Amazon Echo Dot

[uofmtiger]

Apple stores will soon start carrying Sonos speakers. https://9to5mac.com/2016/09/26/apple-sonos/ They sure aren't going to be demonstrating Sonos voice control via Echo Dots, lol. Makes me wonder whether Siri integration with the Sonos app is on the radar. Also, has Apple given up on the crappy Beats speakers?

I saw this yesterday, but haven't had time to really think about what Apple is doing with this move. Seems very odd unless they are planning on buying Sonos or are planning on delving deeper into this relationship. As you said, they own a headphone/speaker company, so why bring more (they already sell some competing headphones) competition into their stores? Also, they have Airplay that is built into iTunes and iOS, so selling Sonos will just lead to confusion for their customers. Maybe they have plans to have Sonos add Airplay?

As I said, this appears to be really bizarre move, I am trying to figure out the benefit to Apple (other than the fee they take out in the process, which would be miniscule in comparison to what they make selling Beats).

As a side note, this could be related to getting rid of the headphone port on the iPhone 7. This would give people one more way to hear music, while charging their phones at home. However, it still doesn't make much since that they would lead customers to Sonos rather than Beats.

Any thoughts?

 

[DanBNash]

We ordered a couple dots for home. I didn't even know that they were going to work with Sonos (in 2017) until reading this thread. I can't wait to get it.

 

[chicks]

Nah, majority of Sonos customers are Apple owners already; Sonos has always catered to technophobes just like Apple, by building products that "just work", without the fussing that us techies sometimes like.

Apple has already worked very closely with Sonos. I suspect that the Sonos AM integration already talks to the AM app; you can only enroll on an iOS device, then it's available via the Sonos app on Android. TruePlay setup can only be done on an iOS device, etc.

I believe you will soon be able to cast to Sonos from AM. Not at all difficult, several 3rd party apps do it already on iOS, including stereo pairing. It's long been available in Google Play Music, is in beta for Spotify Connect, and Pandora has announced interest.

Would love to use the excellent native AM app with Sonos...

 

[uofmtiger]

I believe you will soon be able to cast to Sonos from AM. Not at all difficult, several 3rd party apps do it already on iOS, including stereo pairing. It's long been available in Google Play Music, is in beta for Spotify Connect, and Pandora has announced interest.

Would love to use the excellent native AM app with Sonos...

If they go that route it would make more sense. Right now, it seems like it is ripe for confusion with technophobes thinking it will work like Airplay. If you are right, I think it would have made more sense to roll out the feature and speakers at the same time.

 

[chicks]

Ya, not sure why they haven't done it, but it's surely much more a business decision than a technical one. Spotify's app may suck big time, but it's no sweat at all to choose where to cast, be it AirPlay, ChromeCast, Bluetooth or Spotify Connect. It's one of the few areas where they have an edge over AM, plus voice control via Alexa. Apple is taking their time, as always, but should come up with something slick, as usual.

 

[uofmtiger]

Ya, not sure why they haven't done it, but it's surely much more a business decision than a technical one. Spotify's app may suck big time, but it's no sweat at all to choose where to cast, be it AirPlay, ChromeCast, Bluetooth or Spotify Connect. It's one of the few areas where they have an edge over AM, plus voice control via Alexa. Apple is taking their time, as always, but should come up with something slick, as usual.

View attachment 797150

Yeah, it may just be a matter of time. It may have been one of those... lets do this first, see how many we sell, then we can get our engineers to rework AM or the iOS to support if it is worthwhile. Spotify has a few advantages, so the longer Apple takes to fill in those gaps, the more reason a certain percentage of users will stick with Spotify.

As I mentioned above, there are rumors that an Apple version for Echo is around the corner. They may have Sonos control worked into Siri that they will drop when that device drops. As you say, Apple is never in a hurry to go anywhere. If I were them, I would have bought Sony months ago...I think they have more restraint than I like.

 

[uofmtiger]

Google Home now available for pre-order:

https://madeby.google.com/home/

For new Youtube Red users, you can get 6 months free with purchase. I want one, just for the casting features, since that looked really cool, but I am not as comfortable with Google as other companies, so I am going to hold out for now. Also, since I mainly use receivers for music, it will still require me to turn them on, which is at least as inconvenient as hitting a button on my watch. The geek in me really wants one, though.

 

[+48V]

so I am going to hold out for now

Yup. They're a bit too proud for my buck right now. At $130 and no line out is....stoopit hungry. Pass for now.

 

[uofmtiger]

Yup. They're a bit too proud for my buck right now. At $130 and no line out is....stoopit hungry. Pass for now.

Kind of surprised by the price, to be honest. Typically, Google hits low price points with their accessory tech, especially with something like this that could be used to track your usage and use it to market more stuff at you.

 

[chicks]

Amazon Music Unlimited drops, just $4 per on Echo and Dot. Interesting. Wonder what codec and bitrate they're using?

 

[91r100gs]

^^^May have a answer soon, I sent a e-mail to Amazon Prime support requesting this info.

 

[91r100gs]

From Amazon

Message From Customer Service
Hello Dan,

I understand your concern about Amazon Music Unlimited subscription. I will surely assist you.

I would like to share that Amazon Music Unlimited is a new subscription, which provides an enhanced music experience to our music lovers. All the music offered with Amazon Music Unlimited will be played at the existing bit rate (we try to offer our most of the music at the bit rate of 256 kbps).
_______________________________
They did not answer the codec question.

 

[Gnesen]

From Amazon

Message From Customer Service
Hello Dan,

I understand your concern about Amazon Music Unlimited subscription. I will surely assist you.

I would like to share that Amazon Music Unlimited is a new subscription, which provides an enhanced music experience to our music lovers. All the music offered with Amazon Music Unlimited will be played at the existing bit rate (we try to offer our most of the music at the bit rate of 256 kbps).
_______________________________
They did not answer the codec question.

Thanks for the info. Which also leads to the question for those who have a Dot: how good is the onboard DAC? Is the sound quality from the 3.5mm line out adequate?

 

[91r100gs]

^^^^^

When I use the Echo Dot with the line out cord to my main system, I am 98% of the time happy with the SQ. I think it matches the quality of the stream. I have a few albums uploaded to their cloud that where 320K uploads. On one I also have the 256K version and the 320k is noticeably better, not night and day, but appreciable. Right now I am holding off on the Unlimited, there is so much on regular Prime Music that I could never listen to all of it.

 

[uofmtiger]

^^^^^

When I use the Echo Dot with the line out cord to my main system, I am 98% of the time happy with the SQ. I think it matches the quality of the stream. I have a few albums uploaded to their cloud that where 320K uploads. On one I also have the 256K version and the 320k it noticeably better, not night and day, but appreciable. Right now I am holding off on the Unlimited, there is so much on regular Prime Music that I could never listen to all of it.

Yeah, I am on the fence with it, too. I don't have my Dot in my main system and I don't think it would be ideal for it anyway since I would have to put it on the other side of the room with my system. It is great at picking up my voice in the kitchen, but I am not sure it would be as good when it is sitting next to my speakers that are playing music. Of course, I could use Bluetooth, but audio quality would suffer.

I have one coming for my office and it would be better in that room, but then again, I have a computer with digital out hooked to a Cambridge DACMagic, so I am pretty sure the Dot won't sound as good as what I already have. Also, Apple's new MacOS has Siri built in, so I can still use voice for telling it what I want to hear.

Personally, I prefer the approach that Google is taking with telling their device to send audio/video to one of their Chromecasts (which also have a digital output). This means I could put the device next to my seating position and then tell it to send audio to the Chromecast in my system across the room. However, I don't know that I will be getting one for reasons I expressed in other posts.

 

[phantomrebel]

Just a tip for those who have Control4 in their house, it is easy to set up with Alexa Echo so you can use voice commands to open shades, turn on/change music stations, adjust volume, adjust lights and lighting scenes, and control thermostats. I've been using it for a few days (while sick at home) and it is life-changing. It supposedly works with Dot as well.

 

[+48V]

Fortunate news for Dot owners....

 

[uofmtiger]

Just a tip for those who have Control4 in their house, it is easy to set up with Alexa Echo so you can use voice commands to open shades, turn on/change music stations, adjust volume, adjust lights and lighting scenes, and control thermostats. I've been using it for a few days (while sick at home) and it is life-changing. It supposedly works with Dot as well.

I am curious, what is Control4 and what added value does it have to the Echo. The Echo will already do all the things you mentioned with its normal skill(s) set. I am mainly curious about what you mean by "turn in/change music stations" and whether Control4 adds more features in that area.

 

[phantomrebel]

I am curious, what is Control4 and what added value does it have to the Echo. The Echo will already do all the things you mentioned with its normal skill(s) set. I am mainly curious about what you mean by "turn in/change music stations" and whether Control4 adds more features in that area.

Control4 is a whole-house system. they provide lighting switches, shade controls, thermostats, multi-zone equipment, etc. The system is typically controlled via a remote or iPad. Echo is a way to bring voice control to the table. So, for example, I can say "Watch cable TV box 2 in the master bedroom" , "Listen to Pandora in the Living room" , "turn bedroom 2 music down to volume 22", "close the garage door" or "Turn the kitchen cooking lighting scene on" and it will happen. Yes, the Echo will work with other systems, but Control4 just released a new software system so it now works with their equipment if folks happen to have it in their homes.

 

[uofmtiger]

Control4 is a whole-house system. they provide lighting switches, shade controls, thermostats, multi-zone equipment, etc. The system is typically controlled via a remote or iPad. Echo is a way to bring voice control to the table. So, for example, I can say "Watch cable TV box 2 in the master bedroom" , "Listen to Pandora in the Living room" , "turn bedroom 2 music down to volume 22" or "Turn the kitchen cooking lighting scene on" and it will happen.

Thanks for the info. Will it work with music services that aren't on the Echo, like Apple Music or Google Play?