[Noisebridge-discuss] a networked sound system idea

[Matt Joyce]

Did this at a party in college... like 7 years ago.  Used dell axims and a
shoutcast server to keep all speakers in multiple apt party synched to dj.
On Oct 11, 2010 3:11 PM, "Jonathan Foote" <jtfoote at ieee.org> wrote:
> Neat idea. A good starting point might be Jeff Keyser's wifi radio
> which looks like it has most of the functionality already and the code
> is open source. It runs on an surprisingly inexpensive (<$50) Asus
> router using open-wrt.
>
>
http://mightyohm.com/blog/2008/10/building-a-wifi-radio-part-1-introduction/
>
> On Mon, Oct 11, 2010 at 11:05 AM,
> <travis+ml-noisebridge at subspacefield.org<travis%2Bml-noisebridge at subspacefield.org>>
wrote:
>> Joe went back to his home with two new NSS speakers.
>>
>> "Check this out", he said to his roommate Simplicio, plugging them in.
>>
>> "Those are speakers?  Why are you plugging them in?  Where are the
>>  speaker cables?" said Simplicio.
>>
>> "I'm plugging them in because they each have an amplifier inside them.
>>  And that's the beauty of it; there's no speaker cables.  Audio gets to
>>  the speaker in digital form, so no analog loss, no expensive cables."
>>
>> "But how does the audio get there?"
>>
>> "Well, built into the cabinet is a WiFi antenna, but as you can see,
>>  there's an ethernet jack that I'm plugging in now."
>>
>> "So... they get audio over the network?" said Simplicio.
>>
>> "Right.  A central computer, like my Mythbuntu box driving the TV
>>  right now, can send it audio.  Wait a moment while I plug it into the
>>  ethernet and I'll show you."
>>
>> He plugged it into the network, and ran a command on his Mythbuntu
>> box.  It scanned the LAN, noticed the speakers, and acquired their
>> profile.  This allowed the speakers to tell the computer about their
>> unique amplifier and speaker response curve.  This meant that if the
>> speaker was not smart enough to correct the input, the computer could
>> do it.  It also told the computer whether it was capable of processing
>> OGG, MP3, OGG/FLAC, or simple WAV formats.
>>
>> "Now the computer has found the new speakers.  I tell the computer
>>  what role they play - left and right - based on their MAC address,
>>  which is printed on the top like a serial number.  And at this point,
>>  I could also tell them what the WPA2 keys were, so that I could
disconnect
>>  them from the ethernet.  Of course, I'd have to scan again if that were
>>  the case, so that it'd acquire their new IP.  But if one were so
inclined,
>>  one could also statically map them to IPs in the WiFi router."
>>
>> "So what else can they do?"
>>
>> "Well, there's no limit on the number of speakers in such a system.
>>  The web-based GUI here shows that I can drive multiple sets in multiple
rooms
>>  independently, or have them all play the same music.  In theory, I could
>>  add additional software that allowed the music to follow me from room to
>>  room, but I don't have the location gear needed to do that yet.
>>
>>  Also, the VOIP phone system hooks in, so when it rings, I hear a mild
>>  ring throughout the house.  Of course you can limit the ring to certain
>>  places, or for certain lines, if you have multiple numbers.  The tone
>>  can also be customized to tell me who is calling, or it can read it
>>  out via text to speech.
>>
>>  Further, there's a generalized response center hooked into it.
>>  Let me show you..."
>>
>> A mild "whoop" sound filled the room.
>>
>> "That was me logging into my server.  I can also tell snort to send IDS
>>  alerts through the system."
>>
>> Simplicio: "Wow.  Hey, don't response curves change over time?"
>>
>> "Well yes, if you're worried about that, you can plug a microphone in,
>>  run it out in front of the speaker, and the system can recalibrate
itself."
>>
>> Simplicio: "Hmm, and so how does it all work on the network?"
>>
>> "It's simple IP traffic; in theory, these speakers could be remote, and
>>  I could be sending sound to a remote office, for example.  Or my mail
client,
>>  when it receives a new email from my boss to me, could ping me while I'm
>>  here."
>>
>> Prior art:
>> http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20060602065532384
>>
>> Possible problems:
>> Time synchronization between speakers
>>
>> Possible solutions
>> Crossover ethernet - no intermediate switches
>> NTP and local clock
>> Subnet-directed broadcasts
>>
>> Challenges:
>> Can someone make a generic module which will plug together with
>>  any speaker and power amp combo?  Would be nice to have a box
>>  which is "portable".
>> Can it be done with an arduino?
>> --
>> I find your ideas intriguing and would like to subscribe to your
newsletter.
>> My emails do not have attachments; it's a digital signature that your
mail
>> program doesn't understand. | http://www.subspacefield.org/~travis/
>> If you are a spammer, please email john at subspacefield.org to get
blacklisted.
>>
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>>
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