Goal: single device connected to my speakers that can be used to stream music from PlexAmp, Android phones, and Home Assistant, and be used for Home Assistant announcements.
I currently have whole house audio via a Plex server and Chromecast Audio. Our phones are Android, and we have some Chromebooks, so Chromecast has been our go-to music / audio service of choice.
I’ve been using PlexAmp more on my Android phone lately for its advanced music playback features, but unfortunately, due to Google’s closed Chromecast protocol, there’s no way to cast from PlexAmp to the Chromecast Audio on Win10. I can open Plex in Google Chrome and cast from there, but the playback experience isn’t as nice.
So that led to this question - is there a device that can handle being a PlexAmp receiver and a Chromecast receiver, as well as handle music / announcements from Home Assistant? I looked at Wiim Pro but it seems to lack PlexAmp. There’s also PlexAmp headless on a Pi which lacks Chromecast.
I’m sure I’m not the first person to think about this, but didn’t see anything in a search. Anyone else tried to do something like this?
I also use PlexAmp on my phone(s), but use Music Assistant on my computers.
I’ve heard of Music Assistant but haven’t tried it. I’ll have to add it to my to-do list.
I’ve been doing more research into Wiim, and from their user forums it sounds like they’re working on building native Plex support into their devices. Hopefully that will include PlexAmp player support.
Still looking for other suggestions though from anyone out there with similar needs. Thx!
This is slightly off topic but wondered if your Chromecast media player in home assistant is receiving album cover metadata when you’re casting from plexamp?
I’m sure it has worked in the past but noticed it might have stopped, could just be my setup.
I haven’t had album covers on the chromecast audio media player in HA in ages. I still see it if I use the “Plex (Plex Cast - Chromecast)” player for the media card in HA but that doesn’t include the playback controls, so I’ve given up on album art in HA.
I see rumors in the Wiim forums that they’re planning to add PlexAmp support, so if that ever pans out I will likely be replacing all my Chromecast Audios with Wiim devices.