BluStream video matrices like the HMXL44ARC, HMXL66ARC, and HMXL88ARC show up constantly on commercial jobs — sports bars, restaurants, gyms, waiting rooms, and anywhere else video needs to be distributed to multiple zones. As of our latest release, CasaTunes now supports all three of these matrices, and that support gives you a way to extend a video distribution system you're already installing into a combined video and audio/music system, without pulling a second matrix. (The same approach works just as well on residential jobs, extending a video system into whole-house music.)
The HMXL44ARC, HMXL66ARC, and HMXL88ARC are some of the most popular video matrix products in BluStream's lineup, and for good reason — they're reliable, well priced, and easy to spec. What a lot of integrators don't immediately think about is that each of these units already includes independent audio switching, with 4, 6, or 8 analog and digital audio outputs depending on the model.
That audio switching has typically been used to route source audio around a venue alongside the video — game audio to the bar top, a different broadcast feed to the dining room, an ARC return to a lobby display. Now, with CasaTunes integration, that same matrix can carry a second job at the same time: dedicated background or zone music, independent of whatever's playing on the screens. Add a CasaTunes music server to a project that already has one of these matrices installed, and the video system you already speced becomes a video and music system — without a new matrix, without new outputs to wire, and without the client paying for infrastructure that's already on the rack.
CasaTunes feeds the BluStream matrix directly using two dedicated streams, connected through the matrix's Audio Analog and Audio Digital inputs. Once those streams are in, they can be routed to any output zone right alongside the matrix's existing video and video-audio sources.
That's the key idea: this isn't a separate music system bolted on next to the video system, it's the same matrix doing both jobs at once. Because CasaTunes is controlling the matrix's full audio switching, it isn't limited to just its own two streams. Integrators can also route audio from any of the matrix's video input sources — or from any of its ARC returns — to any combination of zones. In practice, that means a live broadcast, a cable box, an AV receiver's ARC return, or a media player can all be sent to one set of zones, while CasaTunes music plays independently in others — the dining room gets music while the bar keeps game audio, for example — all from one matrix and one set of controls. In a residential setting, the same routing puts TV audio, ARC returns, or whole-house music into any room, on the same system.
One thing to plan for: the matrix's audio outputs are pre-amp level, not amplified. You'll still need to add stereo or multichannel amplifiers of your choice to power the speakers in each zone — the matrix and CasaTunes handle switching and distribution, not amplification.
Two CasaTunes streams get a project a long way, but some sites want more — independent music zones rather than just two shared streams. For those jobs, the BluStream SM11ARC adds additional CasaTunes inputs into the matrix, scaling the music side of the system up as needed.
As a general rule of thumb, we recommend one input per independent listener or zone — for example, one per family member on a residential job, so each person can listen to their own music without stepping on anyone else's stream. It's a simple way to right-size the system instead of forcing everyone onto the same one or two feeds.
Separately, it's worth remembering just how often these BluStream matrices land in commercial spaces like bars and restaurants in the first place — this same combined video-and-music setup works just as well there as it does in a home.
For AV integrators, this is a project economics story as much as it's a technical one — and commercial jobs are where it matters most, since these matrices are already a common fixture in bars, restaurants, and similar venues. Zone audio has historically meant a dedicated audio matrix on top of the video matrix — separate hardware, separate wiring runs, separate line items. If a BluStream HMXL44ARC, HMXL66ARC, or HMXL88ARC is already speced into a job for video, you now have a way to extend that same system to also deliver independent zone music, by adding a CasaTunes server rather than an entire second distribution system.
That opens up a few practical opportunities:
New builds get simpler. One matrix, one set of wire runs, and one control system can cover video distribution, video-follow-audio, and independent music zones together — reducing rack space, cabling, and install time on commercial and residential jobs alike.
Existing installs become upsell opportunities. Any client with one of these BluStream matrices already in place — a restaurant, a bar, a gym, or a home — is a candidate for a "your video system can also be your music system" conversation, and the incremental hardware needed is just a CasaTunes server.
Source flexibility goes up, not down. Because ARC returns and video-source audio are switchable right alongside CasaTunes streams, clients aren't choosing between "broadcast audio in every zone" and "music in every zone" — they get both, routed independently, zone by zone, from the same system.
If you have BluStream HMXL44ARC, HMXL66ARC, or HMXL88ARC matrices in your product mix — or already installed in the field, commercial or residential — this update is worth a look at your next project. Update to the latest CasaTunes release, connect the Audio Analog and Digital inputs to your matrix, and you'll have a combined video-and-music system running through hardware that's likely already on the job.
It's a small addition to your CasaTunes configuration, and a meaningful expansion of what you can offer on every project that includes one of these matrices.
