Aux out of an Amazon Echo

[rattlesnake]

My 22 year-old daughter loves music and like a lot of people her age she listens to music on her Amazon Echo, with her phone/earbuds, or in her car. She doesn't know much about the joy of listening with well-placed stereo speakers with a relatively decent audio source. The last time she visited, we listened to some music on my home system and I was surprised to hear her say "this sounds so much better than on my phone!" So I am going to give her a budget compact stereo system from pieces that I have at home. I have an extra pair of Polk S4s (8-inch two-way ported bookshelf, from the 1990s) that I love listening to even though audiophiles probably look down their noses at them. I just ordered a Douk A5 amp for $90.00 based on Amir's positive review. I have a Cambridge Audio 8-inch active sub that I don't need anymore and is a good complement to small bookshelf speakers in a small room especially if the sound level on that sub is kept low so it's not boomy. Her music source is Spotify and I find that Spotify is a perfectly great audio source. (At home I stream to a Wiim Mimi which is connected to a Schitt Modi DAC.) My daughter now streams to her Amazon Echo. I see that the Echo has line level stereo out that could be hooked to the Douk amp, but I don't know if the output quality will be acceptable - if it's as good as an iPhone dongle that will be good enough, but I don't know if the Echo adds unwanted EQ or echo or something like that in the line out signal. I am tempted to spring for a Wiim Mini which has a good-enough DAC - ASR's review of that unit's DAC suggests that the Wiim is not a great DAC, but I've listened to it plenty without an external DAV and for me it's good enough.

NOW that I have rambled... here is my question: has anyone used the line-level stereo out on an Amazon Echo? Is it passable, or does the unit add a bunch of spatial effects that make it unuseable for stereo listening?

 

[Chrispy]

Why wouldn't it be adequate? Why would it add garbage unless you subscribe to some really silly audio sites/blogs/fora?

 

[rattlesnake]

I had a smart speaker once that did add some reverb and bass enhancement to the signal in the aux out... I forget what kind of smart speaker it was. But it made it useless as an audio source for the kind of listening I like to do. I don't know enough about smart speakers to know if that was something that a smart speaker typically would not do, nor do I know enough about audio processing for spatial effects to know what kinds of devices might do it and what kinds of devices would never do it. Perhaps it does sound silly to ask whether or not an Amazon Echo would do such a thing.

 

[Mr_RGB]

I have four Echo shows around the house hooked up to various Fosi, Aiyima, Douk amps and Bookshelf speakers. I think they sound great. The internal DACs are limited to HD rather than UHD bitrates. I have WIIM and other streamers around for "critical listening" but the convenience of voice control wins out most of the time. Keep in mind only the earliest versions of the Echo devices have audio out jacks, none of the newest versions have them.

 

[raindance]

As far as I know, only the Echo Studio has spatial enhancement, but it is highly unlikely it would be output from Aux even on that unit as it appears to be used to be used to control the power amps and turn on speakers in the unit that aren't used at all in normal operation. The app allows it to be turned on or off. I keep it off because it only works with certain tracks on Amazon music which I don't use as a service.

So in other words your idea should work great.

 

[rattlesnake]

I have four Echo shows around the house hooked up to various Fosi, Aiyima, Douk amps and Bookshelf speakers. I think they sound great. The internal DACs are limited to HD rather than UHD bitrates. I have WIIM and other streamers around for "critical listening" but the convenience of voice control wins out most of the time. Keep in mind only the earliest versions of the Echo devices have audio out jacks, none of the newest versions have them.

This is exactly what I need to know. Thank you!

 

[rattlesnake]

As far as I know, only the Echo Studio has spatial enhancement, but it is highly unlikely it would be output from Aux even on that unit as it appears to be used to be used to control the power amps and turn on speakers in the unit that aren't used at all in normal operation. The app allows it to be turned on or off. I keep it off because it only works with certain tracks on Amazon music which I don't use as a service.

So in other words your idea should work great.

Very helpful- thank you!

 

[Mr_RGB]

I should mention for those that are using an echo connected directly to an amp that the Alexa APP allows adjustment of Bass and Treble. This can be helpful if you have small speakers that might need a bass boost.

 

[raindance]

I should mention for those that are using an echo connected directly to an amp that the Alexa APP allows adjustment of Bass and Treble. This can be helpful if you have small speakers that might need a bass boost.

Does it affect the aux out?

 

[Mr_RGB]

Does it affect the aux out?

Yes it affects the Aux out.

 

[rattlesnake]

As I write this I am listening to the system with the Echo aux out going directly into the Douk A5, and it sounds great. No problems at all.

 

[Brian Hall]

Make sure to check the echo unit. Some of them do not have an output jack and only support Bluetooth out. The new echo spots do not have an output jack.

 

[Mr_RGB]

Make sure to check the echo unit. Some of them do not have an output jack and only support Bluetooth out. The new echo spots do not have an output jack.

None of the current model Echo's have an output jack. Also I believe that Echo's only accept Bluetooth input not output.

 

[Mr_RGB]

I found this on Reddit and it looks correct

I believe the following Echo devices are fitted with a 3.5mm audio OUT jack:
Echo 2nd gen
Echo 3rd gen
Echo 4th gen IN/OUT
Echo Dot 1st gen
Echo Dot 2nd gen
Echo Dot 3rd gen
Echo Dot 4th gen
Echo Spot
Echo Plus 1st gen
Echo Plus 2nd gen
Echo Show 5 1st gen
Echo Show 8 1st gen

 

[Brian Hall]

None of the current model Echo's have an output jack. Also I believe that Echo's only accept Bluetooth input not output.

I just connected one of my echo spots to the bluetooth input on a Wiim Pro Plus and asked the echo spot to play Mozart.

It is playing through the Wiim now.

 

[Brian Hall]

I found this on Reddit and it looks correct

I believe the following Echo devices are fitted with a 3.5mm audio OUT jack:
Echo 2nd gen
Echo 3rd gen
Echo 4th gen IN/OUT
Echo Dot 1st gen
Echo Dot 2nd gen
Echo Dot 3rd gen
Echo Dot 4th gen
Echo Spot
Echo Plus 1st gen
Echo Plus 2nd gen
Echo Show 5 1st gen
Echo Show 8 1st gen

The Echo Studios have a stereo input jack.

 

[Mr_RGB]

I just connected one of my echo spots to the bluetooth input on a Wiim Pro Plus and asked the echo spot to play Mozart.

It is playing through the Wiim now.

Echo's can connect to Wiim devices for control via Bluetooth, but the music is directly streamed by the Wiim. This is good since the Wiim can stream at higher bit rates than the Echo's.