Streaming Music

This guide will show you how to stream multi-room synchronized music to one or many Sat1 devices around your home using Music-Assistant.io. You can stream from Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal etc. And your Sat1 speaker can operate as a Spotify Connect speaker or Airplay speaker so you can stream music directly from your phone.

Install Music Assistant

There are many ways to install Music Assistant in your home. Read their documentation to get started.

Install Music Assistant

Add a Music Provider

Add a music source provider like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, or many other sources by following the instructions below.

Some of the music providers require a paid subscription to use within Music Assistant.

Connect a Music Provider to MA

Start the Snapcast Server

We recommend connecting your Sat1 to Music Assistant using the built-in Snapcast server. This enables flexible audio streaming in the following configurations:

Single Speaker – Stream audio to one Satellite1 speaker.
Stereo Pair – Connect two Satellite1 speakers as a left/right stereo pair.
Multi-Room Audio – Sync two or more Satellite1 speakers for synchronized playback across multiple rooms (similar to Sonos).

NOTE: Yes we plan to support Nabu Casa's Sendspin protocol after further development. However, as of Feb 2026 we find Snapcast to be more reliable.

Start your Snapcast Server

In Music Assistant navigate to "Settings -> Providers -> Add a new provider" and select "Snapcast" to install the Snapserver. Leave all the server settings at default. Your Satellite1 speakers will automatically appear in Music Assistant.
Configure Your Speakers

In Music Assistant, edit each speaker’s settings by navigating to "Settings -> Players" then click "Configure" next to each speaker. Assign a clear, recognizable name to every device.

We also strongly recommend disabling the “Enable volume normalization” setting in each speaker’s configuration. Alternatively you could leave volume normalization enabled and change the target level in the speakers Advanced Settings section at the bottom of the page.

This ensures your Sat1 speaker can reach its full output level and perform at maximum volume.

Snapcast Network Requirements

Ports 1704 & 1705 must be open for the Snapserver to communicate with the Sat1 Snapclient.
Ports 4953 through 5153 must be open per Music Assistant's Snapcast requirements.
mDNS is recommended for the Snapserver to autodetect the Sat1 Snapclient.

Sat1 Snapcast Speaker(s) Missing?

Check that the correct ports are open and mDNS is operational.
Toggle Snapcast off/on in the Sat1 ESPHome device settings.
Manually add your Snapserver's IP address to the Sat1's firmware. Read more here.

Controlling Snapcast Speaker Groups

This is how you dynamically add/remove Sat1 speakers to a group for synchronized multi-room music playback.

Play Music on Main Speaker

Click a track, choose "Play On", select your main speaker, then click the track again and choose "Play Now".
Show All Speakers

Open the Now Playing side panel by clicking the icon.
Manage Speaker Group

Click in the blank area next to the song tile to expand and view all Snapcast speakers. Select or deselect speakers to add or remove them from the group.
Sat1 Snapcast Speaker(s) Drifting Out of Sync or Stuttering?
- Inspect Sat1 ESPHome Device settings to make sure it has a strong WiFi connection
- Restart the Snapcast Server from Music Assistant's Music Provider settings
- Toggle Snapcast off/on in the Sat1 ESPHome device settings
- Turn off Music Assistant DSP Equalizer
- Run your own Snapserver instead of the one built-in to Music Assistant

Setup Snapcast Stereo Playback & Static Grouping

This feature lets you semi-permanently group Sat1 speakers, such as combining all your upstairs speakers into one group or pairing two Sat1 speakers for stereo sound.

Create a Group Player

Go to MA "Settings -> Players" and select "Add Group Player".
Name the Stereo Pair Group

Select "Snapcast Group Type". Keep "Dynamic Group" off. Give the group a name and add the two Sat1 speakers you want in the stereo pair.
Set Channel Output

In Home Assistant, navigate to "Settings -> Devices & Services -> ESPHome" and set the correct "Speaker Channel Output" for each speaker.
Tips:
- Channel selection only relates to the built-in speaker and not audio coming out of the headphone jack.
- If Music Assistant's volume control is not controlling all speakers in the group, then restart things.

DSP to Achieve Better Sound

Using Music Assistant's DSP equalizer can significantly improve the sound quality of your Sat1.

Open Speaker DSP Settings

Go to MA "Settings -> icon" and select "Open DSP Settings".
Adjust DSP

Adjust the DSP settings to your liking.
Read about DSP
- DSP Parametric EQ
- DSP Tone Controls

DSP & Snapcast Speaker Grouping

When multiple speakers are added to a Snapcast group your Music Assistant DSP settings are not rendered. We've opened a PR with Music Assistant to temporarily workaround this issue and in the future we plan to introduce Gain and EQ control directly within the Satellite1.

Controlling Music with Your Voice

Beta Feature Zone!

These capabilities are still rough around the edges. Please be patient. :)

Not only do we want to say, "Hey Jarvis, turn down the volume" or "Hey Jarvis, play the next song", but we also want to say, “Hey Jarvis, play the Beatles,” and have it play on that speaker (or at least ask which speaker to use). Currently, this is hard to do, but not impossible.

To achieve all this, I highly recommend reading Music Assistant’s Voice Support Repository. However, I have personally found these implementations to be cumbersome and unreliable and instead have been using a different solution I'll share here (although it does currently require cloud AI).

Cloud AI Conversation Agent

Use a voice pipeline with a Cloud AI conversation agent. Tick on "Prefer handling commands locally" to get the best results.
Edit Speaker Device

In Home Assistant, navigate to "Settings -> Devices & Services -> Music Assistant" and open the context menu to "Edit Device" for each speaker.
Good Naming Conventions

Give the device an intuitive name. Be sure to assign an area. Click Update.
Entity Settings

Click on the newly renamed device to see all its entities. Then click on the actual media player entity in the controls section. Click the settings icon.
Expose Speaker to Assist

Click on "Voice assistants" and toggle on "Assist" to expose the Music Assistant speaker to your voice assistant.

My Results:

Playing a song by artist or track name works fairly well.
If you don’t specify a speaker, it sometimes chooses the right one automatically; therefore it is best to explicitly specify which speaker you want to control.
You can’t control multiple speakers in an area (yet).
You can’t group or ungroup Snapcast speakers (yet).