Music Assistant’s subsequent huge hit

Over the previous a number of months, Music Assistant has been hitting all the best notes with new options, higher stability, and a crescendo of contributors who preserve pushing the undertaking ahead. In the event you’re unfamiliar with Music Assistant, it means that you can merge your libraries from main audio streaming suppliers and native recordsdata, letting you play them on the preferred sensible audio system. Since our final replace, Music Assistant has had a few huge releases, however our most up-to-date would possibly simply be our platinum file 💿, with lots of new performance coming in model 2.4. In case you’ve missed the previous couple of updates, listed below are the most important additions.

Desk of contents

“Say My Title”

Optimized for Help

We should always have referred to as it Hello-Fi version

The latest launch has some nice developments for Help gadgets, just like the Dwelling Assistant Voice Preview Version. We’ve been working carefully with the ESPHome crew to make sure probably the most optimum audio streaming expertise, which has helped make Help gadgets into very succesful media gamers. The neighborhood has even added some nice performance to completely management your media participant together with your voice, together with selecting songs, artists, and extra. Voice Preview Version has a high-quality DAC that gives very clear audio playback from its 3.5mm jack, permitting you to stream lossless audio to linked audio system (this $59 machine places a few of my costly Hello-Fi gear to disgrace!).

“Throughout the Universe”

Exterior audio & Spotify Join

Spotify Join on Voice Preview Version

One other characteristic within the newest launch is help for “exterior audio sources”, which could be supplied both by gamers themselves (supply management) or with plugins. The primary plugin to ship this performance is Spotify Join. It’s the simplest manner to make use of Spotify with Music Assistant, and could be enabled on any participant. This makes any Music Assistant supported machine a Spotify Join supported machine (can affirm, Voice Preview Version is nice for this). To get began go to Music Assistant’s settings, add the Spotify Join Plugin, select the gadgets you want to it to make use of, and inside Spotify you will note the machine as a participant. Simply word, Spotify Join requires a Premium account to work.

We’ve received our sights set on including much more plugins like this down the road (AirPlay, anybody?). We’re additionally exhausting at work making the entire setup course of tremendous easy, significantly for these utilizing the Voice Preview Version who won’t want each single Music Assistant characteristic, however nonetheless need this straightforward casting functionality.

“Radio Ga Ga”

Podcasts & Audiobooks

The total e-book’s progress is tracked, and chapters are clearly proven

Your library simply received a complete lot larger! Music Assistant now has native help for podcasts and audiobooks. For podcasts, a number of suppliers have been added, together with Subsonic, YouTube, and RSS feeds. Audiobooks could be added through two model new suppliers: Audible and Audiobookshelf, or imported instantly out of your native recordsdata. Audiobook playback presents the complete e-book as a single bar with dots displaying every chapter (even when the e-book is separated into a number of recordsdata), permitting you to essentially monitor your progress. Your complete core has been adjusted to maintain higher monitor of your progress via any media, so you’ll all the time resume the place you left off.

The “Proceed listening” part on the house web page takes you again to the place you left off

“New Sensation”

Extra gamers and suppliers

Shortly after our final weblog submit, we added help for Apple Music which was one of the vital requested additions within the feedback. A few different new suppliers have been added, together with iBroadcast and SiriusXM. For brand new {hardware} help we’ve added help for Bluesound gamers. If in case you have a supplier or participant you’re keen on and wish to see it in Music Assistant, request it—however higher but be a part of us in creating it!

“All About That Bass”

Equalizer management & options

Make your individual EQ settings or import pre-made settings in your speaker

After we launched 2.0 there have been primary bass and treble controls for gadgets, however with our new configurable DSP (Digital Sign Processor) now you can fine-tune your audio like by no means earlier than. This consists of enter and output acquire, together with a robust parametric equalizer that may be utilized per participant 📈. You may conveniently view the complete audio pipeline by clicking the standard indicator icon.

One other helpful characteristic added was a “Don’t cease the music” mode that retains music enjoying even as soon as your queue finishes, enjoying comparable songs out of your library. One other strategy to preserve the music enjoying is thru lock screens and widget controls constructed into many fashionable working methods, which may now management Music Assistant.

“Grasp of Puppets”

Dwelling Assistant enhancements

Dwelling Assistant was all the time designed to work seamlessly with Music Assistant, and it’s solely getting higher. Within the Dwelling Assistant 2024.12 launch, we gave the neighborhood a Christmas current–Music Assistant moved from HACS to being a local integration (please migrate should you haven’t but).

Many individuals now add all their gamers to Music Assistant first after which combine Music Assistant with Dwelling Assistant, eliminating the necessity to add every machine individually. The latest launch added the flexibility to outsource any participant management, together with quantity or turning it on/off, to a Dwelling Assistant entity. There are different advantages to utilizing them collectively, like Music Assistant resuming audio playback after an announcement or utilizing Help to search out and play a music (with or with out LLMs).

“D-D-Don’t Don’t Cease the Beat”

Extra secure streaming

One of many largest targets for each launch is to enhance streaming stability throughout all suppliers and gamers. With each launch, we’ve been bettering stability, and since our final submit, we’ve had an enormous inflow of customers who’ve been discovering and serving to squash bugs. There have been good enhancements to virtually each supplier serving to with stability, velocity, and high quality. Simply within the subsequent patch launch 2.4.3, we’ve improved streaming efficiency on slower community connections. The purpose is that the music by no means stops.