In another thread I mentioned having NR control my audio system…
The house I own came with a whole house audio system. The amplifier that drives the system has 8 separate inputs that can be either separate or single input for all channels (how the system worked before I got to it.)
I separated the zones and bought a serial port controlled 8X8 Matrixed Audio switch off of e-bay. I setup an old RPi with a serial out to control the matrix. I bought 4 arylic DIY media players to do multi room audio that I could do limited control from http. They also have a full-feature app.
On the RPi, I control the audio switch, generate Polly TTS for doing household announcements, control the audio players using NR.
I see, thanks. I’ve been trying to come up with a good solution to multi-room without running wires, that’s more open than Google or Amazon. Currently trying out Denon HEOS but it’s expensive. I’d run wiring if I was better at drywall repair
Another cheap alternative that is decent is some echo dots (2nd gen or newer) or even a cheaper echo flex if you can find one and some desktop speakers. I have that setup in my bedroom, gen 3 echo dot with Klipsch Pro Media 2.1’s which came out under $100, and it is on par if not better than the pair of Sonos Play:1’s in my kitchen which for their newer counterpart is $200 each.
I also tried doing stereo linking two echo dots and boy was that annoying as hell, like it worked, but it had a bug at least when I tried it that caused about a 30 second delay of music command to music coming out, but when they were unlinked the same song over Spotify played without issue.
I’ve just been using the google minis for whole home audio and casting to individuals or groups.
I’ve been using Spotify for music, NR cast TTS or CORE hosted mp3s for announcements.
Eventually I plan to tinker and throw together something using an esp mic speaker a 33 BLE Sense and tinyml, just because I can and I really want more control over my audio assistants
