Streaming music and smart speakers
Discussion
I have been doing house DIY for the past two month and have used an old Alexa for radio and music , I guess from Amazon. I don't have Amazon music but it plays me most stuff if I ask twice. I have Amazon prime.
I have found the most fantastic music and I have got very hooked on it
I keep finding different stuff I like .
In the new year sales I would like to buy a better quality machine to play the music for our new kitchen/dinning room . Also what service can I use so I can just call out the music I want and it finds it like Amazon.
My two questions as a novice is what machine do I buy and shall I pay for Amazon music, and why . Is there anything better
Thanks
I have found the most fantastic music and I have got very hooked on it
I keep finding different stuff I like .
In the new year sales I would like to buy a better quality machine to play the music for our new kitchen/dinning room . Also what service can I use so I can just call out the music I want and it finds it like Amazon.
My two questions as a novice is what machine do I buy and shall I pay for Amazon music, and why . Is there anything better
Thanks
I have a kef surround speaker system in the lounge & use Amazon music app via skyQ. I pay for Amazon music unlimited, pretty much all is in hd/ ultra hd or atmos.
Around the house/ garage I have Bose portable speakers & stream Amazon music(hd/uhd) via Bluetooth.
Same in the car, either via Bluetooth or CarPlay depending on the car.
I think Sonos also works with all of the major platforms as does Naim etc depending on budget.
I think the Amazon music unlimited is worth the 8.99 a month I pay for it, though look around, they often offer 3 or 6 months free trial periods.
Around the house/ garage I have Bose portable speakers & stream Amazon music(hd/uhd) via Bluetooth.
Same in the car, either via Bluetooth or CarPlay depending on the car.
I think Sonos also works with all of the major platforms as does Naim etc depending on budget.
I think the Amazon music unlimited is worth the 8.99 a month I pay for it, though look around, they often offer 3 or 6 months free trial periods.
Simple solution is buy speakers that have aux or BT connectivity and carry on using Echos as th source. Just outsource the speaker BT. I think gh newest echos ditched the aux socket ? So might need to be BT.
I use a pair of JBL Charge speakers as a stereo pair. Any decent stereo BT speakers will do. In my garden I have a small amp and two bookshelf speakers connected to an Echo.
One thing I would say. I tried a Sonos device with built in Alexa and it's been nothing but hassle and I gave up with it. Never use it. The integration is shoddy. You frequently have to dick about in both apps (Sonos and Alexa) and sometimes if flat out refuses to play audible , claiming its not supported, other days it's ok. For a long while it always played the wrong radio stations no matter what you said. My "favourite" is sliding into a nice hot bath and saying "Alexa, play radio 6 music" and getting a reply from the Alexa/Sonos, "please go into the Alexa app and make sure the Sonos skill is re-enabled" - as it needs renewing every 12 months or so. Sod Sonos.
I use a pair of JBL Charge speakers as a stereo pair. Any decent stereo BT speakers will do. In my garden I have a small amp and two bookshelf speakers connected to an Echo.
One thing I would say. I tried a Sonos device with built in Alexa and it's been nothing but hassle and I gave up with it. Never use it. The integration is shoddy. You frequently have to dick about in both apps (Sonos and Alexa) and sometimes if flat out refuses to play audible , claiming its not supported, other days it's ok. For a long while it always played the wrong radio stations no matter what you said. My "favourite" is sliding into a nice hot bath and saying "Alexa, play radio 6 music" and getting a reply from the Alexa/Sonos, "please go into the Alexa app and make sure the Sonos skill is re-enabled" - as it needs renewing every 12 months or so. Sod Sonos.
Edited by Griffith4ever on Wednesday 20th December 09:20
another here with Sonos all around the house - works pretty well, but we don't use voice to control it - some of the speakers are the correct generation, but we specifically bought the non-Alexa ones as I find that voice generally has limited accuracy and the sonos app works well - we stream radio stations / spotify / amazon / a large library of CDs on a computer / etc.
cliffords said:
I have been doing house DIY for the past two month and have used an old Alexa for radio and music , I guess from Amazon. I don't have Amazon music but it plays me most stuff if I ask twice. I have Amazon prime.
I have found the most fantastic music and I have got very hooked on it
I keep finding different stuff I like .
In the new year sales I would like to buy a better quality machine to play the music for our new kitchen/dinning room . Also what service can I use so I can just call out the music I want and it finds it like Amazon.
My two questions as a novice is what machine do I buy and shall I pay for Amazon music, and why . Is there anything better
Thanks
You probably need to look for Tidal or Qobuz subscriptions for the highest quality streaming. I have found the most fantastic music and I have got very hooked on it
I keep finding different stuff I like .
In the new year sales I would like to buy a better quality machine to play the music for our new kitchen/dinning room . Also what service can I use so I can just call out the music I want and it finds it like Amazon.
My two questions as a novice is what machine do I buy and shall I pay for Amazon music, and why . Is there anything better
Thanks
ISTR a WiiM Pro or Pro Plus is Alexa compatible. They can be connected to wireless speakers or to a proper HiFi, and WiiM units can be linked in multi-room mode.
When I renovated the house 10 years ago I put ceiling speakers in, hooked up to amplifiers and a bluetooth receiver. I did it on the cheap, £20 a pair for speakers, £15 Lepai amplifiers. It was surprisingly good. At the time there was Sonos for thousands, or cheap and basic, but I figured the tech companies would improve the picture and it would be better to upgrade over time.
I ditched the bluetooth thingy, it wasn't very good, when Google brought out the ChromeCast Audio. These are still brilliant and it's utterly perplexing that they were discontinued. They still fetch strong money on eBay because they are that good. Over time I picked up every Cambridge Audio somethingsomething 540 that came up on Gumtree or eBay for less than £50 and swapped those over. When I've worked in a room since I've swapped the speakers over to some £80 a pair ones that are miles miles better.
Overall it's still super-cheap, sounds really very good, as good as you'll get from the ceiling. If you don't want to spend thousands on the best possible quality, then I would recommend.
I've augmented it using Home Assistant - If you Cast something to the ChromeCast Audio, Home Assistant detects that and turns on a WiFi socket so that that right amplifier is turned on. Alongside that I've added Google Nest Minis, these can be set so that their default sound output is a ChromeCast device, so now if you ask Google to play something, the amplifier turns on and it's played over the ceiling speaker. Stop playing and the amp goes off again.
Because it's Google, if you have an Android phone you then get all the media controls on the notification bar of the phone, can do volume etc there, but can also move the sound to another device, or add it to more rooms etc at the click of a button.
It's a really neat setup, no idea how it compares to the other options, but I doubt there's a setup that hits a better sweet-spot of quality, functionality, ease of use and cost.
The other thing to consider with voice control is that I think the only free option that works is the Amazon Prime one, that you're already paying for through the Amazon Prime thing. Google is like £18 a month for Music. Amazon Prime is limited, it plays fewer of the tracks you want before it starts playing what it thinks you might want and has a much more restricted catalogue. If you don't particularly want voice control, then casting from your phone gives you whatever you can cast from your phone, which includes pretty much anything you have access to and can fairly easily include a local library if you have something to put that on.
I ditched the bluetooth thingy, it wasn't very good, when Google brought out the ChromeCast Audio. These are still brilliant and it's utterly perplexing that they were discontinued. They still fetch strong money on eBay because they are that good. Over time I picked up every Cambridge Audio somethingsomething 540 that came up on Gumtree or eBay for less than £50 and swapped those over. When I've worked in a room since I've swapped the speakers over to some £80 a pair ones that are miles miles better.
Overall it's still super-cheap, sounds really very good, as good as you'll get from the ceiling. If you don't want to spend thousands on the best possible quality, then I would recommend.
I've augmented it using Home Assistant - If you Cast something to the ChromeCast Audio, Home Assistant detects that and turns on a WiFi socket so that that right amplifier is turned on. Alongside that I've added Google Nest Minis, these can be set so that their default sound output is a ChromeCast device, so now if you ask Google to play something, the amplifier turns on and it's played over the ceiling speaker. Stop playing and the amp goes off again.
Because it's Google, if you have an Android phone you then get all the media controls on the notification bar of the phone, can do volume etc there, but can also move the sound to another device, or add it to more rooms etc at the click of a button.
It's a really neat setup, no idea how it compares to the other options, but I doubt there's a setup that hits a better sweet-spot of quality, functionality, ease of use and cost.
The other thing to consider with voice control is that I think the only free option that works is the Amazon Prime one, that you're already paying for through the Amazon Prime thing. Google is like £18 a month for Music. Amazon Prime is limited, it plays fewer of the tracks you want before it starts playing what it thinks you might want and has a much more restricted catalogue. If you don't particularly want voice control, then casting from your phone gives you whatever you can cast from your phone, which includes pretty much anything you have access to and can fairly easily include a local library if you have something to put that on.
For my main system I stuck a Chromecast Audio in the back of my existing amp which then powers a couple of speakers and a sub.
I CBA with voice activation so just use the apps on my phone - mainly Spotify for music.
I have a similar set in the main bedroom but smaller - a Denon mini system with a CCA in the back and 2 x speakers + sub. Again, driven by apps not voice.
I CBA with voice activation so just use the apps on my phone - mainly Spotify for music.
I have a similar set in the main bedroom but smaller - a Denon mini system with a CCA in the back and 2 x speakers + sub. Again, driven by apps not voice.
AC43 said:
I CBA with voice activation so just use the apps on my phone
Voice activation is only really extending the system so that my wife and kids can use it without messing around, same with the Home Assistant stuff. I was just turning the WiFi sockets on myself using widgets on my phone, but this automating that means it just works for anyone.We have a number of google mini and google screens around the house, we can either "hey google play xxx on spotify" or just cast them from the spotify app.
When the missus/kids are out, I have all the house speakers set as a group and cast to them all at the same time, then the whole house has got the same music playing at the same time.
When the missus/kids are out, I have all the house speakers set as a group and cast to them all at the same time, then the whole house has got the same music playing at the same time.
paulrockliffe said:
AC43 said:
I CBA with voice activation so just use the apps on my phone
Voice activation is only really extending the system so that my wife and kids can use it without messing around, same with the Home Assistant stuff. I was just turning the WiFi sockets on myself using widgets on my phone, but this automating that means it just works for anyone.Still not for me though.
the-norseman said:
We have a number of google mini and google screens around the house, we can either "hey google play xxx on spotify" or just cast them from the spotify app.
When the missus/kids are out, I have all the house speakers set as a group and cast to them all at the same time, then the whole house has got the same music playing at the same time.
Google devices are good that way. Easy to connect together. When the missus/kids are out, I have all the house speakers set as a group and cast to them all at the same time, then the whole house has got the same music playing at the same time.
I like my hifi, but in the kitchen we have a bigger Echo Show. Sound is "good enough", and the screen is handy for kitchen stuff. As it's a true Echo device, all the Alexa parts just work.
Do you want a full hifi experience where you will sit and enjoy in silence, or just "better" than your old Echo device?
Do you want a full hifi experience where you will sit and enjoy in silence, or just "better" than your old Echo device?
the-norseman said:
AC43 said:
Google devices are good that way. Easy to connect together.
Yep I have several mini groups set up and then a whole house group. There was a legal issue that meant they had to remove the feature where your volume control would control the cast audio volume by default, that was really annoying, but again it's back with the latest update and just makes it work really well.
I like that Android Wear picks it up too and that the access to the controls can be delegated up to the device, so that anyone with an android device on my WiFi network automatically gets controls if they've got that option turned on.
I've used Spotify for years and really like it.
I wanted to be able to play music/listen to podcasts whilst using my turbo trainer in the garage.
I already had some bookshelf speakers and a good 12V supply, so I used this:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0932B6VX6/ref...
2 years on and it's been a great solution. Spotify on phone and the amp pairs with the phone each time I turn it on, no problems and actually a reasonable sound quality. 2nd hand bookshelf speakers are cheap.
I wanted to be able to play music/listen to podcasts whilst using my turbo trainer in the garage.
I already had some bookshelf speakers and a good 12V supply, so I used this:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0932B6VX6/ref...
2 years on and it's been a great solution. Spotify on phone and the amp pairs with the phone each time I turn it on, no problems and actually a reasonable sound quality. 2nd hand bookshelf speakers are cheap.
Paul Drawmer said:
I've used Spotify for years and really like it.
I wanted to be able to play music/listen to podcasts whilst using my turbo trainer in the garage.
I already had some bookshelf speakers and a good 12V supply, so I used this:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0932B6VX6/ref...
2 years on and it's been a great solution. Spotify on phone and the amp pairs with the phone each time I turn it on, no problems and actually a reasonable sound quality. 2nd hand bookshelf speakers are cheap.
What an amazing device. Insane output for its size.I wanted to be able to play music/listen to podcasts whilst using my turbo trainer in the garage.
I already had some bookshelf speakers and a good 12V supply, so I used this:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0932B6VX6/ref...
2 years on and it's been a great solution. Spotify on phone and the amp pairs with the phone each time I turn it on, no problems and actually a reasonable sound quality. 2nd hand bookshelf speakers are cheap.
I went for a s/h mini system which of course is huge in comparison because it comes with a cd player & tuner which are redundant.
Thats a neat solution.
Edited by AC43 on Friday 22 December 13:27
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