Using Duet remote to power boombox

[jbart1965]

Done lots of searching but can't find an answer. Has anyone used the headphone jack on the Duet remote to connect to a separate boombox and used it as a music feed? I need something for outside during the hot summer months because I cannot open my windows as usual.

Thought about getting a Boom, but I would only use a box outside for 2-3 months a year. The rest of my house (four floors) is connected with Squeezebox receivers. Plus I have an extra Bose clock radio sitting in storage.

If such a scenario is possible, would I use a single line-out/line-in cable with one jack at each end? Or a cable with a line-out jack at one end and a L-F RCA stereo splitter at the other end?

[tcutting]

The controller "should" work in this application. Be aware, however, that the audio player capability of the Controller is still "beta" - not guaranteed to work. I've used occasionally and it currently seems to work for me, but I haven't run for extended periods. Some users mention regular "drop outs" still. The biggest issue currently is with "headphone switching" - if nothing is plugged-into the headphone jack the sound comes out of the small internal speaker. When something is plugged into the headphone jack, it's supposed to automatically switch the audio to that path. This behaviour has been sporadic, and their is an outstanding bug report on it. Curiously many users claim the latest firmware under V7.3.3 squeezecenter have broken theirs again, where in my case the latest firmware seems to have fixed it. There is a way to "hack" the configuration such that the audio is ALWAYS routed to the headphone jack - it's documented in another thread on the forum.
As far as connecting, it would depend what input connector your boombox has. It probably has a "mini-plug" like the headphone output of the Controller. In that case, you should be able to find a stereo mini-plug to mini-plug cable. Also, don't ignore the Boom option. I have one in my kitchen and it works really well - plus if I am working in the garage I can unplug it and drag it along :-)

[jbart1965]

Thanks for the pointers, tcutter. I have actually used the headphone jack for headphones since the feature was first introduced in early betas. I think I have used it successfully since upgrading to 7.3 but will have to double check.

The Boom would be nice and I am still considering it, but I have the kitchen semi-covered for now and we may do a renovation soon. If so I would add a set of kitchen speakers and outdoor speakers, connect them to one receiver and link the multizone receiver to an extra Duet receiver. For now I just need a temporary and flexible solution.

[jbart1965]

Gave it a shot last night. Bought a mini-jack with L-R splitter. Seems to work quite fine. Had to turn up the volume to the max on my old Bose clock radio and then control the actual sound level through the remote. I got a reasonably loud sound for my outdoor deck.

Ultimately I will add outdoor speakers, but this setup will do for now. Love the flexibility of the Squeezebox Duet system. It's been very stable for me since upgrading to 7.3. I even had all four floors in my house synced for the first time successfully.