Integrationintermediate

Louder ESP32 AirPlay 2 Receiver

AirPlay 2 audio receiver firmware for the Louder ESP32-S3, enabling wireless streaming from Apple devices with full TAS5805M amplifier control and hardware volume.

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Boards:ESP32-S3
Firmware:ESP-IDF
Use Cases:Audio Projects
GitHub

Transforms the Louder ESP32-S3 into an AirPlay 2 audio receiver for wireless streaming from iPhones, iPads, and Macs.

What It Does

This firmware implements the AirPlay 2 protocol on the ESP32-S3, with full support for the onboard TAS5805M Class-D amplifier including hardware volume control, metadata display, and artwork transmission.

Hardware Requirements

  • Board: Louder ESP32-S3 with 8MB Octal PSRAM
  • Power: External 12V-24V DC required (USB power is insufficient for the amplifier stage)
  • Audio: I2S output via GPIO 14, 15, 16
  • Control: I2C bus on GPIO 8, 9 (amplifier address 0x2D)

Critical Setup Notes

  • PSRAM must be configured for Octal operation at 80MHz to handle AirPlay 2 decryption
  • USB power from a PC/Mac will cause audio dropouts — external DC power is mandatory

First Boot Setup

  1. Flash the firmware using ESP-IDF v6.1+
  2. On first boot, the device creates a WiFi hotspot: "ESP32-AirPlay-Setup"
  3. Connect to 192.168.4.1 and configure your local WiFi credentials
  4. The device appears as an AirPlay speaker on your Apple devices

Build

Built on ESP-IDF v6.1-dev using CMake. Supports multiple ESP32 variants with pre-configured settings for the Louder ESP32-S3 board.

Resources

GitHub Repository

Source code & project files