Re: Whole House/Multi Zone Audio

["Bill Kearney" <wkearney99@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Syncing different digital streams is nearly impossible.  Even milliseconds
make a difference disruptive enough for the human ear to detect.  Even
multicasting from a single stream is difficult unless the player hardware is
all exactly the same.  Trust me, I've tried.

The only way to do whole house audio cost-effectively, reliably and without
complaint is with an analog or RF signal.

Using PCs for in-room control is annoying.  Fans and drives make too much
noise, seriously.  They're a lot louder than you might think.  Not to
mention having way too many moving parts prone to failure.  Better to use
solid state devices like media players.

Then there's the quesiton of control BACK to the head unit.  As in, IR or RF
remotes in the various rooms sending the appropriate signals back to the
media distribution gear.

VGA signals only go so far before requiring either expensive cable or signal
repeaters.

And then there's audio amplification.  Most PC soundcards don't have enough
oomph to drive speakers.  So then you've got to add some sort of in-room
amplifier or power to the speakers.

After you factor in all the issues devices like Russound or Sonos really are
a VERY good deal.  The wife-acceptance-factor should not be ignored.
There's only so much Rube Goldberg foolishness you should expect your spouse
to tolerate.  After all, if she's already putting up with our gadgetry, how
much is left?  Heh.

Get a real whole house setup like a Russound and use a PC running J.River's
MC11 for digital stream sources.

-Bill Kearney