Calling Plotters et al
Discussion
Hello all,
I have a conumdrum.
I have a pc that I use solely for music in that it stores all the files and I also run i-tunes from it.
Now i currently have an Opus system that has a HDD but frankly its crap and needs to be replaced.
So what i need is a system of some kind that i can integrate with the PC full of music and browse the files via cat 5/hdmi/anything on my tv and also integrate this with my amplifier that powers the ceiling speakers and also if possible can connect to wall mounted units that currently control the Opus sytem from various rooms throughout the house.
Can anyone help as it appears to be a minefield out there...
I have a conumdrum.
I have a pc that I use solely for music in that it stores all the files and I also run i-tunes from it.
Now i currently have an Opus system that has a HDD but frankly its crap and needs to be replaced.
So what i need is a system of some kind that i can integrate with the PC full of music and browse the files via cat 5/hdmi/anything on my tv and also integrate this with my amplifier that powers the ceiling speakers and also if possible can connect to wall mounted units that currently control the Opus sytem from various rooms throughout the house.
Can anyone help as it appears to be a minefield out there...
Try this system http://www.sonos.com/ , it can integrate with your pc/network storages & you can stream music from napster for a small fee, really easy to use & You can even use your ipod touch/ iphone to control it.
hth
hth
So you're wired for ABus? (Opus)
It would require some investigation as to exactly how its been wired but if its a straight Cat5e to the keypads and speaker wire onward to the ceilings then that really restricts you on a hard wired system.
Unless you're doing a full refurbishment and there is a chance to modify the wires that are there.
There is an option using the Pronto Professional range of remotes. Happy to chat via mail if thats of interest.
It would require some investigation as to exactly how its been wired but if its a straight Cat5e to the keypads and speaker wire onward to the ceilings then that really restricts you on a hard wired system.
Unless you're doing a full refurbishment and there is a chance to modify the wires that are there.
There is an option using the Pronto Professional range of remotes. Happy to chat via mail if thats of interest.
Edited by Plotloss on Wednesday 22 April 20:38
Unfortunately i cannot find the drawings but i will do my best to explain.
House with four opus wall pads in four different rooms. all wired with cat5.
ceiling speakers already wired in and connected to an opus mcu500 master unit in the living room with the amplifiers in the loft.
now i basically want to rip out the mcu500 as its crap and replace it with something better. the problems i have are that the wall pads will then be inoperable but i am willing to replace them with something different but i dont really fancy gouging out the walls to replace the cat5 so that needs to stay if possible.
I still want four channels so i can play different music/radio in each of the four rooms.
I want it ideally to connect to a media server pc (can i replace the mcu500 with a pc?) so that i can run itunes or similar and keep everything updated easily as at the moment i run i tunes on my pc's but have to run the opus music of an escient mp3 player.
any ideas and thanks very much for your help its handy having an expert on hand when you need one.
House with four opus wall pads in four different rooms. all wired with cat5.
ceiling speakers already wired in and connected to an opus mcu500 master unit in the living room with the amplifiers in the loft.
now i basically want to rip out the mcu500 as its crap and replace it with something better. the problems i have are that the wall pads will then be inoperable but i am willing to replace them with something different but i dont really fancy gouging out the walls to replace the cat5 so that needs to stay if possible.
I still want four channels so i can play different music/radio in each of the four rooms.
I want it ideally to connect to a media server pc (can i replace the mcu500 with a pc?) so that i can run itunes or similar and keep everything updated easily as at the moment i run i tunes on my pc's but have to run the opus music of an escient mp3 player.
any ideas and thanks very much for your help its handy having an expert on hand when you need one.
Ahh, its the 500, bear with me, I've got some tech details somewhere, they're trying to get me to sell it at the minute.
Its a pretty good system on the whole what are your issues with it? Could be as simple as reconfiguring it.
How many outputs does the Escient box have?
Also, does your system have the touchscreens or the keypads?
Its a pretty good system on the whole what are your issues with it? Could be as simple as reconfiguring it.
How many outputs does the Escient box have?
Also, does your system have the touchscreens or the keypads?
Edited by Plotloss on Wednesday 22 April 23:59
The problem is hiss, over the last few weeks there seems to be a faint but noticeable hiss over anything that is played through it. i have narrowed it down to the mcu500 and ruled out the possibility of dodgy wires/speakers etc. and it is well out of warranty now.
as for the escient it is a FireBall SE-160i with two (might actually be one) outputs.
`
as for the escient it is a FireBall SE-160i with two (might actually be one) outputs.
`
Odd.
As you may be aware it can be wired one of two ways.
Using proprietary cabling or standard Cat5e and speaker wire.
Its slightly different to a lot of the systems out there in its infrastructure approach but it may be possible to reuse the existing wiring to find a workable solution with a different product.
When you say you have all the digital media on iTunes, is it DRM Apple stuff or do you just use iTunes as a player/database?
As you may be aware it can be wired one of two ways.
Using proprietary cabling or standard Cat5e and speaker wire.
Its slightly different to a lot of the systems out there in its infrastructure approach but it may be possible to reuse the existing wiring to find a workable solution with a different product.
When you say you have all the digital media on iTunes, is it DRM Apple stuff or do you just use iTunes as a player/database?
its all cat5 and speaker cable.
itunes is merely the indexer all the music is mp3 and drm free so i can migrate that anywhere if necessary and get rid of i tunes.
the problem with the escient is that when i get new music i have to update both pc and escient which is not really that annoying in the grand scheme of things but i would prefer not to have to do it.
itunes is merely the indexer all the music is mp3 and drm free so i can migrate that anywhere if necessary and get rid of i tunes.
the problem with the escient is that when i get new music i have to update both pc and escient which is not really that annoying in the grand scheme of things but i would prefer not to have to do it.
Plotloss said:
Does all the Cat5 and Speaker Wire go back to the MCU with all the amps centrally or are they distributed?
speakers are connected to the amps in the loft then cat5 runs down to the MCU in the living room.
If the latter, do you know whether its proprietary cabling between the MCU and the Amps or Cat5e?
Cat5
There is almost certainly a solution, so no worries on that score.
Excellent
speakers are connected to the amps in the loft then cat5 runs down to the MCU in the living room.
If the latter, do you know whether its proprietary cabling between the MCU and the Amps or Cat5e?
Cat5
There is almost certainly a solution, so no worries on that score.
Excellent
Plotloss said:
Does all the Cat5 and Speaker Wire go back to the MCU with all the amps centrally or are they distributed?
speakers are connected to the amps in the loft then cat5 runs down to the MCU in the living room.
If the latter, do you know whether its proprietary cabling between the MCU and the Amps or Cat5e?
Cat5
There is almost certainly a solution, so no worries on that score.
Excellent
speakers are connected to the amps in the loft then cat5 runs down to the MCU in the living room.
If the latter, do you know whether its proprietary cabling between the MCU and the Amps or Cat5e?
Cat5
There is almost certainly a solution, so no worries on that score.
Excellent
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