Hi,
I have an M5Stack ATOM Echo with firmware for a voice assistant installed via ESPHome (Nabu). Everything works great. However, the built-in speaker is very weak, and I planned to connect the Echo to a better speaker using I2S through an amplifier.
I have the amplifier: MAX98357 I2S mono amplifier 3W
However, I haven’t been able to get it working. I eventually found that I2S only works in Arduino mode, but in Arduino mode, the voice assistant doesn’t work. I’m stuck in a dead end and overwhelmed with information and failed attempts.
Has anyone tried this, or does anyone have a tip on how to connect the Echo to a more powerful speaker?
Thanks a lot!
Arh
March 1, 2025, 3:10pm
2
The MAX98357 works with esp-idf which the echo uses. I have 5 of these connected to esp32’s running esp-idf. You will have to tell us more about how you tried it, connections, and yaml etc. Without that no one will be able to help.
I actually tried many ways because it still didn’t work for me and I had several sources where I got inspiration. I’m new to YAML and HA, so I’m discovering everything gradually and learning as I go.
Arh
March 1, 2025, 4:00pm
4
To be honest if it was me I would build a new voice setup using and esp32 s3 n16r8, inmp441 and Max 98357. It will in the end be easier than modifying what you have now.
Here is the code I use it has all the connections listed at the top. It may or may not be of use. I have never played with an M5stack echo so have no idea how you would modify one.
# MIC
# LRC GPIO5 WS
# BLC GPIO6 SCK
# Din GPIO4 SD
# L/R GND
# Speaker
# LRC GPI05
# BLC GPIO6
# Dout GPIO7
# LED
# GPIO14
# 5V
# Speaker
# led
# 3V
# Mic
# GND
# Mic
# Speaker
substitutions:
name: office-assist
micro_wake_word_model: okay_nabu # alexa, hey_jarvis, hey_mycroft
ota:
- platform: esphome
password: "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
wifi:
ssid: !secret wifi_ssid
password: !secret wifi_password
api:
encryption:
key: "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
esphome:
name: ${name}
friendly_name: ${name}
platformio_options:
board_build.flash_mode: dio
on_boot:
- light.turn_on:
id: led
blue: 100%
brightness: 11%
effect: fast pulse
esp32:
board: esp32-s3-devkitc-1
variant: esp32s3
framework:
type: esp-idf
version: 4.4.8
platform_version: 5.4.0
sdkconfig_options:
CONFIG_ESP32_S3_BOX_BOARD: "y"
CONFIG_ESP32_WIFI_STATIC_RX_BUFFER_NUM: "16"
CONFIG_ESP32_WIFI_DYNAMIC_RX_BUFFER_NUM: "512"
CONFIG_TCPIP_RECVMBOX_SIZE: "512"
CONFIG_TCP_SND_BUF_DEFAULT: "65535"
CONFIG_TCP_WND_DEFAULT: "512000"
CONFIG_TCP_RECVMBOX_SIZE: "512"
psram:
mode: octal
speed: 80MHz
logger:
# hardware_uart: UART0
#########################################################
## copy from here down
#########################################################
button:
- platform: restart
name: Restart
id: but_rest
- platform: factory_reset
id: factory_reset_btn
name: Factory reset
#i2s_audio:
# - id: i2s_in
# i2s_lrclk_pin: GPIO5
# i2s_bclk_pin: GPIO6
# - id: i2s_out
# i2s_lrclk_pin: GPIO11
# i2s_bclk_pin: GPIO9
i2s_audio:
- id: i2s_audio_bus
i2s_lrclk_pin: GPIO5
i2s_bclk_pin: GPIO6
microphone:
- platform: i2s_audio
id: echo_microphone
i2s_din_pin: GPIO4
adc_type: external
channel: left
sample_rate: 16000
bits_per_sample: 32bit
pdm: false
speaker:
- platform: i2s_audio
id: echo_speaker
i2s_dout_pin: GPIO7
dac_type: external
bits_per_sample: 32bit
channel: right
buffer_duration: 60ms
media_player:
- platform: speaker
name: none
id: echo_media_player
announcement_pipeline:
speaker: echo_speaker
format: WAV
codec_support_enabled: false
buffer_size: 6000
files:
- id: timer_finished_wave_file
file: https://github.com/esphome/wake-word-voice-assistants/raw/main/sounds/timer_finished.wav
on_announcement:
- if:
condition:
- microphone.is_capturing:
then:
- if:
condition:
lambda: return id(wake_word_engine_location).state == "On device";
then:
- micro_wake_word.stop:
else:
- voice_assistant.stop:
- script.execute: reset_led
- light.turn_on:
id: led
blue: 0%
red: 0%
green: 100%
brightness: 100%
effect: none
on_idle:
- script.execute: start_wake_word
voice_assistant:
id: va
microphone: echo_microphone
media_player: echo_media_player
noise_suppression_level: 2
auto_gain: 31dBFS
volume_multiplier: 2.0
on_listening:
- light.turn_on:
id: led
blue: 100%
red: 0%
green: 0%
effect: "Slow Pulse"
on_stt_vad_end:
- light.turn_on:
id: led
blue: 100%
red: 0%
green: 0%
effect: "Fast Pulse"
on_tts_start:
- light.turn_on:
id: led
blue: 100%
red: 0%
green: 0%
brightness: 100%
effect: none
on_end:
- delay: 100ms
- script.execute: start_wake_word
on_error:
- light.turn_on:
id: led
red: 100%
green: 0%
blue: 0%
brightness: 100%
effect: none
- delay: 2s
- script.execute: reset_led
on_client_connected:
- delay: 2s # Give the api server time to settle
- script.execute: start_wake_word
on_client_disconnected:
- voice_assistant.stop:
- micro_wake_word.stop:
on_timer_finished:
- voice_assistant.stop:
- micro_wake_word.stop:
- wait_until:
not:
microphone.is_capturing:
- switch.turn_on: timer_ringing
- light.turn_on:
id: led
red: 0%
green: 100%
blue: 0%
brightness: 100%
effect: "Fast Pulse"
- wait_until:
- switch.is_off: timer_ringing
- light.turn_off: led
- switch.turn_off: timer_ringing
binary_sensor:
# button does the following:
# short click - stop a timer
# if no timer then restart either microwakeword or voice assistant continuous
- platform: gpio
pin:
number: GPIO39
inverted: true
name: Button
disabled_by_default: true
entity_category: diagnostic
id: echo_button
on_multi_click:
- timing:
- ON for at least 50ms
- OFF for at least 50ms
then:
- if:
condition:
switch.is_on: timer_ringing
then:
- switch.turn_off: timer_ringing
else:
- script.execute: start_wake_word
- timing:
- ON for at least 10s
then:
- button.press: factory_reset_btn
light:
- platform: esp32_rmt_led_strip
id: led
name: LED
disabled_by_default: true
entity_category: config
pin: GPIO14
default_transition_length: 0s
chipset: ws2812
num_leds: 1
rgb_order: grb
rmt_channel: 0
effects:
- pulse:
name: "Slow Pulse"
transition_length: 250ms
update_interval: 250ms
min_brightness: 50%
max_brightness: 100%
- pulse:
name: "Fast Pulse"
transition_length: 100ms
update_interval: 100ms
min_brightness: 50%
max_brightness: 100%
script:
- id: reset_led
then:
- if:
condition:
- lambda: return id(wake_word_engine_location).state == "On device";
- switch.is_on: use_listen_light
then:
- light.turn_on:
id: led
red: 0%
green: 0%
blue: 100%
brightness: 11%
effect: none
else:
- if:
condition:
- lambda: return id(wake_word_engine_location).state != "On device";
- switch.is_on: use_listen_light
then:
- light.turn_on:
id: led
red: 0%
green: 100%
blue: 100%
brightness: 60%
effect: none
else:
- light.turn_off: led
- id: start_wake_word
then:
- wait_until:
and:
- media_player.is_idle:
- speaker.is_stopped:
- if:
condition:
lambda: return id(wake_word_engine_location).state == "On device";
then:
- voice_assistant.stop
- micro_wake_word.stop:
- delay: 1s
- script.execute: reset_led
- script.wait: reset_led
- micro_wake_word.start:
else:
- if:
condition: voice_assistant.is_running
then:
- voice_assistant.stop:
- script.execute: reset_led
- voice_assistant.start_continuous:
switch:
- platform: template
name: Use listen light
id: use_listen_light
optimistic: true
restore_mode: RESTORE_DEFAULT_ON
entity_category: config
on_turn_on:
- script.execute: reset_led
on_turn_off:
- script.execute: reset_led
- platform: template
id: timer_ringing
optimistic: true
restore_mode: ALWAYS_OFF
on_turn_off:
# Turn off the repeat mode and disable the pause between playlist items
- lambda: |-
id(echo_media_player)
->make_call()
.set_command(media_player::MediaPlayerCommand::MEDIA_PLAYER_COMMAND_REPEAT_OFF)
.set_announcement(true)
.perform();
id(echo_media_player)->set_playlist_delay_ms(speaker::AudioPipelineType::ANNOUNCEMENT, 0);
# Stop playing the alarm
- media_player.stop:
announcement: true
on_turn_on:
# Turn on the repeat mode and pause for 1000 ms between playlist items/repeats
- lambda: |-
id(echo_media_player)
->make_call()
.set_command(media_player::MediaPlayerCommand::MEDIA_PLAYER_COMMAND_REPEAT_ONE)
.set_announcement(true)
.perform();
id(echo_media_player)->set_playlist_delay_ms(speaker::AudioPipelineType::ANNOUNCEMENT, 1000);
- media_player.speaker.play_on_device_media_file:
media_file: timer_finished_wave_file
announcement: true
- delay: 15min
- switch.turn_off: timer_ringing
select:
- platform: template
entity_category: config
name: Wake word engine location
id: wake_word_engine_location
optimistic: true
restore_value: true
options:
- In Home Assistant
- On device
initial_option: On device
on_value:
- if:
condition:
lambda: return x == "In Home Assistant";
then:
- micro_wake_word.stop
- delay: 500ms
- lambda: id(va).set_use_wake_word(true);
- voice_assistant.start_continuous:
- if:
condition:
lambda: return x == "On device";
then:
- lambda: id(va).set_use_wake_word(false);
- voice_assistant.stop
- delay: 500ms
- micro_wake_word.start
micro_wake_word:
on_wake_word_detected:
- voice_assistant.start:
wake_word: !lambda return wake_word;
vad:
models:
# - model: ${micro_wake_word_model}
- model: okay_nabu
- model: hey_mycroft
1 Like
Yes, that’s true. I’ve thought about building it from scratch, but I haven’t gathered enough information. Thanks a lot, I’ll look into it!
Do you think the ESP32-S3 N8R8 will be enough? The version with larger memory is currently not available in the Czech Republic.
will0913
March 2, 2025, 4:07am
7
Thanks for providing your configuration for reference. It helped a lot.
I was trying to get my mixer speaker to work according to the example, to no avail.
Arh
March 2, 2025, 7:57am
8
I have in the past had a similar setup running on an ESP32-S3 N8R8, but have not tried the latest updates on one, Esphome voice speaker component was updated with the last version. Can you not buy from Aliexpress?
Yes I can, I just didn’t want to wait for delivery from Ali, from the CZ it would be in 2 days. But I’d rather wait for delivery and order from Ali
