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About verukins

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  1. Hey guys, so I've gone a little further with this now - and im after some more advice - as im not sure if im doing something wrong/missing something, or its just the ay things are. So I have 4 speaker pairs around the house - so need to get an amp to power them, that's makes sense, but what doesn't make sense is how I make the solution truly "multi-room". If I connect up 4 chrome casts to 4 inputs (and connect the 4 speaker pairs) - from what I can see, the amps are only going to allow me to select one input to one on speaker pair at a time. In addition, I can cast from my plex, but cant cast multiple instances - so in order to cast 4 different playlists, I would need to have 4 virtual machines (or 3 + the NAS running Plex) - which seems quite limiting. Am I doing something wrong? or am I just looking at the wrong amps? or am I missing something about the chromcast casting method ?
  2. Hey guys, so I got a chromecast audio, installed plex on my NAS. Can stream fine via chrome for youtube etc to the chromecast Can play music from the plex web app fine - but when I hit the cast button the select the device, the audio track stops (within plex) and no audio is presented. Still, once I work that out, it looks like a reasonable solution. I find the idea of casting from the browser a bit odd... as it means I need to use chromecast supporting apps (as audiocast didn't seem to work for me) - it also doesn't fit the multiple-input scenario well, as while I have a machine with 4 sound cards (my initial setup for the 4 RCA ins the electrician provided me with) - you seem to be able to only cast from the primary sound card - not select a sound card (which was handy when running multiple instances of VLC, with the 4 sound cards)... ill try the VLC method - but get the impression, because of the way that chromecast is made - that it probably wont work... still ill give it a shot. Thanks for putting me onto it - while it doesn't really meet all of my wants - its hard to pass at the pricepoint its at!
  3. thanks for all the suggestions guys.... I hadn't even considered something like chromecast - and for $59A.... unlike the other solutions - I can cheaply find out by using it if its going to fit my needs.... so going to pop down to JB tomorrow and grab one. Casatunes - yep, that looks like more what I was originally thinking of (but going to look at chromecast first now) - even has control4 integration.... separate room scheduling... these guys are clearly thinking along the same lines I am - so thanks very much for that... is very much worth a look.
  4. yep, fair point, I didn't specify. the sources I would like would be multiple internet radio stations, multiple DLNA or network sourced mp3 playlists, old-school am/fm radio (lower priority than the others) and anything I can output from a PC over old-school methods like RCA - just for flexibility
  5. ok, im not familiar with speaker switches.... but on the surface it sounds pretty basic - and I would only be able to play audio on one set of speakers at a time... or am I missing how it works ?
  6. ok, that's a good point.... interesting why they wouldn't list that on the product page... I might contact them and see what they have to say. Thanks for that. Edit - Contacted denon support via their web page - pretty much got told to go away.
  7. thanks for the replies. My impressions (and tell me if im wrong) Sonos seems to be very geared towards using their kit for everything - I already have all the speakers setup and just want the amp. All their gear also seems to be all wireless. Heos Drive looks like it meets many of the requirements, is rack mountable (big tick), HOES app for ios, android and kindle is mentioned - but no PC - which is why I stopped looking at it previously. It also streams from a bunch of sources - but no DLNA. If the HEOS drive is as close as im going to get - fair enough. As far as budget... im more focused on getting the right solution....the figures im seeing of $3.5k for the heos drive are fine....
  8. Hi all, a few years ago I built a new place and my sparky (who is mate of mine) put in a multi-zone speaker system - and basically it has never worked. I have the 4 zones wired back centrally - and im keen the bypass the sparkys "home-automation" system, and just wire the speakers directly to an amp. I'm looking for a amp that will let me output different audio to at least 4 different zones simultaneously, accept input from at least 4 different sources and has a web interface for controlling which zone is playing which input etc. While looking for this, there seem to be many marketing claims which muddy the waters - which is why I'm coming here for advice. Some points which may help narrow it down (for those of you in the know) - we are a household with many PC's.... so iPhone and android apps aren't important to us, but control via PC's (web interface or desktop app) is very important to us - Any device that can use DLNA sources, internet radio sources etc. natively, without having to stream these via and attached PC, while not a requirement, would be awesome There seem to plenty of devices that support 4 simultaneous outputs, but control via iPhone and android is common, but web controls seem to be rare. DLNA access comes across to me as a fairly simple thing, but I haven't found any that support this. I get that this is a market I don't understand, so if I'm asking for things no-one else wants - fair enough. Any suggestions/links appreciated.
  9. guys - im in the situation where im extending myself financially (maybe over extending) in order to build this house - however, 5 years down the track it will be a different matter (assuming business keeps going ok!) So - as far as what im expecting..... basically i want something on the cheaper end of the scale to start off with (cheaper - but not complete crap!) and usable - otherwise there is no point in having the room! .... then ability to upgrade it in 5 or so years, when hopefully the finances are a bit better, to something that is in the "upper" quality range.....
  10. geez guys - thanks for all that - there are some good replies in there - but a few of which i dont understand!... so, to start off with the stuff i do understand 1) yes, the cabling will be feature-proofed with cable TV cables, additional cat6 and conduits as required. I am having 8 points run to the area where all the equipment will be located - so i wont be short on points! 2) My rack will be located in different room and will be full of servers and switches for my IT business which i run from home. There will additional room should anything need to be stored centrally for the AV setup 3) Why would i run cat6 to speaker locations? speakers cannot run over cat6 last time i checked? is my knowledge just out of date or wrong? 4) Poweroint in ceiling for projector will be there, along with hdmi and ethernet (just incase) 5) Ethernet over HDMI is not a mature technology yet - im not discounting it - but im running cat6 everywhere - its cheap, standard and flexible. (im also running another 80 points around the rest of the house - for POE phones etc so its a standards thing... cat6 will be valid for a very long time yet.... and i dont see POE over HDMI yet :-) ) 6) The white melamine screen comment... are you suggesting that a piece of wood from bunnings is better than a "proper" screen? 7) During the week, i was thinking, what about painting a screen on the wall? The cost difference would be massive.... is the viewing experience a little worse or massively worse? or is there a specific type of paint that makes it viable ? 8) i dont really get the comments about the 6ohm speakers or the "bright" reciever and speaker pearing - can you guys elaborate on this as all ? 9) Didnt know 10.2 was around.... it sounds excessive! 10) on the reciever/speaker stuff.... i spose im looking for some make/model suggestions and some brief technical reasons on why they would be a good fit... as this stuff is a bit over my head at the moment! Thanks for the replies so far - much appreciated.
  11. Background: Building a new house with a 8x10 basement, part of which will be a home theatre Im and IT nerd by trade â€“ so I get some bits, but Iâ€™ve never really dealt with the audio/video stuff much â€“ so im hoping you guys can sanity check my thoughts. Iâ€™ve read bucketloads of articles, but theyâ€™re not always helpful! Sanity Check 1 â€“ cabling: Below projector screen, there will be a cabinet with a receiver, media centre (TV, DVD and BluRay), PS3, Xbox, Wii (and then future consoles) Connected to receiver via HDMI where possible (so all but the Wii) 8 power points and 8 network points available, centrally patched. TV signal will be presented over cat6 HDMI run between the wall behind the receiver and where the projector will sit 4 speaker runs between the wall behind the receiver and the rear speakers Front speakers donâ€™t need to be run behind any walls etc Anything Iâ€™ve missed here that you guys can think of ? Sanity check 2 â€“ equipment: This seems to be fairly contentious â€“ everyone has a different opinion and Iâ€™m trying to sort through who is just trying to sell me stuff â€“ and which stuff offers good bang for buck. Im after a 140â€ fixed screen, 1080p projector, receiver with at least 4 HDMI inputs and some reasonable 7.1 speakers I was looking at the â€œEpson EH-TW3600â€ based on http://www.projectorreviews.com.au/hometheatrereviews.htm - my main question here is â€“ are they promoting a projector which makes them cash â€“ or is the projector actually good ? I was thinking about getting a 140â€ fixed screen â€“ any comment here on getting a different type of screen ? Receiver and speakers â€“ this is where im struggling in particular â€“ so many options! I was expecting the receiver to cost me about $1k â€“ but there appear to be many many options here. Is there any particular features I should be looking for here ? HDMI 1.4a seems to be a given, but outside of that, I spose im struggling to understand which features are important are which less-so. Any help much appreciated
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