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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: July 3rd, 2023

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  • I have Sonos and it is meh. They just issued an apology in the app for how bad their app got, so I can’t really recommend it.

    I keep seeing good reviews about Audio Pro. I don’t know too much about them, but they seem to have the same idea of multi-room audio.

    Self hosting is the big caveat. There’s a lot of great software options, but the hardware can get to be a bit limiting if you don’t wanna play with common protocols like AirPlay or Chromecast.

    Additionally, you could do a Denon or Marantz receiver or Soundbar with multi zone and cover at least 2 spaces wired and add wireless zones via their Heos protocol.

    There’s also HomePod, Alexa, or even Bluetooth speakers like the UE Boom or JBL series that you can daisy chain Bluetooth speakers together. No real soundbar solution with this option. Ironically JBL Soundbars don’t communicate with their Bluetoo speakers.

    Audio Engine makes some fine speakers that support WiFi or Bluetooth and all they need is power.

    Kef has the incredible but pricey LS series of bookshelf and tower speakers. They are independently powered and support all kinds of wireless protocols including AirPlay.

    There are a ton of audio solutions nowadays but a lot of them will still require either a wire somewhere or playing with standardized protocols.

    I too wish there were a more “self hosted” options. It seems like sooner or later some more viable options will come to light though.






  • I’m enjoying Lemmy as a content feed. As an interactive board though not as much. Finding things and rembering where content is can be confusing. Its definitely not as easy or user friendly as other sites/apps. Getting IRL friends to join feels like an impossible task unless they’re pretty interested in tech.

    That said you get what you give and if we want to see more content, we should all interact more.





  • This used to be true, but unfortunately, like USB-C the game has changed completely.

    The downside to standardization is that if you keep the same physical form for multiple iterations, the internals can change. The specs of the source and receiving ends have gone through tons of changes since 2015 and old HDMI 1.4 Cables don’t have the same standards to transmit high speed signals from things like PS5, Xbox, Apple TV etc.

    Additionally because they require programming and HDCP (a verification handshake between the 2 devices it connects) when companies cheap out they may not properly program them.

    That being said, you don’t need spend an arm and a leg, but don’t get shit either. Generally speaking, buy the cheapest version HDMI 2.1 from a reputable brand or vendor. Definitely not from Amazon anymore, a TON of products labeled 2.1 are actually 2.0 or worse, 1.4.