Multi Room Wireless Home Audio?

[jamesmcnee]

I'm not sure this post fits here but it is the closest I figure and people have been very helpful to me here in the past.

My son and family just moved to a new (well new to them) house and are interested in setting up a wireless multi room system to play a kinda large iTunes library and stream Apple Music.

Three story house -- from home office in the basement; ground floor kitchen, dining room, sitting room; upstairs three bedrooms; outdoor patio/

Any thoughts of where to look? What to think about? ...?


* They have a TV but are interested here in audio.

* Except for some old stuff they don't have legacy hardware (speakers, amplifiers, ...) so can start from scratch.

* They would prefer to have the flexibility and freedom of dealing with a system other than a proprietary set up like Sonos.

* Before they go fishing cables over three stories they would prefer a wireless solution if possible and one better than bluetooth.

* Is there a better forum / source for info?


As always thanks in advance for any and all advice. More than once I have turned to "the kindness of [MacRumors] strangers"
🙂

 

[kissfan]

HomePods do that. Work fine in my 2-story.

 

[jamesmcnee]

Great -- Thanks!

I see the tech requirements are phone or tablet. If one has music on a computer ...?

 

[kissfan]

I load it into Apple Music, that’s where the HomePod plays from.

 

[Madmic23]

* They would prefer to have the flexibility and freedom of dealing with a system other than a proprietary set up like Sonos.

Sonos is actually more flexible than using HomePods. Sonos speakers support AirPlay for direct play from your devices, as well as streaming services like Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music and many more. If you have music on a Mac or PC, I believe they have a desktop app that you can install and stream locally as well. I haven't used that feature in a long time, so it may be different now.

Having said that, HomePods are great if you plan on staying in the Apple Ecosystem. Handoff works pretty well, where you can start playing a song on your phone and then walk up to the HomePod and transfer the music by holding your iPhone close to the HomePod.

HomePods give you access to Siri, while Sonos can use Alexa or general assistance things or Sonos Voice for music playback.

Sonos had some well document software issues over the past few years as they transitioned to a new app, but they seem to have worked most of the bugs out now and it works really well. Another nice thing about Sonos is that they can be hardwired to your network which is great if you have any wireless dead spots in the house.

Echo devices are another option if you wanted to save a little bit of money since they always seem to be on sale on Amazon. I'm not sure if you can use them with a local music library, but they work well with Apple Music. The multi room streaming with Echos works well too.

 

[Bl0ckHe1d]

I have a mixture of both Sonos and Apple HomePods Minis and to be honest both solutions works well, using Home Assistant as my media player (personal collection and Apple Music) where I can select speakers in any room in a multi-speaker configuration or various music on individual speakers, this can also be achieve using Apple Music and/or via "iTunes".

However would suggest that depending on how the house is built, to invest in a good network solution thus ensuring that the speaker have good connectivity should you go wireless which is usually achievable using a mesh network (Asus / Ubiquiti) and strongly recommend a hardwire Ethernet backhaul between mesh nodes for best results!

Psst, Home Assistant can be very useful for hooking up legacy/new equipment if it has a network connection, there may be an integration available, also have a Sonos S1 Connect Amp churning out music for my speaker on my computer desk and also a to a set of Sonos S2 Speakers in the Kitchen!

 

[Soondae]

Denon Heos system is also a good choice, maybe a little less expensive, is completely Apple Airplay compatible and works well with all Apple Airplay speakers.

Wirelessly Connect your Speakers with HEOS | Denon US

Get the best sound experience with Denon's HEOS wireless multi-room sound system. Stream music from your favorite streaming services, or play from your own library. Shop now!

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