For “communication and interaction” at home, I\u2019m all set with my wife, my dog, and my cat. The last thing I need is some server hanging overhead<\/a>, driving me nuts and demanding my attention.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Still, there are moments when a smart home should speak up. Sure, it\u2019s obvious when the smoke alarm goes off. But even something like a sprinkler warning \u2014 letting you know before it soaks you head to toe \u2014 can make life easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So at some point, it became necessary to give the house some simple audio alerts. After all, we\u2019re not glued to its graphical control console 24\/7, keeping an eye on every single event. We might miss something important otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, bottom line\u2026 The project\u2019s goal is to set up a bunch of simple devices with speakers and mics that can play media content at the level of basic voice announcements and, when necessary, handle simple voice commands. Absolutely not a \u201csound system\u201d \u2014 we already have one of those. I\u2019m talking about the simplest speaker-horns, like the ones you\u2019d find at a train station. As bare-bones as possible. And they\u2019d be spread all over every single room in the house:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The advantages of having a cluster of devices instead of just one big setup:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You could pick up some simple, not-too-pricey wireless speakers on Amazon or some other Alibaba-like site. They come in all shapes and sizes. Some can even be wrangled into working with Home Assistant \u2014 if you\u2019re lucky. But I decided to take a more interesting and reliable route: build my own wireless speaker as a smart home component. Nothing too outlandish. It\u2019s what I\u2019d call an \u201cearly-to-mid-level\u201d project in terms of complexity. It\u2019ll be cheaper, and I won\u2019t have to deal with any compatibility drama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I started by hooking up an ESP32 to a DAC board based on the UDA1334A, which speaks I2S. Then I added a PAM8403-based amplifier. After that, I connected a pair of 2-inch, 4\u03a9-3W speakers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n And it worked like a charm. The DAC module\u2019s output goes to the amp either through a built-in 3mm jack (option #2) or via the onboard analog output pins (option #1). All the modules in this example are chosen so they can run off the existing 5V supply in the system. That way, you don\u2019t have to rig up any extra step-up or step-down converters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, nothing\u2019s stopping you from tossing in a truck-sized Class-D amp, powering it straight from the nearest nuclear reactor, and blasting a city-wide announcement that there\u2019s been a spike in methane level in your home\u2019s bathroom atmosphere.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Pre-built firmware for this kind of setup is easy enough to find online, whether you\u2019re running something like ESPHome or going for a standalone Arduino-style project. Just search by module names or I2S in the context of the ESP32. They generally all rely on standard libraries and some rock-solid, bare-bones code you can fit on a Post-it note. Here\u2019s one of my favorite DIY YouTubers \u2014 he goes to absurd lengths in his \u201ctutorial\u201d videos \u2014 who covered this topic in excruciating detail ages ago:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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