1.5.2 Online Audio Streaming

Stream internet radio and online audio directly to the speaker via Wi-Fi.

Overview

This example builds on the audio playback from the previous lesson — but instead of reading MP3 files from the SD card, it streams audio directly from the internet. You’ll connect to Wi-Fi and play a live internet radio station through the I2S speaker.

What You’ll Learn

Streaming audio over HTTP with the Audio library
Combining Wi-Fi connectivity with I2S audio output
Switching audio sources at runtime via Serial input

Before You Begin

Complete the setup steps in Preparation before continuing.

Note

Use the recommended Arduino IDE settings in Recommended Board Settings unless this lesson says otherwise.

Open the example sketch from the code package:

LAFVIN-ESP32-S3-Multimedia-Kit-main/1.Arduino/5.2_Play_Online/5.2_Play_Online.ino

Important

Edit the ssid and password variables in the sketch to match your Wi-Fi network before uploading.

Signal	ESP32-S3
I2S BCLK	GPIO 42
I2S LRC	GPIO 14
I2S DOUT	GPIO 41

Upload and Test

Set your Wi-Fi SSID and password in the sketch.
Connect the board with a USB Type-C data cable.
Open 5.2_Play_Online.ino in Arduino IDE.
In the Tools menu, select ESP32S3 Dev Module as the board and choose the correct serial port.
Click Upload.
Open Serial Monitor at 115200 baud. The board connects to Wi-Fi and begins streaming internet radio:
```
Connecting to WiFi
........
WiFi connected
IP address: 192.168.1.100
```
You should hear audio through the onboard speaker.
Paste a different MP3 stream URL into the Serial Monitor and press Enter to switch to a different station.

How the Code Works

Wi-Fi Connection

#include <WiFi.h>
#include "Audio.h"

WiFi.begin(ssid, password);
while (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED) {
    delay(500);
    Serial.print(".");
}

Stream Online Audio

Audio audio;
audio.setPinout(42, 14, 41);  // BCLK, LRC, DOUT
audio.setVolume(10);

// Default internet radio stream
audio.connecttohost("http://icecast.omroep.nl/radio4-bb-mp3");

Runtime URL Switching

The sketch reads from Serial in the main loop. If you send any text, it is treated as a new stream URL:

void loop() {
    audio.loop();

    if (Serial.available()) {
        String url = Serial.readString();
        audio.connecttohost(url.c_str());
    }
}

In the provided sketch:

The default stream points to a public icecast MP3 radio station
Volume is set to 10 to be conservative
Audio metadata (stream title, etc.) is printed to the Serial Monitor when available

Try This Next

Find other free internet radio station URLs and use the Serial Monitor to switch between them
Set up a local audio stream with VLC or another media server on your computer
Combine with 1.5.1 MP3 Playback from SD Card to build a player that switches between local and online sources