Microphone to Speakers shouldn't be this hard.

ddrueding

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At the moment our baby monitor consists of the following chain:

Sony SCam-30 in-ceiling microphone -> 10' speaker cable -> Axis P8221 Network I/O -> 50' CAT6 -> PoE Adapter -> Switch

Then played on my wife's computer in the office, where the audio takes the following trip

Computer -> 15' HDMI -> HDMI Splitter -> 50' HDMI-over-fiber -> HDMI audio extractor -> computer speakers connected via 3.5mm connector

As you can imagine, this system occasionally encounters reliability issues. (And for the record, I would never install this kind of solution for a customer).

In the ceiling of the bedroom I have a pair of Polk speakers.

What I want is to play what the mic picks up on the in-ceiling speakers with a volume control on my nightstand.

What I'm thinking is to convert the mic to TOSLink or HDMI as quickly and simply as possible and transport the signal via fiber (it is at least 60' through the attic) to a simple D/A and amp on my bedside to drive the speakers.

Thoughts?
 

Mercutio

Fatwah on Western Digital
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Is it too late to return the baby for a less complicated option? Feline infants largely stay where you put them and don't make much noise in the first place, for example.
 

LunarMist

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We did not need all that monitoring stuff in the old days.
 

ddrueding

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One of the issues of this house is that, with the layout and all the insulation/isolation I've done in the house, it is impossible for us to hear her regardless of the amount of noise she makes. This will be useful in a decade or so, but at this point this is the only way my wife will fall asleep.
 

ddrueding

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As I'm researching, I realize that the mic requires Bias power and not Phantom power. This further complicates the ADC I'll need on that end. As a matter of fact, I haven't found a single example of what I'm looking for that isn't an entire mixing board.
 

Howell

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Can a standard wireless baby monitor be wired into your speakers? May require disassembly.
 

ddrueding

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My experiences with wireless baby monitors are particularly poor. Both in the fidelity and range. I'd be more tempted to go to wireless microphone tech and backtrack from there, but I can't think this is that unusual a configuration? Sure, the application is weird, but getting a microphone onto TOSLink must be something lots of people need to do?
 

Howell

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Most people just use copper, xlr usually. Unless they use wireless for stage performance. Fiber is too easily abused.
 

ddrueding

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Nothing yet. I'd like to keep the mic I have, it is already mounted and gives great results when it works. I'm just not sure how to get the signal through the attic; all the power to the house is up there, and it has played havoc with analog audio before. If I bought/built something that could get the bias power requirements and just give me standard line-level audio out I can figure out the rest easy enough.
 
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