I thought computer audio was popular for convenience...

[beerandmusic]

 

So, I STILL love my vinyl and sacd's, but we have to admit nothing beats the conveniency of pc audio....or maybe something does beat playing audio from a PC....

 

I won't use a pc anymore to control my music.

I knew i would like it once I set it up, and now that I have, there is "NO GOING BACK".

 

There is so much flexibility and conveniency using alexa commands...and if you really don't want to use your voice, you can still use your phone or tablet....but for me, i will stick with my voice, never reaching for a phone or remote again.

 

It's up and running and it sounds as good as any other streamer dac i have ever played with.

 

Here's a few examples i have tested.

 

Alexa shuffle my playlist

Alexa play next song

Alexa play artist

Alexa play album

alexa play song

alexa play genre

alexa play something i would like

Alexa play exercise music

Alexa play bedtime music on garden

alexa play next song

alexa volume down

alexa volume up

alexa mute

alexa volume 20-100

alexa play rock in living room from tidal

alexa play jazz in kitchen from deezer

alexa shuffle pop from spotify

Alexa suggest

alexa wake to pink floyd dark side of the moon at 7am

alexa play radio station KYXY

alexa play dinner party music

 

For those that feel they would rather use a touch screen instead of their voice...look at the selections

I have figured out just about everything but how to issue alexa commands to change some inputs, but supposedly you can do it...

as you can see besides all the internet audio options, you also have your own music server (dlna), usb flash drive, cd, pc usb, optical 1, optical 2.....

...you can even play wifi from your phone.

 

You can even create playlists using combination of the different inputs if you wish.

 

It doesn't get much more flexible or easier than this

 

Alexa turn off music and turn out lights.

 

 

 

[asdf1000]

18 minutes ago, beerandmusic said:

It's up and running and it sounds as good as any other streamer dac i have ever played with.

 

What networked DAC is this?

 

[Spacehound]

Talking to it takes far longer than touching the screen on a 'pad' or moving/clicking  the mouse on a PC..

 

And it gets it wrong half the time - try saying "play the third movement of Beethoven's ninth" when you've tagged it wrong (but don't care) and you've got three different versions, the exact titles of which you can't remember.

 

It's just pointless gizmology.

[beerandmusic]

9 minutes ago, Spacehound said:

Talking to it takes far longer than touching the screen on a 'pad' or moving/clicking  the mouse on a PC..

 

 

put it in it's own playlist and call it beet1..i  will race you....i will have it playing before you can pick up the remote.

 

alexa play beet1

[beerandmusic]

4 minutes ago, Em2016 said:

 

What networked DAC is this?

 

ND8006 $1100

[Spacehound]

20 minutes ago, beerandmusic said:

put it in it's own playlist and call it beet1..i  will race you....i will have it playing before you can pick up the remote.

Why should I spend time  making  up playlists the names of which I won't remember and call the tunes by incorrect names which I also won't remember? 

 

And have to do it hundreds of times? Playlist names and track names, lots all the same, as in "third  movement", which I won't remember. And nor will you.  How you going to remember what "beet3869" is?

 

Do you know how  many tunes Beethoven wrote? And it's not just him. There's Handel, Mozart,  and Britney Spears too   

 

It's a nonsense.

[eclectic]

I tried an echo dot with the JRiver alexa plugin. It was hopeless. Quicker and easier to use a mouse and the screen but it could be down to my slurred speech and drinking habits whilst listening to music.

 

Also what could possibly go wrong with having an Internet connected device always listening to you. I'm sure government agencies, criminal gangs and other hackers wouldn't dream of trying to use it for other purposes.

 

I removed mine from the bedroom. I don't want the NSA listening to my activities there*

 

 

 

*8 hours of silence punctuated with the occasional snore..

[beerandmusic]

16 minutes ago, Spacehound said:

Why should I spend time  making  up playlists the names of which I won't remember and  and call the tunes by incorrect names which I also won't remembers? 

 

And have to do it hundreds of times? Playlist names and track names, lots all the same, as in "third  movement", which I won't remember. And nor will you.  How you going to remember what "beet3869" is?

 

Do you know how  many tunes Beethoven wrote? And it's not just him. There's Handel, Mozart,  and Britney Spears too   

 

It's a nonsense.

 

It sounded like it is one of a few favorites that you go to a lot....i rarely want to pick just one song...most of the time i have my playlists that i shuffle...

 

but if you did want to go to a long named song a lot that was difficult, i would just put it a top songs playlist...and then it would be easy to single out...really depends on how difficult and how often i would want to play a specific song...but certainly easy to be creative in about 2 sec.

 

you could put your top 20 songs in one playlist, or you could play album...no matter what, i could play any song faster than you could pick up a remote, and like i said, if you think you would never like the ability to use your voice, you certainly can use the remote, but i can't think of any situation where i would. Most of the time i will shuffle my playlist or play my top 20 or play recent or....but for those songs i pick often, i would create a playlist...or if i really wanted to find a play some a lot more than others, then i would get creative...only takes 2 seconds.

 

again, you can certainly use the remote or tablet or phone if you so desired, but i don't see me doing that anymore.

[beerandmusic]

13 minutes ago, eclectic said:

I tried an echo dot with the JRiver alexa plugin. It was hopeless. Quicker and easier to use a mouse and the screen but it could be down to my slurred speech and drinking habits whilst listening to music.

 

Also what could possibly go wrong with having an Internet connected device always listening to you. I'm sure government agencies, criminal gangs and other hackers wouldn't dream of trying to use it for other purposes.

 

I removed mine from the bedroom. I don't want the NSA listening to my activities there*

 

*8 hours of silence punctuated with the occasional snore..

>>>*8 hours of silence punctuated with the occasional snore..

what, no sex?

 

i tried jriver plugin and had issues also...this is a lot more intuitive and it works well.

 

I am not worried about the govt listening in on me, and i use my alexa for everything from monitoring alarms, setting the thermostat, turning on lights, locking doors, answering phones, video calls with daughter, putting stuff on my todo and grocery lists, and even placing orders, morning news, weather, timers, and tons more....soon, i will be getting free grocery deliveries based on my grocery list...I love my GF.

[Fyper]

Alexa or such could work when listening to music casually, while doing something else. But then, in those moments, I don't really care what I'm listening to, I set up the system and don't think about it.

When I do some serious listening, I'm not interested in hearing anything but music, even the sound of my own voice.

And I just don't see myself screaming "Alexa play next song" while the remote is practically always in my hand.

[Spacehound]

18 minutes ago, beerandmusic said:

 

It sounded like it is one of a few favorites that you go to a lot....i rarely want to pick just one song...most of the time i have my playlists that i shuffle...

 

but if you did want to go to a long named song a lot that was difficult, i would just put it a top songs playlist...and then it would be easy to single out...really depends on how difficult and how often i would want to play a specific song...but certainly easy to be creative in about 2 sec.

 

you could put your top 20 songs in one playlist, or you could play album...no matter what, i could play any song faster than you could pick up a remote, and like i said, if you think you would never like the ability to use your voice, you certainly can use the remote, but i can't think of any situation where i would. Most of the time i will shuffle my playlist or play my top 20 or play recent or....but for those songs i pick often, i would create a playlist...or if i really wanted to find a play some a lot more than others, then i would get creative...only takes 2 seconds.

 

again, you can certainly use the remote or tablet or phone if you so desired, but i don't see me doing that anymore.

You just like it and ignore its many deficiencies.

 

We all  do that, but I try not to do it too often. Like something and go buy it. Don't buy it and then try  to 'justify' it afterwards,  even to yourself.

I've got  two cars. Both are next to useless for day to day use, shopping, carrying relatives, driving down a rough track, etc. But  I knew that before I bought them and  I just admitted it  (not justified it)  to you. See how  it works?   

[Foggie]

Ahem...how does one remember ones entire library of music in which to play a song or album.  Sure I can pick a few tunes out of the blue/from recent memory but...I don't get this at all.  Maybe in the kitchen or for some background music, sure.  I think that is where this is most applicable - general listening - e.g. kitchen, outside on deck etc.. 

 

But nothing will replace browsing through ROON/HQP combo anytime soon for the main rig.  Not a remote chance, its literally impossible and I wouldn't want to.  To each his own for sure, YMMV.

[Norton]

3 hours ago, beerandmusic said:

we have to admit nothing beats the conveniency of pc audio

 

I didn't realise.  When I want convenience I use my SACD player (or even TT).  < 10 secs to turn on and start playing music.   PC Audio is for when I'm in the mood for tweaking or optimism over bitter experience.

[semente]

The future is...

 

 

[beerandmusic]

2 hours ago, Spacehound said:

You just like it and ignore its many deficiencies.

 

not trying to justify anything....i love it, and couldn't see ever having to do it any other way.....

 

kind of like sushi and  ben&jerry's ice cream, once you get a taste of the good stuff, nothing else will do...(smile)

[Musicophile]

"Alexa, please play the second movement of the Hammerklavier with Sviatoslav Richter, but you know, the Melodya version, not the DG crap. And please use the 24/48 remaster, not my older CD rip". 

 

Good luck. 

 

And while we're on the topic:

 

 

[Mordikai]

Funny- the convenience of my playback system is about the least of my worries. I'm more than happy with volume and maybe track selection. Now if they could record and master better that would be great! And no I don't care about hi-res.

[Ralf11]

Cover Flow is cool - you have to admit that.

[Mordikai]

1 hour ago, Ralf11 said:

Cover Flow is cool - you have to admit that.

I never use cover flow. I just have the track listings and that's all I need.

[Ralf11]

Cover Flow with a gesture interface would be fun.

 

I mostly use the Playlists or Genius features...

[Mordikai]

29 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

Cover Flow with a gesture interface would be fun.

 

I mostly use the Playlists or Genius features...

I typically sort by genre and scroll through and find something interesting, or I'll search by artist (group) or composer if I have something particular in mind. I do on occasion use the right click and ad to next to do a running playlist. I have maybe 8 playlist that I really don't play that often but they're a good compilation of my favorites by genre and style, exp. - jazz tracks over 13minutes long, Shostakovitch string Quartets #8.

I have a mid size library of about 5000-6000 albums 40% jazz, 40% classical, 20% random mix of Tribe called Quest to the Melvins.

[beerandmusic]

1 hour ago, Mordikai said:

I typically sort by genre and scroll through and find something interesting, or I'll search by artist (group) or composer if I have something particular in mind. I do on occasion use the right click and ad to next to do a running playlist. I have maybe 8 playlist that I really don't play that often but they're a good compilation of my favorites by genre and style, exp. - jazz tracks over 13minutes long, Shostakovitch string Quartets #8.

I have a mid size library of about 5000-6000 albums 40% jazz, 40% classical, 20% random mix of Tribe called Quest to the Melvins.

 

I used to browse, but i have found i like to shuffle play more unless i am looking for something in particular...in either case the voice is fastest. 

9 hours ago, Musicophile said:

"Alexa, please play the second movement of the Hammerklavier with Sviatoslav Richter, but you know, the Melodya version, not the DG crap. And please use the 24/48 remaster, not my older CD rip". 

 

 

First, i get rid of crap, so only the versions i like to listen to are even in my library.....and again if you are looking for a specific one that has a really hard name to identify it from others and you play it often, add it to a favorites playllist...things don't have to be difficult unless you want it to....just sounds like you are unorganized.

[Mordikai]

1 hour ago, beerandmusic said:

 

I used to browse, but i have found i like to shuffle play more unless i am looking for something in particular...in either case the voice is fastest. 

 

First, i get rid of crap, so only the versions i like to listen to are even in my library.....and again if you are looking for a specific one that has a really hard name to identify it from others and you play it often, add it to a favorites playllist...things don't have to be difficult unless you want it to....just sounds like you are unorganized.

Yea- organization is not the problem, I just listen in a similar fashion as I always have but I don't touch the album or tape or cd. I don't have any crap on my hard drive. I can't stand shuffle!! 

[Ryan Berry]

I like the fun of using the Alexa, I really do.  I get frustrated with it's streaming as it has been fairly spotty in selection to say the least.  I imagine I could get around that by integrating my library, but it's a bit too much upfront work for me to sort all that so it works with a voice interface and I've not been willing to put in the week  of work to fix my collection.  That said, it sounds pretty bad on its best day.  Maybe better than listening through a cell-phone speaker, but even having a room full of guests with it playing in the background gets on our collective nerves before long and we have to switch to the main system. I know there will be different opinions on that, but it's a pretty hard sell for me to grasp onto the idea of it sounding good, both from a technical and from an experience standpoint.  The voice interface is a pretty cool idea, however, that I'd love to look more into as the technology gets more mature.

[beerandmusic]

1 hour ago, Ryan Berry said:

I like the fun of using the Alexa, I really do.  I get frustrated with it's streaming as it has been fairly spotty in selection to say the least.  I imagine I could get around that by integrating my library, but it's a bit too much upfront work for me to sort all that so it works with a voice interface and I've not been willing to put in the week  of work to fix my collection.  That said, it sounds pretty bad on its best day.  Maybe better than listening through a cell-phone speaker, but even having a room full of guests with it playing in the background gets on our collective nerves before long and we have to switch to the main system. I know there will be different opinions on that, but it's a pretty hard sell for me to grasp onto the idea of it sounding good, both from a technical and from an experience standpoint.  The voice interface is a pretty cool idea, however, that I'd love to look more into as the technology gets more mature.

 

It sounds like you are trying to use alexa speakers...i don't do that.  I am using heos and stream through ND8006 to mcintosh amp and either B&W or PSB speaekrs and it sounds as good as anything else i have heard (speakers being only bottleneck imho)...would sound better with focals or ATC speakers.

 

not sure why you have have problem with spotty....unless you are doing wifi, which i am not...if you are doing DLNA try increasing your buffer.