Thanks to one Maker’s ingenious thinking, you will no longer need to strategically place separate iPod docks throughout your house. In a recent Instructables post, Kameo3155 has devised a multi-zone audio system that be controlled by any device with a web browser.
“This system solves the seemingly ubiquitous problem of being able to listen to your music from anywhere in your house,” the Maker noted. An extensive materials list was required to assemble this device, yet still only costs a fraction of what a typical house-wide audio system would to install. Our Maker details the key components below:
- Speaker wire run from a centralized location
- Speakers of your choosing for each zone
- 6 channel amp or multiple small 2 channel
- Power supply for the amp
- Spare 3 prong AC power cable
- SPST Relay
- Arduino Uno (ATmega328) with Ethernet Shield
- Male to female jumper wires
- Custom PCB for the PT2258
- The PT2258 IC
- 10uF Capacitors
- 100 kOhm resistors
- 5mm through hole jacks
- Male .1″ spaced headers
- A microSD card
- Google Chromecast
- HDMI audio extractor (I used this one)
- RCA to 3.5mm cables
Kameo3155 began by soldering the PT2258 board and then connecting it to the Atmel-based Arduino Uno. Once the wires were attached and the Uno was hooked up to a home Ethernet connection, the Maker set out to install the code that would enable the machine to pipe music throughout his home speaker setup. “This is where the magic happens,” the Maker describes the integral step.
Once the code was installed, a system to control the actual music was required. This Maker thought a Google Chromecast would be an ideal technology to utilize in order to obtain the desired results. “This allows us to take the audio the Chromecast outputs and plug it into our PT2258 control board,” he believed. “We can simply cast our favorite Pandora station or music from Google Play Music to the Chromecast and control the volume from our Arduino.”
To read through the full tutorial for this cost-effective home audio control unit, check out the original Instructables post here.
Atmel | Bits & Pieces 