Any Way To Stream/Serve to Two Places Simultaneously?

Can a PC or Linux box stream music to two places simultaneously over wi-fi?

I mean the same song/song list to 2 different rooms/systems without obvious lag or "echo"?

I've never set up a home network but now I have a small form factor HP computer that I got for ten bucks at a Goodwill. I'm thinking about using it as a music server to stream to an android phone, blue-ray player, Chromecast or laptop.

I figure I can muddle through and figure something out that will work for one "reciever", but man it would be cool to have my own in-house "radio station" that would play in a couple of rooms and my garage. Like many folks here I have systems scattered around the house.

I rarely sit still for tunes, but I love to have them playing when I'm cooking, cooking out or working around the house. There is a college radio station that occasionally plays good blues or jazz and having several systems going as I'm moving around is really cool.

Is there any system that can do this?

I know it's possible; but from a PC perspective; I can't think of how you would. I know the crappy "soundboxes" you can get that work on bluetooth; some of those will let you pipe the same audio feed to multiple units.

In theory; yes; you can...but you would have to use internet-radio like technology...have a stream being rendered then pushed around your network in a lossless fashion. The only issue would be getting it all sync'd up. I don't think you'll do that with off-the-shelf software.

Maybe you can, I've never tried.

This is what Sonos has been all about for the past 12 years. Up to 32 rooms can share a single stream simultaneously, or play different streams in various groupings.

Probably not the answer you are looking for, but Sonos can. It works really well, same song on every unit, or different on each.

If you have FM capabilities at each system, there was a thread recently that mentioned low power home FM transmitters. You could have your own home radio station, and it'd be cheaper than getting hooked up with Sonos.

ETA: beaten to the punch by chicks!

Desktop computer with your music collection and Logitech Media Server, a couple Raspberry Pi's loaded with piCorePlayer and your DAC of choice, and away you go. I have 3 audio systems I regularly sync when I entertain guests :yes:

I do it with my mac and iTunes - stream the same song choices to multiple output points.
Sometimes I stream music from an internet radio station via iTunes to multiple home systems ...
but it doesn't always sound good if the rooms' sound can play into each other
(time delay/room acoustics as you walk around, etc)

As I stay away from proprietary audio software/devices; I figured it was possible, but not with anything I would recommend.

BadassBob said:

Desktop computer with your music collection and Logitech Media Server, a couple Raspberry Pi's loaded with piCorePlayer and your DAC of choice, and away you go. I have 3 audio systems I regularly sync when I entertain guests :yes:

Click to expand...

Thanks, I've got some google-ing to do. The Pi's are something to think about.

I figured that the Apple stuff could do that. I've resisted for years and I'm not ready to be "assimilated into the Apple continuum" yet. I know my resistance is futile.

I'm not ready for blue teeth either.

The Sonus seems to be a great choice. Two or three receivers ain't cheap though.

60 Cycle Hum said:

Thanks, I've got some google-ing to do. The Pi's are something to think about.

I figured that the Apple stuff could do that. I've resisted for years and I'm not ready to be "assimilated into the Apple continuum" yet. I know my resistance is futile.

I'm not ready for blue teeth either.

Click to expand...

Each method has it's pros and cons. The Raspberry Pi method would be cheapest, but at the same time require more legwork to get running. Apple and Sonos will be more costly, but easier to set up and configure. Apple will also be more on the proprietary side, but some of that can be worked around.

BadassBob said:

Desktop computer with your music collection and Logitech Media Server, a couple Raspberry Pi's loaded with piCorePlayer and your DAC of choice, and away you go. I have 3 audio systems I regularly sync when I entertain guests :yes:

Click to expand...

+1

works great... no lag... like having my own personal radio station to tune my receivers into. Great for parties like BABob sez

You can even pick and choose which RPi's are synced if someone wants something different in another room.

Be aware that Airplay has been opened up and can be used with third party software to send audio exactly the way you described. A $25 Airfoil program will send any audio on you computer (doesn't have to be iTunes) to any or all Airport Express units.

If you hate Apple and don't want to buy an Airport Express, there are other receivers that work with Airplay.

60 Cycle Hum said:

The Sonus seems to be a great choice. Two or three receivers ain't cheap though.

Click to expand...

My wife "gave" me a multi-room music system for Fathers Day. After I decided that wired was too much work, I found SONOS. Sticker shock put that on the shelf. Bluetooth wouldn't work b/c you can only link to 1 bluetooth music device at a time, so unless the device is a multi-room/multi-speaker arrangement (which they aren't) it doesn't do what I wanted.
I finally fell upon the Jongo system by Pure in the UK. Its not SONOS for sure. It has the ability to discover MP3, WMA and AAC iTunes formats, but AFAIK nothing lossless. But if after finding a $10 PC you are looking into this, I bet affordability is the first priority. I picked up 2 A2 wireless receiver/DAC units and 1 S3 speaker for about $200. The S3 sounds good compared to the usual wireless speaker and has multiple modes and a 10 hour battery. The A2s have digital and analog outs to go into your existing receiver/amp. Its not perfect, but I have been satisfied with it. Looking to eventually have 3 A2s to one bookshelf system, and two media systems, and 2 S3s that will be in 2 other rooms or sometimes paired to do true separated stereo in a single room or outside.

http://www.pure.com/wireless/jongo-multiroom-speakers/

I have Polk audio Omni S2 setup at home using Play-Fi....you can have multiple speakers setup throughout your home and play all of them the same song or different songs....as each person in your household can take control of the speakers...

Thanks, good info all. I've got some gear to sell and maybe I'll put the money towards one of the options. (It's as much about the gear accumulation as it is the money.)

I really wasn't sure what was currently possible.

I don't think streaming the same song to multiple stereos is the hard part. How much you are willing to pay for it is the question.

I use logitechmediaserver running on an old desktop far away from my stereos and hacked pogoplugs for the players (connected via wifi). Just one of the cheaper ways to achieve your goal.

Another vote for Sonos. I don't know of anything else that will stream in sync to multiple rooms.

Hey all. Longtime lurker, first post. I use Sonos and really like it. I've got 2 Connects, and a Play3 that I move outside sometimes. It is expensive, though.

I just found this new, cheaper, alternative in wireless/streaming audio products: Rocki

Looks like you can stream to multiple "rooms" from phone, tablet or pc. $49

Pic:

http://audioengineusa.com/Store/Wireless/W3-Wireless-Audio-Adapter

Not sure if it is what you are looking for but this works. I use one to send music to my bedroom.

When I worked for an electronics recycler, we'd get truckloads of store returns. I used to get Sonos units all the time. There was nothing ever wrong with them, people must not have been able to figure them out, or whatever. I would just test them, clean them up and send them to the resale store.

Anyhow, my point is, I can personally attest to them working well together. I conducted an experiment. I got a group of sonos units in, and I lined them all up on my bench. I had some Play5 and Play3 models. I had about 20 units total, all playing at the same time, all streaming from a single zone bridge. There was no lag at all. They all played in perfect unison.

Another option might be Shoutcast. It's a plugin for Winamp. I used to use it back in the late 90s when I was an IT director. I would host a shoutcast server at home, and stream it to various PCs at work. Then I could hear it all over the building while I was moving around. I can't attest to any lag, I never tried to stream two PCs close enough together to notice. Winamp is free, shoutcast is free, and it doesn't require much in the way of hardware specs to run, so it might be worth a try.

However, if it's just within your house, maybe just use an FM transmitter. Then you can pick it up anywhere in the house, on any device with a tuner, with no lag (and no network hardware to worry about).