Music Streaming

[sam_291]

Hi,

So I'm getting a new hifi system, but I'm still not sure what to use to play me music. I have a mix of apple and android, so I can either use airplay (through an Apple TV 3) or I can use Bluetooth. For Bluetooth I quite like the look of the qed uplay plus, with has aptx.

i mainly use spotify, so I know that the quality is already limited, but was wondering what views you all had on aptx, is it as good as airplay, or is it still falling behind?

Thanks, Sam

 

[davedotco]

Actually there are more interesting and better solutions available.

Check out the Amazon Fire TV, essentially an android ATV but with one important difference, the Fire has Spotify Connect built in. My experiments suggest (without any obvious reason) that Connect sounds better than 'regular' Spotify, in this setup your iThing or android device uses the Spotify app that works as a remote control.

A bit more expensive is something like the Bluesound Node, which has built in support for Tidal which can stream lossless, good choice for a more flexible, expandable system but a bit pricy for a single piece.

Finally, my crystal ball tells me that Apple intend to launch a streaming system in the spring, exact timing and details are still a bit thin but the suggestion is that it will be based on the existing Beats Music and fully integrated into the iOS, so could be very interesting indeed.

 

[sam_291]

Iv looked into spotify connect but it won't work with my local files, so I'm not sure about it.

i don't really want to spend more than £80 as I'm saving some money for the speakers.

 

[ifor]

http://iqaudio.com/?page_id=34

Just add Rune Audio software.

 

[Anderson]

Google Music? You can upload your own collection to it and use your Android/iDevices as remotes? You would connect a Chromecast to your HiFi via a HDMI audio extractor. Total cost would be about £60 for required equipment.

 

[unsleepable]

The Fire TV is just an Android device, and thus quite flexible. You can actually install an AirPlay receiver app and use it to stream audio from Apple devices. Bluetooth is what it doesn't do so well for audio as it doesn't support A2DP.

Anyways, do you already have a DAC? Because this thing only has digital outputs anyways.

 

[unsleepable]

http://iqaudio.com/?page_id=34

Just add Rune Audio software.

Well, you have to be savvy to go this route… But then, the Pi-DAC+ version would be more appropriate. You can also add a Bluetooth dongle as explained here to set the Pi as A2DP Bluetooth receiver. And follow the instructions here or here to have it work as an AirPlay receiver.

So it can do almost everything, but no Spotify Connect.

 

[davedotco]

The Fire TV is just an Android device, and thus quite flexible. You can actually install an AirPlay receiver app and use it to stream audio from Apple devices. Bluetooth is what it doesn't do so well for audio as it doesn't support A2DP.

Anyways, do you already have a DAC? Because this thing only has digital outputs anyways.

An android device with Spotify Connect.

Functionally, Connect is brilliant, just use the Spotify app on your mobile device as a remote and you get full Spotify functionality, far better than any third party Spotify app that I have tried.

 

[ifor]

http://iqaudio.com/?page_id=34

Just add Rune Audio software.

Well, you have to be savvy to go this route… But then, the Pi-DAC+ version would be more appropriate. You can also add a Bluetooth dongle as explained here to set the Pi as A2DP Bluetooth receiver. And follow the instructions here or here to have it work as an AirPlay receiver.

So it can do almost everything, but no Spotify Connect.

With Rune software it's just a case of turning Airplay on. The suggestion I was making was Pi B+ plus Pi DAC+ plus Pi Amp+ plus Rune. Just add speakers.

 

[unsleepable]

An android device with Spotify Connect.

Functionally, Connect is brilliant, just use the Spotify app on your mobile device as a remote and you get full Spotify functionality, far better than any third party Spotify app that I have tried.

Knowing your opinions regarding amps, DACs, expectation bias and whatnot, I find rather amusing that you believe that a low-powered Android device plays Spotify with higher quality than your desktop computer. Are you sure that it is not just that you took your beloved Behringer UCA202 out of the way?

 

[davedotco]

An android device with Spotify Connect.

Functionally, Connect is brilliant, just use the Spotify app on your mobile device as a remote and you get full Spotify functionality, far better than any third party Spotify app that I have tried.

Knowing your opinions regarding amps, DACs, expectation bias and whatnot, I find rather amusing that you believe that a low-powered Android device plays Spotify with higher quality than your desktop computer. Are you sure that it is not just that you took your beloved Behringer UCA202 out of the way?

Cheeky so and so.....!

I don't actually own or use a UCA202, though you do make a reasonable point. My comparison between Connect and regular Spotify (over Airplay) was done at my dealer using a Unitiqute, I have not actually tried the Fire TV.

And I am well aware that this is far from a conclusive conclusion, as I tried to make clear in my post. I like the idea of a direct (wired) connection to the Spotify server and that might well skew my views, I have always tried to make that clear.

One thing that is 'real' though is the ability to use the Spotify app on my iPad as a remote for Connect. The functionality is first class, far better than any third party app I have tried.

 

[unsleepable]

Cheeky so and so.....!

I don't actually own or use a UCA202, though you do make a reasonable point. My comparison between Connect and regular Spotify (over Airplay) was done at my dealer using a Unitiqute, I have not actually tried the Fire TV.

And I am well aware that this is far from a conclusive conclusion, as I tried to make clear in my post. I like the idea of a direct (wired) connection to the Spotify server and that might well skew my views, I have always tried to make that clear.

One thing that is 'real' though is the ability to use the Spotify app on my iPad as a remote for Connect. The functionality is first class, far better than any third party app I have tried.

You are very right about the cheekiness! *blush*

I get your point about the tidiness of Spotify running in a separate wired box, and I know you don't need to be told about expectation bias. But I guess that to the extend possible, the underlying engine will be the same or very similar for all Spotify implementations—with or without GUI. And if anything, the one used in smaller devices like Android (and this includes the Fire TV) or the UnitiQute would be more limited. So a priori there is no reason to think that it would sound better—although I wouldn't expect it to sound any worse either.