• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Amazon Fire 7 Review

Helicopter

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Aug 13, 2020
Messages
2,693
Likes
3,941
Location
Michigan
I do the same. I take one to the garage when I wash my car and playback through portable BT Speakers. Rest of the time I use as remote control for my HT
I use my fire HD8 plus as a remote for my Echo link going into a Schiit Modius and have never used the HP out and have only used the speakers when I am using the screen for video. Still good to know it fails as a DAC and headphone amp though.
 

win

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2020
Messages
430
Likes
432
Location
Irvine CA
It is typical that poor UI design comes from engineers that have a very blinkered view of what is needed

indeed, and this is why product managers exist and are supposed to bridge that gap.
 

DualTriode

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Oct 24, 2019
Messages
893
Likes
593
Hello All,



Engineering is an iterative process; it is not over until you run out of time or money.

The marketing folks set the price point.



Thanks DT
 

milosz

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 27, 2019
Messages
583
Likes
1,643
Location
Chicago
Has anyone mentioned that you can buy a used / older generation cell phone and use it WITHOUT A SIM CARD OR PHONE PLAN on WiFi for streaming, browser things and listening to headphones / earbuds / output to a speaker system via audio cable or bluetooth? The camera and cloud storage will work too. And if you have a large capacity SD card it makes a decent portable player, even without WiFi.

A cellphone without a SIM card is still kind of a handy device, especially if you have WiFi. So if there are older cellphones out there with good audio...
 

Helicopter

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Aug 13, 2020
Messages
2,693
Likes
3,941
Location
Michigan
Has anyone mentioned that you can buy a used / older generation cell phone and use it WITHOUT A SIM CARD OR PHONE PLAN on WiFi for streaming, browser things and listening to headphones / earbuds / output to a speaker system via audio cable or bluetooth? The camera and cloud storage will work too. And if you have a large capacity SD card it makes a decent portable player, even without WiFi.

A cellphone without a SIM card is still kind of a handy device, especially if you have WiFi. So if there are older cellphones out there with good audio...
Yeah. The hope was that this would do the same thing with a bigger screen. Afterall, if it is wifi only then is probably doesnt need to be as portable / pocket friendly. This thing can be had for 30 bucks if you wait for a sale. It does fit the bill pretty well too, except for the headphone amp, and that was basically the point of measuring and evaluating it. It (well I have the fire 8 hd plus) is still way better than a phone as a remote control to me.
 

bobbooo

Major Contributor
Joined
Aug 30, 2019
Messages
1,479
Likes
2,079
Has anyone mentioned that you can buy a used / older generation cell phone and use it WITHOUT A SIM CARD OR PHONE PLAN on WiFi for streaming, browser things and listening to headphones / earbuds / output to a speaker system via audio cable or bluetooth? The camera and cloud storage will work too. And if you have a large capacity SD card it makes a decent portable player, even without WiFi.

A cellphone without a SIM card is still kind of a handy device, especially if you have WiFi. So if there are older cellphones out there with good audio...

Or just use the cellphone everyone already has lying in their pocket, without wasting any money on another device at all.
 
Last edited:

DualTriode

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Oct 24, 2019
Messages
893
Likes
593
Hello All,

Is there a tablet that is better without costing a arm and a leg?

My 2020 Subaru with upgrade Harman and Kardon sound has no CD.

Thanks DT
 

Helicopter

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Aug 13, 2020
Messages
2,693
Likes
3,941
Location
Michigan
Hello All,

Is there a tablet that is better without costing a arm and a leg?

My 2020 Subaru with upgrade Harman and Kardon sound has no CD.

Thanks DT
Can you be specific about your budget and screen size expectations?
 

Helicopter

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Aug 13, 2020
Messages
2,693
Likes
3,941
Location
Michigan
Amazon is the only firm I am aware of that has a business model for selling a full sized tablet and counting on selling coincidental services to gather up all the profits. There are lots of phones modeled like this, and LGs seem to be the best for audio. LG makes some tablets that probably have good audio, but they are not priced with this sort of model. There are the other Amazon tablets, like my Fire 8 HD plus, but I am not aware of measurements, and I would be surprised if it is very good. Sorry not to be of more help.
 
Joined
Nov 23, 2020
Messages
74
Likes
49
From an audio standpoint, this is the definition of a pointless review, although it does speak well for Amir's optimism that he thought it might have even modestly acceptable sound. However, this cheap little tablet makes an excellent Roon control surface which is how I use it in my theater to send music files to my Mac/DAC setup.

Ok, does that mean you can connect the tablet to an external DAC (via USB) and run musing from Roon?
 

L5730

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Oct 6, 2018
Messages
667
Likes
434
Location
East of England
One can use mtk-su to gain superuser access, and remove a lot of the Amazon crap-ware. Some of that can also be removed with a terminal connection to PC over USB.

I've uninstalled a lot of Amazon crap, pretty much all of it. Replaced the home screen thing with NovaLauncher.
I've also got termux installed and have termux-boot set to run a script on startup to load in iptables rules.
Google play store can be installed but I have not.

Foobar2000 android app and HiByMusicPlayer seem to work. HiBy allows for HiRes playback on a USB DAC, although it seems a little sketchy and glitchy. There is a payed for Universal audio app pro or something, but I haven't tried that.

Yeah, it's cheap. You can pay Amazon more to get rid of the spamming or just delete their crap.
It's probably best suited to using as a table-top controller for a RaspberryPi with Volumio connected to a USB DAC and the rest of the audio playback chain.
 

boblinds

Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2020
Messages
18
Likes
63
Ok, does that mean you can connect the tablet to an external DAC (via USB) and run musing from Roon?
In my case, I use it only to control my MacMini that sends to an external DAC. The tablet just functions as a control surface. However, I can stream Roon to it, so I suppose if you connected it to a DAC it would function as you asked, I've just never used it that way. :)
 

bravomail

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Oct 19, 2018
Messages
817
Likes
461
Sadly, I can't recommend the Amazon Fire 7 for its built-in audio capabilities. Best to seek out a last generation LG phone or something for that purpose.

Avoid MediaTek devices then! Phones and tablets!
Or, buy Apple USB-C dongle! :)
 

ClassicGuy

Active Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2020
Messages
145
Likes
102
Just to report that I am able to connect Fire Tablet 8 via USB OTG cable to a SMSL A12. Still auditioning the sound quality. Spotify seems to stop once in a while without reason though.
 

garbulky

Major Contributor
Joined
Feb 14, 2018
Messages
1,510
Likes
827
No this is a significant review! Is mvrms the same thing as milliwatts?
 

dr_mick51

Active Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2022
Messages
200
Likes
209
Just to report that I am able to connect Fire Tablet 8 via USB OTG cable to a SMSL A12. Still auditioning the sound quality. Spotify seems to stop once in a while without reason though.
Do you have a picture of the SMSL A12 inside?.
 

ClassicGuy

Active Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2020
Messages
145
Likes
102
Reporting back. I ended up connecting Fire Tablet 8 via USB OTG cable to the Apple dongle instead. The sound quality is fine, but because Fire Tablet 8 only has one USB port, so whenever I am using the port for music, the tablet is not charging. I have to plug/unplug between the Apple dongle and the charging brick, which is annoying. Amazon sells USB OTG/charging splitters, but I don't think they work for Fire Tablets.

Edit: I forgot to mention that Apple dongle had low volume issue that required me to turn up the amplifier. I also tried the Google headphone dongle, which had normal volume, but not as high quality of sound. Combined with the charging issue mentioned above, Fire Tablet is overall not very satisfactory as a streamer.
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom