None of the above. autostream runs entirely on your local home network using a low-cost Raspberry Pi. There are no accounts to create, no subscriptions, no adverts, and no dependency on any external service. It will keep working even if lo-tech disappears!

Yes. autostream supports two simultaneous audio inputs and switches between them automatically based on which one is playing.

Yes. autostream listens for audio on your connected sources. When it detects music playing — a record spinning, a CD starting — it begins streaming automatically, playing on the speakers that have been chosen as ‘default’ at the similarly chosen ‘default’ volume (e.g., 20%). When the music stops, it stops. There’s nothing to press and it preserves the user-experience of the vintage Hi-Fi gear.

No — autostream streams directly from your turntable or CD player to your AirPlay compatible speakers. Your phone isn’t involved at all. The audio goes straight from your Hi-Fi source to your speakers; there’s nothing to tap, no app to keep open, and no Bluetooth pairing. The autostream web app provides control of the volume, which speakers are playing, and other settings and can be accessed on iPhone, Android, MacOS or PC.

Yes. autostream can stream your vinyl or CD to multiple rooms simultaneously — kitchen, living room, and bedroom all at the same time, for example. For best results, use a single speaker brand (e.g., Apple).

A Raspberry Pi is a tiny, low-cost computer roughly the size of a credit card — a Pi Zero 2W costs around £15. You don’t need to be a programmer to use autostream: the installer is a single command that does everything automatically. Currently, you’ll need to image a microSD card (using Windows or MacOS to run the Raspberry Pi Imager) and the connect to the Pi using SSH and run one command which can be copy/pasted from the Github page. A pre-baked microSD card will be available for order from this site soon.

Not necessarily. Turntables with a built-in USB output can be connected directly to the Raspberry Pi. For turntables with a standard phono or line output, you’ll need a low-cost USB audio adapter such as the Behringer UFO202 (around £20). CD players and other optical outputs can connect via an inexpensive SPDIF-to-USB dongle. For tape decks and other analogue sources, using a USB line card (the Behringer UFO202 can do that too).

No. autostream works with any AirPlay or AirPlay 2 speaker — HomePods, Sonos, Denon, Edifier, Up2Stream, and many others. You don’t even need an iPhone, iPad, or Mac to stream — only to access the web UI for volume and speaker selection.

Yes — that’s exactly what autostream is designed for. Connect your turntable to a Raspberry Pi running autostream, and it will stream the audio to any HomePod, HomePod mini, or other AirPlay speaker on your home network. The moment the needle drops, music plays through your speakers automatically.