I have a setup you might be interested in. I control everything via an Android tablet. A "player" software - I use MPD but it could be anything - controls what audio is being played. I use some streaming audio software that I wrote to turn systems on and off. Each "system" consists of one or more Raspberry Pi or other SBC computers, each with one or more DACs. I run DSP software (ecasound+LADSPA) to implement DSP crossovers on each Pi. I can use the GPIO pins of the Pi to trigger a relay that will turn amps on and off in response to an music signal using a LADSPA plugin I wrote, so that they turn on and off when I stream to them. I can have any number of systems that I can stream to, and they can turn on and off automatically.
The only difference from what you envision is that I have a separate computer (I call the "audio server") that does the streaming, hosts the MPD daemon, etc. I use the tablet to communicate to it for the stream controller and to run MPD using an MPD client on the tablet. The tablet is not actually involved in the audio, it's just a portable interface to control everything. I can also control the system from other devices simultaneously, the audio server, or anything that can be on the network and will run an MPD client and SSH or other SSH-like interface. The streaming controller is a large bash script, so the audio server OS must be some flavor of linux.
See my signature for the LADSPA plugins. Read the contents of that web page and if you need help you can contact me. The streaming audio controller is here:
GSASysCon - A bash-script-based streaming audio system controller
More info here:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pc-b...lient-controller-gstreamer-4.html#post4780353
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If you can get them, the Q-Acoustics 3020's are outstanding at the price. I've got a pair hooked up to a Pi3 with IQ Audio Pi-DigiAMP+ and it's a superb mix.
WhatHiFi 'best speakers under £200' - I've not heard better.
Q Acoustics 3020 review | What Hi-Fi?
I've got a set of the previous model to the JBL controls out on the porch and they work great. Not near the quality of the QAs, but still a solid, easily mounted, weatherproof option : http://www.jbl.com/loudspeakers/CONTROL+X.html?dwvar_CONTROL X_color=Black#start=1
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@CharlieLaub, although a bit overkill for my purpose, this sounds very interesting! Especially the plugins to control a relais - I might have a use for it. I will check this setup and might steal some parts of it 
What I found so far that convinced me is: https://support.hifiberry.com/hc/en...io-system-based-on-Raspberry-Pi-and-Hifiberry just as a guideline for my setup.
@Zootlaws, thank you - I found that review already and considered those speakers.
I was initially looking for speakers that are a little bit more flat as I'm mounting them at the wall, behind the seating area - it would look nicer there - but I couldn't find anything yet.
Also, they have to be white, which is another limitation
What I found so far that convinced me is: https://support.hifiberry.com/hc/en...io-system-based-on-Raspberry-Pi-and-Hifiberry just as a guideline for my setup.
@Zootlaws, thank you - I found that review already and considered those speakers.
I was initially looking for speakers that are a little bit more flat as I'm mounting them at the wall, behind the seating area - it would look nicer there - but I couldn't find anything yet.
Also, they have to be white, which is another limitation
@CharlieLaub, although a bit overkill for my purpose, this sounds very interesting! Especially the plugins to control a relais - I might have a use for it. I will check this setup and might steal some parts of it
What I found so far that convinced me is: https://support.hifiberry.com/hc/en...io-system-based-on-Raspberry-Pi-and-Hifiberry just as a guideline for my setup.
@Zootlaws, thank you - I found that review already and considered those speakers.
I was initially looking for speakers that are a little bit more flat as I'm mounting them at the wall, behind the seating area - it would look nicer there - but I couldn't find anything yet.
Also, they have to be white, which is another limitation
Q-acoustics have some nice built-ins, in white. Not sure what country you are in... makes a difference.
8 ohms isn't a problem.
Moode has squeezelite support built-in. Very usable, could be just what you are looking for.
I know absolutely nothing about continental manufacturers, I'll leave it to you
I think you'll find the IQ amp very good - it's certainly significantly better than the Hifiberry (I have both).
The QA 3020 needs some space from the wall, so I don't think it will suit. Any quality speaker with a front-facing port will work, I guess it comes down to budget and colour choice, although getting a vinyl wrap in your colour choice is simple these days.
The Q-Install QI65RP is an in-wall (RRP £180 per pair) that can be fitted into a custom box with a 'picture' panel over the front to give you a 'speaker-free' installation. I haven't tried them yet, but they come with a decent rep.
https://www.qacoustics.co.uk/q-install-qi65rp-stereo-speaker.html
I'm a Kef fan of many years standing, but in NZ they have priced themselves out of the market.
I think you'll find the IQ amp very good - it's certainly significantly better than the Hifiberry (I have both).
The QA 3020 needs some space from the wall, so I don't think it will suit. Any quality speaker with a front-facing port will work, I guess it comes down to budget and colour choice, although getting a vinyl wrap in your colour choice is simple these days.
The Q-Install QI65RP is an in-wall (RRP £180 per pair) that can be fitted into a custom box with a 'picture' panel over the front to give you a 'speaker-free' installation. I haven't tried them yet, but they come with a decent rep.
https://www.qacoustics.co.uk/q-install-qi65rp-stereo-speaker.html
I'm a Kef fan of many years standing, but in NZ they have priced themselves out of the market.
Thanks again - I also thought about either in-wall or even ceiling (as I theoretically have a lot of space in the ceiling).
However, I then decided to use normall (probably wall mounted) speakers due to the efforts and flexibility. It would be a lot of work with the walls and surface in the kitchen.
Thank's for the hint with the QA3020 and hifiberry, I had doubts if the IQaudio is the right choice because the hifiberry are more common it seems - glad you prefer the IQaudio
The plan is to order 3 (single) speakers and just compare them. For now this would be something out of KEF Q100, Wharfedale D220, Dali Zensor 1 - but I'm still comparing opinions and alternatives.
However, I then decided to use normall (probably wall mounted) speakers due to the efforts and flexibility. It would be a lot of work with the walls and surface in the kitchen.
Thank's for the hint with the QA3020 and hifiberry, I had doubts if the IQaudio is the right choice because the hifiberry are more common it seems - glad you prefer the IQaudio
The plan is to order 3 (single) speakers and just compare them. For now this would be something out of KEF Q100, Wharfedale D220, Dali Zensor 1 - but I'm still comparing opinions and alternatives.
Hifiberry has serious problems, but they seem intent on pretending they don't
The Amp is very limited in compatibility and function, very limited sampling rate and their implementation of digital volume bucks the trend for more modern HAT devices.
Their DACs that have built in clocking kill RPi wifi - lots of unhappy customers.
Never heard a bad word about IQ Audio - they just work. I have bought about ten of his units to date - Dac and amps, and all have performed flawlessly.
I would not buy another Hifiberry product. They seem to adopt a 'prove it' approach to problem solving
The Amp is very limited in compatibility and function, very limited sampling rate and their implementation of digital volume bucks the trend for more modern HAT devices.
Their DACs that have built in clocking kill RPi wifi - lots of unhappy customers.
Never heard a bad word about IQ Audio - they just work. I have bought about ten of his units to date - Dac and amps, and all have performed flawlessly.
I would not buy another Hifiberry product. They seem to adopt a 'prove it' approach to problem solving
Squeezelite is great for streaming stereo audio to one or more loudspeakers, but if you also want to do DSP, toggle relays, etc. in a DIY based platform my software is much more versatile for that. As a consequence it is more complicated and offers only a very basic interface, but I am willing to help people get started and add new functionality that users request. Or I can show people how to create it themselves (if you can do some programming). For example I would love to team up with someone who can make a shiny GUI interface for GSASysCon...
I'm not sure I understood everything you're doing there @CharlieLaub - in fact I am not even sure what apps I need for my straight forward task of multiroom audio - mimicking chromecasts where I can select the speakers/rooms for playback on my android phone or within spotify.
The article I linked provides some hints though (squeelite etc) - I will read into it within the next days until the IQAudio Amp arrives.
Luckily, programming is not a problem - but many of the audio related terms used here, are
The article I linked provides some hints though (squeelite etc) - I will read into it within the next days until the IQAudio Amp arrives.
Luckily, programming is not a problem - but many of the audio related terms used here, are
I'm not sure I understood everything you're doing there @CharlieLaub - in fact I am not even sure what apps I need for my straight forward task of multiroom audio - mimicking chromecasts where I can select the speakers/rooms for playback on my android phone or within spotify.
The article I linked provides some hints though (squeelite etc) - I will read into it within the next days until the IQAudio Amp arrives.
Luckily, programming is not a problem - but many of the audio related terms used here, are
You don't need to do any programming - all the functionality to stream and process audio is working.
Here is an explanation of what I do in my home to control playback on various loudspeaker systems:
play audio: I use MPD player software for this. The MPD daemon runs on some computer. This software is actually doing the audio playback.
control audio playback: I use an MPD client, which is just another program that runs the GUI interface for the MPD daemon.
stream audio: From the computer where I run MPD daemon, I stream audio to a number of other systems. Some systems are one other computer and some are a group of computers. A multi-client streaming software (GSASysCon) controls which streams are on and which are off.
DSP crossover filtering: On the computers in the systems that are receive the streaming audio I implement DSP crossovers using software. This is the combination of the Linux program ecasound and audio processing software "modules" (LADSPA plug ins). Setup/control of the DSP functions is via text files. All IIR filter types can be implemented.
Control of amplifiers, etc: A LADSPA plug in that I wrote monitors the audio stream. When it sees audio data (instead of silence) it can take an action via a GPIO pin on the computer. This can be anything that you can control or activate via a relay - turn amps on/off, activate a speaker relay, soft-start, light an LED, etc. The LADSPA plug in has delay-on and delay-off functionality, and it can mute the audio for a number of seconds (useful during amp start up before speaker relays connect amp to speaker).
About the hardware: My system consists of one Baytrail Ubuntu system and numerous Raspberry Pis. The BayTrail system is what I call the audio "server" and hosts the MPD daemon and GSASysCon streaming controller software. On some Raspberry Pi clients I just receive the stream and send it via a DAC to amps. On some Raspberry Pi clients I receive the stream, process the stream with ecasound+LADSPA and then send it via DACs to amplifiers. All my systems communicate via WiFi (802.11g/n).
How I control audio playback, etc.: The interfaces are all multi-user. MPD clients can be run on any computer that can join the LAN to communicate with the MPD daemon on the audio server. These select audio sources to play and control the playback volume. To control GSASysCon, the user connects to the server with a terminal client (e.g. SSH) and runs the software on the audio server over the SSH connection. Many concurrent GSASysCon users can coexist. I primarily control the system from an Android tablet computer that I can carry around with me. I can also sit at the audio server computer and control systems from there.
The approach used above is a ONE-->MANY or SERVER-->CLIENTS type system. This is not the same as MANY-->ONE type systems where, for example, party guests can each use their phone to send music to one loudspeaker system connected to a Chromecast audio dongle. I like to build loudspeakers, so I have multiple systems to play and the SERVER-->CLIENT model works better for me. Also I like IIR DSP crossovers and the Pi is a great platform with enough computing power to be a streaming client and crossover box. At $35 each (plus DACs, power supply, etc.) it's not super expensive and you can even get started with a $9 C.H.I.P that has built in WiFi and a 24/192 codec if you just want to try it. Even the audio server can be a Raspberry Pi. All the software is free (including the OS which must be some kind of Linux).
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Logitech' squeezebox controller for android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.logitech.squeezeboxremote&hl=en
LMS client for Windows: https://sourceforge.net/projects/lmsclients/files/squeezelite/windows/
LMS client for Windows: https://sourceforge.net/projects/lmsclients/files/squeezelite/windows/
I would say that as a central server with multi room, you don't have too many choices - there are very few multi room solutions.
AirPlay relies on Mac OS ability to stream to multiple AirPlay devices, nothing to do with the Pi.
Squeezelite again uses LMS, not the Pi, to manage multi room.
Whatever floats your boat - I have macs and LMS on my NAS, so whatever suits at the time. You have windows, I'm not sure if iTunes for windows allows multi room, if it does, it's the easiest, but requires you to use a pc, not your phone or tablet.
No idea what's most common. I know that LMS + Moode running Squeezelite works.
I also use Plex and Kodi.
Whatever gets the job done.
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