ir controlled 3 zone music server idea.

[jryan1776]

i am working on setting up my xlobby/sage server to also act as my 3 zone music server. my goal is to set the zones up to work with a standard remote control since i can't really afford 3 tablet pcs or other displays... we also enjoy the convenience of having a remote in the hand versus using a set of wall controls. i'm going to write out the concept below, and i'd enjoy anyone's opinions/suggestions. thanks.

remotes will be mini remotes that only have the following buttons - functions...
a. power - used to turn the zone on/off
b. source - toggle winamp between radio/mp3 playlists/mp3 playall (random)
c. channel up - next (mp3 or radio station)
d. channel down - previous
e. volume up - volume up
f. volume down - volume down
g. mute - mute

ideas...
1. music server will work outside of xlobby. zones controls are routed through girder.
2. use the source button to toggle the zone's instance of winamp between radio mode, mp3 playlist mode, or play all mp3's random.
3. use a voice audio clip to announce "radio mode", "playlist mode", or "play all mode" so there is an audio indication to let you know what mode that you are on.
4. use a line-in signal monitor to automatically power off the amp when there is no signal present for x minutes.
5. make a voice announcement to an inactive zone that it will be shutdown in x minutes unless a ir command is issued (voice over does not announce at night time).

these are the basics of what i'd like to do without having to buy and install visual interfaces. if anyone has alternate means for using only ir to control zones, i'd love to hear them. thanks!

[Marbles_00]

May I ask a question? Why do the zoning outside of Xlobby? You could get all three zones on one Audigy or CL Live 5.1 card using the KX Drivers, and reliable sync between them. Then you could setup XRemote to do the majority of other things.

Having the announcement would be the most difficult.

Just a thought.

[jryan1776]

actually i am already using the kx drivers and an sound blaster sb0060 to generate 3 zones of audio. this is thanks to P3rv3rt B3ar and yourself for the helpful posts...

the reason that i'm not planning to use xlobby is because i can't really afford to buy any other displays to run multiple instances of xlobby. i also think that the home audio community needs a non visual front end for controlling multiple zones and multiple inputs using only ir... i originally intended to use a combination of ir and keypads to achieve whole house audio, but i soon found that even a cheap xantech keypad system (that requires no central controller) is too expensive for my budget.

a whole house ir network is cheap, easily distributed, and can be configured into multiple software platforms (via usb-uirt). its major drawback keeping it from more exstensive use is its reliability combined with the lack of positive confirmation (no displays or keypad buttons). i think that if i could develop a method of using logical remote operations and basic audio confirmations, having a display or keypad would not be necessary. this would result in a cheap and easy means of control, plus control can always be within arms reach.

don't get me wrong if i had the cash i would go the visual route (and probably will later anyway). for now though, i think that it would be great to build an advanced system using only ir for control...

i really think that other people would enjoy and appreciate an ir based system.

[Marbles_00]

You still can do what you want using xlobby without the visuals and it should work. Then you could use something like girder to turn on an LED indicator by the light switch or something in each zone to show that you have control of that zone as well as the audio, it doesn't have to be anything elaborate. I just figure that most of the stuff you want to do has been done, so then you only have to worry about the integration, as opposed to possiblely re-inventing the wheel.

Hey, I totally understand that you are trying to watch what you spend, I mean, my system has been in the works for over a year. Most of the server was bought off ebay, the amps are those cheap little BSG amps...off ebay, and I have one PPC that is used to control the system...again bought off ebay. Most of the other parts are old/scrap/DIY. Gees...thinking about it now the only real "New" thing is the hard drive (thank God for Christmas), speaker wire and the $2.00 shelving to put everything on.

If you go the route that your indicating, please keep us informed on the project as it does sound rather unique.

[jryan1776]

thanks for the advice. so far i haven't had too much success using xlobby for my music controls. i'm really having trouble with structuring the database into a format that i enjoy. i kind of like the sagetv structure, but for the life of me, i can't figure out how to build a new music screen within xlobbymc. i've done a lot of programming, but i just can't seem to grasp building new catagories and tables within xlobby....

the other side of it is having to go through the whole teaching of the remote controls with in xlobby. i'll have to teach buttons on 4 different remotes, and then 4 again once i buy the mini remotes... girder seems to recognize the remotes via the add a remote wizard without having to teach the buttons with the remote a 1/4" from the usb-uirt. i've already got ir network setup and have girder and my remotes changing music stations from each of the zones. now i am going to try and work on toggling the sources from just mp3's to playlists and radio stations.

you mentioned hard drives for christmas... if you're looking for hard drive deals, keep your eyes on the forums at slickdeals and fatwallet. i bought several 160, 200, 300gb hard drives for $50 or less. right now i;m sitting on 5 - 200gb hard drives that i'm getting ready to dump onto ebay from black friday deals. these are great forums and i've come across some amazing deals on items from color laserjet printers to wireless usb adapters for negative $5...

[jryan1776]

by the way, you mentioned using girder to turn on a light or led at my zones to indicate control... i do have 5 extra conductors at each of the zoned ir points (used 3 for ir), what do you use? i was also looking at tieing in a pa system since those BSG amps have it available. have you seen any inexspensive interfaces? i guess it only needs to be a few buttons anyway.

another reason that i was looking outside of xlobby for the house ir is that i plan to sell this house within a couple of years. i'd like to have the home audio simple enough that people aren't scared off by the complexity or such a system...

[Marbles_00]

by the way, you mentioned using girder to turn on a light or led at my zones to indicate control... i do have 5 extra conductors at each of the zoned ir points (used 3 for ir), what do you use?

The easiest is to use girder to control the parallel port. You can turn on individual data lines. Each data line will turn on an LED output. You have a total of eight data lines. You would run the parallel port data lines to opto-isolators, then on the output of the isolators go to each LED. Each pulled high to 12v using a simple walwart. With 5 extra conductors in each room you could use three LED's/room and have it set up to indicate in any room if any other zone is being used (some integration required). If you want, I could set up a quick schematic to show you what I'm talking about, or go to my website ('www' link at the bottom of my post), and goto the Maylume page. There I have a schematic of how I'm using the parallel port outputs to control digital volume pots.

Only thing if using Win2k or WinXp, you will need the Direct I/O driver to control the parallel port, and to understand LAU scripting in Girder (and have the Lau Port I/O plugin). But you needn't worry about that as I'm already doing it, so I could supply you with the nessary files, and the .gml file for controlling data bits 1-4 (and I think a control bit as well) to get you started.

There are other ways as well, don't get me wrong. If your into programming PIC's then you could do it via serial or USB.

Hope this helps...or opens up new avenues.