System Overview
Purpose
Section titled “Purpose”The System Overview is a visual topology canvas that displays the audio components and network infrastructure that the user has explicitly placed in their hi-fi system. Users can see at a glance which devices are online, how they are interconnected, what is playing, and, through the DeviceLink feature, which devices are currently grouped together via a proprietary multi-room technology such as BluOS Grouping or HEOS Groups.
The System Overview is accessible as a full-screen overlay alongside the primary player view.
Opening the System Overview
Section titled “Opening the System Overview”- Click the System Overview button in the main window’s secondary-mode toolbar.
- Launch HiFi Control with the command-line flag
--startupCommand:OpenSystemOverviewSecondaryModeCommandto open the canvas directly on startup (useful for kiosk/startup scenarios).
Canvas
Section titled “Canvas”The canvas is a free-form, pannable and zoomable workspace.
| Interaction | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Click a device node | Selects the node; opens device detail in the right-hand panel |
| Ctrl + click a node | Adds/removes the node from the current selection |
| Click + drag on empty canvas | Rubber-band selects all nodes whose centre falls inside the drag rectangle |
| Click + drag on a node | Moves the node; position is persisted automatically |
| Scroll wheel | Zooms in/out (range: 40% – 250%) |
| Right-button drag / Middle-button drag / Space + drag | Pans the canvas |
| Bottom-left arrow controls | Pans the canvas in the selected direction |
| Bottom-left + / − controls | Zooms around the centre of the visible canvas |
| Bottom-left reset-view control | Smoothly pans and zooms so that every component is visible |
| Auto Layout (toolbar button) | Evenly distributes all nodes using a grid layout |
| Zoom to Fit | Pans and zooms so that every node is visible |
Node positions are stored so they survive application restarts. The canvas animates to fit every component after it first loads each session, after components are added from favorites, and after an auto-detected batch and its inferred connections have finished loading.
Device Nodes
Section titled “Device Nodes”Registry-backed components appear only after the user adds them to the canvas. Canvas membership is explicit; registering a component elsewhere in HiFi Control does not implicitly place it in the System Overview.
Each component appears as a device card whose content depends on the component type and available live data. A card can show:
- Device name, brand and model
- A thumbnail icon (when available)
- Connection status badge: Connected / Connecting… / Disconnected, updated in real time
- Volume indicator: percentage bar for operational, registry-backed devices
- Active input and now-playing information when the relevant capabilities provide it
- Service badges for attributed online services such as Spotify or TIDAL
- Room badge: the coloured label of the room the node currently sits inside (see Rooms)
- Ecosystem badge: the ecosystem (BluOS, HEOS, …) the device belongs to
Removing nodes
Section titled “Removing nodes”- Remove (properties pane, context menu, or keyboard Delete): removes a registry-backed device from the explicit canvas membership. The device remains registered and available to the rest of HiFi Control and can be added to the canvas again through the Add workflow when it is available there.
- Manual nodes (speakers, network switches, etc.) that are removed are deleted permanently from the topology state.
Devices beyond your plan’s stored-device limit
Section titled “Devices beyond your plan’s stored-device limit”The canvas itself can hold any number of devices, on every plan. Devices beyond your plan’s stored-device limit can still be placed on the canvas, but appear as view-only: HiFi Control still connects to them and their cards keep showing live connection status, volume level, active input and now-playing information, but no operational controls (volume, playback, power, input selection, presets, DeviceLink grouping) are offered for them.
View-only devices are marked with a small “View only” pill in the card’s status row. When the selection contains view-only devices, the right-hand panel shows a view-only notice naming the affected devices. Manual and network nodes are diagram elements and are never view-only.
Storing a view-only device (“Add to my devices”)
Section titled “Storing a view-only device (“Add to my devices”)”If your plan still has room for another stored device, selecting a single view-only device shows an “Add to my devices” button in the notice. One click stores the device as a favorite and it becomes controllable immediately; the panel swaps the notice for the device’s operational controls. If multiple view-only devices are selected, the notice asks you to select just one to add. Once your plan’s device limit is reached, the notice links to the upgrade options on the pricing page instead.
Manual Nodes
Section titled “Manual Nodes”Open Add → Add New Component Manually to add a device from Favorites or place an infrastructure/passive component. The dialog can be resized, has one vertically scrollable catalog, and filters favorites and manual node types by name, brand, model, or description.
The following manual types are available:
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Network Switch | Managed or unmanaged Ethernet switch |
| Amplifier | Integrated amp, power amp or AV receiver |
| DAC | Standalone digital-to-analogue converter |
| Music Player | Streamer, CD player, or another unregistered music source |
| Speaker - Left | Passive left-channel loudspeaker |
| Speaker - Right | Passive right-channel loudspeaker |
| Custom | Blank user-defined component |
The new manual component is selected and moved to the middle of the current viewport after the properties pane opens. When exactly one manual component is selected, its name and icon can be changed under Appearance in the properties pane. When any single component is selected (manual, detected, or registered), its input and output ports can be added, renamed, retyped, or removed under Connections.
Connections
Section titled “Connections”Two nodes can be connected by dragging from one node’s output port to another node’s input port. HiFi Control supports the following connection types, each rendered with a distinct line style and colour:
| Type | Typical use |
|---|---|
| Network | Wired Ethernet between a switch/router and a device |
| Wireless | Wi-Fi between a router/access point and a device |
| Optical | S/PDIF / TOSLINK digital audio |
| HDMI | HDMI ARC/eARC audio |
| RCA | Analogue stereo interconnect |
| USB | USB Audio class connection (e.g. PC → DAC) |
| Speaker | Speaker-wire between an amplifier output and a passive speaker |
Connections persist across sessions. Duplicate edges (same pair of nodes, same type) are rejected.
Inspecting a connection
Section titled “Inspecting a connection”Click a connection line to select it. The properties panel shows the connection type, the source device and output port, the target device and input port, whether the connection is currently active, and, while active, the reason (the playing device and selected source whose signal path contains the connection).
A playing amplifier with its Optical input selected activates its optical input path and speaker outputs, but not its network connection. A network connection is activated only when the selected source is a network service such as Spotify, TIDAL, AirPlay, or internet radio.
Canvas legend
Section titled “Canvas legend”A collapsible Legend card in the bottom-right corner lists all connection types with their line-style swatch for quick reference.
Sharing and Exporting
Section titled “Sharing and Exporting”The Share dropdown exports the complete System Overview as a PNG image, using the bounds of all visible topology content rather than just the current viewport. A branded footer is added to the bottom-right of the image, with an automatically selected light or dark logo/text treatment so the branding stays legible against the exported background.
The menu provides:
- Copy Image: copies an image to the Windows clipboard so apps like WhatsApp treat it as an inline image
- Save Image as PNG…: opens a file dialog and writes a
.pngfile - Share on Facebook, X, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, or Reddit: copies the image to the clipboard, explains that it must be pasted manually with Ctrl+V, and opens the selected platform’s sharing page
Auto-Detect
Section titled “Auto-Detect”The Auto-Detect dialog scans the local network for audio components and network infrastructure in parallel: amplifiers and music players via each active plugin’s discovery service, plus network infrastructure such as switches, routers, and other computers on the network. All detectors run concurrently with a live progress indicator.
User flow
Section titled “User flow”- Click Auto-Detect in the toolbar.
- Watch the progress dialog as each detector completes.
- HiFi Control displays all newly-found audio components and network nodes.
- Select the devices and nodes to add to the canvas, then click Add to Canvas.
- HiFi Control registers the chosen components, positions everything in logical rows (Cloud services → Routers/Switches → Computers → Streamers/Players → Amplifiers → Speakers), proposes sensible connections automatically, and zooms the canvas to fit.
Connection inference
Section titled “Connection inference”After every auto-detect run, HiFi Control proposes new connections automatically. It is conservative: connections are only added when the topology is unambiguous, so the user never has to clean up incorrect guesses. This covers both network uplinks (wiring each device to the detected router or switch) and a direct PC → Amplifier digital connection when the computer’s default audio output is optical or HDMI and a matching amplifier input is found.
Users can overlay room rectangles on the canvas to group devices spatially.
- Choose Add → Add New Room, enter a name, and a coloured rectangle is placed on the canvas.
- Drag the rectangle to reposition it; drag its edges/corners to resize.
- Each room is assigned an automatically-cycling accent colour from the room palette.
- Device nodes that sit inside a room rectangle display the room’s colour as a badge on the card.
- When a node overlaps multiple rooms the topmost (first listed) room wins.
- Clicking a room selects it and all device nodes inside it, enabling bulk operations.
- A selected room’s name and colour can be changed in the right-hand properties pane.
- Use Delete selected room, the room context menu, or keyboard Delete to remove the room. Device nodes are not affected.
Right-Hand Selection Panel
Section titled “Right-Hand Selection Panel”The panel on the right-hand side of the canvas adapts to the current selection:
| State | Content |
|---|---|
| Nothing selected | Instructional placeholder text |
| Room | Collapsible room properties for editing its name and colour, plus an always-available delete action |
| Connection | Connection type, endpoints and ports, active-flow state and reason, plus a delete action |
| Single device | Device identity and status; manual-node name/icon controls; capability-specific controls; input/output customization; and Remove selected components |
| Multiple devices | Count, ecosystem consistency warning, expandable device list, capability controls, DeviceLink section when applicable, and Remove selected components |
Only components your plan allows controlling are offered these capability controls; the DeviceLink section likewise requires both selected devices to be controllable. When part of the selection is view-only, the panel shows the view-only notice instead of the missing controls.
DeviceLink
Section titled “DeviceLink”DeviceLink is the System Overview feature for visualising and managing proprietary multi-room device groups such as BluOS Grouping and HEOS Groups.
Canvas visualisation
Section titled “Canvas visualisation”Active device links are drawn on the canvas as distinct, animated lines connecting the two device nodes involved. The line style differs from ordinary connection wires so that proprietary grouping relationships are immediately distinguishable from physical cabling.
Links are re-queried and redrawn when the canvas is first activated, whenever a device connects or disconnects, and after the user creates or breaks a group via the Selection Panel.
Managing links from the Selection Panel
Section titled “Managing links from the Selection Panel”When exactly two devices with a matching grouping technology are selected, the Selection Panel displays a DeviceLink section:
- Technology name label: e.g. “BluOS Grouping” or “HEOS Group”
- Link status: whether the two devices are currently in the same group
- Link / Unlink button: one click creates or breaks the group. If the operation fails, the panel displays a Grouping failed message with the error reported by the device/plugin.
A cross-ecosystem warning is displayed whenever the selection contains devices from more than one ecosystem, helping users avoid attempting to link incompatible device types.
Currently supported technologies
Section titled “Currently supported technologies”| Technology | Plugin | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| BluOS Grouping | BluOS Plugin | Groups multiple BluOS players into a synchronised playback zone |
| HEOS Group | HEOS Plugin | Groups HEOS-capable devices for synchronised audio |
| MusicCast Link | MusicCast Plugin | Groups Yamaha MusicCast devices |
Persistence
Section titled “Persistence”The topology (node positions, canvas membership, manual nodes, connections, and rooms) is
saved automatically to %APPDATA%\HiFiControl\system-overview.json and restored the next time
the canvas is opened.