What is it

HiFi-ESP32 is handy, low-cost media device that will upgrade your legacy audio system with internet streaming capabilities. It exposes line-level output that you can plug into active speakers, a stereo amplifier, or headphones. They use the legendary PCM51XX series DAC with supreme audio quality.

Use cases

HiFi-ESP32 is a flexible, open-source audio platform designed to fit into both smart homes and custom audio projects.

• Smart Home Audio & TTS
  Integrates with Home Assistant and Music Assistant for high-quality audio playback and text-to-speech announcements. Perfect for notifications, voice alerts, and whole-home audio driven by your smart home automations.
• Multi-Room Audio with Snapclient
  Use HiFi-ESP32 as a Snapclient endpoint to create perfectly synchronized multi-room audio systems. Ideal for distributed music playback without proprietary lock-in.
• Standalone Player with Squeezelite-ESP32
  Run Squeezelite-ESP32 for a self-contained network audio player supporting Spotify Connect, AirPlay, and Logitech Media Server (LMS) — no external computer required.
• Educational Projects & Teaching Platforms
  A powerful tool for schools, universities, and technical education. HiFi-ESP32 can be used to teach embedded systems, digital audio, networking, and open-source software — ranging from simple audio playback labs to advanced DSP, streaming, and real-time systems projects.
• Research, Prototyping & Experimentation
  Well-suited for rapid prototyping of audio devices, proofs-of-concept, and research projects involving DSP, low-latency streaming, wireless audio, or human-machine interaction.
• A Foundation for Custom Products & DIY Builds
  With all firmware and tooling fully open source, HiFi-ESP32 is an ideal base for custom audio devices — whether you’re building a personal DIY project, a small production run, or a community-driven product.

Features

⚠️ HiFi boards require an external amplifier or active speakers; you can't connect passive speakers to it.

💡 Need to connect speakers as well? Check out Amped-ESP32

💡 Need only speakers output? Check out Loud-ESP32

💡 Need more powerful DSP? Check out Louder-ESP32

**** Enabling EQ controls in software is a work inprogress

Which device is right for me

Onboard PSRAM

Audio streaming requires proper buffering to work, even with the ESP32's 500K of RAM; it is a challenging task. For that reason, all Louder-ESP32 board versions have an 8 MB PSRAM chip onboard, connected via a high-speed interface.

Board Pinout

HiFi-ESP32

Ethernet

Optional peripheral

Which software is right for me

Software Options

• Home Assistant
  Start from the web-installer, as soon as you configure WiFi, the boards will be discovered by the ESPHome add-in automatically. Dedicated configs can be found in the documentation for simple and stable media-player, experimental sendspin protocol, and experimental snapclient component
• *Squeezelite-ESP32
  *Flash directly from your browser using the web-installer, configure WiFi using Hotspot (default password: squeezelite). Don't forget to exit Recovery mode when configured.
• Snapclient
  Flash directly from your browser using the web-installer, as soon as you configure the WiFi board will discover the snapserver automatically
• Snaplient (edge)
  Developer's version of the snapclient, less stable and more feature-rich for those who cannot wait for new features to be released. Installed via web-installer, similar to standard snapclient
• Your own software
  Use Arduino IDE or Platformio IDE and the provided software samples

Using with Home Assistant

Both HiFi-ESP32 versions were created specifically to be used with Home Assistant via ESPHome integration. For both boards, rich configs were pre-created with hardware configuration for common use cases. These include

• media_player component for simple and robust media playback and TTS announcements (with ducking effect)
• Sendspin media player – new experimental protocol for multi-room sync with media controls and more
• An experimental snapclient component that allows near-perfect multi-room sync and seamless integration with Music Assistant
• Another snapclient fork with an implemented 15-band software equalizer and a rich set of EQ presets
• Voice assist config for S3-based boards, allowing local voice-controlled assist and automation

Configurations are being actively maintained and upgraded, new experimental components added for you to test and enjoy

Flashing ESP32-S3

ESP32-S3 boards have two ways of firmware update: (1) similarly to classing ESP32, they can be flashed over built-in UART, or (2) uniquely for S3, over built-in USB host controller. Since it is firmware-controlled, and may be disabled if not used (or, more commonly, not available with factory default empty firmware). When come unflashed ESP32-S3 device comes into a boot loop, with a USB-CDC device appearing and disappearing every second, and requires a special flashing initialisation sequence to get flashed:

• Press IO0 (FLASH) button and keep it pressed
• Press RESET button and release FLASH button after
• ESP32-S3 will enter download mode and USB-CDC device will appear and stay available
• Run flashing routine as usual, either through web-serial or esp_tool
• This time, it is not possible to reboot device over USB, so press RESET once more
• Device will boot normally into firmware and if USB-CDC is enabled in the firmware, you will be able to flash it normally, download mode and reset sequence will work over USB.
• If you manage to flash firmware without USB-CDC support, you need to go through above sequence once more

Hardware

Please visit the hardware section for board schematics and PCB designs. Note that PCBs are shared as multi-layer PDFs, Gerber files, and 3D-models (step files).

HiFi-ESP32

Image

Optional Ethernet

Every board has a header that allows soldering in the W5500 SPI Ethernet module that is very easy to find. The only downside is that with the module installed board will not fit the case unless it is cut to accommodate extra height.

HiFi-ESP32

Case

HiFi-ESP32 and HiFi-ESP32-Plus boards are mechanically compatible with Raspberry Pi 4 cases, and they are very easy to source

Hifi-ESP32

Restocking & Availability

New restock batches are regularly ordered from the factory, and I plan to keep all versions available at least until the next board revision is released. For current availability, you can also check the official reseller Elecrow.

USA shipping Update

Due to the new tariffs introduced by the Trump administration, standard shipments are temporarily on hold. However, shipping to the US has now resumed via UPS, though rates are currently quite high. I’ll fully resume regular shipping as soon as the restrictions are lifted. In the meantime, you may consider ordering through Elecrow.

Sponsorship & Community Support

If you’re working on an open-source project, an educational initiative, or any pro-bono/volunteer effort, feel free to reach out for sponsorship details. I’ll do my best to provide discounts or even free boards.

Custom Design & Consultation

If you’re interested in a custom design based on or inspired by my boards, I also offer contract design work and consultation when needed.

Most orders are shipped the next business day morning. All shipments are tracked. Delivery time in the EU is 3-7 days, outside 2-3 weeks, depending on the distance. After 30 days, the package is considered lost - reach out for a refund or replacement.