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Post by speedysteve on Jul 24, 2018 5:39:13 GMT
Well not speaker against speakers .. The line out of the Echo dot into Najda line in was interesting. Typical mass produced line out sort of sound. Not very dynamic, or very good stereo separation but it was surprisingly bassy. Easy room shake on Yello's Takla Makan on the Touch album. Hearing Alexa on the system was a bit strange. More commanding.! Inspite of playing loud the mics on the dot still picked up my voice no problem. Letting her control the volume up and down was a little scary. "Alexa, volume 3", "Alexa, volume 6". There was plenty of output too. Now to build a voice controlled RPi / Dot Akexa Frankenstein.. |
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Post by ChrisB on Jul 24, 2018 6:14:23 GMT
Yikes - Resist!
They're going to start taking over!
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Post by speedysteve on Jul 26, 2018 7:00:16 GMT
I know, but it nice to be able to start and control volume, next track, different artist or song just by voice. No need to fiddle with phone / tablet, just relax, no device interruptions / distractions. Great if you are trying to reduce your screen time addiction  |
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Post by Slinger on Jul 26, 2018 15:30:22 GMT
I've seen a few articles about voice control for Volumio, including THIS ONE which involves Alexa. |
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Post by speedysteve on Oct 9, 2018 15:57:22 GMT
Not been doing much recently - other than what the system is for.. Listening Martin did visit last month and kindly brought along his RPi / Digione Spotify streaming solution and we played it into my Najda Spdif input. Very good it sounded too! Equal to my Jriver serving of Flac files I felt. Some tonal balance differences which could well be down to source.. We discussed the RPi's ability to output I2S directly and replace my WaveIO with that. I could still Flac serve but via that route instead. I've done lots of investigation and it's been done before and seemed to work. Not quite sure about the clocking thing still though. Other things have got in the way of further progress for the time being. Another potential upgrade was a dual 5v linear PSU from China. It arrived today. Nice solid little unit. I saw Martin has got one and decided to try it. Probably better than the 5v PSU I have on WaveIO and the one that supplies Najda's 5v needs. So that will be plumbed into both soon as next change/potential upgrade. I need to check if the same Chinese maker do a +12v / -12v supply with common earth. Then I would get one for the other supply requirement Najda has. So some changes to come. I'll report back on any sound changes in due course. |
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Post by MartinT on Oct 10, 2018 5:54:14 GMT
Good luck with the I2S connection. A Pi with I2S running, say, Volumio would give you a very nice interface for running your files and streaming services. The new MyVolumio supports Tidal, too.
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Post by speedysteve on Nov 20, 2018 13:28:15 GMT
Before swapping out WaveIO for RPi I'm dabbling with a Chromecast Audio (CA) using optical and out into my Najda.
It's pretty good TBH!
Next step is feed it a linear PSU 5v.
One day it might be interesting to open a CA and see if anything else could be modded. Must be really microelectronics or all on one surface mounted chip. So no dice probably.
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Post by speedysteve on Nov 20, 2018 17:26:24 GMT
One thing I noticed with the new found use of Spotify to stream to the hifi in our music room, and it is of course applicable, is Spotify's limited ability to stream to only one device at a time per account.. We are Spotify Premium Family members with my account as the family manager. We have our daughters on it and Granny too for her Echo, and we all live at the same address. To solve the problem of our Sonos systems needing an account while it's in use and the new found requirement in the music room simultaneously, I created an account for my brother John, who lives here too, and he uses that account in the music room  |
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Post by MartinT on Nov 20, 2018 23:48:33 GMT
I do find it useful for Spotify to only stream on one device per account, that way I know I'm not accidentally streaming somewhere else. It can happen when you have a few devices on the list. I've shocked Ruth in the kitchen before now!
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Post by speedysteve on Nov 21, 2018 12:56:30 GMT
Yes, and having Spotify family doesn't change that - it just gives you up to 5 accounts at the same address. You can still pick anyone of the online devices and blast it in whichever room Spooky horror music late at night in the bedroom when Marie is there alone might be fun? - Er no! I've grown out of that sort of thing The account I will use in the music room with a tablet and Chrome Cast Audio will not get used anywhere else. It's been interesting having a decent enough sounding Spotify route in. Trying various tunes some of which are remastered. For example I have a 300g pressing of the Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington summit album 1990 remastered version. It sounds amazing on Vinyl - no doubt helped by the Jazz liking Ortofon SPU Royal N. I often play it to visitors so they can hear how a clarinet should sound on a rig. John and Martin both said - I wouldn't sell the Technics SP-10 / Fidelity Research FR64s / SPU Royal N just yet when they heard it Most of the clarinet is handled by the right channel mid horn (JBL 2482 Phenolic compression driver into a 200Hz tractrix horn. It just sounds so real! However the CD I bought once upon a time sounds absolutely pants - not the remastered version way back then - all the instruments are quite central in comparison and sound half dead to be honest. On Spotify you can hear both versions Here's the 1990 version This sounds pretty good even up against the Vinyl version. Here's the original version On headphones listening to them right now you just don't get the same effect! Spotfiy gives instant access to lots of original and remastered versions - not all remastered are necessarily better of course.. Last night I tried sorted out a 5V supply from my linear PSU for the Chrome Cast Audio. It was powering the for now redundant WaveIO board It sounded a little better but seemed to take longer to become discoverable by Google home and Spotify - Strange! Then I tried a 10000mAh battery PSU (daughters she uses on her phone). Not so sure about it - Not an improvement on the linear PSU. Sounded a little less dynamic. I wonder if that is what you meant John on the recent Digititus thread? |
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Post by MartinT on Nov 21, 2018 14:02:16 GMT
I found that the typical mobile charger when providing 5V does not sound as good as a 12V lead-acid battery with a 12V-5V converter when powering a Pi or similar.
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Post by speedysteve on Nov 21, 2018 21:01:33 GMT
I found that the typical mobile charger when providing 5V does not sound as good as a 12V lead-acid battery with a 12V-5V converter when powering a Pi or similar. Did you mean 5v battery supply / charger and not the mains charger? 12 lead acid. Must be the hydrogen bubbles adding something.. I'm back on linear please PSU and all is fine.. |
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Post by MartinT on Nov 21, 2018 21:06:38 GMT
Yes, I meant 5V mobile battery. Lead-acid wins through very low output impedance, which means high instantaneous current ability.
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Post by John on Nov 22, 2018 5:00:02 GMT
Yes, and having Spotify family doesn't change that - it just gives you up to 5 accounts at the same address. You can still pick anyone of the online devices and blast it in whichever room Spooky horror music late at night in the bedroom when Marie is there alone might be fun? - Er no! I've grown out of that sort of thing The account I will use in the music room with a tablet and Chrome Cast Audio will not get used anywhere else. It's been interesting having a decent enough sounding Spotify route in. Trying various tunes some of which are remastered. For example I have a 300g pressing of the Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington summit album 1990 remastered version. It sounds amazing on Vinyl - no doubt helped by the Jazz liking Ortofon SPU Royal N. I often play it to visitors so they can hear how a clarinet should sound on a rig. John and Martin both said - I wouldn't sell the Technics SP-10 / Fidelity Research FR64s / SPU Royal N just yet when they heard it Most of the clarinet is handled by the right channel mid horn (JBL 2482 Phenolic compression driver into a 200Hz tractrix horn. It just sounds so real! However the CD I bought once upon a time sounds absolutely pants - not the remastered version way back then - all the instruments are quite central in comparison and sound half dead to be honest. On Spotify you can hear both versions Here's the 1990 version This sounds pretty good even up against the Vinyl version. Here's the original version On headphones listening to them right now you just don't get the same effect! Spotfiy gives instant access to lots of original and remastered versions - not all remastered are necessarily better of course.. Last night I tried sorted out a 5V supply from my linear PSU for the Chrome Cast Audio. It was powering the for now redundant WaveIO board It sounded a little better but seemed to take longer to become discoverable by Google home and Spotify - Strange! Then I tried a 10000mAh battery PSU (daughters she uses on her phone). Not so sure about it - Not an improvement on the linear PSU. Sounded a little less dynamic. I wonder if that is what you meant John on the recent Digititus thread? I often listen to this I agree about the quality of the two recordings |
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Post by MartinT on Nov 22, 2018 6:23:19 GMT
Gosh, that's quite some difference between the two masterings.
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Post by speedysteve on Nov 22, 2018 9:03:06 GMT
It's cool to be able to compare them so easily on Spotify with pretty much all other things being equal..
Wish there were more like this but understand it might be more costly for Spotify..
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Post by speedysteve on Nov 22, 2018 19:25:52 GMT
I've not heard Queen sound so good either. I had a few CDs from the 80s. All sounded pants. The 2011 remastered ones on Spotify sound acceptable! Clear, punchy good imaging.. so far |
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Post by speedysteve on Nov 24, 2018 17:25:07 GMT
Here's a pic of my new '£30 expensive' Chromecast Audio digital front end What a 1.5" disc can do!  |
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Post by MartinT on Nov 24, 2018 17:46:37 GMT
Not to mention the large 'footer' underneath it.
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Post by speedysteve on Nov 25, 2018 8:24:36 GMT
Not to mention the large 'footer' underneath it. Ah well, that supports the 5 amps and DSP that drive the 425kgs of speakers! Some things are harder to minimise |
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