LF Audio | Help Center

Smart Home Integration (Home Mode)

advanced

Home Mode lets your WVC connect to your home WiFi network so you can control volume, power, and channel groups from:

  • Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and Apple Home (via Matter)
  • Any smart home app or automation that speaks Matter or REST

Set your home WiFi in the LF Audio app. Then turn Home Mode on in the app, or in the Smart Home menu on your knob, RTC or display. The pairing code shows in both places. The app does not change volume.

Note

Smart Home Mode is available on the WVC family (WVC, WVC-LITE, WVC-PRO, WVC-PRO 6) when the base station's main processor is on firmware 3.9.0 or newer. Your knob, the RTC, WDD-LITE and BassWatch act as display and control surfaces; the base station owns the WiFi connection and Matter commissioning. Requires a 2.4 GHz home WiFi network.

Turning Home Mode On

  1. Open the LF Audio app and connect to your WVC over Bluetooth.
  2. Open the device's settings, switch to the DEVICE tab, and tap the WiFi subtab icon. Enter your home WiFi network name and password and save.
  3. Switch to the Smart Home subtab (home icon).
  4. Flip the Smart Home Mode switch on. A confirmation dialog summarizes the trade-offs (slightly reduced WiFi range, AuralSync channel hopping locked to the router's channel, 2.4 GHz WiFi required). Tap Enable to proceed.

Your WVC will connect to the home network and begin advertising itself for smart home pairing. While connecting, the wireless knob and RTC show a smart home status indicator.

Tip

The WVC keeps running your wireless knobs and RTC remote while Home Mode is active. You don't lose any existing functionality.

Note

If you turn on Home Mode while your WVC is updating, it turns on when the update is done.

Pairing With Google Home, Alexa, or Apple Home

Once Home Mode is connected, pair your WVC with your smart home app of choice:

  1. Open Google Home, Alexa, or Apple Home.
  2. Choose Add Device > Matter device.
  3. When asked for a code, use the pairing code shown on your knob, RTC or display (Smart Home menu) or in the LF Audio app (Device Settings > Home Mode).
  4. Complete the pairing flow in the smart home app.

After pairing, you can control volume and power with voice commands or scenes.

Controlling the WVC From Smart Home Apps

Depending on the app, you can:

  • Set volume: "Hey Google, set the living room speakers to 40 percent"
  • Turn on/off: "Alexa, turn off the WVC"
  • Add to routines and scenes: for example, dim amp volume when movie playback starts

Channel groups appear as their own devices in your smart home app, so you can set single groups.

Using the Smart Home Menu on a Knob or Display

Your knob, the RTC, WDD-LITE and BassWatch each have a Smart Home menu. It mirrors the base station's current state.

  • On a Single, Dual, Concentric or Quad Knob: Advanced > Smart Home.
  • On the RTC, a WVC Dual PRO Knob or WVC Quad PRO Knob, WDD-LITE or BassWatch: Advanced > Smart Home. A PRO knob, WDD-LITE and BassWatch need firmware 4.12.3 or newer for it.

The rows change with the state, and only appear when relevant:

  • Home WiFi: shown at all times. The value next to it (Off / Connecting... / Connected / Reconnecting... / Failed) reflects the current Home Mode WiFi state. Selecting it turns Home Mode on or off, after you confirm.
  • Issue: shown only when Home Mode WiFi has failed; the value explains the reason (Set WiFi in app, Network not found, Wrong password, Connection timed out, Unknown).
  • Retry: shown only when Home WiFi is in the Failed state. Retries the connection.
  • Smart Home: the smart home pairing state, for example Not set up, Pairing..., or the name of your home once paired.
  • Pairing Code: shown when the base station is awaiting Matter commissioning. Enter this 11-digit code in your smart home app.
  • Info: shows Groups changed when your channel groups have changed since pairing.
  • Re-pair: shown only when channel groups have changed since pairing. Removes the old pairing so you can add the base station again with a fresh pairing code.
  • Decommission: shown only after the base station has been paired. Removes it from your smart home. You can set it up again later, in the same or a different smart home app.

On every knob and display, Home WiFi, Decommission and Re-pair open a confirmation screen first. So none of them can happen by accident. On the RTC, a PRO knob, WDD-LITE and BassWatch, Retry asks you to confirm too. On a Single, Dual, Concentric or Quad Knob, Retry starts right away.

Troubleshooting

Home Mode won't connect to WiFi. Check the network name and password in the LF Audio app. The WVC supports 2.4 GHz networks only. If your router broadcasts separate 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks, use the 2.4 GHz one. If it broadcasts a single combined network, most routers will hand the WVC to 2.4 GHz automatically.

Smart home app can't find the WVC during pairing. Matter commissioning typically uses Bluetooth between your phone and the WVC for the initial pairing handshake. Make sure your phone has Bluetooth enabled and that you are close enough to the WVC for the smart home app to discover it. After commissioning is complete, your phone and the WVC need to be on the same WiFi network for ongoing smart home control. If pairing fails, try the Retry option from the Smart Home menu on your knob, RTC or display. If that doesn't help, Decommission the WVC and start a fresh pairing session.

Lost connection after a router reboot. The WVC automatically reconnects when the network comes back. If it doesn't recover within a minute, use Retry from the knob's Smart Home menu.

The Smart Home screen goes blank. Swipe up or down on the list to bring the rows back. On a PRO knob or WDD-LITE, the latest firmware fixes this.

Home Mode vs. wireless knob control. You can use both at the same time. Volume changes from Google Home and the wireless knob update each other in real time. The LF Audio app shows the new level, but it cannot change volume.

Turning Home Mode Off

In the LF Audio app, open the device's settings, switch to the DEVICE tab, and open the Smart Home subtab. Flip the Smart Home Mode switch off. You can also toggle Home Mode off directly from the Smart Home menu on your knob, RTC or display. The WVC returns to the standard wireless-knob-only configuration. Existing Matter pairings stay registered and will re-activate the next time you enable Home Mode.

Get the WVC

Smart Home / Matter integration is available across the WVC family (WVC, WVC-LITE, WVC-PRO, WVC-PRO 6) when the base station's main processor is on firmware 3.9.0 or later.