Amazon Echo Club

[Catlady]

Despite my previous hassles with smart plugs, I went and ordered a three-pack of Kasa plugs ($18) today. We'll see how it goes.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Despite my previous hassles with smart plugs, I went and ordered a three-pack of Kasa plugs ($18) today. We'll see how it goes.

My Kasa smart plugs work really well as long as there is a good Wi-Fi signal. They use Wi-Fi rather than a hub system like many other smart devices do.

[OtinG]

Final comments on using an Echo Studio with a Fire TV and/other devices for sound system purposes. In a nutshell, expect frustration, hope for the best...

Alexa Home Theater Mode Connection:

I turned off Wi-Fi on my Echo Studio, which was on even when connected via ethernet. I registered my Echo Studio, Fire TV Cube, Fire Recast DVR, and Apple TV 4K into static IP addresses. I was hoping this would stop the dropped video and audio signals from the Fire TV Cube when using it paired with the Echo Studio in Home Theater mode (which is a Wi-Fi connection. The Fire TV Cube and Recast are connected by ethernet, but the Echo Studio doesn't have an ethernet port so it is using Wi-Fi 5G.

Things worked really well the first day. Day two I opened the Amazon Music app on the Cube and nasty, ugly, horrible things occurred, including popping noises, dropped sound, glitchy video, and general mayhem. Several restarts later, and I gave up on the Music app. Unfortunately, the Home Theater mode between Cube and Studio no longer was stable, and for the rest of the day nothing seemed to completely fix it. But it did improve over time. Then just when I thought it might be stable, I paused a video to go fix supper. While gone the Cube went into screensaver mode, the screen went totally black, and the whole thing was just a total pile of garbage at that point. Several restarts later, and I gave up. I unpaired the Echo Studio and the Cube from their Home Theater mode and gave up on that. I wonder if the issue could be with the Cube as it is still a bit glitchy even after being unpaired. It was fine prior to any pairing of the two, but not the same since. I also wonder if having a Fire Recast in the mix is problematic, but I’m not going to pursue a solution on the Home Theater mode issues.

Bluetooth Connection:

Bluetooth connections between the Echo Studio and my Fire TV Cube, Sony Bravia TV, and Apple TV 4K work without issues. This method gives you the ability to use the remotes to control the volume of the Studio. However, this is the lowest audio capability which at best can only yield 2.1 stereo on a speaker system capable of producing same.

Optical Toslink Connection

I tested the Echo Studio with a toslink to mini-toslink optical connection between it and my Sony Bravia TV. This works fine, produces better sound in general, but it is more difficult to get set up and requires a bit of fiddling about with the TV's audio output settings options.

• Auto 1 option which outputs "only compressed audio without change" [whatever that means] works on Sony Bravia TV and Cube, but doesn't work with the Apple TV 4K. This option sounds better than PCM compression but the same as Auto 2 option. This option can pass Dolby Digital Plus.
• Auto 2 option which outputs "only compressed audio for multi-channel content without change" [whatever that means] works on all devices. This option sounds better than PCM compression but the same as Auto 1 option. This option can pass Dolby Digital Plus. Unfortunately though, it won't work with the Cube for some 4K streaming, for example, episodes of "The Grand Tour."
• PCM output works on all devices. This option has less sound quality as Auto 1 and Auto 2 options, and it cannot pass Dolby Digital Plus.

ETA on 30 Nov 2021: If the Echo Studio is connected via a toslink optical cable and no other connection than that, remotes from other devices can’t control the volume. For example, if you connect the Studio to your TV via toslink cable then the TV remote won’t control the volume of the Studio. If you have an Apple TV or other device connected to the TV, their remotes won’t control the volume of the Studio either. Even the Fire TV remote cannot control the volume in this scenario. According to Amazon, the Studio can be paired with an Echo remote, but not a Fire TV remote. (I didn’t even know they made remotes for Echos.)

If the Studio is connected to the Fire TV via the Alexa Wi-Fi Home Theater mode, then the Fire TV remote will control the volume of the Studio when you are streaming through the Fire TV.

If the Studio is connected to the Fire TV via the Alexa Wi-Fi Home Theater mode AND it is also connected to your TV via toslink cable, then the Fire TV remote will control the volume of the Studio when you are streaming through the TV or another streaming device such as the Apple TV. However, the Fire TV remote might not seem to control the volume at first, but if you press the volume Up/Down button on the remote multiple times, then it will control the volume. Kluge and nonintuitive for sure, but it works. But this means you will need to keep the Fire TV remote handy even when streaming through the TV, or any other non-Fire TV device that is connected to your TV.

Summation:

Echo Studio had terrific sound for a small HiFi speaker system. It is great for listening to music and other things for which you would likely use other Echo devices. I will call this "standalone mode". I assume it will be even better when paired with a second Studio and/or the Echo Sub.

As far as using the Studio as a home theater system via the Alexa Home Theater mode, it has been very problematic, glitchy on the Fire TV Cube, and quite honestly frustrating. YMMV of course.

Connecting the Studio directly to various devices via BT is quite stable, easy to control volume, but it yields the least quality of audio output, although it was still better than my older Sony HT-XT1 theater sound system which has 2.1 stereo at 270 watts with two downward firing 4" subwoofers and two forward firing midrange speakers. This is probably the best option if the Home Theater mode doesn't work. It is stable, easy to maintain, is reliable, and it just plain works.

Connecting the Studio via toslink optical yields pretty good audio, but it takes a lot of fiddling about in settings, and it requires the Fire TV remote to change the volume.

If you have just a TV and want something better than tiny TV speakers for audio output, then a single Studio connected either via BT or toslink optical cable are good options. You can pair it with another Studio, but then you are doubling the cost and approaching what a decent 5.1 stereo soundbar will cost. If you want a higher end theater sound system you are better off spending hundreds of dollars more and getting a good 5.1 or 7.1 stereo surround system.

[OtinG]

Nevermind, just a brain fart…

[issybird]

So, I’ve got roughly 200 songs on my Christmas playlist in Prime music. Then why, when I tell Alexa to play my Christmas list and shuffle, do I only hear the same 15 to 20 songs over and over?

I don’t want to hear my playlist in order. It’s chunks of either the same song or the same artist. But it’s starting to seem as if it’s the only way I’ll hear everything on the list.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by issybird

So, I’ve got roughly 200 songs on my Christmas playlist in Prime music. Then why, when I tell Alexa to play my Christmas list and shuffle, do I only hear the same 15 to 20 songs over and over?

I don’t want to hear my playlist in order. It’s chunks of either the same song or the same artist. But it’s starting to seem as if it’s the only way I’ll hear everything on the list.

No clue how to get it to work. I gave up on Amazon's Music. It simply doesn't work well for me and it is über difficult to locate interesting things to listen to. I created some playlists, but they kept getting hidden away. I switched to Apple Music where the interface is simpler and way more intuitive.

On another note (see what I did there?), there was a certain Amazon Xmas TV commercial that had the phrase "Alexa turn on Fire TV" but which had the odd result of the darn commercial turning off my Fire TV Cube and my TV! I finally muted the mics on the Cube. I think Amazon hires the rejects from the high tech industry that cannot get employment anywhere else...

[mlewis78]

OtinG: Do you play your Apple Music on your Echo? (Echoes)?

I am not currently subscribed to anything, but I had Amazon Music for about a year starting in 2020. I have free spotify and I don't think that will play on the Echo, except via bluetooth from my laptop.

I was wondering in case I ever decide to get . Not sure what I will do. I still have all my CDs and my stereo system and I have a lot of music on amazon music.

I just bought a MacBook Air and was disappointed to see that the itunes app no longer exists. It may still be on Windows. My Acer laptop died last week and I hadn't opened itunes in at least a year.

About a year ago all my itunes music on my iphone disappeared after an update on what was then a new phone. That was very disappointing. It said that any music I have bought from Apple would appear "here." I have bought very little from them but I had ripped a lot of CDs to itunes and downloaded from Amazon Music and put on itunes. If I want to listen to music while out and about with the phone, I have to use the Amazon Music app. It is laid out in a way that doesn't bring my attention to what I would want to listen to. Ugh.

I still use my Echo to listen to anything I am playing on the laptop. It was annoyingly loud with the "now playing from M's Macbook Air" but playing everything too low. I think I may have solved that by turning up the sound (in settings) all the way on the Mac. I will find out as I listen to more things.

[John F]

Originally Posted by mlewis78

...

I am not currently subscribed to anything, but I had Amazon Music for about a year starting in 2020. I have free spotify and I don't think that will play on the Echo, except via bluetooth from my laptop.

...

Spotify works with Alexa/Echo. I have it as my default music service. When I say "Alexa, shuffle [band name]" it plays [band name].

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by mlewis78

OtinG: Do you play your Apple Music on your Echo? (Echoes)?

I am not currently subscribed to anything, but I had Amazon Music for about a year starting in 2020. I have free spotify and I don't think that will play on the Echo, except via bluetooth from my laptop.

I was wondering in case I ever decide to get . Not sure what I will do. I still have all my CDs and my stereo system and I have a lot of music on amazon music.

I just bought a MacBook Air and was disappointed to see that the itunes app no longer exists. It may still be on Windows. My Acer laptop died last week and I hadn't opened itunes in at least a year.

About a year ago all my itunes music on my iphone disappeared after an update on what was then a new phone. That was very disappointing. It said that any music I have bought from Apple would appear "here." I have bought very little from them but I had ripped a lot of CDs to itunes and downloaded from Amazon Music and put on itunes. If I want to listen to music while out and about with the phone, I have to use the Amazon Music app. It is laid out in a way that doesn't bring my attention to what I would want to listen to. Ugh.

I still use my Echo to listen to anything I am playing on the laptop. It was annoyingly loud with the "now playing from M's Macbook Air" but playing everything too low. I think I may have solved that by turning up the sound (in settings) all the way on the Mac. I will find out as I listen to more things.

Yes I can play my Apple Music songs on my Echos. Once Apple Music is set up as the default goto music app, it is supposed to work by saying something like, "Alexa, play Alone by Heart." Sometimes that works, but often it tries to use Amazon Music instead, and thus decides to give me a bunch of dialog crap I don't want to hear. So to avoid that, I say, "Alexa, play Alone by Heart on Apple Music."

Yes, a few years ago iTunes was retired from newer Macs, iPhones, and iPads. You still get the functionality, but it was moved into other locations. My old MacBook Pro from 2014 still runs an old version of macOS and so it still has iTunes. If you have and older Mac or PC with iTunes, and you have ripped your CDs to that Mac, you might be able to transfer them to Apple Music. I did that years ago, it was quite a bit of work and not very intuitive as I recall, but I got them into Apple Music and the iCloud so I can listen to them on any Mac, iPhone, or iPad. I'm not sure if that is still an option with iTunes.

It sounds like you might have had the music stored locally on your old iPhone, and not in the iCloud. If you let the morons at an Apple Store update your new iPhone, stuff can happen, bad stuff. I don't trust them. I use the iCloud to backup all my iThingies on a regular basis, plus I store my Music and Photos in the iCloud. That way all is not lost if an update goes bad. You merely restore from the most recent backup.

ETA: As I recall, several years ago Apple scanned over the music I had added via iTunes (ripped CDs) and all of them that were legal (all of mine were legal) and within the Apple Music library were then converted to Apple Music versions at no charge just as though I had purchased them from Apple. I don't recall much more about that, but it was a rare act of generousity on Apple's part. I've long since lost the ripped CDs files, but since Apple converted them they are now permanently in Apple Music just like purchased songs.

[mlewis78]

Thank you, John F, and OtinG.

On the Apple website it says you can get your music back (in so many words) after joining Apple Music. There are three free months, so I might try it. I had spent a lot of time ripping any new CDs I bought at Tower back about 15 years ago and after.

I still had my music on my phone for a few weeks after the store person updated the new phone from the old one. This was October of 2020 when my 6s iphone was not doing well.

I was never sure if my itunes music on my old laptops went to icloud, but I thought that what was on my iphone was backed up in the cloud. Maybe I should just look to see what's in the cloud from my new Mac, if that is possible.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by mlewis78

Thank you, John F, and OtinG.

On the Apple website it says you can get your music back (in so many words) after joining Apple Music. There are three free months, so I might try it. I had spent a lot of time ripping any new CDs I bought at Tower back about 15 years ago and after.

I still had my music on my phone for a few weeks after the store person updated the new phone from the old one. This was October of 2020 when my 6s iphone was not doing well.

I was never sure if my itunes music on my old laptops went to icloud, but I thought that what was on my iphone was backed up in the cloud. Maybe I should just look to see what's in the cloud from my new Mac, if that is possible.

I hope you get it sorted out.

For what it is worth, the songs I ripped from CD and added to Music app stayed accessible there even when I didn't have an Apple Music subscription. Those are mine, bought and paid for, albeit through purchasing and ripping CDs. I do have a few songs I purchased through Apple, and those also remain accessible even without an Apple Music subscription. I'm not sure why they would require a subscription to get your "purchased" songs back. That sounds to me like an Apple CS rep not knowing the correct answer. However, Apple has churned out a lot of terribly buggy FW and software during the pandemic, so it could just be related to bugs in the system. And Apple made some huge changes to the way certain apps work that seem to have caused a lot of confusion as well as introduced a lot of bugs.

[mlewis78]

Originally Posted by OtinG

I hope you get it sorted out.

For what it is worth, the songs I ripped from CD and added to Music app stayed accessible there even when I didn't have an Apple Music subscription. Those are mine, bought and paid for, albeit through purchasing and ripping CDs. I do have a few songs I purchased through Apple, and those also remain accessible even without an Apple Music subscription. I'm not sure why they would require a subscription to get your "purchased" songs back. That sounds to me like an Apple CS rep not knowing the correct answer. However, Apple has churned out a lot of terribly buggy FW and software during the pandemic, so it could just be related to bugs in the system. And Apple made some huge changes to the way certain apps work that seem to have caused a lot of confusion as well as introduced a lot of bugs.

I recall over the years that Apple changed the way to do things after updates. They even changed the way to put music onto the phone when I plugged the phone into the laptop. It was annoying. But that is the only software I ever used for ripping CDs and burning new ones. I even downloaded any music I bought from Amazon to it.

I am about to start the free trial. Last night I looked at it on the phone and saw some of my old titles of playlists. I used to delete some songs and albums from the phone to make room for others I wanted to add and I didn't get around to deleting the playlist name. That phone (64 GB) used to run out of space often. My current phone has 128GB.

[tubemonkey]

Amazon Echo Show 15 review: Alexa gets widgets, Visual ID and a mega screen

The $250 smart display from Amazon is a 15.6-inch screen designed to live on your wall. Widgets, Visual ID and a picture frame design make this display a tempting option, but it might not be the best bet for most people. We installed and tested it to find out.

[OtinG]

When I bought my Echo Studio a few weeks ago it came with a 6-month free trial of Amazon Music Unlimited. When I went to sign up for same, they only gave me 3-months free. Today as I was balancing my bank statements I noticed that Amazon had actually charged me for the first month of Amazon Music Unlimited on the day I signed up for the free trial. BTW, IMO Amazon Music Unlimited is not very good at all and I was going to cancel it before it renewed, but this made me mad that they first gave me only half the trial time and then in the end none of the free trial, and they never notified me I had been billed.

I requested their CS service call me. The first call came from Medical Alert Center and was in fact an ad for that service. The second call also said Medical Alert Center, but it was actually Amazon CS in India and the phone number was the same as the one for Medical Alert Center. I got disconnected half way through the call. The third call also said Medical Alert Center but was Amazon CS in India. After much back and forth and difficulty understanding what the CS rep was saying, I finally got the charge reversed (I think) and cancelled Amazon Music Unlimited.

I'm still not sure why Amazon CS and Medical Alert Center (whatever that is) have the same number, nor how asking Amazon CS to call my phone resulted in a call from Medical Alert Center with an SPAM ad. I understand getting calls from numbers that have been spoofed, but I don't understand how asking CS to call me can result in that call from Medical Alert Center. Seems extremely fishy...

Any way, be careful if you sign up for a free trial of Amazon Music Unlimited. Verify that they don't charge you immediately.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by OtinG

Any way, be careful if you sign up for a free trial of Amazon Music Unlimited. Verify that they don't charge you immediately.

Whenever I have an issue with Amazon, I always call CS directly. Other methods have proven to be a waste of time for me.

Amazon = 1-888-280-3321