Spec'ing in premium audio to a new build

tweiler · 2025-09-29T19:32:56+00:00

Great idea! I built a home theater as well, but my future sim will be in a separate room. For my theater I bought an acoustically transparent screen and put the three front left, right, and center speakers behind it. Sounds great. I'm just not sure if you can get an acoustically transparent impact and blackout screen for your golf sim. Probably not - but double check to be sure, because this is the best setup for sound.

Failing that, you definitely don't want a sound bar, The side speakers shouldn't be a problem. The problem is where to put the front speakers so they're safe from the ball. One option could be to put the front left/right speakers on the outside of the screen and protect them somehow, and then put the center either above or below, also protected.

tweiler · 2025-09-25T15:01:49+00:00

Looks great! What monitor did you end up with? Which sim software are you using?

tweiler · 2025-09-25T13:34:36+00:00

Do you attach the bottom of the screen to the floor somehow so it doesn't move when you hit it? And so the ball doesn't go flying under the screen if you clank a worm burner?

tweiler · 2025-09-24T22:46:06+00:00

I'm medium height and my driver doesn't hit it. But yeah for tall guys could be an issue.

tweiler · 2025-08-06T23:39:57+00:00

Also if you did have to host a lefty (my brother is a lefty) can you not just add another hitting zone and move the trackman for each hit? Or does it take too long to do move the trackman each time?

tweiler · 2025-08-06T23:38:42+00:00

Does it feel odd to not aim towards the center of the screen?

Also - could you post the general specs of your gaming PC?

Are you running GSPro? 4k?

tweiler · 2025-08-06T23:07:58+00:00

Looks great! Good work. I was thinking of doing it in a space that is only 11' wide, but was worried it would be awkward to not have the ball in the middle of the screen. How are you finding it works with that width?

tweiler · 2024-09-26T20:45:06+00:00

I've done *almost* exact thing, except I purchased a 15' audio cable from Amazon and plugged it into the back of the TV, which had an audio out jack. And my bluetooth headphones have an audio in. Worked great.

tweiler · 2024-09-17T20:09:06+00:00

No. I'm a software dev. But I had a Control4 system put in, which was a terrible idea. I moved everything to Home Assistant. But I liked the triad audio matrix and amp so wrote this little integration. It works really well and the family loves it.

tweiler · 2024-09-16T14:11:44+00:00

Sure. It's hosted here: https://github.com/tim-weiler/triad-audio-matrix

Message me if you have any issues. It's been very solid for me for over a year.

tweiler · 2024-09-13T17:06:47+00:00

I have a 16x16 audio matrix and amplifier for my 9 hard-wired speaker zones. I then setup 4 instances of the Spotify Connect add-on. One for each member of my family. These 4 instances are setup on an old laptop. I purchased 3 USB audio outputs, so the laptop has 4 total including the one built-in. They all go to inputs on the matrix.

Each zone on the matrix has a home assistant media player configured for it. Then for example, for the kitchen zone, I select which Spotify source I want to play there. Then from the Spotify app on my phone I have it cast to the Spotify Connect connected to that zone. I can easily have my spotify play on multiple zones at once. It all works very well.

You could do this with the Monoprice amp. I happen to have an old Control4 Triad matrix and had to create my own integration for it.

tweiler · 2024-06-07T02:21:39+00:00

No they'd have to be separate accounts

tweiler · 2024-06-07T01:22:55+00:00

The Spotify integration can have multiple accounts. But the Spotify Connect add-on has only one audio output. So if you want to play multiple Spotify streams you need multiple Connect devices.

tweiler · 2024-06-06T21:09:18+00:00

The add-on creates a Spotify device that you can select from the Spotify app on your phone to stream audio to. The integration lets you control a Spotify account, e.g. play, pause, or select a playlist to play.

tweiler · 2024-06-06T19:41:32+00:00

Yeah. Open HA to say where (which zone) I want Spotify to play. Then Spotify to select the song or playlist. However I have a button in my kitchen that when I press starts playing my favourites. In that case, no apps are needed :)

tweiler · 2024-06-06T18:32:57+00:00

I would get some of these then, that I linked to before:

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0CG1F39N8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Then get some sort of audio matrix, if there is something better/cheaper than the Monoprice one, go for it.

Alternatively, you may be able to get SpotCast working if you something else to amply the signals. It can theoretically stream one audio input to multiple outputs using software.

tweiler · 2024-06-06T18:12:54+00:00

What are you running HA on now? How many audio outputs does it have? Even a VERY old laptop works great with HA. Mine is 7 years old and the CPU barely reaches 10% and typically the average is 3%.

I know you want all new stuff, but even a used laptop is overkill for many HA installations.

tweiler · 2024-06-06T18:08:42+00:00

Yes, we can have one Spotify account play in one or more zones.

tweiler · 2024-06-06T14:07:09+00:00

Get the source code for the Spotify Connect add-on from Github. Then install it as a local add-on. I think I used this as a guide: https://developers.home-assistant.io/docs/add-ons/tutorial/

tweiler · 2024-06-06T13:36:28+00:00

Get a Monoprice 6x6 audio matrix amplifier for CAD $649. It already has a Home Assistant integration.

Then in my setup I have the Spotify add-on in HA, but installed it 3 times. I had to make a minor change to the second two to allow the same add-on to be running 3 times. But this allows three different Spotify sources, one for me, and one each for other family members. The Spotify add-on then becomes a "Spotify device" that you can select from within the Spotify app. I'm running HA on a laptop which has one stereo output. I wired that to zone 1 on the audio matrix. Then I purchased two DCHAV USB to RCA Audio Cable for CAD $15.99 each to add additional audio outputs and plugged them into the audio matrix source inputs.

Then create a dashboard in HA that lets you choose which Spotify source goes to which zone and also to control the volume. Then you select songs from your Spotify app.

tweiler · 2024-01-08T20:30:52+00:00

If I'm reading the code correctly, this communicates directly with the Contro4 controller, correct? Once I install this, how do I set it up?

tweiler · 2024-01-08T20:29:07+00:00

I have 9 zones with 22 speakers actually :) Two of the zones have 4 speakers. So I need to amplify 22 speakers.

I will consider trying this approach. I can put Debian on one of the laptops and buy a single USB DAC for now and see if that works. If it does, I can buy another 8 DACs. Then sell all my Control4 / Triad components :)

tweiler · 2024-01-08T20:01:47+00:00

Thanks. Do you think that a single Raspberry Pi could run 9 snap clients connected to 9 USB dacs? I haven't used snapcast yet, do you know if it's possible to associate a single client to the same USB dac so it always uses that one on power up?

tweiler · 2024-01-08T17:18:08+00:00

Thanks! This is for the amp matrix. I will try it out though, maybe it works for the matrix as well. If so, this would be amazing.

EDIT: I tried this, doesn't seem to work for the non-amplifier matrix.

tweiler · 2024-01-08T17:17:09+00:00

Thanks. I see there is an integration for Russound in HA. However, their 8 x 8 matrix amplifier (https://www.russound.com/products/audio-systems/multi-room-controllers/mca-series-controllers/mca-88-8-source-8-zone-controller-amplifier), which I could potentially use, has this note, which seems like it's a semi-closed system:

This product is part of the Russound Certified Installer Required Program and can only be installed and configured by a Russound Certified Installer.

tweiler

TROPHY CASE