Is there an inexpensive all-in-one wifi speaker endpoint available that support Roon? Ideally this would be an Echo Dot, but that is not available today. The goal would be to distribute sound across the house and tie into the Echo ecosystem as well. Any third party options?
Depends on what you mean by “cheap” Search for Sonos, Blusound…
Another option is the RPi +amp set-up…
Echo Dot!? You’re joking, right?
Why not just use a transister radio turned to AM?
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In all seriousness, take a look at this.
Plus, not to mention the low quality, you want the speaker to play music, not the speaker to listen to your personal conversations!
I’m very happy with my Bluesound Pulse Flex.
Under $50 per node is what I mean by cheap. In this case what people already have in multiple rooms.
For most people, the Echo Dot is am improvement over what they might have been using previously.
If you want an endpoint in the kitchen or the bathroom while getting ready, it doesn’t need to be 24/192. Whole house on a budget cannot be using complex Raspberry Pi solutions or $300 Bluesound Pulse Flex. $50 per node is more like what I am asking about.
I like the way you are thinking! However, the goal is to have low footprint speakers or some form of built in system that can use the network to distribute sound around a house on a budget. It would be great if something could tie into built-in ceiling speakers. Any ideas are welcome as I am using one main listening room and smaller iDevice enabled endpoints. I am asking for a friend who has a larger house than I have but doesn’t want to spend a lot on driving sound through his house using RAAT. Sound quality is secondary. The first thing I thought of was a Raspberry Pi solution, or a series of MicroRendus, but he is looking at a smaller budget than I would have allotted.
Have you figured out how to get Roon to transmit over AM? No? Thanks for playing.
$50 per endpoint + speaker cheap.
That’s a mighty fine looking device, but 10 x $300 is way above my friend’s budget. This is where I got stuck too… I also thought of a Sonos solution, but he’s thinking speakers int he ceiling and wiring to a multizone AVR. Surely we can do better.
I think the objective of $50 per zone is unrealistic. However the route you may want to explore further is in-ceiling speakers plus a central array of Raspberry Pis with DAC amp hats.
Using a single power supply and case should be economical and speaker choice will bring costs down significantly. I use Monitor Audio in-ceiling speakers but there’s are significantly cheaper options.
Alternatively consider a single RPi zone feeding multiple rooms via an automatic speaker selector.
Very cool, but way to DIY for my friend, he is looking for Echo Dot-like simplicity and pricing. Impressive box though!!!
Hi Frans,
I hooked up a small FM stereo transmitter (only 0.5 watt) to my fixed out of the amplifier which is connected to a roon endpoint. Now I can use every FM radio in the house for playing the music my roon endpoint does.
The FM transmitter was 90 euro but there are cheaper solutions for that.
Depending on where the solution is needed this could work for you too,
Best regards,
Ben
Interesting approach!
Pi + amped HAT is what I was thinking. But you’re not going to get there for 50 bucks. The IQAudio Pi Digi Amp+ by itself is 55 Euros. If you want something ready built all in one box I don’t see it coming near that price point. Sonos? Doubt it. But I am willfully ignorant about Echo Dots and other “smart home” appliances, no interest in them. (And I certainly have no intention of asking Alexa or whomever to pick out music for me).
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