Multisqueeze : Multiroom 6 zone squeezebox rackable system with equalizer

[Chestroled]

Hi,

Since this open community helped me a lot from a while now, I owe you back at least what I've done .

So we talk here about a rackable multiroom system of 6 zone based on a RPI PI 3 .

the architecture is :

RPI -> USB hub -> 6x DAC PCM2704 -> 6x TDA7498 2x100w amplifier

Squeezelite instance can pilot GPIO on play/pause/stop state, then a DIY PCB board enable or disable the standby input of the amplifier (this avoid having bad "pop" sound and damage speakers) this board also cut the 24v power supply when there is no zone in use zone.




Main Hardware list :

• 1 used rackable 2U enclosure
• 24v power
• 5v power
• 1x RPI PI3
• 6x USB DAC PCM2704
• 6x TDA7498 2x100w amplifier
• Speakers terminal

Software side :

On a running PI ( for me Raspbian GNU/Linux 10 (buster)) ,

First install Squeezelite : for example this tutorial

To avoid zone mismatch, you have to "fix" or map your USB to have always the same DAC output, you can achieve this mapping based on this tutorial

For me it looks like this :

/etc/udev/rules.d/70-alsa-permanent.rules

SUBSYSTEM!="sound", GOTO="my_usb_audio_end"
ACTION!="add", GOTO="my_usb_audio_end"

DEVPATH=="/devices/platform/soc/3f980000.usb/usb1/1-1/1-1.3/1-1.3.4/1-1.3.4.4/1-1.3.4.4:1.0/sound/card?", ATTR{id}="USB1"
DEVPATH=="/devices/platform/soc/3f980000.usb/usb1/1-1/1-1.3/1-1.3.4/1-1.3.4.2/1-1.3.4.2:1.0/sound/card?", ATTR{id}="USB2"
DEVPATH=="/devices/platform/soc/3f980000.usb/usb1/1-1/1-1.3/1-1.3.2/1-1.3.2:1.0/sound/card?", ATTR{id}="USB3"
DEVPATH=="/devices/platform/soc/3f980000.usb/usb1/1-1/1-1.3/1-1.3.4/1-1.3.4.3/1-1.3.4.3:1.0/sound/card?", ATTR{id}="USB4"
DEVPATH=="/devices/platform/soc/3f980000.usb/usb1/1-1/1-1.3/1-1.3.3/1-1.3.3:1.0/sound/card?", ATTR{id}="USB5"
DEVPATH=="/devices/platform/soc/3f980000.usb/usb1/1-1/1-1.3/1-1.3.1/1-1.3.1:1.0/sound/card?", ATTR{id}="USB6"

LABEL="my_usb_audio_end"

To add an equalizer to each zone,you have to install Alsa equaliser plugin, you can follow this tutorial

We then create an Alsa file like this :

/etc/asound.conf

#USB1
ctl.USB1 {
  type equal;
  controls "/opt/alsa/USB1.bin";
}

pcm.USB1 {
  type equal;
  slave.pcm "plughw:USB1";
  controls "/opt/alsa/USB1.bin";
}

#USB2
ctl.USB2 {
  type equal;
  controls "/opt/alsa/USB2.bin";
}

pcm.USB2 {
  type equal;
  slave.pcm "plughw:USB2";
  controls "/opt/alsa/USB2.bin";
}

#USB3
ctl.USB3 {
  type equal;
  controls "/opt/alsa/USB3.bin";
}

pcm.USB3 {
  type equal;
  slave.pcm "plughw:USB3";
  controls "/opt/alsa/USB3.bin";
}

#USB4
ctl.USB4 {
  type equal;
  controls "/opt/alsa/USB4.bin";
}

pcm.USB4 {
  type equal;
  slave.pcm "plughw:USB4";
  controls "/opt/alsa/USB4.bin";
}

#USB5
ctl.USB5 {
  type equal;
  controls "/opt/alsa/USB5.bin";
}

pcm.USB5 {
  type equal;
  slave.pcm "plughw:USB5";
  controls "/opt/alsa/USB5.bin";
}

#USB6
ctl.USB6 {
  type equal;
  controls "/opt/alsa/USB6.bin";
}

pcm.USB6 {
  type equal;
  slave.pcm "plughw:USB6";
  controls "/opt/alsa/USB6.bin";
}

You have now your sound output with 10 bands equalizer :



Next step is to create a way to launch 6 instances of Squeezelite at boot :

this is achieved by a service than run as bash file

You can follow this tutorial to create your service

my mutiroom.service file

Description=Multisqueeze launch
ConditionPathExists=/home/user/bin/opt/multiroom

[Service]
Restart=always
RestartSec=3
ExecStart=/home/opt/multiroom/multisqueeze

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

This service will run this bash script :

#! /bin/sh

# Run mutliple squeezelite instance as deamon 
sudo squeezelite -z -n Cuisine -m 00:00:00:00:00:01 -o plug:USB1 -r 32000,44100,48000 -C 5 -G 4:H -f ~/squeezelite_cui.log
sudo squeezelite -z -n Sam -m 00:00:00:00:00:02 -o plug:USB2 -r 32000,44100,48000 -C 5 -G 17:H -f ~/squeezelite_sam.log
sudo squeezelite -z -n Sdb -m 00:00:00:00:00:03 -o plug:USB3 -r 32000,44100,48000 -C 5 -G 27:H -f ~/squeezelite_sdb.log
sudo squeezelite -z -n Chambre_parents -m 00:00:00:00:00:04 -o plug:USB4 -r 32000,44100,48000 -C 5 -G 22:H -f ~/squeezelite_ch_par.log
sudo squeezelite -z -n Exterieur -m 00:00:00:00:00:05 -r 32000,44100,48000 -o plug:USB5 -C 5 -G 19:H -f ~/squeezelite_ext.log
sudo squeezelite -z -n Free -m 00:00:00:00:00:06 -r 32000,44100,48000 -o plug:USB6 -C 5 -G 26:H -f ~/squeezelite_res.log

You can control GPIO, and define several option at squeezelite instance launch, I let you take a look at all these option HERE


And that's it...

At each boot, the script will run your definited numbers of Squeezelite instance as deamon

You have then a complete mutiroom system with equalizer at low cost





Hope it help, good luck .

[Greg Erskine]

A great project, well executed.

[Paul Webster]

I always admire this sort of thing.
Looks like it would be readily achievable for a hobbyist with electronics skills.

One thing ... the fake MAC addresses that Squeezelite will pass back to LMS might cause problems if you also link to mysqueezebox.com.

If you want to use mysqueezebox.com then maybe use "locally administered" MAC addresses but make them similar to the MAC address of the host. That might reduce the chance of a clash at mysb.

https://serverfault.com/questions/40712/what-range-of-mac-addresses-can-i-safely-use-for-my-virtual-machines

[Chestroled]

I always admire this sort of thing.
Looks like it would be readily achievable for a hobbyist with electronics skills.

One thing ... the fake MAC addresses that Squeezelite will pass back to LMS might cause problems if you also link to mysqueezebox.com.

If you want to use mysqueezebox.com then maybe use "locally administered" MAC addresses but make them similar to the MAC address of the host. That might reduce the chance of a clash at mysb.

https://serverfault.com/questions/40...rtual-machines

Hello, thanks for your point, I personally don't use my squeezebox services , but your message can help others people. So Mac adresses should have to be similar as other Mac adresses from the local network , right ?

Thanks

[Paul Webster]

... adding to my thoughts ... perhaps mysb ignores non-slim/Logitech MAC addresses ... in which case it would not matter I suppose.

[Paul Webster]

So Mac adresses should have to be similar as other Mac adresses from the local network , right ?

MAC addresses are assigned to manufacturers. They get a prefix and then it is up to them to make the rest of it unique (which does not always happen).
So in your home environment you would have a wide variety of prefixes.

There are some prefixes that are reserved for private use - like 192.168 or 10. in IP addresses.
My thought was to create a private address set that is similar to the real MAC address of your ethernet connection in your Pi.
e.g. take the real MAC - change the prefix ... then increment some part of the rest for each player.

[Chestroled]

MAC addresses are assigned to manufacturers. They get a prefix and then it is up to them to make the rest of it unique (which does not always happen).
So in your home environment you would have a wide variety of prefixes.

There are some prefixes that are reserved for private use - like 192.168 or 10. in IP addresses.
My thought was to create a private address set that is similar to the real MAC address of your ethernet connection in your Pi.
e.g. take the real MAC - change the prefix ... then increment some part of the rest for each player.

Got it thanks 👍🏻