Wasn’t sure if this would be of interest to anyone, but I recently had a chance to play with and review a VIolet Smartswitch Lite. It’s given me Sonos control at the wall switch as well as Philips Hue control. I’m looking forward to Http requests because then I can wire it into node-red and home-assistant, but if anyone’s interested in my write up it’s below:
https://www.thesmarthomebook.com/2021/11/10/violet-smartswitch-lite-review-set-up/
Hey
Thanks for sharing this very in-depth and detailed review!
These kind of smart-home panels are something I haven’t looked much into for a while, but it looks like they’ve improved a lot since the early days 
Wasn’t sure if this would be of interest to anyone, but I recently had a chance to play with and review a VIolet Smartswitch Lite. It’s given me Sonos control at the wall switch as well as Philips Hue control. I’m looking forward to Http requests because then I can wire it into node-red and home-assistant, but if anyone’s interested in my write up it’s below:
https://www.thesmarthomebook.com/2021/11/10/violet-smartswitch-lite-review-set-up/
Hi baldfox, very interesting assessment.
I’m about to pressure the button on a couple of these. Have an AMP doing good service in the Kitchen with two pairs of CCM682’s and a Sonos sub and 10 downlighters about to be replaced with Hue downlighters so this looks like an obvious next step in our Kitchen refresh.
Just to ask a month on any pros and cons that were not seen first pass.
Hi baldfox, very interesting assessment.
I’m about to pressure the button on a couple of these. Have an AMP doing good service in the Kitchen with two pairs of CCM682’s and a Sonos sub and 10 downlighters about to be replaced with Hue downlighters so this looks like an obvious next step in our Kitchen refresh.
Just to ask a month on any pros and cons that were not seen first pass.
Hey there, thanks for the message. Yeah not had any issues at all. it just works. Still waiting for a firmware upgrade to unlock the automation goodies (I’m a total geek) but as regards hue and sonos, no complaints at all.
Hi baldfox, very interesting assessment.
I’m about to pressure the button on a couple of these. Have an AMP doing good service in the Kitchen with two pairs of CCM682’s and a Sonos sub and 10 downlighters about to be replaced with Hue downlighters so this looks like an obvious next step in our Kitchen refresh.
Just to ask a month on any pros and cons that were not seen first pass.
Hey there, thanks for the message. Yeah not had any issues at all. it just works. Still waiting for a firmware upgrade to unlock the automation goodies (I’m a total geek) but as regards hue and sonos, no complaints at all.
Good to know, thanks for the update.
Yep I’m going to go with a couple of these and then tred further if they hit target. They seem well engineered from what I can gauge.
Just waiting to hear back if they will honor BF discounts. I tried to place an order when they discounted but my flipping laptop decided to check out …. only just fixed. I’m hoping they will do the honorable thing and understand that.
I’ve looked at similar products before but get the impression this is the most rounded accessible form to date.
I hope they fix you up, i think they will. In my dealings with them, they’ve been decent. You’ll like it, it looks very high end and feels well made.
I hope they fix you up, i think they will. In my dealings with them, they’ve been decent. You’ll like it, it looks very high end and feels well made.
Yep they arrived within 24 hours of ordering, well packed and as you say have a very high end feel very much in line with the Sonos ethos.
I have a slightly stalled install in that the back boxes we have in place are a little shallow. So a little wire jigging is needed and have delayed install till weekend. Other than that it’s looking promising. Will report back with results.
And so we now have two Violet units installed and working very nicely indeed.
The back box was too shallow and needed replacing. What threatened to be a miserable job ended up being far neater than I dared hope. I spoke with Violet suggesting that the 48mm back boxes would put many off. They were ahead on this one and mentioned that the next batch require a much shallower back. A very good call.
The operation for both Hue and Sonos is very very good. Exactly as described in the opening post.
I notice they have just released software version 1.6 which support HttpviaSD. Not something I’m much familiar with (yet) but for the more technical it sounds interesting …..
Maybe useful for folks considering some degree of home integration Sonos and Hue wise.
Glad you’re getting on alright with them. Very cool right? I haven’t received version 1.6 yet am still on 1.4x so will definitely have a look at the link you posted. Good to know they’re working on a shallower version, should make installation even easier.
Glad you’re getting on alright with them. Very cool right? I haven’t received version 1.6 yet am still on 1.4x so will definitely have a look at the link you posted. Good to know they’re working on a shallower version, should make installation even easier.
100%. Was an excellent investment and steer from your original post. Cheers
For what it’s worth, I have full Node-red and Home-Assistant capability with this now. I’ll be posting up a new tutorial on the 1st february here.
As above details on the model revision as well as node-red and home-assistant integration.
As above details on the model revision as well as node-red and home-assistant integration.
Very interesting stuff although if honest, a bit over my head. Nevertheless it’s printed out and will be reading though ….. a few times I think :-)
Although a super happy Sonos user, I also have an interest in Roon …. as a layer. Could the Violet be used with that system?
Keep us posted with developments with Violet. It’s an excellent partner product with Sonos and Hue and now earning it’s place in our house and will be expanded for sure. I don’t have any social media to link to you but definitely interested in what you are doing on an ongoing basis.
Many thanks for sharing
As above details on the model revision as well as node-red and home-assistant integration.
Very interesting stuff although if honest, a bit over my head. Nevertheless it’s printed out and will be reading though ….. a few times I think :-)
Although a super happy Sonos user, I also have an interest in Roon …. as a layer. Could the Violet be used with that system?
Keep us posted with developments with Violet. It’s an excellent partner product with Sonos and Hue and now earning it’s place in our house and will be expanded for sure. I don’t have any social media to link to you but definitely interested in what you are doing on an ongoing basis.
Many thanks for sharing
Ok so firstly, never heard of Roon but it looks cool. I did a little digging, and found this:
https://github.com/st0g1e/roon-extension-http-api
It looks like you can make http requests into roon, in that case, my Violet integration will work with it, you’ll just need to figure out the actual URL you’re sending to, and what you’re actually asking of it. I like to use node-red to handle the nuts and bolts, but i think it’s possible for you to send a more complicated command (JSON) direct to the roon server.
I’ll continue to post with Sonos related bits, but if you’re interested to learn more on the smarthome stuff, then you can have a look here - we have a group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/386238285944105/
Or of course you can follow the blog 
As above details on the model revision as well as node-red and home-assistant integration.
Very interesting stuff although if honest, a bit over my head. Nevertheless it’s printed out and will be reading though ….. a few times I think :-)
Although a super happy Sonos user, I also have an interest in Roon …. as a layer. Could the Violet be used with that system?
Keep us posted with developments with Violet. It’s an excellent partner product with Sonos and Hue and now earning it’s place in our house and will be expanded for sure. I don’t have any social media to link to you but definitely interested in what you are doing on an ongoing basis.
Many thanks for sharing
Ok so firstly, never heard of Roon but it looks cool. I did a little digging, and found this:
https://github.com/st0g1e/roon-extension-http-api
It looks like you can make http requests into roon, in that case, my Violet integration will work with it, you’ll just need to figure out the actual URL you’re sending to, and what you’re actually asking of it. I like to use node-red to handle the nuts and bolts, but i think it’s possible for you to send a more complicated command (JSON) direct to the roon server.
I’ll continue to post with Sonos related bits, but if you’re interested to learn more on the smarthome stuff, then you can have a look here - we have a group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/386238285944105/
Or of course you can follow the blog
Hi there and thanks for explaining that. I don’t have facebook, is there another way to read about your work? It is very interesting stuff.
Very exciting stuff even though if honest, a piece over my head. Nevertheless it’s revealed out and might be analyzing though ….. some instances I assume 
Although a tremendous satisfied Sonos user, I additionally have an hobby in Roon …. as a layer.
the Violet be used with that system? Keep us published with traits with Violet. It’s an tremendous companion product with Sonos and Hue and now incomes it’s region in our residence and might be elevated for sure.
I don’t have any social media to hyperlink to you however sincerely inquisitive about what you're doing on an ongoing basis. It seems like you may make http requests into roon, in that case, my Violet integration will paintings with it, you’ll simply want to determine out the real URL you’re sending to, and what you’re truely asking of it.
I like to apply node-pink to deal with the nuts and bolts, however i assume it’s viable if you want to ship a extra complex command (JSON) direct to the roon server.
Hi there and thanks for explaining that. I don’t have facebook, is there another way to read about your work? It is very interesting stuff.
Hi there, sorry for the delay, managed to get a bit of travel in! Regarding other ways to read my various ramblings, the only thing I can suggest is possibly the word press app or adding the blog to something like Feedly. As and when I post, both methods should get an alert. Unfortunately, facebook is the main delivery/advertisement at the moment.
Whilst that particular package looks like it isn’t being currently maintained, it does reveal some http commands there which I believe could be utilised with violet. I don’t have roon so am not able to test this for you at present. I would imagine at some point Violet will come out with something official which would incorporate all the niceties like album art etc as per their sonos integration, but for now I imagine it would be just text based stuff as per my post.
Keep an eye on the VIolet official blog, as I am sure that as they expand their integrations / capacity, they’ll be the first ones to broadcast it. Here’s a link to their blog: https://violet-ultra.co.uk/blog/
(Just been thinking) An alternative approach could be to run home-assistant and integrate your roon set up into it. More info here: https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/roon/
Then you could basically use my existing set up but for endpoints, you could direct it to the roon integration in home-assistant (or node-red) via simple service calls.
Just wanted to let people know they're currently beta testing additional integrations now (aside from sonos/hue/custom http):
• Fibaro (HC3/HC3L)
• BluOS
• HDAnywhere
• Rako
• Tado
I'm still loving mine for Sonos control...
Here's my most recent piece I put out, nothing on the new features yet, but will revisit when officially out:
The tado integration has just gone live, for those interested in adding heating control.
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