Music Playback

Music Playback

Ava can serve as a Home Assistant media player, playing music and voice announcements. It also supports Music Assistant integration via Sendspin for multi-room audio sync.

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Overview

Ava supports the following audio features:

• Media playback (music, podcasts, etc.)
• TTS voice announcements
• Wake prompt sounds
• Timer sounds
• Music Assistant multi-room sync (via Sendspin)

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Media Player

Entity Type

In Home Assistant, Ava registers as a media player entity:

• media_player.your_device_name

Supported Operations

Operation	Description
Play	Play media
Pause	Pause playback
Stop	Stop playback
Volume	0-100%
Mute	Enable/disable mute

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Playing Music

Via Home Assistant Service

service: media_player.play_media
target:
  entity_id: media_player.your_device_name
data:
  media_content_id: "http://example.com/music.mp3"
  media_content_type: "music"

Supported Formats

Format	Description
MP3	Most common
AAC	Apple format
OGG	Open source format
WAV	Lossless format
FLAC	Lossless compressed

Supported Sources

• HTTP/HTTPS URLs
• Local file paths
• Streaming URLs

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Vinyl Record Cover

When playing music, Ava can display beautiful vinyl record style album covers.

How to Enable

1. Go to Settings -> Interaction
2. Find Media Player
3. Turn on Home Assistant Media Controls or Music Assistant Media Controls

HA Media Player Entity

Set the Home Assistant media player entity ID for album art:

1. Go to Settings -> Interaction -> Media Player
2. Find Home Assistant Media Player
3. Enter entity ID, e.g. media_player.xxx
4. Album art only works when album display is enabled

Set Cover

service: esphome.your_device_name_media_cover
data:
  url: "http://example.com/cover.jpg"

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TTS Voice Announcements

Via Home Assistant

service: tts.speak
target:
  entity_id: media_player.your_device_name
data:
  message: "Hello, welcome home"

TTS Engines

Ava uses the TTS engine configured in Home Assistant. Recommended:

• Piper (local, fast)
• Google TTS (online, good quality)
• Azure TTS (online, good quality)

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Volume Control

Set Volume

service: media_player.volume_set
target:
  entity_id: media_player.your_device_name
data:
  volume_level: 0.8  # 0.0 - 1.0

Mute

service: media_player.volume_mute
target:
  entity_id: media_player.your_device_name
data:
  is_volume_muted: true

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Conversation Subtitles

Display text content of voice conversations as a floating window.

How to Enable

1. Go to Settings -> Interaction
2. Turn on Floating Subtitle switch

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Music Assistant Integration

Ava supports Music Assistant for multi-room audio sync via the Sendspin protocol. See Sendspin for detailed setup.

Settings

Setting	Description
Music Assistant Media Controls	Show music controls during Music Assistant playback
Sendspin Volume Control	Device Volume or Software Volume
Sendspin Optimization Mode	Recommended for low-memory devices
Sendspin Sync Offset	Fine-tune playback timing in milliseconds
Sendspin Audio Format	Audio codec and quality
Sendspin Device Name	Name shown on Music Assistant server
Sync device volume	Keep all related media volumes aligned

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Settings Summary

Setting	Location	Description	Default
HA Media Player	Interaction -> Media Player	Entity ID for album art	-
HA Media Controls	Interaction -> Media Player	Show music controls	Off
Music Assistant Media Controls	Interaction -> Media Player	Show MA music controls	Off
Floating Subtitle	Interaction	Show conversation text	Off

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Home Assistant Services

Play Media

service: media_player.play_media
target:
  entity_id: media_player.your_device_name
data:
  media_content_id: "http://example.com/music.mp3"
  media_content_type: "music"

Pause / Resume / Stop

service: media_player.media_pause
target:
  entity_id: media_player.your_device_name

service: media_player.media_play
target:
  entity_id: media_player.your_device_name

service: media_player.media_stop
target:
  entity_id: media_player.your_device_name

Set Volume

service: media_player.volume_set
target:
  entity_id: media_player.your_device_name
data:
  volume_level: 0.8

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FAQ

Music not playing?

1. Check if URL is accessible
2. Check if audio format is supported
3. Check if volume is muted
4. Check Home Assistant connection

Cover not showing?

1. Check if Media Controls is enabled
2. Check if HA Media Player entity ID is set correctly
3. Check network connection
4. Try manually setting cover URL

Volume too low?

1. Increase volume in Ava settings
2. Increase device system volume
3. Check if mute is enabled

Music out of sync with other rooms?

See Sendspin for multi-room sync configuration. Adjust Sendspin Sync Offset in Settings -> Extensions -> Media Player.

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