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Misterhouse Whole-House Audio and SpeechIntroductionThis page is dedicated to the audio portion of my Misterhouse setup. You must first setup and be fairly familiar with Misterhouse, which can be found at http://www.misterhouse.net. Basically, I use Misterhouse to control my home, including my whole-house audio system. I installed the Festival speech engine which Misterhouse uses to talk. I can then send this speech, multiple streams of MP3s, and (in the future) other audio sources through my whole-house audio system. You can see pictures of pretty much all the hardware I talk about and more by going to this page. User InterfaceThe whole user interface right now is done through the Musica keypads or one of my Home Theater Master MX-500 learning remotes that have learned codes from the Musica remote. Basically, the user can do any of these:
That's it. All of the rest is handled by Misterhouse with the software I have written that is discussed below. Hardware Overview
This is the overview of the main components of the audio portion of my whole-house audio system. What you don't see is the ChannelPlus Video/IR distribution system I describe in "Advanced Hardware" below. I have IR control of my home theater receiver, its components (i.e. the DVD/Tivo/etc) and the IR-controlled A/V switch boxes. I also use modulators to put all of the video devices (Tivo, Dish Network PVR, DVD changer) as well as some cameras onto the video amplifier so that you can view what you are listening to on the whole-house audio system (of course there is also audio as part of the modulated channels, but that is mono since I only have mono modulators). As you can see, I have some physical limitations. First of all, since the Musica system only has four real source inputs, only four different sources can be listened to at the same time. Since I only have 6 zones this is not a huge problem. I can have up to four MP3 streams or three MP3 streams and one dedicated voice-only stream (I also put voice onto the MP3 streams (pausing them first) for important messages). Alternatively, I can have two MP3/voice streams as well as two other sources (internet radio/DVD/Tivo/etc) in use at one time. But I can not have more than two of those other sources in use since I only have them going into two switch boxes. I have space for one more device into the fourth input on the switch boxes, or I could change the internet radio to only use one of the switch boxes and then I could have three more inputs. I also could put several more inputs into my home theater receiver. But, for now, this is all I've got. Hardware DetailsAs far as hardware goes, I use the Netstreams Musica whole-house audio system (http://www.netstreams.com) for the audio distribution. Netstreams uses a dealer network but if you contact me I can put you in touch with my dealer who allowed me to do a self-install. It has excellent control via RS232 and very nice keypads. It supports 4 sources and 6 zones. Each zone can listen to separate sources or multiple zones can listen to the same source. The 4 physical source inputs means that only 4 different sources can be listened to at the same time in my house. But, using my VirtualAudio.pm (below) I can make more than four sources available. Along with this, I have a M-Audio Delta 410 sound card which provides 8 channels of output which I have configured into four separate stereo audio channels. This is in a Red Hat Linux 8.0 system with a custom-compiled 2.4.27 Linux kernel with the ALSA sound drivers (http://www.alsaproject.org). It works rather well. To play my MP3s I use AlsaPlayer (http://www.alsaplayer.org). If you want to set things up exactly how I have them, you'll need a dedicated Linux system that can run Misterhouse and contain the Delta M-Audio 410 as well as a free RS-232 port to connect to your Netstreams Musica ADC. I use four RCA stereo hook-up cables to connect the four outputs from the sound card to the four inputs on the Musica ADC. You then need up to six Musica amplified keypads and any necessary speakers. One thing I like about the Musica keypads is that you can buy an optional local input/output module. You can place this in the same room as the keypad (also installs in the wall) and it has an audio input and output. The input can be used to connect a local source (such as a TV) to your local zone for a fifth source for that particular zone. The output can be used to hook up a dedicated amplifier instead of or in addition to the amplifier built into the keypad. Or you can hook that up to your home theater receiver so that you can listen to music on you home theater speakers. Advanced HardwareIf you want more than just MP3 sources, read this section... Finally, I use even more hardware to provide more physical sources. Basically, inputs #3 and #4 have an IR-controlled A/V switch box that I got from Radio Shack (Cat# 15-1977) in front of them. The first input into each of these switch boxes is audio out from the M-Audio Delta 410 (the other two channels go directly to inputs #1 and #2 on the Musica ADC). The second input to the first switch box is zone2 output from my home theater receiver. The second input to the second switch box is zone3 output from my home theater receiver. The third input to both switch boxes is the output from my Windows computer (split to both inputs) which I use for Internet radio. I currently have the fourth input to both switch boxes available for future use. This allows me to have up to 4 MP3 streams or 2 MP3 streams and 2 other sources in use at one time. The other sources are either the Internet Radio from my Windows computer or any of the sources available from my home theater receiver, which currently includes its internal AM/FM tuner, my Tivo, my Dish Network PVR (which I don't recommend), and my Pioneer DVD Changer. In order to control all of this, you have to have something like the USB-UIRT which is supported by Misterhouse, although currently you have to use the Windows-based Girder program to learn the IR codes. While it is a bit more difficult, you need to have a way to get the IR output from that device to your IR-controlled switch boxes, your home theater receiver, and your various components. I chose the ChannelPlus video/IR distribution system which I bought from Worthington Distribution. I got a 4-channel and 2-channel modulator for all of my video devices and cameras. I also got the DA-550BID amplifier which does a nice job combining my modulators into 8 outputs, as well as distributing IR. The disadvantage is that you have to install a wall plate at each location for the 12-Volt system. The 5-volt system is easier, but I didn't see that it provided arbitrary IR outputs like the 12-volt system does (each wall plate provides coax out, IR out, and IR in). I just put this system in, but I'm having probems right now with minimal video/audio distortions while IR signals are being repeated... even on sources not directly connected to the video distribution system. But the IR system is very reliable and the modulated and distributed video is very good quality otherwise. My home theater receiver (Yamaha RX-V1400) has a wide range of audio/visual inputs and, most importantly for this project, provides two audio output zones in addition to the main output. These zones can output any source regardless of what is being listened to in the main zone. Most important of all is that the receiver has discrete on/off IR codes and discrete IR codes for each input for the main zone as well as zones 2 and 3... all on the original remote! This means that from Misterhouse I can turn each zone on or off independently and control each source with discrete codes. I love this receiver -- it sounds great, automatically calibrates itself with the included microphone, is THX-certified, and does component video switching including up-conversion from composite/S-Video up to component. If you want a bit more power, a RS-232 port, and a much better remote (as well as video out for zone 2, I believe), you can get the RX-V2400. Unfortunately, authorized Yamaha resellers were not allowed to sell these receivers over the Internet when I purchased mine, so I bought it from a local store. Since I have several Home Theater Master MX-500 remotes (with the IRClone-MX for easy programming), I had no need for the original remote apart from learning the IR codes, so I opted for the less expensive receiver. I highly recommend BlueDo.com to purchase these awesome remotes. They even have a MX-500 2-pack and a MX-500/IRClone-MX package. The MX-500 is very user-friendly with an adequate number of hard buttons as well as 10 devices which you can label and 20 soft buttons per device with custom labels. It has full learning capability and great IR output strength as well as the ability to store numerous macros. I currently own three of these things and use them to control my A/V equipment as well as my whole-house audio system. SoftwareMisterhouseFirst, you need to have Misterhuose on a Linux system. I recommend having at least one system dedicated to you home automation system. In my case, I have a PII-450Mhz that runs Misterhouse, monitors two security cameras, and plays up to four simultaneous streams of MP3s. But that is pushing it -- if I am doing something like compiling a kernel it can't play MP3s too well. Misterhouse is not easy to set up and not easy to learn, even if you already know Perl (as was my case). But it is well worth the effort as you can do anything with it. You can get Misterhouse from http://www.misterhouse.net. Be sure that you are using version 2.89 of Misterhouse or newer. ALSAYou can get ALSA drivers and utilities from http://www.alsaproject.org. To play my MP3s I use AlsaPlayer (http://www.alsaplayer.org). Also, I made the following change to AlsaPlayer to allow songs to be shuffled while AlsaPlayer is already running:
--- app/Main.orig 2004-03-15 12:24:37.000000000 -0700
+++ app/Main.cpp 2004-03-15 12:25:25.000000000 -0700
@@ -291,6 +291,7 @@
" --volume vol set software volume [0.0-1.0]\n"
" --start start playing\n"
" --stop stop playing\n"
+ " --shuffle shuffle playlist\n"
" --pause pause/unpause playing\n"
" --prev jump to previous track\n"
" --next jump to next track\n"
@@ -363,6 +364,7 @@
int do_remote_control = 0;
int do_start = 0;
int do_stop = 0;
+ int do_shuffle = 0;
int do_prev = 0;
int do_next = 0;
int do_pause = 0;
@@ -415,6 +417,7 @@
{ "crossfade", 0, 0, 'x' },
{ "output", 1, 0, 'o' },
{ "stop", 0, 0, 'U' },
+ { "shuffle", 0, 0, '!' },
{ "pause", 0, 0, 'O' },
{ "start", 0, 0, 'T' },
{ "prev", 0, 0, 'Q' },
@@ -582,6 +585,10 @@
case 'I':
global_interface_script = optarg;
break;
+ case '!':
+ do_remote_control = 1;
+ do_shuffle = 1;
+ break;
case 'U':
do_remote_control = 1;
do_stop = 1;
I don't understand a lot about configuring Alsa, but I got this configuration working for my Delta M-Audio 410 with some help from the mailing list:
pcm.ice1712 {
type hw
card 0
device 0
}
ctl.ice1712 {
type hw
card 0
device 0
}
pcm.dmixer12 {
type dmix
ipc_key 1024
slave {
pcm "hw:0,0"
period_time 0
period_size 1024
buffer_size 6553
rate 44100 # set to your source rate
}
bindings.0 0
bindings.1 1
}
pcm.dmixer34 {
type dmix
ipc_key 1024 # must be same as for dmixer12
slave { # all parameters in this section must be same as for dmixer12
pcm "hw:0,0"
period_time 0
period_size 1024
buffer_size 6553
rate 44100
}
bindings.0 2
bindings.1 3
}
pcm.dmixer56 {
type dmix
ipc_key 1024 # must be same as for dmixer12
slave { # all parameters in this section must be same as for dmixer12
pcm "hw:0,0"
period_time 0
period_size 1024
buffer_size 6553
rate 44100
}
bindings.0 4
bindings.1 5
}
pcm.dmixer78 {
type dmix
ipc_key 1024 # must be same as for dmixer12
slave { # all parameters in this section must be same as for dmixer12
pcm "hw:0,0"
period_time 0
period_size 1024
buffer_size 6553
rate 44100
}
bindings.0 6
bindings.1 7
}
pcm.channel12 {
type plug
slave.pcm "dmixer12"
}
pcm.channel34 {
type plug
slave.pcm "dmixer34"
}
pcm.channel56 {
type plug
slave.pcm "dmixer56"
}
pcm.channel78 {
type plug
slave.pcm "dmixer78"
}
pcm.dmixerALL {
type dmix
ipc_key 1024
slave {
pcm "hw:0,0"
period_time 0
period_size 1024
buffer_size 6553
rate 44100
}
bindings.0 0
bindings.1 1
bindings.2 2
bindings.3 3
bindings.4 4
bindings.5 5
bindings.6 6
bindings.7 7
}
pcm.channelALL {
type plug
slave.pcm "dmixerALL"
ttable.0.0 1
ttable.1.1 1
ttable.0.2 1
ttable.1.3 1
ttable.0.4 1
ttable.1.5 1
ttable.0.6 1
ttable.1.7 1
}
The channelALL works but doesn't always sound too great, so I don't use it unless I have to. Finally, I use the following file for ~/.alsaplayer/config. You can disable the parsing of ID3 tags if you don't need them. http.buffer_size=1048576 mad.parse_id3=true main.default_interface=gtk main.default_output=alsa main.fallback_interface=text main.period_count=8 main.period_size=4096 You may want to consider following the instructions here to add a low-latency support to you 2.4.X kernel. When I did this Perl would segfault when starting Misterhouse... so I went back to a standard kernel, but I do get occasional audio delays. Misterhouse User CodeFirst, I define all of my objects in my house.mht file: MUSICA, Musica MUSICA_ZONE, music_kitchen, Musica, 1 MUSICA_ZONE, music_mb, Musica, 2 MUSICA_ZONE, music_patio, Musica, 3 MUSICA_SOURCE, music_source1, Musica, 1 MUSICA_SOURCE, music_source2, Musica, 2 MUSICA_SOURCE, music_source3, Musica, 3 MUSICA_SOURCE, music_source4, Musica, 4 VIRTUAL_AUDIO_ROUTER, audio_router, 6, 4 VIRTUAL_AUDIO_SOURCE, v_classical, audio_router VIRTUAL_AUDIO_SOURCE, v_opera, audio_router VIRTUAL_AUDIO_SOURCE, v_enya, audio_router VIRTUAL_AUDIO_SOURCE, v_romantic, audio_router VIRTUAL_AUDIO_SOURCE, v_soft, audio_router VIRTUAL_AUDIO_SOURCE, v_jazz, audio_router VIRTUAL_AUDIO_SOURCE, v_kirk_mp3s, audio_router VIRTUAL_AUDIO_SOURCE, v_pink_floyd, audio_router VIRTUAL_AUDIO_SOURCE, v_the_cure, audio_router VIRTUAL_AUDIO_SOURCE, v_les_mis, audio_router VIRTUAL_AUDIO_SOURCE, v_rock, audio_router VIRTUAL_AUDIO_SOURCE, v_soft_rock, audio_router VIRTUAL_AUDIO_SOURCE, v_country, audio_router VIRTUAL_AUDIO_SOURCE, v_blues, audio_router VIRTUAL_AUDIO_SOURCE, v_dance, audio_router VIRTUAL_AUDIO_SOURCE, v_reggae, audio_router VIRTUAL_AUDIO_SOURCE, v_comedy, audio_router VIRTUAL_AUDIO_SOURCE, v_classic_rock, audio_router VIRTUAL_AUDIO_SOURCE, v_alternative, audio_router VIRTUAL_AUDIO_SOURCE, v_80s, audio_router VIRTUAL_AUDIO_SOURCE, v_tivo, audio_router, 3|4 VIRTUAL_AUDIO_SOURCE, v_pvr, audio_router, 3|4 VIRTUAL_AUDIO_SOURCE, v_dvd, audio_router, 3|4 VIRTUAL_AUDIO_SOURCE, v_tuner, audio_router, 3|4 VIRTUAL_AUDIO_SOURCE, v_internet, audio_router, 3|4 VIRTUAL_AUDIO_SOURCE, v_voice, audio_router As you can see, right now I only have one zone connected! I have a lot more wire to run and speakers to buy before I'll have my other zones connected. Then you can use my user code to create your own:
Misterhouse mp3_alsaplayer.plI wrote this Alsaplayer interface to the standard mp3.pl included with Misterhouse. It requires the AlsaPlayer.pm module listed below. The file is alsaplayer.pl. Audio info/control page for MisterhouseI wrote this Misterhouse web script to provide status and limited control of our whole-house audio system. Note that it is not complete at this point. Just put music.pl in your web directory somewhere. Misterhouse ModulesI wrote the following Misterhouse modules to allow this system to all work properly. Although some of these are in Misterhouse version 2.88, these are more up to date:
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