#Wifi speakers that do not require account or internet connection

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

hearty parcel
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What options are there for wifi speakers that do NOT require an account to be created and internet connection?

I will not buy any wifi speakers that require an account and internet connection. I would use the speakers with Home Assistant but without using manufacturer's account or cloud connection. I can accept using an app if the app does not require an account and internet connection, only local wifi connection.

If I have to go for open source then so be it but for now I would like to hear what people know. It is difficult to get information from the companies themselves.

random prism
hearty parcel
random prism
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Right. But it puts an upper bound on the things you need to reasearch. I use airplay compatible devices myself. No account required

deft bear
hearty parcel
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I'm in Europe.

deft bear
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Ahh, dunno then

hearty parcel
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How do you set up those speakers? They have to connect to the wireless network so you have to set them up.

deft bear
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Ok, looks like it does need an app unfortunately.. just did some digging

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Assumed it wouldn’t because it’s not a major brand or big name lol

hearty parcel
hearty parcel
deft bear
hearty parcel
deft bear
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Kinda similar to how the HomeKit Device integration works in HA. Don’t need an Apple device to use it.

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(I have my Honeywell Tstats integrated via that)

hearty parcel
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Ok. Now do you know which wifi speaker manufacturers don't require an account and internet connection to setup the speakers and use them? JBL for example? Denon is sounding more and more suspicious (I emailed them, waiting for reply). Sony? Anything?

deft bear
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No clue, sorry man.

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I’m still using Alexa’s mostly over here :/

hearty parcel
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Thanks anyway. I'm open to any brand as long as music quality is reasonable.

random prism
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My Marantz (owned by same company as Denon) amplifier shows up as an airplay device in music assistant. I have never set up an account for it. I imagine their stand-alone speakers work the same. But I can't vouch for that

hearty parcel
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It's free now to set it up but later ...

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Maranz would be in the same boat then

random prism
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After doing a little research, my OSD streamer is based on LinkPlay tech.
https://www.linkplay.com/app
They provide solutions for a number of OEMs (e.g. OSD and Arylic). The OEM can customize the app for their particular devices. I've tried 3 different android apps that are LinkPlay based (OSD Player, 4STREAM, and WiiM Home) and they all communicate with my OSD devices. No account required.

So you might try looking for speakers that are linkplay based.

Another company BluOS appears to be similar but I don't have any of these devices to verify there is no account required. I don't see any account setup in their documentation though. https://bluos.io/partners/

Linkplay Technology
App — Linkplay Technology

We provide an intuitive and customizable standard app that controls all your devices. Our standard app provides streaming content integration, custom controls, and UX.

BluOS
Partners
hearty parcel
young vessel
# hearty parcel Thanks but that does not tell me whether user account and internet connection is...

An FYI, I can attest that Sonos do work well with Home Assistant with all Internet access blocked post setup.

If I didn’t already have them, I would probably not be buying into the system. As it is, the hardware is great, so I’m probably not going to invest in a major switch away, but yea.

If I were to do it again I’d probably get a receiver and then connect it to something like a Voice PE and play with Music Assistant.

hearty parcel
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Sonos is a terrible company, it probably always was but after they updated the app in last 6 months, they really showed their true colors. Personally, I would never buy a Sonos, was given one for Christmas, returned it (this was several years ago). However my parents were given one by my sister so they used it. It was great for them but they didn't pay attention that they have to use the app to control it and without the app, control was gone. Sonos updated the app such that only latest app works with the latest firmware but ... their iPad Mini was too old to get the latest app (since it required latest iOS and their iPad Mini could not get that). That lack of app update prevented them from controlling the Sonos like they were able to before, all due to Sonos themselves, not because actual hardware can't do it.

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Therefore, no way I will ever buy Sonos or any other product that requires account, internet access, apps with accounts, etc.

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I will check out what John suggested and what you wrote about Voice PE.

young vessel
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10000% not to mention what they did to Snips.

hearty parcel
hearty parcel
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Looks like Audio Pro speakers also do not require account or internet. I think many of the cheaper ones that use Linkplay do not require accounts or internet, like Edifier speakers.

hearty parcel
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There seems to also be Yamaha MusicCast speakers so that's another one for the list.

hearty parcel
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Bluesound got back to me and to setup the speakers an app is needed but no internet connection or account, only local wifi network.

young vessel
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Nice! Looks more or less like a close replacement to Sonos (similar product line) without their shenanigans.

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Oh, and of October it looks like Bluesound is supported by Music Assistant.

hearty parcel
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I am leaning towards Audio Pro or Bluesound. I would like to find places to hear the speakers before buying them, I will probably end up buying used if they are a good price.

hearty parcel
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I ended up getting Audio Pro Drumfire II, both wireless speaker and subwoofer.

hearty parcel
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@young vessel just in case you are interested, Audio Pro wireless speakers do not require an account to setup, only the app and no internet connection to setup.

young vessel
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Those look great! Ugh. I wish I found them a few years ago. Hah. Do they work well with HASS/MASS? Playback, grouping, etc?

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I have another area in my home I want to put some speakers, so maybe I’ll do a slow transition since the area is on a different floor. Perfect syncing of playback between two floors isn’t totally necessary to me.

hearty parcel
# young vessel Those look great! Ugh. I wish I found them a few years ago. Hah. Do they work we...

I have not attempted to integrated them into Home Assistant. I have only used the application. Application on Android works great, fairly simple, I had to setup MiniDLNA docker on my NAS so the speaker app can access all of my music through DLNA server. I have all of my old CDs ripped as lossless FLAC and any new music I bought also as CD quality files. Therefore it is important for me for speaker to be able to play those without issues and access over the network.

I am still kind of new to Home Assistant. What is HASS/MASS? What do I need to do to play music through Home Assistant? Why would I do it through Home Assistant vs the app? Is it to get rid off reliance on the app? That seems easily done with Audio Pro speaker since it just shows up as UPnP, AirPlay or Chromecast device that you can cast to. I am also testing Qobuz subscription (either CD or 24-bit quality streaming) for which Audio Pro has built in support in the app. I guess to not be reliant on the app, I would have to have Qobuz integration also in Home Assistant?

young vessel
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I like being able to use Home Assistant so I can see everything in one place and perform automations based on state. Also, with the new Voice Assistant features, I want to be able to trigger playback, pause, and grouping using voice commands.

Based on the fact that it supports Google Cast, DLNA, and AirPlay, it should be good.

hearty parcel
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Thanks.

bold timber
hearty parcel
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Audio Pro wifi speakers are like that. You only need the app to connect speaker to the wifi network (to enter the password) and after that you can use the speaker either with the app or as DLNA unit that you can cast to.

hearty parcel
hearty parcel
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I've been reading and it seems the ideal way to set this up is to install Music Assistant server on my Unraid NAS then use Music Assistant integration to play both local media and streaming services (and radio). I would essentially be duplicating what Audio Pro app does. Correct?

random prism
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Install the music assistant addon in homeassistant. Configure an appropriate music proviner in music assistant settings (e.g. remote filesystem for your nas). Install music assistant integration for additional homeassistant control over mass

hearty parcel
hearty parcel
# young vessel Those look great! Ugh. I wish I found them a few years ago. Hah. Do they work we...

I set up Music Assistant and am testing it now with Drumfire II. It all works ok; it seems you cannot control volume using + / - within Music Assistant/Home Assistant when speaker is used as UPnP/DLNA in Music Assistant. You can use the slider but if you happen to touch + / - it reverts volume back to what it was when you started playing. It seems it is a limitation of UPnP/DLNA with this speaker in Music Assistant.

I have not tested AirPlay yet but since AirPlay is limited in streaming quality I decided to use speaker as Chromecast device. That allows volume control using + / - and can stream high quality. Seems only limitation is lack of crossfade and/or gapless support.

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Radio stations play great; music plays great; Qobuz plays great.

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Once I get more speakers it should be able to group them but they may not play in sync. Need to test this in the future.

young vessel
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Nice. Playing in sync works using AirPlay as the protocol has a timestamps that allow syncing. You can sync Google Cast players, but only if you create and manage the groups in the Google Home app. You can’t do it on the fly in Home Assistant or Music Assistant. You can’t still group them in Music Assistant, but the sync will be off.

hearty parcel
# young vessel Nice. Playing in sync works using AirPlay as the protocol has a timestamps that ...

Thanks. I can sync using Audio Pro app but it would be nice to do it in Music Assistant. There is the big limitation I guess.

Anyway, now everything is broken. I rebooted Home Assistant and first Music Assistant was not "initializing". Some errors in the log, I don't get the errors, I asked on Music Assistant Discord, nobody is answering yet. After nothing was fixing the issue, I restarted Music Assistant server and then Music Assistant integration was able to "initialize".

However NOW there is no Media Assistant sources in "Media" in Home Assistant. I don't get it, why is this so difficult?

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Oh I had to change the "player" under "Media" to the one from Music Assistant, then things showed up.

autumn sparrow
hearty parcel
# autumn sparrow Did you get the music assistant problems resolved? Any final thoughts on the se...

I did. Everything works fine. I use AirPlay speaker connection to play synced music across wifi speakers since Chromecast doesn't support that.

I bought 3 different Audio Pro speakers: A38 for TV speakers, Drumfire II for living room, C10 for my daughters. All are awesome, great sound, easy to setup, work with AirPlay, Chromecast, and I generally use Qobuz service for streaming high quality and radio browser on Music Assistant.

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Audio Pro speakers only require you to use their app to connect speakers to the network. After that, it's all up to you. No account required, no internet required.

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Sonos is a terrible company, I will never buy anything from them.

autumn sparrow
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Thanks for the update, much appreciated.

I'm trying not to buy Sonos but they seemed to be the best supported, this has given me hope for alternatives!

I will do some more research

autumn sparrow
hearty parcel
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So it's almost exclusively Music Assistant that is sending music to the speakers.

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I use Music Assistant through web interface since I can't use Music Assistant add-on within Home Assistant since I run Home Assistant as docker container on Unraid server. This does not allow me to run add ons. So within Home Assistant I have a menu item named Music Assistant that just displays web interface page of Music Assistant.