have 12 zones and 6 sources
                      Works great
                      Cheers,
                      Bob
                      Web site | Help Desk | Feature Requests | Message Board

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                        #56
                        Was searching for Volumio hits in homeseer and got this thread. I'm also using CAV66 with RPI sources - currently, Pianobar / Patiobar, one Volumio, and one Squeeze. Plus two Chromecast Audio units.

                        I've run Volumio in the past but haven't found a great UI integration for ANY of these above packages with HS.

                        Pianobar seems to offer the greatest opportunity, since it's outputting everything needed (song title / artist / album / cover-art) to a CTL file that Patiobar is using to create the web interface I'm using; but I'm lacking skilz to grab that CTL data and pull it into HS. I suspect it'd be easy for those of you skilled at grabbing data and parsing it.

                        Similarly, no idea how I might get the Chromecast info into HS. Any ideas on that? Or Volumio, for that matter?

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                          #57
                          MusicCast comes with Yamaha Receiver

                          I have a related questions and was not sure if I should start a new thread or not so I apologize if I am hijacking your thread:

                          Yamaha has MusicCast incorporated in their receivers. I see this as a huge benefit and would prefer to only have to use 1 platform. It makes it easy to play whatever you are playing on your receiver throughout the entire home and also control it either directly from the receiver or via your phone app. I could watch the news on Tv and stream it throughout the entire house or whatever really.

                          The downside is that Sonos clearly has more compatibility with other devices and plays better with Homeseer.

                          I do have a couple of questions:

                          1. Can you control Sonos to come on automatically as part of your scenes through homeseer?

                          2. If I connect a Sonos Bridge to my Yamaha receiver would it be able to do the same thing basically?

                          3. Does anyone know of a way to incorporate Sonos multiroom to also work as an intercom? I know that I would have to have some sort of microphone or something as well.

                          Thank you.

                          Comment


                            #58
                            Originally posted by BtrSound View Post
                            1. Can you control Sonos to come on automatically as part of your scenes through homeseer?

                            2. If I connect a Sonos Bridge to my Yamaha receiver would it be able to do the same thing basically?

                            3. Does anyone know of a way to incorporate Sonos multiroom to also work as an intercom? I know that I would have to have some sort of microphone or something as well.
                            You might get more response if you post these questions on the Sonos forum:
                            https://forums.homeseer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1085
                            Mike____________________________________________________________ __________________
                            HS3 Pro Edition 3.0.0.548, NUC i3

                            HW: Stargate | NX8e | CAV6.6 | Squeezebox | PCS | WGL 800RF | RFXCOM | Vantage Pro | Green-Eye | Edgeport/8 | Way2Call | Ecobee3 | EtherRain | Ubiquiti

                            Comment


                              #59
                              Originally posted by BtrSound View Post
                              I have a related questions and was not sure if I should start a new thread or not so I apologize if I am hijacking your thread:

                              Yamaha has MusicCast incorporated in their receivers. I see this as a huge benefit and would prefer to only have to use 1 platform. It makes it easy to play whatever you are playing on your receiver throughout the entire home and also control it either directly from the receiver or via your phone app. I could watch the news on Tv and stream it throughout the entire house or whatever really.

                              The downside is that Sonos clearly has more compatibility with other devices and plays better with Homeseer.

                              I do have a couple of questions:

                              1. Can you control Sonos to come on automatically as part of your scenes through homeseer?
                              Yes, you can have an event to fully control Sonos
                              2. If I connect a Sonos Bridge to my Yamaha receiver would it be able to do the same thing basically?
                              A bridge is a device that joins the wireless SonosNet with a wired network, bypassing your wireless router. They are no longer sold and have been replaced by the Boost, but neither are required as any Sonos device can act as a Boost (bridge). You can use a Sonos Connect, which has low level audio outputs that can be connected to a line input on your Yamaha. This would allow you to play any of the Sonos supported streaming to you receiver.
                              3. Does anyone know of a way to incorporate Sonos multiroom to also work as an intercom? I know that I would have to have some sort of microphone or something as well.

                              Thank you.
                              I have not seen, nor can I think of a way Sonos can be used as an intercom. A Sonos Play 5, Connect or Connect:Amp have line inputs which can be played throughout the network, albeit with a 70ms delay making them unsuitable for TV audio.
                              Last edited by randy; March 3, 2017, 10:08 AM.
                              HS4 Pro, 4.2.19.0 Windows 10 pro, Supermicro LP Xeon

                              Comment


                                #60
                                All:

                                Just sticking my nose in here for a few comments. The Sonos Bridge is no longer being sold, but the Boost is available for those that have problems with their Sonos system working over their existing "regular" WiFi. It isn't required, but helpful for some. We've had a Sonos system for quite a few years (my wife LOVES their old dedicated controller - I don't know what we'll do when it AND the backup controller and/or batteries die) and although I get a little frustrated that they haven't updated the CONNECT, I find their user interface to be the best that I have tried.
                                Since the HS Sonos plugin does provide the capability to "announce", and that you can add your own WAV file(s) to those announcements, it seems it would be possible to record your intercom audio to a file and then play it as an announcement through the Sonos; of course there would be a little delay in recording the audio first AND would take some futzing to make it all work... : )

                                Regards,
                                BBB

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