Apple AirPlay integration for whole home audio

Hey friends, not sure if anyone has any experience with what I’m after but I am fairly new to ST and only modestly tech savvy. Essentially I have a Monoprice 6 zone amp with multiple apple airport expresses hooked up allowing multiple simultaneous AirPlay streams. The amp doesn’t seem to have a standby mode however so I am looking for a way to turn on/wake up my amp when I initiate AirPlay on my smart devices. Not sure if there is a rule/recipe I can create if I were to install a z wave outlet (assuming the outlet would tolerate the amps output). Thanks for your help!

Well you can certainly control the amp (On/Off) from a z-wave outlet but there is no way for ST to know that you have initiated an Airplay stream from your phone

Does the amp have triggers? Most do or even better most now can have audio signal trigger amp to go from stand by to on. I have Onkyo amp that is connected to sonos connect that trigger the amp to go from standby to on when music starts. It a analog solution but it works great. I have the whole theater on a power conditioner so I can see the amp switch on even though the amp does not appear to change (see below its got a led that tells you it on but that about it.).

I have the same amp in my home. I installed the keypads within reach of the audio zones and use them to power on/off the amps.

This amp has a serial interface, and it is my intention to host a “server” on a Raspberry Pi that maintains a serial connection to the amp. This ought to enable zone-by-zone control and provide a hook for SmartThings, not unlike this Russound Integration.

I’m a little ways off from getting that project going. You say you’re “modestly tech savvy” but if you’re being modest about that maybe the above can point you in an interesting direction.