ESP32 Speaker EspSpeaker. HomeAssistant/ESPHome powered mini speaker

This is a small USB powered speaker designed to run ESPHome and link to HomeAssistant. I use it to play rain sounds as a sleep aid and it triggers automatically by automation. The ESPHome YAML file provided allows for a timeout to be set so the sound will stop after a set number of hours. If the sound file completes before the timer, it will repeat.

The YAML file imports a standardConf.yaml file which holds my basic settings, such as wifi connection etc, so you'll need to adjust the speaker.yaml file a bit to suit your usage.

Print

There are four back plates included with "ESP Speaker 1" (or 2,3 and 4) debossed in the model by 0.1mm This is low enough that the slicer should ignore it, and you can print without the text, OR you can use the color painting feature of the slicer to color the letters in and print using a multi filament process.

I printed in PLA with sturdy settings, 0.2 layers, 6 top layers, 4 bottom layers, 15% Gyroid infill,  4 wall loops. I figured it has to deal with vibrations with it being a speaker so I tried to make it quite strong.

The file “TPU-Felt template.stl” can be printed in TPU and glued to the bottom of the box as a foot, or printed in PLA and used as a cutting template for a piece of adhesive felt.

Assembly

I recommend flashing the ESP and getting it working with simple long wires to the DAC and speaker to make sure everything is working before adding the components to the enclosure. I show me doing this in the image testingSetup.jpeg

Solder two wires onto the speaker terminals, they don't need to be very long at all, 6" is more than enough. Drop the speaker into the main enclosure and the lock in place with carefully applied hot-glue. Use plenty, enough to make sure it won't fall out or vibrate, but not so much you make a terrible mess!

Once the speaker is secured in place, fit the shelf. The idea here is for this to be the internal baffle to make the speaker sound better. Thing is, I know nothing about designing a speaker enclosure. What I do know is that powering the speaker outside of the enclosure, like in the testing photo, it sounded rather weak, but once it's inside this case it sounds great!

Glue the shelf in place with a tiny amount of superglue and press it firmly into place, then add some hot-glue.

Onto the shelf, use a drop of superglue to place the DAC, and then solder the speaker wires to the output pins of the DAC. Trim the wires as needed to keep them neat.

Glue the switch, carefully, into the recess for it, this will be connected to gpio0 and ground.

Soldering the wires to the ESP pins is very tricky once the ESP is in place, so I connected all the wires to it on the bench, long enough to work with, then added a drop of superglue and fitted it into place, from there the wires can be connected to the DAC and push switch easily. I recommend you test-fit the ESP first to ensure it goes in ok. The backstop is to prevent the ESP moving with repeated insertion of the USB cable. NOTE: connect the 5v and GND wires to the ESP at a 90 degree angle, not leading off the board. This can be seen in the photo. Otherwise the wires will probably be pushed when the lid goes on.

Connect the power from the ESP to the DAC, connect the three data lines to the DAC, and if you're using the push button, connect the button to a GPIO and GND.

I connected the button to GPIO0 so I can safe boot the ESP if needed, but the board I used does not expose GPIO0 at a pad, so I soldered it right to the edge of the button on the circuit board. I don't really recommend doing this.

I had some 5g tire weights around, so I added a strip of 5 of them to the ‘bottom’ of the case (the side with the ESP stuck to it) and then another 5 on top of those. The added weight helps make the completed unit feel substantial, and may help with sound quality (vibration dampening?)

Test the unit again and fit the back plate (with more glue)

Electronics

Three electronics parts are needed, I'll list them with the ‘title’ that AliExpress had at the time I bought mine, there's no point in linking to the item as the links change over time, but the item title should be enough to find it.

• ESP32 S3 Zero (AliExpress title: "ESP32-S3-Zero ESP32-C3-Zero Mini Development Board WiFi Bluetooth Ultra-small Size ESP32 C3 S3 ESP 32")
• MAX98357 DAC (AliExpress title: “TENSTAR MAX98357 I2S 3W Class D Amplifier Breakout Interface Dac Decoder Module Filterless Audio Board For Raspberry Pi Esp32”)
• 2inch 4ohm speaker (Aliexpress title: "AIYIMA 2Pcs 2" Inch 4 Ohm 3W Full Range Speaker Mini Portable Audio Speaker Stereo Woofer Loudspeaker Box Diy Accessories")
• 6x6x8 tactile switch (AliExpress title: "6x6 Push Button Switch DIP 6X6X4.3 Light Touch Switch 6*6*4.3/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13MM The Power Switch 4Pins")

Note, this won't work with an ESP32C3, it needs to be an S3 or a regular ESP32.