Add Sendspin support for synchronized multi-room audio

Feature Suggestions
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Would love to see Plex add support for Sendspin, a new open standard for synchronized audio playback across multiple speakers and devices.

Sendspin comes from the Open Home Foundation, the same non-profit behind Home Assistant, ESPHome, Z-Wave JS, and other major open-source smart home projects. Given their track record, this isn’t a fly-by-night standard, it has serious backing and a strong community.

Why it would be a great fit for Plex:

  • Open alternative to AirPlay and Chromecast, which are both closed ecosystems controlled by Apple and Google. Sendspin is vendor-neutral and not locked to any one hardware maker.

  • Millisecond-level synchronization across multiple speakers for true whole-home audio.

  • Built-in support for per-speaker DSP, album art on tablets/screens, and light visualization (coming soon), so it’s a complete music experience rather than just a streaming protocol.

  • Works across browsers and existing AirPlay/Cast-compatible hardware.

Plex already supports Chromecast and AirPlay for music, but adding Sendspin would let users build synchronized multi-room audio setups using open hardware without being locked into a single vendor’s ecosystem. It would also align well with the DIY/self-hosted audience that already makes up a big part of the Plex userbase.

The spec is currently in public preview and the project is actively developing. Getting early support from a major platform like Plex would be a huge boost for both the standard and Plex users who want more flexible audio options.

More info: https://www.sendspin-audio.com/

Thanks for considering!

2

I’d like to add that Sendspin is AWESOME, and works flawlessly on all the compatible speakers that I have setup in Music Assistant. I started using Music Assistant because I grew tired of waiting for Elan to implement multiroom audio into Plexamp.

Additionally, Sendspin even has it’s own version of “sweet fades” built in, and it works for speaker groups! The proprietary Plexamp casting format should just be retired and replaced natively with Sendstream. Muilti-room has been teased by @elan for years, this is how he could finally make it happen for everyone.

The one caveat is that it appears Google is starting to migrate some devices to Google Cast for Audio (GC4A) 2.0, and by doing so these speakers are loosing the ability to implement Sendspin. The community is emailing Google devs about this regression, who knows what will happen. I just lost the ability to use my old Google Nest Mini’s with Sendspin because of this change in protocol… just another reason to leave Google