I’m working on a proposal for a multi-room audio system. An AHM-32 seems like a good fit, but there are two requirements I could use some help with.
This will be a multi-room system and some of the rooms will require a basic local audio input. In some cases this will be a stereo line input and in other cases it will be a paging microphone. It looks like all of the SLink i/o is overkill for this application. Am I correct to assume that my best option is to add Dante and use a DT20 (or AVIO, etc.) at these remote locations? (I know I could use analog, but the runs are pretty long and I already need to run Cat cable for the controllers anyway.)
One of the goals of this project is to keep all of the equipment locked in a closet and have users interact only with a dedicated controller. This could be a CC, IP or app. Two of the sources are going to be an AM/FM tuner and a satellite radio tuner. Is there any way to offer basic control of those sources through an AHM controller? Preset selection is all that’s really needed. It seems like overkill to go to something like Q-Sys just for this basic feature. Has anyone tackled this in the past with an AHM installation?
Yes, if your AHM is equipped with a Dante card, a DT20 / DT22 or similar third party interface would be my recommendation here.
It depends what control format / protocol the radio tuners accept. In principle, yes, Custom Control buttons and IP controllers can be programmed to send TCP/UDP strings to an IP address, or control GPIO.
Thanks for the feedback. Regarding the radio… I’m not aware of any tuners that accept control via IP or GPIO. There are a few older models that support RS232 which could be made to work with an external IP-serial bridge. I’m trying to avoid developing a new solution. I’d rather use something proven if it exists.
I think what I’m really asking is how background music source control has been integrated in other AHM systems. I assume it’s a common need.
My client asked for AM/FM, but I’m happy to steer them in a different direction if there is another option that integrates more cleanly with the AHM control options. But even streaming and satellite radios present a control challenge.
AHM has source selectors for each Zone. These simplify the selection of background music sources with a set level and crossfade time if desired. They can be controlled by Custom Control, IP Controllers or the front panel buttons on AHM-16 and 32.
There is however no built-in control mechanism for radio frequency tuning other than the options I listed above. Is that what you need to control? And may I ask how would you control it over Q-Sys or similar?
Yes - I’m asking about controlling tuning frequency or channel. Or, selecting a streaming audio source.
Q-sys has a plugin system that supports devices from Sony, Yamaha, Brightsign and others that can be used to background music. It also has a much more robust IP control capability that can integrate with other device’s APIs. I don’t need all of that for my project. I’m just looking for something that will allow an external controller to change the channel on a tuner locked in a closet. That control can be via RS232, IP or IR. I have flexible to select the right device for the job and want to use the most robust solution.
As you’ve noted, Q-sys is overkill but it has also reached that point because of the flexibility it offers (1) to integrate with other systems through language support with the necessary capabilities and (2) the ability to package and distribute these modules.
Today, CC is an XML-based declaration of layouts depending on support being built into the AHM core. I’m a couple releases behind playing with CC, but I don’t think you’re going to find the necessary support (API, UI) in AHM today for controlling an external tuner.