Multiple simultaneous streams

[UKenGB]

By which I don't mean of just the same audio.

Before I get stuck into installation of the server and setting up control from Home Assistant, would appreciate advice about the following…

I have a Debian based media server that uses Rocket Streaming Audio Server (Icecast equivalent) to provide radio streams either from Internet Radio or broadcast radio sources. On the LAN, they're all accessible by just simple local URLs. I also have a separate small server running Home Assistant and several AirPlay receivers throughout the house - the Home Pods being the most important to this project.

I want to set up an HA dashboard as a player to control the playing of a music server running on the media server that can directly access those radio streams (via localhost, so not touching the LAN) and to send those streams each to a specified AirPlay target (AirPlayer)

I can do this running OwnTone on the media server, but it can only handle a single stream, without running multiple instances of the process. This can be done, but I would like to establish whether Music Assistant would be a better option.

I believe I can install MA on my media server and also that it can be configured to accept any of my radio streams and send to any of my AirPlayers. My question is:-

Can MA handle multiple streams from different radio stream inputs, each to a different AirPlayer?

This will not be hundreds. Mostly just 2 or 3, but it's whether MA is able to deal with more than one that I think is the big question.

Can it?

[ovizii]

I came here to ask about MA supporting playing multiple audio streams in parallel as currently I do not see this feature. I am not asking about the OP's situation with radio streams but in general.

As in listening to one playlist in room A and to a different one in room B.

[UKenGB]

I think it's basically the same question. Can MA handle a matrix of multiple simultaneous streams of different input sources to different output devices.

[OzGav]

If I understand correctly the answer would be yes. It would be the same as a user playing a different internet radio station to all of their speakers which is supported.

[ovizii]

OMG, I have finally figured out how this works. I have been using MA for more than a year, and I was convinced there was no such feature.

[UKenGB]

[OzGav]

We only provide support for HAOS and our docker compose. People have other installs working but we can’t answer questions or try and fix problems for those.

[UKenGB]

As a follow-up to this topic, how does MA deal with multiple players trying to play the same stream, e.g. all playing the same radio stream?

Would MA pull a stream from the source for each player or does it realise they all need the same stream so pull it in just the once and then distribute it to the multiple players?

I'm thinking if an HA automation starts playing the same radio strem to multiple players, is there just one single stream pulled over the Internet connection and then distributed locally as multiple streams, or woujld it mean multiple streams pulled over the Internet connection, one for each player?

[OzGav]

It is a stream for each player as I understand.

[marcelveldt]

Unless grouped, then it's a single one

[UKenGB]

Unless grouped, then it's a single one

Sorry @marcelveldt could you explain what you mean there. Are you saying that 'grouping' would mean just a single stream being pulled and then distributed to multiple players?

What exactly is being grouped and how? I've not come across that feature in my working with MA.

[OzGav]

Grouping the speakers together. https://www.music-assistant.io/faq/groups/