There are a rare number of installations throughout the world, that push the envelope to the limit. You never hear about these projects or read of them in publications. Their owners, the movers and shakers, typically shy away from all publicity. Clouded in secrecy, these projects determine the shape of the products of tomorrow.

When it comes to these type's of installations, ADA is the front line. Albert Langella is often called on to consult with these project designers and in doing so, has gained insight into what the future has to bear. The next generation multi-room system, will need to centrally route dozens of different components in addition to providing HDTV video switching. For optimum playback of digital components (CDs, DVDs, DSS receivers), these systems will also need to route and process audio in the digital domain.

Finally, these systems will need to playback audio, not just in today's two-channel stereo standard, but also in tomorrows multi-channel formats. In addition to the multitude of film's on DVD, hundreds of albums are already mixed for multi-channel sound (DTS & AC-3). And with DVD audio already on the horizon, the multi-room system of tomorrow will need to playback multi-channel sound. Sooner or later, stereophonic music will be as obsolete as monophonic music.

The engineering effort that meets all these requirements is the all-new Rhapsody System. The Rhapsody (not to be confused with Cinema Rhapsody), is a radically new approach to custom installation. While using ADA's long-held concept of the "building block", Rhapsody extends into the world of limitless options. If you can imagine it, Rhapsody is designed to perform it. To explain the system properly, one needs to examine its two parts separately.
Switching and routing of signals is accomplished in the component called the Conductor. This chassis can house up to eight cards that are either input cards (Bar's) or output cards (Octave's). The configuration options are endless and one can setup one or more conductors, for a limitless number of inputs and outputs. There are no restraints on the size of the system. The Conductor's switching is based on a wide-band design that will pass any signal type, including; digital audio, AC-3 audio, DTS audio, DVD audio, composite video, S-video, and even HDTV. Even components that are located in rooms away from the system mainframe, can be accessed anywhere in the home.

The preamplification takes place in the component called the Orchestra. It can house up to sixteen zone-preamplifier cards (Quartets). These are not your average preamplifiers. A single Quartet card can be configured to provide audio to four rooms with; independent on/off, volume, bass, treble, and balance. As such, one Quartet can be used for the master bedroom suite, another for living/dining/kitchen/breakfast zone, another for the outdoor areas, etc.

However, what makes the Rhapsody so incredibly radical, is that a Quartet card can alternately be configured as a single room's eight-channel preamplifier. In this mode, the Quartet card acts as a complete surround sound decoder with auto-mode detection of Dolby Digital AC-3, DTS, and PCM audio, with THX and Surround EX. This makes the Rhapsody the only multi-room system with multi-channel audio built-in. Even if you start by setting up a zone for only stereo, at any time, it can be switched to provide multi-channel surround sound.

This makes the Rhapsody the most extreme multi-zone mainframe in the world. Intended to provide multi-channel audio to every room of the home, it is designed make the most of multi-channel music and film. It is also intended to provide multi-channel music to rooms that do not have any type of video display. Now a formal living, dining room, patio, etc., can enjoy music in 5.1 or 6.1 modes. While most music software that is encoded in 5.1 is limited and mostly available in DTS, the music recording industry is just beginning to work with this format. As such, consider the currently available software as just the tip of the iceberg. What lies below the surface is huge and growing.

Already, some of the music industry's most prominent artists, recording engineers, and producers are already working with 5.1 mixes. Many more are still learning how to adapt their two channel mixes into 5.1. Bear in mind, that taking an existing two channel recording and turning it into 5.1 does not mean rerecording the song or album. The original masters are laid on individual tracks and only these masters need to be remixed for 5.1. This implies that a world of music, classic hits and major albums, could be mixed and encoded in 5.1 at any time. While multi-channel film sound tracks are as commonplace today (on DVD & Laser) as stereo is onCD, the world of music is still waking up to multi-channel formats. The future of music is still being written and one day, not too far from now, 5.1 will replace stereo, much like stereo replaced mono. It is inevitable.

To add to this thought, it is worth discussing the currently available encoding formats DTS and Dolby Digital, as well as, super CD and DVD audio. Super CD and DVD audio are formats that have yet to reach their full potential. Currently, players for these formats provide only six analog audio outputs. As such, any decoding or reading of the multi-channel audio information is done internally to the player. ADA is examining ways to distribute these sources through the Rhapsody System. A solution is imminent. Dolby Digital (AC-3) and DTS are different. They are well established encode/decode formats and are readily available. And without getting into issues regarding quality of sound, both formats permit 5.1 channels to be routed on a single digital cable. These two formats are in fact a funnel or medium that can carry multi-channel sound. Currently, they are also the most widely excepted and functional mediums available. One day, as a better encode/decode format is made more available, the Rhapsody system is sure to employ them. It is future proof. Regardless, music encoded in either AC-3 or DTS, sound is amazing when played through the Rhapsody. Trust us, a dining room configured as illustrated in the diagram on the next page, playing 5.1 music during dinner, will be the talk of the party.

The Orchestra also features a programmable graphic equalizer for each Quartet card. This very powerful EQ permits any frequency point to be adjusted independently. As such, each room can be acoustically programmed for optimal audio playback, regardless of speaker placement, room furnishings, wall surfaces, floor coverings, or ceiling angles. No other multi-room system offers these amazing features.

Both the Orchestra and Conductor feature a front panel color touch-screen for setup and control. Rooms can opt for any number of ADA keypads, from the MC-3000 series of controls, the TS-3000 Touch Screen, or the all-new Rapture keypad. For homes that are implementing a touch-screen control system from AMX, Crestron, or Phast, the Rhapsody offers several integration options including 2-way communication.

For those seeking the latest technology, the Rhapsody System delivers Extreme Multi-Room.