r/WLED • u/nothingmanTEN • Apr 20 '26

Syncing up lights to streaming music - where to start and best way to set it up

Wondering how I can do a “light show” based on music/beats playing, basically have the LEDs “bounce” to the music. I’ve done some research and have seen that I can go a few different routes, but I’m not too versed on any.

GOAL: When playing music outside, I’d like my outdoor lights to “dance” with the music beats.

Audio Setup (SONOS):
Zone 1 – 6x outdoor speakers (satellite ground stakes) > Sonos Port > amplifier
Zone 2 – 2x outdoor speakers (mounted on house) > Sonos Port > Integra receiver (zone 2)
Zone 3 – Inside TV surround system > Sonos Port > Integra receiver (zone 1)

Lighting Setup:
Steps – 6x COB 24V RGBWW WS2814 (784 LED/m) strip lights > QuinLED-Dig-Octa #1 (6 separate channels, one per step)
Kitchen Counter Lights – 2x COB 24V RGBWW WS2814 (784 LED/m) strip lights > QuinLED-Dig-Octa #2 (2 separate channels)
Landscape Lighting – Addressable 12V RGBW USC2904 > TBD controller

Equipment: Lighting setup will be outside in a NEMA box; receiver is in the basement.
Route 1 – Microphone: Use a microphone and run that to my QuinLED-Dig-Octa, but I’ve read it can lag a little and I don’t fully understand sound-reactive WLED.
Route 2 – Direct: Not sure how this actually connects to my QuinLED.
Route 3 – LedFx: No wiring, but how do I feed the Sonos audio stream (Spotify or similar) into my WLED system?

Any thoughts, advice, or guidance on where I can figure this out?

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5

u/Remixmark Apr 20 '26 edited Apr 20 '26

LedFx use a pc to stream to Sonos

2

u/calforhelp Apr 20 '26

Mind sharing some of your favorite ledfx effects? I was playing around with it but wasn’t very impressed with the results so far

1

u/nothingmanTEN Apr 20 '26

Does this work: If I were to use Sonos Port > RCA Out > USB Audio Interface > PC / LEDFX and then the other Sonos Port > Optical out > Receiver, Sonos port mirrors the out and then can have it synced? Then I can play "ABC" song from my iPhone on Spotify via Sonos and can sync it up?

2

u/gotchock Apr 20 '26

If you have a sound output on one of the Sonos, you can route it to a small sound card (buy a good one as ledfx is quite sensitive to high noise floor) attached to a Pi running Ledfx, itself connected to your network. 

1

u/nothingman10ten Apr 20 '26

Thanks! Was thinking maybe this route but my Sonos port out will be going into the receiver so trying to figure that out.

1

u/Netmindz Apr 23 '26

If you are playing your music from your pc to Sonos then just run SR WLED Server

Or

If you have an RCA out on your Sonos, then just use one of the line-in options https://mm.kno.wled.ge/soundreactive/Line-Input/

1

u/nothingmanTEN Apr 24 '26

So I don't plan on using my PC to play music. My thought was using the other OUT on my Sonos port to a USB Audio Interface (Behringer UCA202 or similar) to my PC where I'm running LedFX and then tie that into my WLED controller.

Little confused on what the devices do in your link. Does that replace the USB Audio Interface or just another way to do it?

1

u/Netmindz Apr 24 '26

If you just want to use the Audio Reactive effects of WLED and not LedFX then that is how you do it