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Programing and Accessing Music sources thru C4


rydbeckc

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I am really curious to know how others have programmed HE to access and listen to their music using C4, itunes, sonos, etc . I currently have a ZP-90 with the Sonos (EV driver), Rhapsody, etc I don't feel that I am taking full advantage of the programing. There are some gaping holes here in the menu that think could be remedied if not for my ignorance to what is out there.

Currently I have the following sources

- Sonos with the EV driver- Pandora,

- Itunes- content stored on my iMac

- Rhapsody

I have not really taken the time to sit down and program anything beyond just setting up stations that are all currently all linked to Pandora. Out side of this I have found that I have to go thru the Sonos app directly to view or select other content.

A few things that I find odd:

Currently the " My Library" section in the menu is blank.

The only real integration with my Sonos media content are the "stations"

I do not have an indexing of any of my itunes music except directly through the sonos app.

I know this may be somewhat vague but hopefully some of you power users out there can shed some light on the situation.

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As far as I understand things what you can and can't do thru the EV Sonos driver/app is very much fixed by the programming within the EV app itself. We have to wait for example for additional online music services to be integrated because we are told this requires thousands of lines of code. I'm not sure we can alter much within Composer HE. I agree it is confusing :)

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Well what I do is still run my itunes library on an old mac pro. I do this because I still use the itunes store. And for easy syncing with iphones etc..

This isn't ideal, but it's what I do. I'm actually looking at changing this to a linux music server with built in SSD or the AC mmm5.a..but that's another story..

Anyway, I back this up using timemachine to a NAS.

I then use this itunes library on the mac for the Sonos music "share". Because it's on a mac, you need to change the power down settings of the HDD etc..

The EV driver is then run on top of this configuration... so that it kinda operates independently..all the driver does is mimick the various sonos zones..so that what you do on the Sonos controller is mirrored on the C4 navigator screens and visa versa.. It's pretty cool actually when set up properly.. but you need to know what you are doing as it's set up based on the MAC addresses of the various ZP's.. (or so I believe)

You can "index" your itunes library with Sonos (that is update any new tracks added into itunes so they appear in the Sonos music library) from either within the Sonos world, and also via the EV app in Navigator by a simple "button press".. or have it update overnight on a schedule..

The list of online music services integrated into the driver is growing (slowly) and include Rhapsody (which I use) and some others.. details on this is available on the EV website. The only set back is you can't search Rhapsody *within* the C4 navigator GUI...

Cheers

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So what is the simplest way to index my itunes music in the C4 directory? I am thinking that it should be under the Listen option in the "My Music" section.

Well yes. With the EV driver running after you hit listen on navigator, you select Sonos, then up comes all the directory in navigator. You then just navigate and select and play what you want..

The driver lays all this out and index's this for you. So what is "indexed automatically by a Sonos medai library update, just get's reflected in the navigator by the driver for you..You can't "search" (several of us have been niggling for this to be brought into Control4 nav for a very long time..) This is a C4 problem. Not a specific driver problem.

But yeh.. just update the Sonos media library via Sonos. You don't have to do anything specifically with the Ev driver.

Make sense?

Cheers

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Have you tried using C4 announcements with Sonos? How did it work for you?

No. Keep it simple. Play them thru a dedicated amp straight out of an HC300

My proposed setup will have a Sonos ZP-120 amp in every room. The in-wall speakers will terminate at the individual Sonos amps in each room. I wasn't planning on having a centralized amp.

Are you saying that announcements cannot be played via Sonos? To me, Sonos should operate like a dedicated 16 channel or 8 channel amp within Control4. It's essentially the same thing as a dedicated amp, just different locations than having all speaker wiring terminate at a dedicated amp. Remember, I am retrofitting my house here.

Is there a way to play announcements directly out of an HC-800 via the Sonos driver to individual zones?

Thanks!

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Have you tried using C4 announcements with Sonos? How did it work for you?

No. Keep it simple. Play them thru a dedicated amp straight out of an HC300

My proposed setup will have a Sonos ZP-120 amp in every room. The in-wall speakers will terminate at the individual Sonos amps in each room. I wasn't planning on having a centralized amp.

Are you saying that announcements cannot be played via Sonos? To me' date=' Sonos should operate like a dedicated 16 channel or 8 channel amp within Control4. It's essentially the same thing as a dedicated amp, just different locations than having all speaker wiring terminate at a dedicated amp. Remember, I am retrofitting my house here.

Is there a way to play announcements directly out of an HC-800 via the Sonos driver to individual zones?

Thanks![/quote']

Audio out of the 800 into a line in on a sonos. IIRC Sonos makes this global and you can select it with Ev driver.

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