Smart Home Blog

Magic Home Entertainment announced its multi-room music system - moodSeer. The system includes three components: moodCenter, moodSpot and moodBeamer handhold controller. The last one is nothing else than Nokia770 with custom image (I’m thinking about the same solution for Plutohome Orbiter).
The server keeps all your music. Plus you can connect it to the Internet to get Internet radio, podcasts and more. The moodSpot can be connected to powered speakers or the stereo you already have in the room. It will even connect to many boom boxes. You can connect from 6 to 36 moodSpots in your home, for music wherever you want it.
After import your music to the moodServer it stores all tracks and categorizes them according to mood. So, you choose your mood using moodBeamer handheld controller and listen music according to the mood. It’s cool and so easy.
The system also offers a support of mobile MP3 players and follow-me mode (when you listen music on one room and then decide to move to another room the music will be also transferred to the second room).
The price of moodSeer is $4100 for 1Tb moodServer and $1500 for each moodSpot (probably Nokia770 is free :)).
Recently I already blog about Linux-based DIY similar system. Generally, it’s similar to moodSeer except that the Linux-system is fully open and customizable. And also it costs much less.
If you’d like to listen mood music but don’t want to pay so much you might be interested in Squeezebox-based system which may communicates with your PC, Internet radio and file storage and build “smart” playlist according to a ‘genome map’ of music using Pandora service.

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Here is a cool example of building a multi-room music system DIY. The system is includes a file server where all music are stored, fanless Mini-ITX appliances which are used as clients and remote control (Nokia770).
The client is based on VIA ML6000EA Mini-ITX motherboard, which is absolutely noiseless and includes six-channel onboard audio, onboard LAN, support for 1GB of memory and a PCI slot. Instead of HDD it features 256MB Flash drive that plugs directly in to a 40-pin IDE slot. All those parts plus 256 MB RAM are placed into Casetronic C158 case.
Additionally, Embedded Gentoo Linux was built for each client. It includes Music Player Dæmon (MPD) to play music from the file server, lightTPD (a PHP-enabled Web server) and phpMp (a PHP application that controls MPD). This gives any computer on the network with a Web browser the power to control the client. As a controller is chosen an Internet Tablet Nokia 770. Using Opera, which comes installed, it can point the browser to each of the appliances and control them over my wireless network.
As result the author got a multi-room music system with noiseless clients (about $400 each) and cool remote (Nokia770, about $350). Which is not bad isn’t?

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Here is A/V multiroom solution for your home - 8-Source 8-Zone Controller/Amplifier. It allows to play 8 different A/V components through 8 zones of your home. The system includes MZC-88 controller, 8 keypads, cables and other parts for installation. All do you need is to mount the controller into rack , connect your DVD, CD, satellite, VCR and/or any other source of audio or video to the controller, install keypads and wire the controller with output devices: TV or audio systems. Each keypad has built-in IR receivers to control your system using your existing remotes.

The 8-Source 8-Zone Controller/Amplifier is available on Smarthome at $4809.99.

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Asheridge Communications, the specialist provider of audio visual, testing and home networking solutions, has launched the new ZÕN multi-room audio system. To build the system you have to choose 30W or 60W Controllers/Amplifiers, ZON Router, ZON Input Module and variety connectors and expanders. They are compatible with the vast majority of audio sources and connect together on an all-digital system architecture, integrating fully and easily with standard Cat5 structured wiring to ensure quick and simple installation. The system can cover more than 1,000 rooms (in case of NaimNet, for example, we told about 1.8 million rooms and wireless connection).

The Controller/Amplifier provides in-room amplification through its 30 or 60 Watt all-digital stereo amplifier and passes IR commands to source devices in the home through built-in infrared receiver.

The input module offers input connections for analogue, digital, and optical audio sources as well as an IR output, all in one convenient single-gang, standard-sized module.

In my mind the biggest disadvantage of the ZON system is a wire connection. The system seems to be appropriate only for new houses with special preparation. Also, I’m not sure about integration with existing home automation systems. The better way is to build the multiroom music system based on Squeezebox or Transporter from Slim Deices.

[via AutomatedHome]

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