Spotify Connect, on the cheap.

[davedotco]

As someone who uses Spotify connect for pretty much all my music listening, I have been keen to try connect in my system but have been put off by the price of Connect enabled streamers and amps.

But I have been looking at the Amazon Fire TV, purely as a Spotify Connect player. Just £79 with a spdif out on Toslink connector, straight into a suitable dac (my Fiio D3) and my active speakers.

Set the level control on the speakers so that I am using the volume in the Spotify App close to full volume and off you go.

Looks like a steal, anyone tried it, know of any similarly priced alternatives. Currently top of my Christmas list.....*biggrin*

 

[fr0g]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/MINIX-Mini-Version-Android-Dual-Core-white/dp/B00D3I8E4U/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1416238090&sr=8-3&keywords=minix+neo

Or any Android mini-pc with spdif?

 

[davedotco]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/MINIX-Mini-Version-Android-Dual-Core-white/dp/B0...

Or any Android mini-pc with spdif?

Implementing 'regular' Spotify is easy enough across a vast array of products but it is the Connect feature that seems to be much rarer.

I looked at the Minix a month or two back and although able to function as a Spotif, Client, it did not feature Connect, has anything changed?

 

[jamesrfisher]

From the U.S. site these are the devices that connect will work with

http://spotifygear.com

i read on a Squeezebox forum that to be able to use the connect feature the device needs a particular chip, so not able to put on older devices as it's not a software issue that can be upgraded

the Gramofon looks interesting but can't see if it has digital out

 

[unsleepable]

the Gramofon looks interesting but can't see if it has digital out

Apparently not. All it has is an analogue 3.5mm jack plug.

 

[Leeps]

I've also been looking at the Amazon Fire, albeit initially for different reasons, but DTC's comments about it having Spotify Connect are interesting.

I have a plasma TV (for the next few years at least), so am paranoid about screenburn, so wouldn't consider any Spotify source that requires a screen to operate it. So I wonder how this could work with Amazon Fire?

I imagine that you need to navigate to the right place using the Fire with the screen on, but I don't know this for certain. But if it has Spotify Connect, isn't that supposed to just ape whatever playlist you've activated on your smart device? Or is the Fire itself app-controlled?

So I'm just a tad confused as to whether this could open up screenless Spotify or not. It looks like it's potentially a bit of a loss-leader product just to get people onboard the Amazon train. They make much of the processing speed, which could be great for BBC iPlayer because my TV's processor is very slow (using a wired ethernet connection)...much slower than my iPad (using wifi!).

For the time being at least, I'll continue to use Airplay, but it would be nice to use something that doesn't eat up the battery use quite so heavily, particularly at £79.

 

[Leeps]

the Gramofon looks interesting but can't see if it has digital out

Apparently not. All it has is an analogue 3.5mm jack plug.

You're quite right the Gramafon only has an analogue out. I emailed them and they confirmed this.

 

[davedotco]

the Gramofon looks interesting but can't see if it has digital out

Apparently not. All it has is an analogue 3.5mm jack plug.

You're quite right the Gramafon only has an analogue out. I emailed them and they confirmed this.

There is a bigger issue though. The Gramofon is part of the Fon network that opens up a 'portion' of your internet capability to other users.

Other users can therefore use your system and download stuff to their device. It comes out of your download allowance should you have one and can be used to download dubious or even illegal material to your IP address.

Not sure how likely such issues might be but it does not sit comfortably with me.

The Amazon unit is primarily a video/tv streamer, but it does have Connect built in, it pulls the music direct from the Spotify server and delivers it to a Toslink output. You will probably need a screen to set it up but the device is then controlled from its own App. Connect is operated direct from the Spotify iOS App which acts as a remote control. The music files feed directly from the server, via the Fire to your dac in the shortest, simplest manner. Once you have an album or playlist playing you can disable your iThing to save the battery and the music will keep playing.

 

[iQ Speakers]

You use the exact same Spotify App you just select the device you require the music to come from ie the Fire and Bobs you're... There is also a BETA desktop you can download and same again it's almost seem less switching from playing on your iPhone to in my case CA Stream Magic 6 v2.

 

[unsleepable]

The Spotify Connect feature is already out of the beta, and integrated into the regular desktop application. I can from my phone play music with Spotify through the computer.

I also use Spotify a lot, and would like to detach it from the computer or AirPlay. My main issue at the moment is that the desktop application does not (yet?) work as a client for other Spotify Connect devices, so you need to use a phone/tablet to play music. I'd like that as a possibility, but not as a requirement. The desktop interface is very convenient to browse/discover music.

I am quite surprised by the way that Spotify implemented the possibility to work as a slave, before the capacity to control other Spotify Connect devices in the desktop application. From a commercial perspective I find it a bit twisted. Now the desktop application is also competition for all the streamers/players that license the Spotify Connect feature, while if it could work as a client it would support the ecosystem and help boost sales—e.g., as per my own example.

 

[fr0g]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/MINIX-Mini-Version-Android-Dual-Core-white/dp/B0...

Or any Android mini-pc with spdif?

Implementing 'regular' Spotify is easy enough across a vast array of products but it is the Connect feature that seems to be much rarer.

I looked at the Minix a month or two back and although able to function as a Spotif, Client, it did not feature Connect, has anything changed?

Well I figured as it works to an Android phone with a 3.5mm jack, it would work to any Android device.

 

[Andy Clough]

As someone who uses Spotify connect for pretty much all my music listening, I have been keen to try connect in my system but have been put off by the price of Connect enabled streamers and amps.

But I have been looking at the Amazon Fire TV, purely as a Spotify Connect player. Just £79 with a spdif out on Toslink connector, straight into a suitable dac (my Fiio D3) and my active speakers.

Set the level control on the speakers so that I am using the volume in the Spotify App close to full volume and off you go.

Looks like a steal, anyone tried it?

We have a First Test of the Amazon Fire TV coming up in our January issue, on sale December 17th.

 

[davedotco]

The Spotify Connect feature is already out of the beta, and integrated into the regular desktop application. I can from my phone play music with Spotify through the computer.

I also use Spotify a lot, and would like to detach it from the computer or AirPlay. My main issue at the moment is that the desktop application does not (yet?) work as a client for other Spotify Connect devices, so you need to use a phone/tablet to play music. I'd like that as a possibility, but not as a requirement. The desktop interface is very convenient to browse/discover music.

I am quite surprised by the way that Spotify implemented the possibility to work as a slave, before the capacity to control other Spotify Connect devices in the desktop application. From a commercial perspective I find it a bit twisted. Now the desktop application is also competition for all the streamers/players that license the Spotify Connect feature, while if it could work as a client it would support the ecosystem and help boost sales—e.g., as per my own example.

It does seem odd, but Spotify seem focussed on portable devices which is a mild pain. The search function is far better in OSX than in iOS but at the moment Connect is better served by a mobile device, you get eq as well.

Integrating Connect into a hi-fi system is currently quite difficult or expensive. Very few 'hi-fi' amps have connect at the moment, it tends to be a function of lifestyle systems and, strangely to me, A/V receivers where it is just another 'feature' hidden at the bottom of a huge list of video functionality.

For a music user the £79 Fire can, once set up stream Connect controlled by a mobile device and do so without the need of a TV screen. Of course you do not get the streaming capabilities of a dedicated streamer but for those who really only use Spotify this is an inexpensive way of adding connect functionality to any system.

 

[iMark]

I agree that the desktop app is much better than the iOS app. I have Spotify on my Mac Mini and my old MacBook. I can stream to the stereo in the living room (Airport Express) by using an app called Airfoil. With Airfoil you can stream any sound from your Mac to your Airport Express, Apple TV or other device that is AirPlay enabled.

There is also a version for Windows Vista and Windows 7. The version for Windows 8 doesn't support Metro apps.

https://www.rogueamoeba.com/airfoil/

I have used Airfoil since I have been using Spotify on Mac and have been very happy with it except for the time when Apple made major changes in their OS and it didn't work properly until an update. At the moment I'm using it with OS 10.9.5 (Mavericks) on my Mac Mini and with OS 10.7.5 (Lion) on my old MacBook.

 

[Joe Cox]

You use the exact same Spotify App you just select the device you require the music to come from ie the Fire and Bobs you're... There is also a BETA desktop you can download and same again it's almost seem less switching from playing on your iPhone to in my case CA Stream Magic 6 v2.

yep, I've used this with an old iPhone. old iPhone as my source, control it with Spotify app on my phone. of course you can't run a digital output that way, though. now use Sonos Connect in to DAC and amp. but found myself coming back to this problem with Tidal, which isn't on Sonos yet. but I don't know of a Tidal control app as yet...

 

[davedotco]

I agree that the desktop app is much better than the iOS app. I have Spotify on my Mac Mini and my old MacBook. I can stream to the stereo in the living room (Airport Express) by using an app called Airfoil. With Airfoil you can stream any sound from your Mac to your Airport Express, Apple TV or other device that is AirPlay enabled.

There is also a version for Windows Vista and Windows 7. The version for Windows 8 doesn't support Metro apps.

https://www.rogueamoeba.com/airfoil/

I have used Airfoil since I have been using Spotify on Mac and have been very happy with it except for the time when Apple made major changes in their OS and it didn't work properly until an update. At the moment I'm using it with OS 10.9.5 (Mavericks) on my Mac Mini and with OS 10.7.5 (Lion) on my old MacBook.

I used Airfoil all the time untill I bought my new MBP at the beginning of the year. It worked fine but I found it did have an effect on sound quality, clearly audible on comparison between a wireless Airfoil and wired Toslink connection. (Old white Macbook, Intel dual core, Snow Leopard)

Since then I have been using Airplay to an early (plug in mk2) AEX and that too is rock solid. However brief experiments with Connect suggest that the latter has a sharper more focused sound quality.

I also very much like the simplyfied signal path, Connect pulls the music from the server and presents it at the Toslink output on the Fire TV. Using Airplay, my iThing connects via standard wi-fi to my router, pulls the Ogg-Vorbis Spotify files over wi-fi to my device, converts them to Alac for transmission to my AEX, which in turn converts them to a Spidif signal, also on Toslink.

 

[davedotco]

You use the exact same Spotify App you just select the device you require the music to come from ie the Fire and Bobs you're... There is also a BETA desktop you can download and same again it's almost seem less switching from playing on your iPhone to in my case CA Stream Magic 6 v2.

yep, I've used this with an old iPhone. old iPhone as my source, control it with Spotify app on my phone. of course you can't run a digital output that way, though. now use Sonos Connect in to DAC and amp. but found myself coming back to this problem with Tidal, which isn't on Sonos yet. but I don't know of a Tidal control app as yet...

Hi Joe,

The problem here is the Sonos control App, good as the interface is, it does not come close to the Spotify App on a iPad.

I am comfortable with a Spotify only setup (for now anyway) so given that our apartment is knee deep in iThings, the Fire TV looks like a serious option. Once set up I probably would not even bother with the video streaming, just use it as a dedicated music streamer.

 

[Joe Cox]

True. Sonos is by no means 'Spotify Connect on the cheap' either. Shame the £10 Now TV Box doesn't have a digital out (other than HDMI). I guess you could add an HDMI-to-optical converter but probably better to get one box.

 

[davedotco]

True. Sonos is by no means 'Spotify Connect on the cheap' either. Shame the £10 Now TV Box doesn't have a digital out (other than HDMI). I guess you could add an HDMI-to-optical converter but probably better to get one box.

The Sonos Connect does not 'do' Spotify Connect at all. You know that, right.........*unknw*

 

[iMark]

I can't hear any difference between my Macs directly into the DAC or via the Airport Express. Both connections with Toslink. The only difference is the 2 second delay which is always there in AirPlay.

Spotify Ogg-Vorbis files converted to ALAC have no effect on sound quality at all. The conversion shouldn't have any effect at all. ALAC is lossless, so you don't lose any information, even with compressed files like Ogg-Vorbis.

I would recommend that you first do some double blind testing before making statements like 'sharper more focused sound quality'.

Obviously I don't have any equipment that has Spotify Connect. Last year I nearly bought a Yamaha R-N500. It has great features (including Spotify Connect) but lacked one feature that I really like: a rec out selector. That means that I can transfer records and old Minidiscs to the computer while using the amp to listen to something else.

Since we already had a DAC, we got the Yamaha R-S500 instead, which to our ears sounds wonderful.

 

[davedotco]

I can't hear any difference between my Macs directly into the DAC or via the Airport Express. Both connections with Toslink. The only difference is the 2 second delay which is always there in AirPlay.

Spotify Ogg-Vorbis files converted to ALAC have no effect on sound quality at all. The conversion shouldn't have any effect at all. ALAC is lossless, so you don't lose any information, even with compressed files like Ogg-Vorbis.

I would recommend that you first do some double blind testing before making statements like 'sharper more focused sound quality'.

Obviously I don't have any equipment that has Spotify Connect. Last year I nearly bought a Yamaha R-N500. It has great features (including Spotify Connect) but lacked one feature that I really like: a rec out selector. That means that I can transfer records and old Minidiscs to the computer while using the amp to listen to something else.

Since we already had a DAC, we got the Yamaha R-S500 instead, which to our ears sounds wonderful.

I attempted to be fairly circumspect with these views, giving plenty of ifs and maybes. I even specified my computer setup to try and make it clear that the veiws were from just one setup and quite personel.

Double blind testing, are you serious? Just how do you expect to implement that in a domestic environment or at a dealers? These were subjective evaluations, I did my best to level match and was able to set up the switching so that I did not know whether I was listening to wired or wireless.

Airfoil was clearly a bit 'rough' and 'grainy', Airplay was much less obvious but appeared to lack sharpness and focus, entirely subjective I grant you, though I never suggested otherwise.

As for the conversions, I have no idea how it is done, but as far as I know there is no way to check if the Ogg Vorbis to Alac is totally transparent as you cannot compare the resulting file to the original. Logically you may well be right , I accept that, but I was recounting what I heard. At some point, hopefully quite soon, I shall be able to try Connect and Airplay side by side.

BTW. Did you carry out a 'Double Blind' test to ascertain that your Yamaha R-S500 sounds 'wonderful'.

 

[Joe Cox]

True. Sonos is by no means 'Spotify Connect on the cheap' either. Shame the £10 Now TV Box doesn't have a digital out (other than HDMI). I guess you could add an HDMI-to-optical converter but probably better to get one box.

The Sonos Connect does not 'do' Spotify Connect at all. You know that, right.........*unknw*

I do know that, yes... I was just chipping in about using Spotify Connect before I got a Sonos Connect! And that I now need something similar to Spotify Connect for Tidal.

 

[iQ Speakers]

Unsleepableb not sure what you mean I can from my desktop version play music to my CA Streamagic 6 or another computer or make it come out of a iPhone all from my desktop version remotely.

Dave great heads up by the way I may not of bought the CA if I knew, then it does upsample and can act as an external DAC etc

 

[davedotco]

To make Spotify Connect work you need specific hardware functionality in the unit doing the streaming. This is rare and many of the units thar do have it are not hi-fi, I'm struggling to think of more than half a dozen 'proper' hi-fi components that implement Connect. I can't see Qobus, Tidal or whatever getting there anytime soon.

Connect finds it's way onto a fair number of A/V receivers, which I find odd, but that and 'lifestyle' systems seem to be much more popular. Prior to the arrival of the Amazon Fire the least expensive option I could find was a Yamaha R-N500 which really is not suited to my needs going up to a Unitiqute 2, which looks nice but is silly money.

The Fire TV can bring Connect functionality to any system at modest cost, i'm going to have to try one.

 

[unsleepable]

Unsleepableb not sure what you mean I can from my desktop version play music to my CA Streamagic 6 or another computer or make it come out of a iPhone all from my desktop version remotely.

Dave great heads up by the way I may not of bought the CA if I knew, then it does upsample and can act as an external DAC etc

For the moment, the desktop version can only work as a slave device. So it works the other way around: if you have Spotify open in your computer, from your mobile you can play music on your computer. And then you close the app in the mobile, or take it out of wifi range, and it keeps working. The mobile just works as a remote, and it's the computer actually playing the music.

Using the mobile Spotify app you can control any receiver that features Spotify Connect.

The thing is that, at the moment, you can't use the desktop Spotify application to control other devices. So for example, you can't play music in your Stream Magic from the computer.