Speaker Zone select through wifi

[Dieter]

I have a 6 channel power amp which feeds 3 sets of speakers/zones, Living room and 2 bedrooms.
I would like to be able to, ideally through wifi, switch the bedrooms off from time to time and have been looking into relay switches to achieve this as it seems pretty straight forward at first. I thought I had found the solution in these SONOFF smart switches

https://www.itead.cc/sonoff-wifi-wireless-switch.html

I would use one for each speaker but after ordering them I realised that there would be no power to power them and a search for powered relay switches hasn't brought me any closer to a solution. All relays seem to work in the same way that a speaker selector box works..... 1 Input split into the several outputs.
There doesn't seem to exist a relay or speaker selector box that has matching inputs to outputs.

One option is building and programming an Arduino board like the link below, looks complicated and time consuming.

http://www.33snowflakes.com/blog/arduino-android-speaker-selector/

Not sure if anyone here has had a similar problem and would love to hear of any potential products that could solve this issue in a simpler way.

 

[XEagleDriver]

Dieter,
Great project idea.
1) I agree with you the SONOFF product is not applicable to your situation.
2) Since you already have the 6-channel amp you do not need the complexity of the Arduino-Speaker-Selector set up.
3) Have you considered using Wi-Fi controlled relays?
- Although normally used in power supply situations (i.e. remotely turn motor or light on/off), they may be able to be used to enable/interrupt the speaker signal enroute to the two bedrooms.
- Here is an example 4-Channel Wi-Fi Relay that may enable control of the four speakers in the two bedrooms (i.e. a L/R speaker pair in each room).

Cheers,
XEagleDriver

 

[vsound5150]

I have a 6 channel power amp which feeds 3 sets of speakers/zones, Living room and 2 bedrooms.
I would like to be able to, ideally through wifi, switch the bedrooms off from time to time and have been looking into relay switches to achieve this as it seems pretty straight forward at first. I thought I had found the solution in these SONOFF smart switches

https://www.itead.cc/sonoff-wifi-wireless-switch.html

I would use one for each speaker but after ordering them I realised that there would be no power to power them and a search for powered relay switches hasn't brought me any closer to a solution. All relays seem to work in the same way that a speaker selector box works..... 1 Input split into the several outputs.
There doesn't seem to exist a relay or speaker selector box that has matching inputs to outputs.

One option is building and programming an Arduino board like the link below, looks complicated and time consuming.

http://www.33snowflakes.com/blog/arduino-android-speaker-selector/

Not sure if anyone here has had a similar problem and would love to hear of any potential products that could solve this issue in a simpler way.

Or get an AVR with the option to control zones over wifi from a phone app..

 

[Dieter]

Dieter,
Great project idea.
1) I agree with you the SONOFF product is not applicable to your situation.
2) Since you already have the 6-channel amp you do not need the complexity of the Arduino-Speaker-Selector set up.
3) Have you considered using Wi-Fi controlled relays?
- Although normally used in power supply situations (i.e. remotely turn motor or light on/off), they may be able to be used to enable/interrupt the speaker signal enroute to the two bedrooms.
- Here is an example 4-Channel Wi-Fi Relay that may enable control of the four speakers in the two bedrooms (i.e. a L/R speaker pair in each room).

Cheers,
XEagleDriver

thank you XEagleDriver

I have seen those relay switches and I will probably end up with something similar once I'm done as you are right, I don't need the speaker selector.
I will just interrupt the speaker cables to the bedrooms with a relay. I have ordered a simple 4 relay board off amazon and an arduino wifi card set up to control them. Will post results if that ends up working as this will cost me around £30 instead of the $200 plus relay board from the states, and I might learn some simple programming in the process.
If the programming and tinkering of my DIY set up is too complicated and takes to long it does look like the relay boards you mentioned could be a viable plan B

 

[Dieter]

Or get an AVR with the option to control zones over wifi from a phone app..

I thought I was getting something to control the zones when I bought the 6 channel Rotel amp as it is advertised as "multi room" and had app connectivity which allows you to control absolutely everything through your phone, except switching zones on/off it turns out. It took me hours of tinkering before calling Rotel just to be told their amps dont do "zone control" only "multi room". They certainly missed a trick there but I was already heavily invested down the Rotel route as everything links into its app and was stuck with something lovely but slightly imperfect.

 

[vsound5150]

I thought I was getting something to control the zones when I bought the 6 channel Rotel amp as it is advertised as "multi room" and had app connectivity which allows you to control absolutely everything through your phone, except switching zones on/off it turns out. It took me hours of tinkering before calling Rotel just to be told their amps dont do "zone control" only "multi room". They certainly missed a trick there but I was already heavily invested down the Rotel route as everything links into its app and was stuck with something lovely but slightly imperfect.

Oh damn that's a big one they missed, maybe with enough complaints they'll add it to the next firmware revision if even possible. But the relay diy project sounds exciting for the results it will provide.

 

[Dieter]

In case anyone was following this and looking for a solution I have finally managed to resolve this with an arduino attached to a 4ch relay board controlled through my mobile phone using the BLYNK app.

Hardware used was:
1. Arduino UNO
2. Arduino ethernet shield
3. 4ch relay

Give me a shout if you want more info... and or advice/instructables.

I have however just stumbled on something on ebay today that seems to offer a "plug and play" solution for exactly what I have been working on. Software and all!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NodeMCU-V3-CH340G-LUA-Arduino-IDE-ESP8266-ESP-12E-WiFi-IoT-Relay-CODE-BASE-/262671188626?var=&hash=item3d286c4292:m:msLuuED7OKSfuqR0M3Q5LfA

 

[Oibctl]

Dieter,
I am trying
To do the same thing. Switch off some outdoor speakers. Does the Ebay off the shelf item work? Based on what you know now, what would you recommend? Thanks!
Chris