New to this and need some help deciding

[chris190]

Greetings,

I'm completely new to this and did some research but I would still need help. This is for my friend who is building his new house and so far he will have 6 zones.

Based on what I researched I found that the Control C4 Matrix amplifier with 8 zones would be the one to go with.

My main question would be what else would I need with this. He as the wires already setup in all rooms and they all go into this smaller room where the c4 will sit... and not sure which speakers yet.

He wants to be able to connect several iphone devices to it and control/stream music in different rooms. Can 2 users control 2 zones sperately at the same time? and can they stream audio into the c4 through the WiFi in whicever zone they want with this c4 matrix controller?

Besides the C4 matrix amp and a couple of nice routers what else would be needed to make this work properly or what options do I have?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You much!!

Chris

 

 

 

[dcovach]

The control4 matrix amp needs a "brain" to control it. There are various control4 controllers that will accomplish this and much more. Control4 is a true home automation system. It will do a lot more than just distribute audio. Models of controllers that will do the job very well are the HC800 (older but powerful and must be licenced), EA1 (for one room, one tv systems), EA3 or EA5 (the ultimate latest and greatest for future expansion). A dealer would have to set that up and integrate with the matrix.  Iphone devices would be able to airplay to any zone desired, but that requires dealer setup and some custom programming, etc. The matrix amp alone is not usable. Apple tv's could also be used as airplay receivers for your zones but the newer controllers handle the airplay without apple tv's. Use apple TV if you want to airplay or mirror your video from apple devices. Or go all out and get a control4 supported video matrix. Hope that helps. I didn't see a mention of which c4 controller was present.

[thegreatheed]

The EA-3 has 3 audio streams possible-HDMI audio, S/PDIF audio, mini-jack stereo audio (just needs a cable to convert to RCA stereo audio). The others can be converted to input into the Amp, but require converters to do.

That means it can stream 3 things at once on those 3 outputs, like 3 airplay streams or Pandora songs. The EA controllers can tell the amp what to do, which rooms to turn on, volume control, etc.

The EA-5 has 5 audio streams-HDMI, 2xS/PDIF, 2xRCA stereo audio.

So the choice is how many simultaneous audio streams you need. 1, 2, 5?

You'll need a dealer to do the install. There's a dealer locator on www.control4.com.

[chris190]

Thanks You guys for the fast responses. I am a technical person and I work with electronics, built and run an audio recording and mastering studio...so I work with cables connections...solder...desolder stuff... etc... but I am new to this ..... so all in all this is something I should tell my friend that a Dealer needs to set it up right ?  I mean I would like to help but I think he's completely relying on me to set this up for him lol ....  The wires are all pulled into this small room and the speakers will be connected in ceilings by somebody else soon.  In other words I don't want to attempt then get stuck and lose my time..

I researched a bit more and looks like also a switch is needed? ... so it would be a controller that controls the C4 matrix amp then that will go to a switch where the speaker wires are connect... this would be the basic picture right?

Also I think he was asking if he can even stream youtube video from an iphone onto the TV set? not sure if thats possible..lol

Sounds more complicated than I envisioned.

Chris

 

[dcovach]

Control4 has more than several types of audio devices. If you have the matrix, that handles input, volume and switching. If you have the power amp, you need that matrix before it to control volume and do the switching. If it's the matrix amp, like you're saying, then you don't need a "switch". The controller relays all the commands necessary to the matrix amp to handle the input, output and volume signals to whichever zone you're wanting audio distributed to. the controller has a user friendly graphical user interface, called the "navigator" and from there you see your system's available devices. This navigator is available on c4 touch screens both portable and fixed, a remote control (not graphical but with physical buttons), pc, and apps (android phone ios). When the dealer programs the system, you control your system using the Navigator. All the "switching" is controlled by the controller. It's amazing. it's fast, easy, and convenient.  Control4 Light switches, dimmers, keypads, and voice control, etc also be programmed to control the system. Anything you can imagine, as long as you have the device and the dealer integrates it. It's a dealer only installation. Pre existing speakers, tv's, and other receivers can be integrated too (almost all the time). Digital Video media that you already own requires a video player of some sort. C4 controllers don't play video, only audio, but can handle your media data base and make it available on the Navigator for selecting and playing. A very popular and budget media player is anything that has to do with "kodi". Popular devices are the raspberry pi but there's a lot of other android boxes that have Kodi and more aps. With a Kodi set up properly, you can airplay youtube from your iphone and the desired room will turn on and play the video automatically. All of this requires dealer programming. You can stream right from the phone or choose your media from the Navigator and it will play wherever it was programmed to play.

[chris190]

Thank  You so much all for the answers. I gave my friend some local dealers info and he will contact them. Have a great week everyone