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Chapter 3 · Bring Audio into Config

Zones, Central Control and Presence

  • Lesson
  • 12 min

One speaker that plays music is a good start. But customers remember a building where the music follows them, where a shared space plays as one, and where one control manages the whole house. In this lesson, you will connect zones, add central control, add good night functionality and make audio react to presence. This is where audio becomes part of the building.

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

  • Group audio zones so a shared space plays one source, with separate volume in each zone
  • Set up central control of all audio in a building
  • Program audio to start on its own when someone enters a room
  • Turn off all audio throughout the house when the last person goes to bed

The situation

An open-plan kitchen and dining area has speakers at both ends. The customer wants them to play the same music. But while cooking, they want to turn down the kitchen end only.

The customer also wants one control that stops all the music in the house, especially at bedtime. They loved one thing in the show home: the music started on its own when they walked into a room.

These are three different behaviors: grouped zones, central control, good night functionality and presence. You will build all three in this lesson.

Information

An Audio Player Fixed Group makes all its members play the same source. Each member (Audio Player) still controls its own volume, play and pause. Use it for a combined dining and living room, or a restaurant with a bar.

Why a shared space needs grouping

In an open space with more than one speaker zone, the zones must not play on their own. Otherwise, two different sources mix in one room, and it sounds wrong. The solution is to group the zones. They share one source, but each zone keeps its own volume.

How you do this depends on the speakers:

  • Master and Client speakers: A Client always plays the source that its Master chooses. So the grouping happens automatically.
  • Separate Audio Player blocks/zones, or passive speakers: Use an Audio Player Fixed Group to make them play together.

Build an Audio Player Fixed Group

The Fixed Group combines the sound of several Audio Player blocks into one shared experience. This must be done manually as it is not created when using Auto Configuration.

  1. Create Audio Player blocks

    Create an Audio Player block for every zone in a shared space. For example, one block for the kitchen and one for the dining area.

  2. Insert Audio Player Fixed Group block

    Add an Audio Player Fixed Group block on to the programming page.

  3. Assign Audio Player blocks

    In the Audio Player Fixed Group configuration select the Audio Player blocks you want to link. Now they will always play the same source.

  4. Connect Touch to T5

    Control the volume for the whole Fixed Group or individual Audio Players by connecting a LOXONE Touch T5 to the T5 input. Volume can also be controlled in the App.

  5. Rename Fixed Group block

    If necessary, rename the Fixed Group block. Unlike the individual Audio Player blocks, the Fixed Group block is not automatically named.
Tip

Each zone in the fixed group still controls its own volume, and it can pause (mute) on its own. So the customer can turn down the kitchen end while cooking, and the music in the dining area does not change.

Control all audio with Audio Central

You can control audio centrally, in the same way as lighting. The Audio Central block controls all linked audio zones at once. With one action, you can stop the music in the whole building, or change the volume in all zones.

Central blocks only have inputs. They pass their commands down to the linked zones. Central blocks must be on their own programing page, and this page must be set as a Central Room type. This makes them appear in the Central tab of the app.

Tip

When you add Master and Client speakers to several rooms, Auto Configuration creates the Audio Central block for you when you select Central Functions in the Comfort Functions screen. It links these rooms, so the customer can control them together.

Make audio react to presence

This is the behavior customers remember: they walk into a room, and the music automatically starts playing. There is no switch and no app. This works because the Audio Player block has a presence input, in the same way as the lighting.

To make audio react to presence, simply connect the room's presence sensor to the P input of the Audio Player block. Now, when presence is detected the music will automatically start/resume playback. If no audio was previously played or queued, then the first favorite (Fav) will play.

Tip

Presence audio works best in rooms where people arrive and stay for a while. These are the same rooms where presence works well for lighting, such as the kitchen, the living room and the office. It is not a good choice for a hallway that people only walk through.

Add Central Control using Auto Configuration

You can use Auto Configuration multiple times when commissioning or configuring a building. Each time you use it it builds on what was previously done and does not replace the existing configuration.

Follow these steps to update Audio and add Central Control with comfort functions to the existing audio configuration that was done using Auto Configuration.

  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 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 additional function blocks which add presence logic.

  6. Save to the Miniserver

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

What the customer controls in the App

In the LOXONE App, the customer can do much more than play and pause. They can:

  • Browse playlists, internet radio, Spotify and their own music library
  • Group zones together at any time, so the same music plays around the house
  • Change the volume of each zone inside the group
  • Set a default source for a room
  • Play two different Spotify streams in two rooms at the same time

When the system is set up, the customer does not need you for any of this. This is part of what makes a LOXONE audio system easy to live with.

Takeaway

An Audio Player Fixed Group makes a shared space play one source, while each zone keeps its own volume. Audio Central controls all audio in the building from one place. The presence input makes the music start on its own when someone enters a room, and this is the moment customers remember most.

Apply What You've Learned

Quick self-check — ungraded. Just to be sure everything sticks.
Task

Add grouping, central control and presence to your LOXONE Config project.

  1. Create two Audio Player zones. Combine them with an Audio Player Fixed Group, so they play one source with separate volume.
  2. Connect a presence sensor to the P input of one zone, so it reacts when someone enters.
  3. Use Auto Configuration to add the Central Control including Good Night functionality.
  4. Write down one room where you would use presence audio and one room where you would not. Explain why.
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