Home Assistant Connect AUX-2: Audio, Serial and PoE
Nabu Casa has introduced the Home Assistant Connect AUX-2, a small box that works like a multi-tool for your smart home. It streams audio, controls devices over RS-232, connects a Z-Wave adapter and acts as a Bluetooth hub, all powered over PoE. The idea is simple: no device left behind.
What Connect AUX-2 is
Connect AUX-2 is the new official hardware from Nabu Casa, the team behind Home Assistant hardware and a commercial partner of the Open Home Foundation. It is designed to breathe new life into the not-so-smart devices around your home.
It does several things at once: audio streaming, control of devices over an RS-232 serial port, connecting a Z-Wave adapter and acting as a Bluetooth hub. By popular demand it includes Power over Ethernet (PoE), though you can also power it over USB and connect via Wi-Fi.
It is available worldwide for $69 / €59.
Where the idea came from
It started as something much simpler: a compact box to let a Connect ZWA-2 or ZBT-2 run over PoE. At the same time, the team was exploring how to bring serial devices into Home Assistant.
Since PoE accounted for most of the hardware cost, adding extra ports turned out to be surprisingly affordable. That led to a combo analog/digital audio jack, a second serial port, a Grove connector and an upgraded Bluetooth antenna.
The name says it all: AUX stands for Audio, USB and X for serial.
No device left behind
The product is built around sustainability: the most sustainable device is the one you already own. Instead of scrapping perfectly good gear, AUX-2 lets you make it smart or pull it off a proprietary cloud and back under your control.
Whether it is an amplifier, a serial device or a sensor, AUX-2 has a port to bring it into your smart home setup.
Your old audio gear, now smart
A lot of great-sounding audio gear has an optical digital input and a serial control port. By connecting to both, AUX-2 turns these classic devices into something that rivals most smart speakers.
Optical audio delivers lossless, CD-quality sound, while serial lets you control volume, source and power, even from standby. You can also turn off poorly maintained smart features that waste energy in connected standby: AUX-2 never draws more than a watt or two.
Its DAC is a step up from the one in the Voice Preview Edition and plugs into nearly any AUX port. The digital output plays your FLAC library in perfect clarity, and it automatically detects whether the cable is analog or digital.
Multiroom with Music Assistant and Sendspin
Music Assistant supercharges the whole setup: it supports nearly every streaming service plus local files, combines them into one library and always picks the best-quality file to play.
With the new Sendspin protocol you can sync audio across brands: group several AUX-2s together or pair them with a HomePod, a Sonos speaker and more.
Real control over serial
Nobody replaces their solar inverter or new TV because the app is bad. But you can replace the app and get your data back. Serial has been on the back of this kind of equipment for decades, and it is what professional control systems rely on.
That means you can bring solar or climate equipment into your automations to lower energy consumption, or control your TV while keeping it off the internet. You can also place your Connect ZWA-2 in the best spot in the house, powered over PoE.
If you want to integrate your devices into Home Assistant, EgeaINC can help you design the network and the installation.