EchoMuse firmware v2.18.0-ea.2 (Early Access)
Early Access firmware: offered only by Early Access controllers, never by GA. Pair with controller 2.26.0-ea.2.
New
- Echo cancelling per microphone (#814). Each turn listens on the edge microphone that heard you best, and the canceller had a single filter, tuned to the previous turn's microphone. The wake sound at the start of a turn could reach speech to text louder than the command and cost it its first words. Every microphone now keeps its own filter: on a replayed capture the canceller removed 26 dB of the second wake sound, where it had removed 6 dB.
- emOS microphones at FireOS's level (#806). An Echo on emOS captured about 6 dB quieter than one on FireOS 5, because eight input gain switches were left at the kernel's default. The firmware now sets them when it starts, so every emOS Echo's microphones read about 6 dB louder after this update. A FireOS Echo does not change.
- Wake word off (#552). Choosing "No wake word" in Home Assistant's wake word picker stops the Echo answering to it; the button still works. The mute button's state is reported to Home Assistant.
- Response level (#636). Spoken replies can be raised 6 or 12 dB against the Echo's volume, capped so a reply is never louder than full volume. Set from the controller.
Improved
- The ring can show the level when the volume is changed from Home Assistant; off by default (#713).
- The microphone that listens for the wake word can be chosen, for an Echo whose centre microphone has failed (#705).
Fixed
- The external jack played 20 to 30 dB quiet on FireOS 5, and on one channel only under emOS on the 32-bit kernel (#566).
Known issues
- After unplugging the jack, the internal speaker has not been checked on our own Echoes (#566).
- An emOS Echo on the 32-bit kernel sometimes reconnects without rebooting (#816).
Run on two emOS Echoes (32-bit and 64-bit kernels) on 2026-10-09. The FireOS 5 Echo ran the per-microphone canceller overnight but not the input gain change, which writes the value FireOS already has.
Thanks
@DaSonOfPoseidon (#552), @evy0311 (#713, #716), @shawnsi (#705, #730), @Kozikodi, who found the jack fault by comparing stock against emOS, and @sascha-hemi, who ran the fix on FireOS 6.