High end multi-room sound system (offline/no-cloud)
Goals of the system
- be offline
- be software agnostic
- be remote control free
- accept any relevant audio source (bluetooth, XDJ, chromecast)
- never compromise on audio quality
- allow for low power consumption when idle
- produce "night club grade" sound pressure in the living room (> 100dB)
- produce audio in all rooms of the house
In plain english : It allows me to play music of my Android phone on Spotify, or play a Youtube video on my Debian laptop, or start mixing on my XDJ-XZ, or play a movie on the Chromecast 4K in the movie room and... have the sound automatically get out of each and every speakers of the house, with state of the art quality on each of them.
Keys to reach the goals
- Bluetooth AptX lossless audio streaming
- Automatic digital signal detector/switchbox
- Keeping the signal in the digital realm for as long as possible
- MiniDSP 10x10 HD and DEQ2496 to adjust audio signal for each room
- Crown CT amplifiers (Premium Class-D with deep sleep and auto standby)
Components of the system
- 2x Bluetooth receivers, with digital toslink output
- Chromecast 4K
- HDMI Audio/Video splitter
- Automatic digital source selector
- MiniDSP 10x10 HD
- Berhinger DEQ2496
- Crown CT 8150
- Crown CT 4150
- SMSL DA-8s
- SMSL M300
- JBL SB210 DIY subwoofers
- Cabasse ICD17 DIY spheres
- Focal IC108
- Focal 1008 Be
- Focal Shape 65
- BW CCM362
- BW CM9
- BW 686
- 2x Dante XLR
- Dante AES/EBU
Audio routing
The audio routing goes as follows : [...] writting in progress...
Sidenotes
Regarding the two SB210 subwoofers, those are speakers recycled from my old JBL SB210. I contacted JBL to obtain the datasheet of the speaker and designed enclosures that get down to around 28Hz -3dB instead of the stock 46Hz -10dB. Enclosure are build using 38mm MDF and sound incredible.
Regarding the two Shape 65, they are only connected to the DEQ2496. And the DEQ is connected to the XDJ-XZ's booth output. The DEQ corrects for the position of the DJ in front of the XDJ. Therefore, when the XDJ plays, the main audio is sent to the whole room, and its booth output allow to adjust the return in the Shape65, with an audio correction so that the audio at the DJ's listening point is perfect.
Regarding the Cabasse ICD17, they are in sphere enclosures designed and built myself a long time ago. It's a closed speaker design. Idea came from Cabasse's famous "La Sphere" high end speakers.
Speakers list
The listening/movie room
Mixing spot in the living room
Blindspots
Currently, only the music production computer, a subcompact Dell Optiplex running MacOS/Hackintosh with an old version of Ableton is not connected to the house's audio system. It has its own monitor speakers and I should connect the whole thing using Dante. But as I almost never get on that computer, it still hasn't been done.