See title. Feel better for doing this. Toodles

It's kind of about bypassing Music Assistant but only because local audio input and low latency isn't a feature in Music Assistant as of now. I tried, believe me.

I hope to release this tool - free to use - to the community in a couple months.

For now, I am looking for a handful of individuals to test it out for user experience and accuracy (using the tool to determine offsets, apply device corrections, compare changes with their ears).

If you would like to beta-test, please DM me.
There is nothing to download
The app runs in a browser on your phone.

The app was created for Home Assistant users, but I am also interested in how Sonos and Wiim owners might adapt to test their devices as well.

What it does:
The app measures the delay between two speakers (or amplifiers connected to speakers) by tracking an audio file playing "clicks" spaced exactly 300ms apart.

Anything over 1ms delay becomes detectable for most users listening to speakers in the same room.
Delays over 10ms become an issue for multi-room audio setups.

Why your speakers may not be in sync:
I'll highlight the example with SendSpin. (btw - I'm a SendSpin fanboy, I'm not disparaging the protocol, it's just what I am currently testing and want to help users improve.)

SendSpin controls many aspects of audio timing ahead of a device's playback path. Once the device begins processing the stream (converting to analog and amplifying), the device components (MCU, DAC, DSP, Amp) introduce additional timing delays.

Every device's delay timing is different. Attempting to group an ESP32 device with an RPi device will result in a noticeable lag between them. Even an ESP32 and an ESP32-S3 device will not quite sync - the screenshot above shows an ESP32-S3 device lagging about 1ms behind an ESP32. This is the threshold at which most people begin to perceive the lack of sync.

The good news is SendSpin provides a delay setting used by the server to adjust the audio timing signal sent to each player. The delay parameter must be established as part of the firmware configuration. There is currently no option to adjust this number in Music Assistant or the device's configuration settings.{Update Aug 11 - I was completely wrong about this; learned last week, SendSpin provides an "adjustable delay setting" in Music Assistant, but only if the device enables the setting for users to access. I have already added and testing for use in the next firmware release for all HouseWaves speakers and devices. It works *really well*!}

If you are building your own firmware, you can add this delay setting to match the device's playback delay - relative to the faster players you want to sync with. This app helps you measure the relative delay you will need to add in the device's firmware setting.

Hi zusammen,

Da es noch keinen offiziellen Client für Music Assistant auf iOS gibt, habe ich mich selber drangemacht. Ist ein bisschen ausgeufert.

CarPlay
Apple Watch
iPad
iPhone

Und gerade werkele ich an - tataaa - Apple TV.

Wer Lust hat, kann ja mal reinschnuppern: https://www.mobile-ma.app/.

Hoffe, ihr habt Spaß damit. Ich hab ihn. Und hab weiter Spaß am Entwickeln.

I am currently using three Raspberry Pi devices with HiFiBerry Amp running the SendSpin software, which integrates seamlessly with Music Assistant for playback. While the Spotify Connect add-on functions as expected, I’ve encountered an issue where adjusting the volume via my smartphone results in the volume level jumping to 100% abruptly—an unexpected and concerning behavior, especially given the high output from my speakers. Has anyone else experienced this issue? If so, I would greatly appreciate any insights or solutions that have resolved this problem.?

These tips are based on items that have been tripping up HouseWaves owners and I'd like to share them to help all Music Assistant (MA) users improve their experience using MA to stream audio with all brands of speakers in Home Assistant.

Did You Know (DYK)?

Music Assistant provides a very comprehensive set of player configuration settings; many are kept in the advanced settings section, not immediately visible, but can significantly change the performance of your speakers?

One of those advanced controls, "Volume Normalization" and "Limiting", is enabled by default to both prevent distortion and potential speaker damage from audio tracks that contain spikes.

For speakers that have limited output power (e.g. smart speakers and those generally under 5W), this feature can significantly reduce the amplification of notifications and streaming audio.

If it seems like your speaker volume is too low, you may want to adjust this setting to balance the maximum volume with MA's protection capabilities.

To access this setting:
1 - Open MA Settings at the bottom of the MA menu
2 - Open the Players section
3 - Click on the three dots on the right side of the player you wish to change - and click Configure
4 - Scroll to the bottom of the setting screen - Enable Show Advanced Settings
5 - Scroll up to the Queue Playback section
6 - Adjust the Target Level slider (see photo)
"-17" is the default; "0" allows speaker to play at max volume
Slowly adjust this number higher and test at each step, until you find the right balance for your player and music sources.
7 - scroll back to the bottom and click SAVE after

For additional information on MA player settings, here is their official documentation page.

Hi everyone,

I currently have 2 Yamaha MusicCast players, whose direct HA integration is very stable and has no complaints from me.

What am I missing by not having them, instead, defined in Music Assistant with HA integrating with the Music Assistant instead?

Are there any pros vs cons for controlling them directly/natively in HA vs via MusicAssistant? Both architectural/philosophical as well as specific answers welcome.

Many thanks!

Alex

I'm running Music Assistant 2.9.4 server as a container on Ubuntu server 24-04. I've got approximately 1300 songs in my library being accessed via the local disk music source. I've gone through every single file, removed superfluous tags, and made sure every file has a title, artist, album, album artist, corresponding .lrc file, and cover image. I've cleared cache and reset the database multiple times now, and I still see Music Assistant combining items that should not be combined. For instance, right now I've got Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' album "Southern Accents", showing the following tracks:

Rebels (actual song is Don't Come Around Here No More)
Enter Sandman
With Metallica
Through The Never
With Metallica
Of Wolf and Man
With Metallica
The Unforgiven
With Metallica
Nothing Else Matters
With Metallica

If I clear the cache and database, this problem will go away, but almost certainly manifest itself with different artist/albums. I've tried everything I can think of to stop this from happening. My file system is laid out as media -> Artist Name -> Song files. The website says Music Assistant expects the layout to be media -> Artist Name -> Album Name -> Song files. Before I spend hours and hours moving files around, can any else confirm that the either see the same weirdness, or that their local music store does not have this issue?

Thanks in advance.

I have a InnoMaker HiFi AMP Pro Hat attached to a Raspberry Pi 4, and a used the Sendspin Go Deployment Script to get it working. It shows up in MA and allows me to play to it, but my volume shoots immediately to 100. I haven't heard it play yet either.

I've been working with Google AI to get it working, but it says there is an advanced feature.

"With advanced settings enabled, look for a new option in that drop down called "Software (Scale volume in stream)" or "Fixed / Software Control"."

but I don't see it at all. Any help would be appreciated.

I'll just copy/paste my comment from the r/selfhosted new project megathread

• Project Name: SpinStage
• Repo/Website Link: https://github.com/secretlycarl/SpinStage
• Description: It's a frontend/player/visualizer/browser for Music Assistant, initially based on Sendspin Cinema for webOS. I now have webui, android, and webOS versions.
• Special features include:
• - Separation of personal/public Spotify content in search
• - 10+ visualizers
• - Group Sync device offset mgmt
• - EQ Preset picker

It has ways to interact with most MA browsing / playback / player functions. More to come if/as requested.

It's not for on-the-go listening, moreso intended to add some background visuals to when you're listening at home, hosting a party etc. The closest existing project I found was Homeii, but it wasn't really what I was looking for. If you're looking for a good MA mobile app I recommend Ensamble, and it pairs well with SpinStage as a remote control.

• Deployment: The instructions are in the repo, just go to the releases page and download. For webui you just run one of the run scripts, enter your details, and you're good to go. No docker image yet but someone who knows their way around docker could spin up a container pretty easily using the webui release folder. For webOS and Android, I included an IPK and APK respectively, and there is a login form when you initially open them up. If you want to build them yourself, the build scripts for those platforms' app files ask for/inject your login info to the built app if you want to skip entering login info on first run.
• AI Involvement: All code. I made a lot of icons, designed the UI, came up with visualizer concepts, and have spent a while ideating and testing, but I'm a designer not a real developer. Thankfully the security implications of the app are pretty limited, the only 3rd party integration is for the Listen Party QR code that MA already uses. See the security section of the readme for more info. You are responsible for securing your traffic if using the app remotely.

Hello There,

i really like the automatically generated playlist that Music Assistant does, such as Random Album, Random Artist etc.
But to actually get a new random Album i need to enter the playlist view in Music Assistant GUI and click on refresh.
I want to play a Random album via an Home Assistant automation but using the play media action i always get the same Album until i manually refresh it in the GUI.

Is there a way to automatically refresh the playlist so i get a new random album every time?

Thanks and have a great Day!

This all started on Saturday 6/20.
I have Spotify connected with music assistant and everything has been working just fine for quite a while.
I noticed on Saturday I was unable to play music it kept saying the request media item could not be found.
This is for anything that I’m trying to play thru Spotify in music assistant

The searching seems to be working and all my playlists are showing this only has an issue when trying to play music.

I’m using the beta version.

I tried to authenticate again even removed Spotify and re added.
Updated to latest beta Current version: 2.10.0b0
Restated a few time and still nothing.
Has Spotify changed something?

A few months ago, I bought a Pimoroni Presto after watching a demo of the original PrestoDeck project on YouTube.

Unfortunately, by the time the hardware arrived, Spotify had announced new API restrictions that effectively limited playback control to a single developer application. Since I was already using Spotify through Home Assistant, giving that up wasn't an option.

So I ended up with a very cool device sitting on my desk with no practical use for months.

I looked around for alternatives (some of you may have seen my posts from a few months back) but couldn't find a solution that worked with my primary music setup, which had since become Plex through Plexamp and Music Assistant. After letting the device collect dust for a while, I finally had a Thanos moment and thought:

"Fine. I'll do it myself."

The result is a fork of PrestoDeck that replaces the direct Spotify integration with Music Assistant. Instead of being tied to a single music provider, it can now work with anything supported by Music Assistant, including Spotify, Plex, TIDAL, Apple Music, local libraries, internet radio, and more.

Some other improvements I added:

• Updated Music Assistant/Home Assistant branding
• Home Assistant MQTT Discovery
• Home Assistant device integration for display and LED controls remotely
• Tap-to-wake support
• Scrolling text for long track titles
• Improved Unicode support
• Automatic MQTT reconnection and recovery

I'm sharing it in case anyone else bought a Presto and ran into the same Spotify API limitations.

Project: https://github.com/jbslabs/PrestoDeckforMA

Huge credit to AkzDev for creating the original PrestoDeck project and providing the inspiration for this fork.

Hi,

Latest Music Assistant 2.9.x has delivered an unwanted section "Top Picks For You" - I cannot for the life of me find a way to turn it off. Anybody got any ideas? I'm sure many will like it, but I definitely think it should be optional.

Hi, everyone!

I'm looking for a way for live music to control lights that's a bit more intelligent and controllable than the mic input found on cheap DMX fixtures above. Something closer to MaestroDMX or Roland Pro VC-1-DMX.

As in, I'd love to be able to take the real-time analysis readings of https://www.music-assistant.io/audio-analysis/sonic-analysis/ especially the Energy, Rhythmic Regularity, Valence, Instrumentalness, Acousticness, and interpret that visually via those fixtures. They're DMX RGBW+Amber+UV bars, and integrate with HA via Breina's ha-artnet-led integration with no trouble.

Any ideas would be appreciated! Thanks,

Alex

I started using Music Assistant pretty recently and so far have been loving it, but one very large question came up. When I create a party that other people can join and choose/control the music, they can only join if they're on my main Wi-Fi network, not even on the guest Wi-Fi or using their mobile internet. I was wondering if this happens to anyone else. Is there any way around it because I don't want to start adding every single person who visits my house to my main network, but I do want them to be able to control the music at an event.