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Chapter 4 · Your Project Milestone

Milestone: Give Your Building Sound

  • Lesson
  • 25 min

Up to now, you have practiced each part of LOXONE audio on its own. In a real project, all the parts come together, and the customer judges the result as a whole: does the music play the way they asked?

In this milestone, you will give sound to the same apartment that you lit in the Lighting milestone, from the floor plan to the final test.

By the end of this milestone you will have:

  • Planned the speakers, cabling and power for every room that needs sound
  • Commissioned the Audioserver and all Master and Client speakers
  • Made the open living area and kitchen play as one, with a separate kitchen volume
  • Made the music start on its own in the living area, and built central control for the whole apartment
  • Created a Good Night switch that turns off all audio
  • Used Auto Configuration to add the devices to the correct programming page and build the required logic.

The situation

The customer is happy with their lighting. Now they want music. They live in a two-bedroom apartment of about 86 m², all on one floor. The cabinet with the Miniserver sits by the entrance on the landing.

They have told you how they want the audio to work. The living room and kitchen should play the same music, but they want to turn down the volume in the kitchen while cooking. When they come into the living area, the music should start on its own. Both bedrooms need their own music, but it must never start on its own. At bedtime, they want to stop all music in the apartment with one action.

Your job is to deliver exactly that.

RoomAreaAudio Requirements
Living room20 m²Music (same as kitchen) starts when someone enters
Kitchen16 m²Same music as living room, own volume control
Bedroom18 m²Own music, Good Night button
Kid's bedroom18 m²Own music, never starts on its own
Bathroom6 m²Own music, starts when someone enters
Landing8 m²No audio, cabinet location
Information

The kitchen and living room have no wall between them. Plan them as two audio zones in one shared space. Both zones play the same music, but each zone keeps its own volume.

Part 1 - Plan the speakers

Start on the floor plan, before you open LOXONE Config.

  1. Mark the rooms that need sound

    Use the table as your guide as you place speakers in each room that needs sound.

  2. Work out how many speakers each room needs

    Plan about one speaker for every 15 m². Use this as a starting point, and also look at the shape of the room and how the customer will use it.

  3. Place the speakers on the plan

    Place them symmetrically, like lights. Keep them about 1 m from the walls where possible. If a room has only one speaker, place it in or near the center.

  4. Choose the speaker model for each room

    Use the Install Speaker 7 for everyday rooms, and the Install Speaker 10 where sound quality really matters. Add an Install Sub 10 if the customer wants more bass.

  5. Decide the Master and Client speakers

    Each zone needs one Master speaker. Any other speakers in the same zone are Client speakers.

  6. Check the ceiling in each room

    A sealed ceiling does not need a back box. An acoustic or open ceiling, or loose-fill insulation above the ceiling, needs a back box. A concrete ceiling needs the concrete back box.

Part 2 - Plan the cabling and power

Mark the cabling and the power supply on the floor plan.

  1. Place the Audioserver

    Mark it in the cabinet on the landing, next to the Miniserver, on the same network.

  2. Plan the Tree Turbo cabling

    Tree Turbo connects up to 10 Master speakers, with up to 150 m total length.

  3. Plan the Master/Client Interface cabling

    Wire the Clients in a daisy-chain from their Master. Each Master supports up to 20 Clients, with up to 30 m between Clients and up to 600 m total in a line.

  4. Plan the power cabling

    All LOXONE audio runs on 24 V DC, so you can power it with the Power Supply and Backup.

Part 3 - Commission the devices

Open the project in LOXONE Config. Always add the devices in this order: the Audioserver first, then the Master speakers, then the Client speakers. During this step it is also important to properly name and assign the devices, and also to add any necessary Touch and Presence Sensor devices.

  1. Add the Audioserver

    Select Audio in the periphery tree and add an Audioserver to the project, or use a Miniserver Compact.

  2. Add the Master speakers

    Select Tree Turbo in the periphery tree under the Audioserver, or Miniserver Compact, and add the necessary Master speakers. Name and assign them to each room that requires audio.

  3. Add the Client speakers

    Select the Master speaker and add the necessary Client speakers. Name and assign them to every room that requires them.

  4. Add other devices

    Add, name and assign any necessary Touch and Presence Sensor devices for the rooms.

  5. Save to the Miniserver

    Save all changes to the Miniserver.
Warning

Make sure every Master speaker has a valid IP address.

Part 4 - Create logic using Auto Configuration

Rather than manually adding function blocks and logic to the project, use Auto Configuration to quickly and automatically build the audio logic. Then confirm and make any final adjustments so that your customer's requirements are met.

This is why it is important to take the time to properly name and assign the devices while you add them, so Auto Configuration can put every device in the correct room and build the required logic.

  1. Start Auto Configuration

    In the Tools ribbon menu click Auto Configuration.

  2. Select Basic Functions

    Click Next twice to get to the Basic Functions screen. Select Audio and Presence for the rooms you want to auto configure.

  3. Select Comfort Functions

    Click Next to get to the Comfort Functions screen. Select Central Functions and Good Night.

  4. Finish Auto Configuration

    Click Configure and then click Finish once Auto Configuration creates the audio logic for your project.

  5. Confirm configuration

    Confirm that Auto Configuration has created the required function blocks and logic.

  6. Save to the Miniserver

    Rename the function blocks as necessary for the visualization and save to the Miniserver.

Test the whole apartment

Test the way the customer will live in the apartment, not block by block. The milestone is complete when every one of these is true:

  • The living room, kitchen, bedroom, kid's bedroom and bathroom all play music
  • The living room and kitchen always play the same music
  • You adjust the kitchen volume without changing the volume in the living room
  • The music starts on its own when someone enters the living area and bathroom, but never in the bedrooms
  • Audio Central appears in the Central tab, and it stops all music in the apartment at once
  • A Good Night button (triple click on T5) in the bedroom activates turns off all audio
  • Your plan shows the speakers, the back box decisions, the Tree Turbo and Master/Client Interface cabling, and the Power Supply and Backup
Takeaway

The apartment now has sound the way the customer asked: one shared source in the open living area with its own kitchen volume, music that starts on its own when they come in, and all music off with one action at bedtime. Keep the project open, because the next course adds to the same building.

Apply What You've Learned

Task

Give your building sound

  1. Complete Parts 1 to 4 for the apartment.
  2. Save your floor plan with the speakers, back boxes, cabling and power supply marked on it.
  3. Keep your LOXONE Config project open.
  4. Write two or three sentences for the customer that explain how their audio works: how the living area and kitchen play together, where the music starts on its own, and how to stop all music at bedtime.
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