Audio Hero- Discover and control every HEOS speaker, soundbar, amp, and Denon/Marantz receiver on your network, with full support for Sonos, Roku, and Onkyo/Integra and a growing list of other device families (Chromecast, AirPlay, WiiM, Bluesound, and more)
- Play/pause, volume, grouping, presets, favorites, unified search, and internet radio
- Stream YouTube Music and Apple Music from your PC to almost any speaker, or play your local music files and playlists
- Deep receiver control: power, inputs, zones, surround modes, tone, and Audyssey
- 100% local – nothing leaves your network. Zero telemetry, no ads
- Free version, with an optional PRO upgrade for a modest charge
📢 Audio Hero is available exclusively on the Microsoft Store. Standalone portable and installer downloads have been discontinued. The Microsoft Store provides automatic updates, easy installation, and a secure distribution channel.
Last updated
Current release:
Version 5.9.1.0 – released
- Feature: Audio Hero now automatically switches away from a HEOS device giving bad information and retries it later after it recovers.
- Feature: Starred favorites now optionally saved by device, device type, by room, global.
- Feature: Starred favorites now available for all devices types (was only HEOS and Onkyo previously).
- Fix: Album art retrieval now works for some edge cases.
Is it safe?
- Distributed only through the Microsoft Store: every release is signed and scanned by Microsoft before it is published, and updates come only from the Store
- All device control stays on your local network, with zero telemetry and no ads (see the Privacy Policy for the few optional internet requests)
- Contact me: bommerts@outlook.com
Explore all features
Device support
- HEOS first. The deepest support goes to HEOS-compatible Denon and Marantz devices: speakers, soundbars, amps (PMA-900HNE, HEOS Link), and HEOS-equipped AV receivers.
- Fully supported: Sonos, Roku, and Onkyo/Integra, held to the same standard as HEOS.
- Legacy Denon/Marantz: pre-HEOS models with HTTP control (CEOL Piccolo, M-CR series, older AVRs).
- Experimental: Chromecast / Google Cast, AirPlay and AirPlay 2, DLNA/UPnP renderers, Yamaha MusicCast, Snapcast, Squeezelite (Lyrion Media Server), WiiM (LinkPlay), Bluesound (BluOS), Samsung Wireless Audio, Sendspin, universal disc players, and Fully Kiosk / Dashie tablets.
- Smart plugs: switch Kasa and Shelly smart plugs right from the Players list, and have them follow your speakers. With a Companion, they keep following and keep their schedules even with Audio Hero closed.
- Automatic network discovery, connect by IP when needed, and a Players list you can organize by device type or by room.
Playback, volume, and sources
- Full transport controls: play/pause, stop, next/previous, repeat, shuffle, thumbs up/down, and a seekable timeline scrubber.
- An editable Queue tab with drag to reorder, plus save and load of standard .m3u playlists.
- Master volume with mute, precise numeric entry (PRO), a max-volume safety cap (PRO), six one-click volume presets (PRO), and per-zone volume on multi-zone receivers.
- Browse every music service your device offers (Spotify, Tidal, Amazon Music, Pandora, SiriusXM, TuneIn, and more) in a Finder-style column browser.
- Unified search across your music services, starred favorites that work across services, and your HEOS app favorites.
- Internet radio: save your own stream URLs or browse a huge public station catalog, with live track metadata for supported streams.
Stream from your PC
- YouTube Music and Apple Music on almost any speaker: Audio Hero plays the web player on your PC and streams the audio to your device. Free.
- Device + This PC: play a web music service on your computer and your speaker at the same time, with an adjustable sync delay. Free.
- Local file playback (PRO): play the music files and folders on your PC, with tags, album art, and a persistent queue.
- Audio Hero Companion: a free, open-source helper that moves the streaming work to another always-on PC, keeps the music playing after you close Audio Hero, and serves different streams to different speakers for multiple people at once.
Multi-room and receiver control
- Create any number of saved playback groups (PRO), with tight HEOS or Sonos synchronization or one Audio Hero stream shared across different ecosystems. Each group has per-member volume controls, matching, volume lock, and a colored badge.
- Full AV receiver panel (PRO): power, input selection, surround modes, Audyssey, tone and channel levels, tuner, renaming, reboot, and independent multi-zone control.
- HEOS amp panel (PRO) and per-device control panels for every supported platform, opened straight from the Players list.
- Play any physical input (Phono, CD, HDMI, Optical, Bluetooth...) or send an input from one device to another room.
At-a-glance info and looks
- Now Playing panel with album art, station and source details, and detailed audio format info.
- Track Info panel (PRO): artist biography and song facts merged from TheAudioDB, Deezer, Wikipedia/Wikidata, and MusicBrainz.
- Animated album artwork tile, color themes with brightness control, and resizable panels with saved layout views.
- Full, compact, and ultra-compact window layouts (PRO), minimize to tray with a popup mini player (PRO), and always on top.
Automation and convenience
- Sleep timer (PRO) and scheduled automations: start music, set volume, power devices, and more on a schedule.
- Keyboard shortcuts for the everyday actions.
- Automatic app updates through the Microsoft Store, and a badge when new firmware is available for your devices.
- Optional settings sync (PRO) so your setup follows you between PCs.
Private by design
- All device control is 100% local: commands go straight from your PC to your speakers.
- Zero telemetry and no ads. The only optional internet requests are for track metadata, the internet-radio catalog, and Microsoft Store updates.
- Any credentials you store are encrypted on your PC with Windows DPAPI and are never uploaded.
Want the full detail on any of these? See the complete documentation.