Looking for a unique product - switchable speaker position mixer

[MiscuitsTheMallard]

I'm building a super crazy workstation for my home office. For various reasons, I need three independent workstations. I've decided to buy a U shaped desk so I can easily turn from front to the left or right to get on a new workstation. Each station will have its own triple monitor setup and peripherals. 

 

But I'm at a loss on how to handle audio. I'd prefer not to have three independent speaker setups. I'd love to have four speakers at each corner of the desk hooked up to some sort of mixer via USB. But the problem lies in what channel the speakers play. If I'm facing towards the front and turn left, my front right and back right speaker would still be playing L and R. That would be weird. Does anyone know of a product that allows me to mix inputs while also changing which channel outputs to which speaker on the fly without unhooking them?

 

And, yes, I know this is a ridiculous setup.  But I have a obsessive hatred of KVM or USB switches. Thanks!

[IPD]

Nope.  Not without a lot of custom wiring or some DIY hackery.

 

-Easy route would be to go mono-audio and just duplicate the output on every speaker.  No switcheroo needed.

 

-Jury Rigged route would be to mount L & R Bluetooth speakers to your chair, and then you'd get proper audio no matter what position you face.  But then you get to figure out how to make the audio switch between sources....

 

-The "i have more money than time" route would be to buy 3 different speaker setups and have 3 speakers at each corner of your workstation.  You'd never have to swap anything, you just need real-estate to fit everything.

 

-Hard/best route would be to use 3 receivers, 1 for each workstation.  You'd have to run leads to each speaker from each receiver; each speaker then has 3 possible sources to get fed from.  Then you'd probably have to simply "mute" the 2 work stations not in use.  But with an independent receiver, the speakers can be wired in whichever position you want.

 

p.s.

What unholy abomination of a desk are you fitting NINE monitors on?

[Ahoy Hoy]

@MiscuitsTheMallard
Audio Matrix is the item your looking for. 
1 of these
3 of these 
then you probably want to get active speakers with XLR inputs. 4 of these is a good choice
Way it works is simple. Outputs from the computers using the Jack to RCA cable go into the input 2 3 and 4 of the matrix.
Then the outputs of the matrix go to a individual speaker.

Then just select the zone buttons set your levels and your done.


Could probably make your own with raspberry Pi a big audio interface and voicemeeter banana

[ShearMe]

For audio matrix mixer amounts of money, you might as well just get a video matrix switcher and stick to one set of monitors. 

[MiscuitsTheMallard]

21 hours ago, IPD said:

p.s.

What unholy abomination of a desk are you fitting NINE monitors on?

Thanks for the suggestions! The desk I'm looking at right now is about 9' square. A dodecagon with an edge length of 25" (width of a 27" monitor) has an incircle radius of around 46"in, or about 7' 8" across. So, theoretically it would work. Whether it would actually work in practice with all the monitors up on monitor arms remains to be seen.

@Ahoy Hoy
A matrix is definitely the right direction for what I want. But does the one you link allow you to swap which channel goes to which speaker in each zone? I think you would lose your stereo mix there, wouldn't you?

@ShearMe
I'd honestly like to. But I have to have all three stations up and working independently and be able to see at a glance what's happening on the other desktops. Not switch back and forth between them.

[IPD]

Let's clarify what audio you are trying to achieve.  Are you trying to get 2.0?  2.1?  5.1?

 

2.0 should be fairly easy, but you'll need 4 speakers, like Ahoy Hoy said; one on each corner.  Assuming you were in the center of the desk, facing the center of the desk:

 

-the speaker on your back left would be wired to the left output from the left PC

-the speaker on your back right would be wired to the right output from the right PC

-the speaker on your front right would be wired to the right output from the center PC and the left output from the right PC

-the speaker on your front left would be wired to the left output from the center PC and the right output from the left PC

 

So all you have to do is run the outputs from the matrix accordingly.

 

God help you if you get a bug up your @55 and try to go 2.1 or 5.1 or worse.

[MiscuitsTheMallard]

In my ideal world, it'd be wired for 4.1 with a shared sub between them. But I realize that's probably asking too much.

I think I'm catching what you're getting at here. I was thinking I needed to switch the signal, but really if I just feed every workstation to the correct channel relative to it I could mix them at the input stage.

I'm looking at something like this now: https://www.ericasynths.lv/shop/standalone-instruments-1/desktop-matrix-mixer/

[IPD]

You can do quasi 4.1.  You'll just also have to make sure you can get that many speaker inputs in every speaker (3 each), and the same for the sub.

 

But the real issue is that you're talking about faux quadraphonic, not surround sound.  That's because you are still only taking stereo (2 channel) audio from the PC.  To do surround sound, you'd need:

 

-a signal capable of surround sound

-a receiver capable of taking that signal and properly configuring it for each channel

-some means to get the signal to the receiver that keeps the integrity of the source signal

 

The issue is that a matrix will only allow you to swap where you want each output to go; it won't process signals.  That's why my original suggestion was to use 3 receivers; skip the matrix.  You'd still have to wire each speaker up individually--just as you do with a matrix.  But the receiver can actually handle/process signals.

[ShearMe]

I install Biamp products for commercial clients... depending on how deep your pockets are, a configurable DSP like that could be the way to go.

 

Hook each computer up with a EX-UBT (up to 8 channels), use a TC-5 to connect them all to a TesiraFORTÉ AI. It has 8 mic/line analog outputs to the speaker/amp system of choice. Controllable with free software on a PC, or physical control devices are available from Biamp themselves and 3rd parties. I would be willing to help with config/programming these products, but again, they are expensive.

 

Another digital alternative might be something with Dante. Buy a virtual soundcard license and then get some Dante enabled speakers. They just go on your local network. I don't think anyone has a physical control device on the market yet, so you'd have to load presets from a computer to switch routing around.