Esparagus Audio Brick is a compact, Hi-Fi-grade DAC with built-in amplifier powered by ESP32. Designed for seamless integration with Home Assistant, it transforms any speaker into a smart, synchronized, fully customizable audio system. With sustainable hardware that’s built to last, an enclosure that mounts on DIN rails, support for OTA updates, and a powerful DSP (15-band EQ, fault management, precise gain control to match given speakers, and more), Esparagus Audio Brick grows with your smart home instead of becoming obsolete.

Choose how you want to listen: integrate directly into Home Assistant with Music Assistant, enjoy near-perfect multiroom sync with the Snapcast option, or take advantage of LMS protocol support that unlocks Spotify Connect, AirPlay for Apple devices, and its own proven multiroom sync system.

We designed Esparagus Audio Brick to be affordable enough that you can put one for every room. Each unit powers two audio channels, so a typical home setup will use several devices, one per space, working together in perfect sync or separately to create moods for each room.

Amplify Your Smarthome’s Sound

With the Esparagus Audio Brick, you can retrofit vintage speakers with modern streaming features, create a synchronized whole-home audio system with multiple units, or dedicate one to power a subwoofer or high-frequency channel in a custom bi-amp setup. Smart home owners can tie music to daily routines, like morning radio in the kitchen, calming playlists in the nursery, or doorbell chimes that play through every speaker in the house.

Whether you’re an audiophile fine-tuning with the built-in 15-band EQ, or a smart home enthusiast automating soundscapes with Home Assistant, the Esparagus Audio Brick adapts to your needs.

Features & Specifications

• ESP32 or ESP32 S3 (2x 32-bit LX6 cores at 240 MHz), 16 MB of flash and 8 MB of PSRAM
• CH340 Serial communication/flashing over USB Type-C
• Wi-Fi 2.4G for OTA updates and connectivity
• W5500 SPI Ethernet

Audio

• Stereo I²S DAC (TAS5825M) with built-in D-Class amp
• 2x 10 W at 12 V at 4Ω, THD+N = 1% (Efficiency mode)
• 1x 20 W at 12 V at 3Ω, THD+N = 1% (Efficiency mode)
• 2x 30 W at 24 V at 8Ω, THD+N = 1% (Power mode)
• 1x 65 W at 24 V at 4Ω, THD+N = 1% (Power mode)
• Built-in fault management: overheating, overcurrent, over- and under-voltage conditions
• Up to 90% efficiency (>80% typical)

Other Peripherals

• RGB LED (status and notifications)
• Optional OLED screen
• 4-pin snap-in connector for power (up to 10 A)
• 4-pin snap-in connector for speakers to simplify installation and maintenance

Software Options

• Smarthome use: Home Assistant (via ESPHome), Music Assistant + LMS/AirPlay, Snapcast
• Standalone use: Squeezelite-ESP32, Snapclient

Comparisons

Support & Documentation

Esparagus Audio Brick is designed to be open and modified by its users. We have many documents available in the Esparagus Media Center GitHub repo, and we’re working on pushing updates to its hardware and firmware files as they happen.

Manufacturing Plan

All prototypes were fabricated and assembled by JLCPCB, and we’ve encountered no manufacturing issues, so we’re happy to say we’ll be sticking with them for production. And we’ve done our homework. We have quotes in hand for full production runs with various batch sizes. As soon as our campaign finishes, we plan to order a test batch of the final revision for validation. Then, once we confirm that everything is ship-shape, we’ll place the final order.

Fulfillment & Logistics

After our production run is complete, we will package everything up and send it along to Crowd Supply’s fulfillment partner, Mouser Electronics, who will handle distribution to backers worldwide. You can learn more about Crowd Supply’s fulfillment service under Ordering, Paying, and Shipping in their guide.

Risks & Challenges

All projects of this nature face some level of risk when it comes time to order parts. We’re on solid footing with our key components, though, and we’re maintaining an up-to-date replacement list for the smaller parts in our BOM. In terms of design and manufacturing, we baked all the experience gathered with previous Esparagus projects into Audio Brick design. It took a few more revisions to polish up all the tiny details, and now we’re quite confident in our ability to deliver Audio Brick on schedule.