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If you are more interested in controlling your entire house obviously go for an automation solution like Savant. As far as just pure audio though Sonos is amazing. It works flawlessly – the software just gets better and better – and the future looks even brighter. Every friend I have ever shown SONOS to buys the system within a month. To control AirFoil from your phone, get the Airfoil Satellite app from the app store.
My first thought was a bunch of Echo Dots (quickly scrubbed, as I’m not a lover of Alexa) – cheap and cheerful. Next, I considered going 100% Apple with HomePod Minis. These would give me both music and intercom capability – very attractive, and at a reasonable cost, but then I’d be tied to Apple’s Music monthly subscription. Then, a friend suggested I try Sonos, so I did.
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See an airport connection listed in either iTunes on a computer or in the airport menu in iOS on your iPhone and iPad, which should be labeled whatever you named it in the settings from above. Here are some examples of complete configuration files. If you intend to use Shairport Sync with PulseAudio in the standard user mode, it can not be a system service, so you should omit both –with-systemd and –with-systemv. If you want support for libsoxr-based resampling. This library is in many recent distributions; if not, instructions for how to build it from source for Rasbpian/Debian Wheezy are available atLIBSOXR.md. All the software we will be using in this project is free, and it’s all downloaded onto the pi as we go, so there is nothing to do here, unless you are starting at the very beginning.
I previously did an project where I used an inexpensive bluetooth board but having the speaker system on the airplay system is easier to switch between. Repeat steps for the next speaker to play different audio through it. When using Control Center, this can be a bit tricky because your iPhone might want to stop playing audio from one app in order to play audio from another.
Create a Multi-Brand. Multi-Room setup with AirPlay 2
A major kitchen remodel necessitated ripping out an old Broan intercom/music distribution system that served 12 stations throughout the house and the patios. Losing the intercom capability wasn’t really a show-stopper, but losing the whole house music distribution definitely was. My only source of music is an iPad, loaded with a comprehensive iTunes library, currently connected via Bluetooth to the input of the Broan.
There are also custom solutions, like whole house wired audio offered by companies like Guardian. Logistically, it’s feasible during construction or renovation but is usually beyond the reach of a DIYer. Shairport Sync actively maintains synchronisation with the source. If synchronisation is lost — say due to a busy source or a congested network — Shairport Sync will mute its output and resynchronise.
AirPlay 2 Works WithLithe Audio Wi-Fi Wireless Ceiling Speakers
Communication is key, which is why our speakers can be controlled with Siri, along with the rest of your HomeKit setup. AirPlay 2 enables users to control all their audiovisual technology from one device. Unlike other casting methods, Apple’s latest release allows for multi-room, multi-brand streaming.
The rest of this article focuses on the current AirPlay protocol, which, as you’ll see, works but needed an update. We’ll revisit this once AirPlay 2 hits the streets. You can vary the tolerance with the general drift_tolerance_in_seconds setting. You can vary the resync threshold, or turn resync off completely, with the general resync_threshold_in_seconds setting. Notice I also use this Pi as a vertical display in the garage to view schematics while working on the workbench. When it’s installed and running, you should be able to see all the files where they need to be.
Sonos vs. AirPlay: Why I Chose AirPlay for Whole House Audio
You can also stream to a speaker connected to your Mac or a Bluetooth speaker. Sonos also makes receivers and soundbars for use with your TV or home entertainment system . Playback synchronisation is allowed to wander — to “drift” — a small amount before attempting to correct it. The default is 0.002 seconds, i.e. 2 ms. The smaller the tolerance, the more likely it is that overcorrection will occur.
Speakers stop and start immediately with no delay, control can easily be handed off from one device to the next , individual volume sliders always behave as they should. As a result, I’ve about decided to ditch my Apple hardware and buy a Sonos Port to hook up to my surround system and a Sonos 5 to replace the pair of Homepods. Lastly, Sonos has a home theater solution that is limited to 5 speakers? Really wish they have moved to high def audio including Dolby Digital and DTS a long time ago. Without this and more speaker support they just aren’t competitive for home theater. Sonos has it on usability, convenience, and integration to other systems .
Use amixer or alsamixer or similar to discover the name of the mixer control to be used as the mixer_control_name. Setting up your speakers for multi-room audio is fairly simple. The difficult part is deciding where to put each one. In order to use multi-room audio, your iPhone needs to be updated to iOS 11.4 or newer and your speaker needs to be updated to its latest version that supports AirPlay 2. AirPlay 2 receiver devices are also recognized by HomeKit, allowing users to access and control them using their Home app.
Sonos speaker devices are expensive and don’t sound great. Excellent article – thanks for writing and sharing it. Can I easily have my wife use it without having to ask what app and what device she needs to be on? I’m not saying that Airplay is always the best choice and I was not trying to make a fair comparison; Sonos and Airplay are completely different. I don’t know what your budget is and frankly, I don’t care.
Sonos are usually built up slowly over a period of time for each room. The simplicity and tremendous sound outweigh most things and they are addictive believe me. I put an extra one in the kitchen and the world’s greatest detective didn’t notice.
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