JamesFeb 22

Doing some tinkering, and it's my first time using breadboards for prototyping. This is neat!

Currently putting together a local-only "smart" speaker pair setup with an ESP32, DAC, and amplifier (not pictured, it hasn't arrived yet) to go along with a pair of bookshelf speakers. My goal is to replace my Sonos/Symfonisk speakers in my living room with this setup, using Music Assistant to stream to it.

#musicassistant #electronics #esp32

Show threadJorgeFeb 22

@James ooh nice. I wish my Sonos speakers could use my HA voice assistant. I did find a little project that does the voice processing and it will send the responses to the Sonos speaker. The microphone isn't the best, that's the one issue I keep finding with most of these ESP32 boards and even the official HA voice. The Sonos speakers are slightly better at listening.

Upside of HA is you can add custom sentences for the often misheard words or phrases

Show threadJamesFeb 22
@motoridersd
I'd expect you could pair a nicer, more sensitive microphone module to the ESP32. I'm sure there's a project someone's put together already! Not exactly a plug and play sort of system but I don't think it'd be too difficult
Show threadJorgeFeb 22
@James yes absolutely, it just gets a bit more complex. I have a ReSpeaker Lite 2-Mic Array Voice Kit but I did see they just released a 4 mic version.
Show threadJamesFeb 22
@motoridersd nice! I looked into those but I already got out of the habit of using voice commands so I didn't see a big draw for my own cases. Maybe as I keep tinkering I'll build out more voice activations and set one up
Show threadJorgeFeb 22

@James oh I saw "local only" and automatically thought voice.

I have a lot of Sonos speakers so I just use Music Assistant directly with them and it works great. This of course doesn't remove them from their connection to the outside world

Show threadJamesFeb 22
@motoridersd I've got a couple of IKEAxSonos Symfonisk speakers which I have tied in to Music Assistant. Unfortunately, they cut out constantly and controlling them with MA is frustrating. As an example, changing the volume has a nearly 3-5 second delay, which makes it REALLY hard to dial it in while things are playing. The ESP32/Squeezebox setup responds way faster!
Show threadJorgeFeb 22

@James huh, wonder why that is. I don't have that issue with MA and the Sonos speakers. Volume control is instant and there is no cutting out.

Mine are in S2 mode, I don't have any Sonos speaker wired (which creates a SonosNet wifi network and causes issues) and they are all on a separate VLAN, which HA has an interface on and MA also is on the same subnet.

The only issue I have is that if I reboot MA, I have to open my Sonos app for MA to find my speakers again right away, otherwise it can take a little while.

Show threadJamesFeb 22

@motoridersd
I wonder if it's because mine are in paired stereo mode?
I've got mine on the same network, too -- though granted it's a little more complex between MA and HA with Docker networking. It works generally, but the speakers get upset really easily and the Sonos app periodically forgets they are available.

Once I've got this system set up, I'll be replacing the Sonos pair with these speakers, unpairing the Sonos ones, and using them by themselves elsewhere. Maybe that'll help?

Show threadJorgeFeb 22
@James hmm, yeah I wonder if paired Stereo mode is causing issues, but sounds like you have problems with them even through the Sonos app? So maybe there's a networking/WiFi problem with them to begin with
Show threadtoddbuddy
@motoridersd @James so I actually wanted to offer anyone interested into four Sonos ones. The ones without the microphone. Also the big soundbar. Not the newest version but the one prior. Also a subwoofer. All Sonos.
Feb 22 at 6:53pmWeb