AirPlay 2 firmware now covers almost every Sonocotta board

A quick follow-up to my earlier post about the airplay-esp32 firmware: version 0.3.0 is out, and with it, almost every Sonocotta board has a ready-made build in the web installer. Plug the board into your computer, pick it from the list, click Install, and a few minutes later it shows up in Control Center next to your HomePod.

Which boards are in the installer

• Louder: Louder-ESP32 and Louder-ESP32-Plus (classic ESP32 and S3), Louder-ESP32-Pro with its colour screen, and Louder-ESP32-Mini
• Amped: Amped-ESP32 and, new in this release, Amped-ESP32-Plus (classic ESP32 and S3)
• HiFi: HiFi-ESP32 and, also new, HiFi-ESP32-Plus (classic ESP32 and S3)
• Loud: Loud-ESP32 (classic ESP32 and S3)
• Esparagus: Louder, Loud, HiFi and Amped Esparagus, Esparagus Echo, and the Audio Brick, including the Audio Brick Dual

The PCM5122-based Plus boards were the missing piece last time. They now play with the DAC’s hardware volume control.

Two exceptions remain. The Amped Esparagus Plus (S3) is supported by the firmware but has no ready-made build yet, so for now you build and flash it yourself with PlatformIO (environment amped-esparagus-plus-s3). The Loud-ESP32-Plus is not supported (MA12070P DAC lacks driver).

What else is new

• AirPlay 1 or 2, your choice: switch the protocol on the device’s web page. Classic AirPlay 1 is what makes hardware buttons work with iOS.
• Sound tuning on Louder boards: raw biquad chains from TI PurePath Console 3, separate EQ, level and delay for each output, and a check that tells you whether your filters fit on the chip.
• Sendspin: an experimental Sendspin player, so the board can also join Music Assistant. AirPlay takes the speaker back whenever you start playing from your phone.
• Rotary encoder volume and playback control, and screen blanking for the OLED.
• Steadier playback: fewer pops and stalls around pause and seek, better recovery from lost packets, and sync that holds across tracks.
• Easier Wi-Fi setup from the iPhone’s captive portal, and a web UI that works properly on desktop screens.

One thing to watch on the Louder-ESP32-Mini

The Mini drives a single speaker with its amplifier bridged, so it has a build of its own. Only ever install the Louder-ESP32-Mini build on a Mini. The other Louder builds start the amplifier in stereo, which will see short speaker terminals with this wiring. For a stereo pair, use two Minis and set one to Left and the other to Right on the Speaker page.

Getting started

The AirPlay 2 speaker guide walks through picking a board, installing the firmware and tuning the sound. The full list of changes is in the v0.3.0 release notes.

Huge thanks to rbouteiller for starting the project, and to emlynmac, johnchia and every other contributor for the work that went into this release. Bugs and feature requests go to the project’s GitHub issues.