PC Server alternative to Matrix Switcher

Hi Guys

My matrix switcher has died suddenly taking with it some of the lights and ceiling fans in my bathrooms I now have the lights and fans back up and running however obviously no audio. I currently run a home server (Debian) and was wondering if there is a way to add the clipsal amps to my home server and have them controlled via my server PC negating the need for a new matrix switcher. I have searcher all over the internet and cannot seem to find this question already asked. All help is greatly appreciated.

Cheers in advance

Tom

 

Answer is a simple no..

Slightly more detailed answer is that the amps do not have ethernet capability despite using RJ45 connectors and Cat5 cable.. CBUS control of volume source etc is all via the CBUS cable, however the source input for the audio feed is a 'digital' audio feed..

Alternative to a blown/dead matrix is a new matrix or the 560011 audio input module, but you lose out on a lot of features and flexibility but depends on what you are wanting out of the system..

Otherwise you could look at going an alternate audio system and integrate it into CBUS land to provide control from switches etc..

Out of interest which model of matrix did you have? White with glass front or Black unit? If Black was it the model with ethernet or no ethernet connectivity?

Cheers..

 

Cheers for the reply.

So would it be possible to feed digital audio to an amp if I made an adaptor cable? I could then an extra audio devices to my server and assign each one to a zone.

It was a white one. Could you explain why it took out my lights and fans when it died please.

Thanks

 

All of the CBuS amps have a 'Local Input' which is either 2x RCA or a single 3.5mm stereo jack input.. Hyperthetically you could add multiple sound cards to your server to give you as many outputs as your require, however i am unsure if this would allow you to feed different sources out to each of the sound cards.. You may also be able feed inputs into your server via inputs on the sound card, giving a matrix style feature set, I guess anything is possible however at what cost to engineer a solution well yer thats the fun of these things.. Depending on what control you then required you may need to right code or bodge up a contraption to allow cbus to control your audio software running on your server which controls the source to outputs.. Again all hyperthetical..

Personally its not something I would do however if your handy withthese things then maybe its a good project for you..

When you say it took your lights and fans out do you mean that your cbus network went down and was non operational until the matrix was removed? More detail on what happened and what exactly stopped working may assist in diagnosing what/why/how...

 

I have fixed my Matrix Switcher finally diagnosed faulty power supply. I stuck this in which is a perfect fit. Well almost perfect need to move the DC output pins around a bit as the socket is 8 pin. All gravy now though.

http://www.jaycar.com.au/Power-Prod...Power-Supply-100-Watt-Open-Frame-24V/p/MP3179

Everything all good again. Anyone with totally dead unit this could save you a couple of grand.

As for the lights and fans, basically nothing worked on the voltage free relay side of the electrics. Had a guy in to fault diagnose the system and he managed to get the lights sorted but didn't say what was wrong, the house is rented and the owner obviously wasn't keen on getting the audio sorted so I did it for him and saved the guy a fortune.

 

By the sounds of it they had a lightning strike or bad power surge and it took out some of the C-Bus power supplies..

 

Nah mate just failed like they all do eventually. It was/is plugged into a surge protector.

 

If nothing was working on the voltage free side of the relays that would indicate a surge or the like, possibly tripping circuit protection of some sort.. Bizzare for the matrix to have any effect on this aside from if when the powersupply blew up it tripped a breaker which was feeding the loads, however this would also mean mixed circuits.. Unless the rcd tripped, taking a few power circuits with it..

Glad you fixed it up cost effectively..