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I priced out a Sonos system for multi room audio and it was over $6k USD. Decided to build my own system with a combination of: - Sony audio receivers for each

I priced out a Sonos system for multi room audio and it was over $6k USD. Decided to build my own system with a combination of: - Sony audio receivers for each room - Chromecasts - HDMI to RCA adapters - Harmony Pro IR controller - Raspberry PI with Home Assistant I set up the Chromecasts with audio groups for the whole house and different areas. I configured the Home Assistant to control power for the receivers through the IR controller when they are cast to. (You could probably skip the IR setup and adapters with more expensive HDMI receivers, the stereo receivers were only $150 each) Anyone on the WiFi can easily cast audio from any music app to any room, area or the whole house without having to install or configure anything. Works with Android and iOS. Whole set up cost less than $2k.

cmclaughlin 5y ago
Nice setup! It’s a bummer Google discontinued Chromecast Audio. I still have three of them and love them. The new Nest Speakers don’t have audio out, so there no integration with nicer audio equipment.
- cloudking 5y ago
  Thanks! Yeah that is a shame, but this set up with regular Chromecasts works fine. The HDMI to RCA converter can be used to just output the audio.
raffraffraff 5y ago
Instead of the Chromecast Audio I got a Pi 4 and Startech 7.1 usb audio. With Pulseaudio you can remap channels, so I have 5.1 going to my old Yamaha (which lacks hdmi) and 2 channels going to a Denon that drives ceiling speakers in the adjoining kitchen. This handles movies, and has played everything up to Atmos, downmixed to 5.1. Also upmixes stereo to 5.1, sending <150Hz to the sub channel. It plays the same audio to both amps because it's open-plan, but the amps are separate so I can turn one down or off, or change to another source. The Pi runs gmediarender-resurrect (a DLNA receiver) so I can fling audio from my laptop (pulseaudio-dlna) or phone (bubble upnp).

cmclaughlin 5y ago

Nice setup! It’s a bummer Google discontinued Chromecast Audio. I still have three of them and love them. The new Nest Speakers don’t have audio out, so there no integration with nicer audio equipment.

cloudking 5y ago
Thanks! Yeah that is a shame, but this set up with regular Chromecasts works fine. The HDMI to RCA converter can be used to just output the audio.

raffraffraff 5y ago

Instead of the Chromecast Audio I got a Pi 4 and Startech 7.1 usb audio. With Pulseaudio you can remap channels, so I have 5.1 going to my old Yamaha (which lacks hdmi) and 2 channels going to a Denon that drives ceiling speakers in the adjoining kitchen. This handles movies, and has played everything up to Atmos, downmixed to 5.1. Also upmixes stereo to 5.1, sending <150Hz to the sub channel. It plays the same audio to both amps because it's open-plan, but the amps are separate so I can turn one down or off, or change to another source. The Pi runs gmediarender-resurrect (a DLNA receiver) so I can fling audio from my laptop (pulseaudio-dlna) or phone (bubble upnp).