Playback skipping and pausing on Voice PE

[Bennett-Wendorf]

What version of Music Assistant has the issue?

2.7.6 and 2.8.0b12

How is the MA server installed?

Home Assistant OS Addon

Mandatory: Carefully read the Troubleshooting FAQ and confirm that

• I have examined the logs and tried to resolve this issue
• I have fixed any errors in the logs that relate to tags
• I am not running MA across a VPN, VLAN, subnet, behind a firewall, or using local SSL or have any other complex network setup
• I am not using or have disabled tools such as AdGuard, Pi-hole or pfSense and retested
• I have checked my network setup to ensure mDNS/multicast is not being blocked
• I have reviewed the Open and Closed Issues and Discussions to resolve this yourself?
• I have reviewed the applicable player or music provider documentation
• I have reviewed the MA Status Page
• I have tried restarting MA and rebooting the host

As Applicable: Carefully read the Troubleshooting FAQ and confirm that

• If using HA, I have confirmed the internal URL is set correctly
• I have tried a wired connection for issues related to interrupted or poor playback quality
• If the problem relates to a device then I have checked the device settings
• If it is a frontend issue, I have tried a different widely used browser
• For voice problems, I have sought help elsewhere before returning here
• For playback problems, I have recycled power to the physical device

The problem

When streaming audio to my Voice PE devices over long periods of time, they often begin to skip (short periods of now sound) and sometimes even pause completely. Restarting playback (usually as simple as hitting play in MA) fixes the issue for a while, but it often returns. I've noticed the problem both with Spotify and a local m4a file. This is especially problematic overnight as I play a local m4a file as white noise in the bedroom.

How to reproduce

1. Stream content from Spotify or local files for a long-ish period of time (not consistent how long it takes to happen)
2. Wait for skipping and/or stopping of playback

Music Providers

Spotify, local m4a files both cause problems.

I don't use any other providers.

Player Providers

HA Voice PE (Sendspin)

Full log output

Relevant logs can be found throughout the log file, but the most interesting part occurs around 2026-02-08 02:18:00 through 2026-02-08 04:55:00 (starting around line 410 in the file). I know for a fact playback was a problem around this time, and the client disconnected messages are concerning.

music-assistant.log

Additional information

Generally, playback is initiated through HA automations or UI cards, but using the MA UI causes the same problems.

What version of Home Assistant Core (if used) are your running

2026.2.1

What type of installation are you running?

Home Assistant OS

On what type of hardware are you running?

Linux

Have you included ALL of the information specified in the Troubleshooting FAQ or explained why you cannot

• Yes

[marcelveldt]

Just a double check: you are playing to the Sendspin player of voice PE right? So not through the Home Assistant player?

[Bennett-Wendorf]

Correct. In fact, I don't even have the Home Assistant Media Players provider set up. Those devices are only set up through Sendspin.

My Voice PEs run firmware version 25.12.4.

[MarvinSchenkel]

Looking at the logs, this could be two things: a spotty wifi connection for the VPE, OR we are somehow overloading the VPE. Can you confirm your VPE's wifi connection is stable?

@maximmaxim345 mentioned that he also noticed some unusally frequent crashes. A new beta firmware for the VPE is on its way that might fix this. Will let you know when it's available.

[Bennett-Wendorf]

I highly doubt it's a wifi issue as this unit sits about 10-15 ft from my router.

I'm excited to try out the new firmware. Is there an ETA on that?

[TheWebMachine]

Every few months, I start running into a similar problem to this with my Satellite1 speakers. After beating up HA, MA, and the speaker firmware itself, I come to find that one of my neighbors regularly changes their WiFi channels and starts clashing heavily with my own. It doesn't matter that 3 of my 7 speakers are less than 10 feet from one of the access points. The interference is still enough to cause frequent audio cutouts. As soon as I change up my WiFi channels (again) the problems resolve until the next time.

All that is to say, don't assume that proximity to your router is a guaranteed clean signal. If you live in a particularly dense suburban or urban area, you may want to confirm that one of your immediate neighbors isn't trampling all over your wifi all of a sudden. Many home routers channel hop in a half-assed attempt to find a cleaner one and usually suck at that task. Until we move away from 2.4Ghz for smart home tech once and for all (50 or 60 years from now, at this rate 💀), channel coexistence is a nightmare for us all.

Grab yourself a wifi scanner app, see who else around you is using the same channels, and pick a channel with lowest signal neighbors. Do note that, in my experience, ESP32 devices can be very finicky on channels other than 1, 6, 11 in the US. This is not necessarily due to the ESP32s themselves, but because most everything else will default to 1, 6, or 11 non-overlapping channels and trying to wedge between them causes overlapping channels to be seen as noise, not as coexisting networks, precluding the normal sheduling coordination that occurs between networks sharing a channel, assuming they're not so close that they're screaming over each other.

Of course, the follies of 2.4GHz Wi-Fi might not be the source of your problem, but you should not rule it out as a possibility, regardless of proximity to an AP/router. We're talking about tiny microcontrollers with tiny antennas; even a noisy power adapter (or a stiff breeze) can affect their signal quality. 😉