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Amazon Echo Link

stunta

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Interesting product. Looks like it needs an existing Echo device for voice control with Alexa. If Alexa can integrate with Tidal and stream to this, things could get quite interesting. Or Roon guys need to get on with it and integrate with Alexa.

@amirm, a good one for your review backlog perhaps?

51KamSFHa2L._SL1000_.jpg
 

garbulky

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Wow! They also have the Echo link amp version of this for $300 for 60w per channel .
But they are missing one important thing for this type of market.... BLUETOOTH capability. Also this device would be a lot more attractive if the streamer followed amazon's great pricing like their echo dot device. Say $60-80 for a digital transport unit similar to their fire tv box.

They already have Tidal onboard. It's only a matter of time before they have a version with MQA and Roon then.
 

WondrousHippo

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Interesting product. Looks like it needs an existing Echo device for voice control with Alexa. If Alexa can integrate with Tidal and stream to this, things could get quite interesting. Or Roon guys need to get on with it and integrate with Alexa.

@amirm, a good one for your review backlog perhaps?

51KamSFHa2L._SL1000_.jpg

Oh nice, this is finally releasing? I'm intrigued by it. Yes, please review, Amir! :)

And good news: you can use Tidal with the Echo, it's setup through skills, so you have to invoke it by saying "Play the album Esoteric Malacology on Tidal" rather than being able to set it as the default music service on Echo.
 

Wombat

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It has A2DP. Is that different to normal Bluetooth?

Hey, it has a volume control. :) Pity re no capability for IR remote control. :(
 

Wombat

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They show a turntable connected but no USB input. How many turntables have RIAA EQ'd line-out. Maybe this is the cheaper digital phono level preamp we have been waiting for.
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GGroch

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It is interesting...but Wi-Fi streaming seems limited to the sources Echo can stream...so no local media (DLNA etc.) to whole house. But it probably will accept a Plex stream...but not multi-room.

My bet is the Analog inputs do not have RIAA EQ and are purely line level. In addition, I do not think any of the inputs...analog or digital, will stream to other Echo devices...they just play to the analog/digital outs on the same Link.

The ability to do this (plug an analog source and stream to the rest of the house) was mentioned in the C/Net Link Preview.
It seems to be gone now...but of course, they could well add additional functionality in future firmware updates.

So...is this a very well priced Sonos Connect competitor? Or a very poorly priced and more restricted Chromecast Audio competitor. I might have jumped right on this to try but I think they are about $100 too high for such a seemingly restricted product.

Well worth watching though. And nice to see the Alexa clan doing something with audiophiles in mind.
 
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Wombat

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I have a Chromecast Audio, yet to be installed.

Things may be moving in the right direction re digital to analogue preamps.
 

garbulky

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It is interesting...but Wi-Fi streaming seems limited to the sources Echo can stream...so no local media (DLNA etc.) to whole house. But it probably will accept a Plex stream...but not multi-room.

My bet is the Analog inputs do not have RIAA EQ and are purely line level. In addition, I do not think any of the inputs...analog or digital, will stream to other Echo devices...they just play to the analog/digital outs on the same Link.

The ability to do this (plug an analog source and stream to the rest of the house) was mentioned in the C/Net Link Preview.
It seems to be gone now...but of course, they could well add additional functionality in future firmware updates.

So...is this a very well priced Sonos Connect competitor? Or a very poorly priced and more restricted Chromecast Audio competitor. I might have jumped right on this to try but I think they are about $100 too high for such a seemingly restricted product.

Well worth watching though. And nice to see the Alexa clan doing something with audiophiles in mind.
Agreed. I see no local streaming (or bluetooth). Both of which would have been useful. Right now it looks like it's restricted to app based streaming and digital inputs. It was smart though for them to include digital inputs. I think their next generation will have these capabilities. More importantly Amazon is finally getting in to the entry level/mid-fi market with their own products.
 

Jungstar

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Wow! They also have the Echo link amp version of this for $300 for 60w per channel .
But they are missing one important thing for this type of market.... BLUETOOTH capability. Also this device would be a lot more attractive if the streamer followed amazon's great pricing like their echo dot device. Say $60-80 for a digital transport unit similar to their fire tv box.

They already have Tidal onboard. It's only a matter of time before they have a version with MQA and Roon then.
It does have Bluetooth.
Amazon just launched their highend music streaming....
 

garbulky

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It does have Bluetooth.
Amazon just launched their highend music streaming....
By bluetooth I mean act like a bluetooth speaker to a phone. Like the phone is the bluetooth source. So if I want to play youtube on my phone , can I cast the audio to the echo link while watching it on the phone? Or if I've got say Apple music running can I cast the music to the echo link amp?

Edit: I may be wrong but from some research it looks like it can.
 

GGroch

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By bluetooth I mean act like a bluetooth speaker to a phone.....from some research it looks like it can.

Your research is right, Yes it can. But.
- To watch Youtube and listen through the amp you would want Low Latency Bluetooth...so that the lip sync would be right. This does not have that advertised.

- With Amazon music, you would only get the new HD audio by using the Alexa App on your phone and casting through the echo wifi system, not bluetooth. The goal is the same..but with better fidelity. So use the Alexa app on your phone for Amazon music...and Bluetooth only for services (like Google Play Music / Youtube) that cannot use a more direct WiFi casting.

Amazon Music now supporting HD does make the Echo Link & Amp more interesting.
 

mkawa

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wait for the hardware announcement this month before buying! i suspect there will be some cool new HD audio stuff in the release queue

as far as lossless audio via bluetooth is concerned, there just isn't enough bandwidth. aptX pretty much exhausts the clever stuff you can do to high sq audio through bluetooth.

i would love to see a new link announced that natively supports amazon's "ultra HD" and appears to be an echo device in every other way. instant first day purchase for me.
 

Jungstar

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By bluetooth I mean act like a bluetooth speaker to a phone. Like the phone is the bluetooth source. So if I want to play youtube on my phone , can I cast the audio to the echo link while watching it on the phone? Or if I've got say Apple music running can I cast the music to the echo link amp?

Edit: I may be wrong but from some research it looks like it can.
Yes, you can :) but you need to add it manually in the app or online at alexa.amazon.com
But I much prefer the Spotify integration, you just select "Echo Link" as output, I don't need to be on the wifi. My GF freaks out sometimes when I start playing music in our home and I'm at work.... by accident...
 

Jorj

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I just popped one of these into our system, and so far, so good. It's very limited with regards to settings, but it seems to be fulfilling our requirements.

Right now I'm using it to feed my DX7s via the Coax Out port, as I'm aware that the internal DAC is junk. The digital volume control works via Alexa voice control, but the pass-through level is quite low so I have to crank up the DAC to get acceptable volume levels. The DX7s shows 48KHz PCM input. The subwoofer output is a nice bonus, and I'm using it since I can control the sub easily via the Elac SubControl app.

The Echo Dot in the room is able to hear my voice even with the tunes going, so this is a nice solution to our goal of having a voice-controlled stereo system. At some point I'll test the Toslink connections from the ARC on the TV, as I'm concerned about latency.
 
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stunta

stunta

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I was hoping the price would drop on this or Amazon would build a Chromecast Audio style device with optical out. 200 bucks just to get an optical out (for me, that is. I won't be using the internal dac) is hard to justify.

Anyone know of any other device that can stream Amazon music like CCA but not dependent on Android ecosystem?
 

GGroch

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Anyone know of any other device that can stream Amazon music like CCA but not dependent on Android ecosystem?

I know of nothing cheap that has all of CCA's capabilities, but their are quite a few cheap choices using the LinkPlay system like the $37 Dayton Audio WBA31 . Others using Play-Fi like the Polk Omni P1 can be found very cheap. Both LinkPlay and Play-fi are limited in what they can do...but for me, as I stream Spotify 99% of the time, either would be fine.
 
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stunta

stunta

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I know of nothing cheap that has all of CCA's capabilities, but their are quite a few cheap choices using the LinkPlay system like the $37 Dayton Audio WBA31 . Others using Play-Fi like the Polk Omni P1 can be found very cheap. Both LinkPlay and Play-fi are limited in what they can do...but for me, as I stream Spotify 99% of the time, either would be fine.

I don't think the Dayton device can be streamed to from Amazon music, can it?
 

GGroch

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I don't think the Dayton device can be streamed to from Amazon music, can it?

Dayton does not say it supports Amazon music....they say it supports Spotify, TIDAL, Napster, TuneIn, and iHeartRadio.

HOWEVER - Some LinkPlay system streamers do support Amazon Music in the U.S. One example is the AceMax M5 Wifi Adapter (I have not tried it, but they claim it does, and LinkPlay says some of their licensed product do).

In the past, you could add services not officially supported to LinkPlay devices by using an alternative Linkplay app (like the app the AceMax uses instead of the Dayton app). So, it might work, or might not...but Amazon Music is not officially supported.
 

WondrousHippo

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I love how we've had Amazon Music Ultra HD for a few months now, and the official Windows app doesn't support WASAPI output, Amazon's products only support 16/48 (resampling everything), everything I read about other streamers seems to indicate that support for just playing an album from your library isn't good. The best way to play music from Amazon Music Ultra HD? Use an iOS device.

I was optimistic about this service as a replacement for Google Play Music as that remains a tremendous value - 320 kbps mp3s, gapless audio support on Chromecast Audio, family plan support, and I'm grandfathered into the YouTube Premium plan, which means this is the best $14.99 I spend per month. But with GPM going away in favor of the awful YouTube Music, I've been wanting to find something that matches up, and haven't found anything yet.

Might wind up going back to Spotify for most of my streams just because of Spotify Connect's ease of use.
 
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Jorj

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The Echo Link definitely costs more than it should, and the Amazon Music App is is simply hot garbage, but it's working for us. I complain to them all the time, wish I could get them to hire someone that actually cared about the user experience.

The Windows app will not control the Echo Link, which is completely ridiculous. The Android app loses connectivity to all Echo devices randomly, and will often refuse to connect again until the device is restarted. Factor in the awful search UI, the even worse browsing UI, and the failure to use their AI platforms to help users to sift through the catalog, it's one step away from not being usable. That one step is critical though.
 
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