Need help for my setup

[Mike1981]

Hello together,

first of all excuse my english. But i am not a native speaker.
I hope your understand my request and can help me to find the best solution for me and my wife.

We build a new home last year and build in wall speakers in our bathroom and sleeping room. The cables for that are rooted to a single place in our house.
When we planned our house, the plan was to use something like sonos amp. But after the last month, i found this forum and now my opinion changed.

I would like to use LMS on my NAS and buy 2 RaspPi for the 2 Zones. For the players i would think PiCoreplayer is the best option?

The next problem/questions occures should i use HifiBerry AMP2 or is a DAC + separate AMP the better solution?
The problem with the separate amp would be, how could i turn it on/off. (The RaspPI + AMP should be hidden in our technic room)

Thanks for your help

Mike

[Apesbrain]

In your situation, I would:

- use the HiFiBerry Amp2 bundle: https://www.hifiberry.com/shop/bundl...ry-amp-bundle/
- run PiCorePlayer on both Raspberry Pi
- wire both RPi to your router; wireless only if no other option
- run LMS on your NAS or on one of the RPi
- store your library on the NAS or on a powered USB hard drive
- buy a second USB hard drive (no need to be powered) and use as an off-site backup (keep at work, at relative's, in safe deposit box, etc.); develop a routine for monthly backup
- use Material Skin plugin for remote control (browser, phone, tablet).

Off-site backup of your music library is critical unless you are only a streamer. One tactic is to buy two portable drives for local backup and swap them monthly to your remote location.

See also:
https://forums.slimdevices.com/showt...sounds-amazing!

[Rnee]

I would like to use LMS on my NAS and buy 2 RaspPi for the 2 Zones. For the players i would think PiCoreplayer is the best option?

The next problem/questions occures should i use HifiBerry AMP2 or is a DAC + separate AMP the better solution?
The problem with the separate amp would be, how could i turn it on/off. (The RaspPI + AMP should be hidden in our technic room)

pCP is great for multi room solutions.
Before starting to use it, I too was in search for an alternative for proprietary hw/sw combo's that could last for quite some time.
It has awesome flexibility regarding HW and controlling it, works well, some tinkering/DIY satisfaction, ...

Regarding your question of an AMP: it all depends on what you already have as gear and what you expect from your setup.
As you can see from my signature, I also use an AMP2
I have solved the problem of an older, external AMP by integrating it into home automation and a simple, controllable socket that switches the AMP on/off when LMS starts/stops: works like a charm.