| ECS-L Home Automation and Security Archives |
| Subject: From: Date: | RE: [ECS] Are you using TTS in your HA UI? A.J. Griglak Mon, 27 Nov 2000 17:39:54 -0500 |
One other thing.... Get a sound card capable of multiple sound instances at
the same time - such as ECS's TTS and Winamp.... The Diamond Monster II 300
does this as well as the Sound Blaster Live.
-=A.J.
-----Original Message-----
From: A.J. Griglak [mailto:aj@griglak.com]
Sent: Monday, November 27, 2000 5:38 PM
To: ecs-list@netbloc.com
Subject: RE: [ECS] Are you using TTS in your HA UI?
I dreamed up what I think is a great mix of cost effectiveness and sound
quality. I have the sound card output going directly into a 66 punch-down
block. Then, I currently run two sets of CAT5 wiring off that block - one
for upstairs, and one for downstairs. There are only two of us in the
house, and my wife hasn't complained too much about the speakers, so I guess
it's OK.
To get more specific, I bought some regular headphone extension cables and
hacked them up. There are three wires inside, which I spliced into three of
the CAT5 wires. At first there was a pronounced hum on the speakers, but I
moved the third wire (the ground) to a different color and now you hear no
hum. I then have regular RJ-45 jacks at the speaker locations, and made up
another spliced cable with RJ-45 on one end, and a female headphone jack on
the other. I then plug any computer speaker into the cable, and I get
excellent sound out of it (depending on the speakers) Downstairs I have a
three piece Altec Lansing set which sounds so good, I don't even bother with
my stereo anymore. I just listen to MP3s through the ECS computer. If I
wanted to 'zone' the speakers, I could simply put an appliance module on the
computer speakers to turn them on and off, yet I haven't seen a need for
this yet. I use the TTS extensively - for TV Guide announcing, weather
reports in the morning, news reports, etc. I am quite happy with the setup,
and I can add speakers quite easily. When I had the house built, I prewired
for ceiling speakers, but don't use them much, either - you need an amp,
volume control, etc.
-=A.J.
-----Original Message-----
-----Original Message-----
From: A.J. Griglak [mailto:aj@griglak.com]
Sent: Monday, November 27, 2000 5:38 PM
To: ecs-list@netbloc.com
Subject: RE: [ECS] Are you using TTS in your HA UI?I dreamed up what I think is a great mix of cost effectiveness and sound quality. I have the sound card output going directly into a 66 punch-down block. Then, I currently run two sets of CAT5 wiring off that block - one for upstairs, and one for downstairs. There are only two of us in the house, and my wife hasn't complained too much about the speakers, so I guess it's OK.To get more specific, I bought some regular headphone extension cables and hacked them up. There are three wires inside, which I spliced into three of the CAT5 wires. At first there was a pronounced hum on the speakers, but I moved the third wire (the ground) to a different color and now you hear no hum. I then have regular RJ-45 jacks at the speaker locations, and made up another spliced cable with RJ-45 on one end, and a female headphone jack on the other. I then plug any computer speaker into the cable, and I get excellent sound out of it (depending on the speakers) Downstairs I have a three piece Altec Lansing set which sounds so good, I don't even bother with my stereo anymore. I just listen to MP3s through the ECS computer. If I wanted to 'zone' the speakers, I could simply put an appliance module on the computer speakers to turn them on and off, yet I haven't seen a need for this yet. I use the TTS extensively - for TV Guide announcing, weather reports in the morning, news reports, etc. I am quite happy with the setup, and I can add speakers quite easily. When I had the house built, I prewired for ceiling speakers, but don't use them much, either - you need an amp, volume control, etc.-=A.J.-----Original Message-----