Hey Self Hosted!
Got a shower thought I wanna bounce off youse guys. It's half-baked but itching to become real: DIY Sonos-like surround sound using Raspberry Pis (or maybe other SBCs if Pi's not cut out for it). Need your brains to kick things off!
The Vision:
Server Pi
- Acts as the brain. Takes 5.1 audio input from the TV (SPDIF? HDMI? Still figuring that out).
Client Pis
Wireless speakers running balenaSound or similar. Each handles a specific channel (front left, rear right, etc.). I do picture each of these being connected to a amplifier board. With some fancy wiring to give Raspberry pi voltages and power required for the amplifiers. (Something like this: https://a.co/d/fwkXuCm)
The Hurdles:
5.1 Audio Input
Can a Pi even handle 5.1 audio input? Do I need a fancy sound card/HAT? Or should I ditch the Pi for something beefier?
Channel Remapping Sorcery
Wiring all speakers the same (e.g., left channel only) but using Linux wizardry to assign which channel each speaker plays. Like, plug in a "rear right" speaker, tell the Pi "yo, you’re rear right now," and boom—it works. Possible? Or am I dreaming?
Why? Swapping speakers without rewiring = less headache. Plus, modularity.
First roadblock: Getting clean 5.1 into a Pi. Second headache: Software channel routing.
Anyone tackled something like this before? Am I reinventing a wheel that’s already on fire?
Edit: I think I may actually have found a solution even cheaper and I intended. Has anyone here ever heard of WiSa? Long story short it is a solution for Wireless Audio Cinemas. Mostly it is used in very expensive speakers, I'm talking like $5K USD for a whole system. However. I have found a much cheaper solution: https://a.co/d/fXkaMEX. This would be a good starter point for me because the server side already does everything that I want it to. The client side(speakers) are just about there... But I want to see better drivers and amplifiers. If I were to purchase this, I would use it as is initially, but eventually cannibalize the WiSa adapter, attach it to a strong amplifier, and mount the result in a better set of speakers.
What this cat said.