Amazon Echo

[Deep Thought]

Anyone else got an Echo Studio?

Got one yesterday for my study and very impressed with it.

Have opted for the 3 months free HD upgrade but not sure yet thats worth it - normally +£5 per month over music unlimited.

[Scrump]

Deep Thought said:

james_TW said:

masterzarlak said:

Has anyone ordered the Echo Auto yet? I have one coming tomorrow and will stick it in the car to see if it is any good.

I saw that and I just can't work out what the point of it is - I have my car, android auto, my phone can do Alexa voice recognition already - what would this in between device do?

Its for cars that dont have that connectivity between the phone and the head unit.

My 2006 330i has no connectivity worth talking about.

Having said that, the speakers are st anyway.

I am with James and don’t understand this. Your car needs Bluetooth in order to connect to Echo Auto. If your car has Bluetooth then the phone can connect directly. If you can’t connect your phone to your car because it lacks Bluetooth then you won’t be able to connect Echo Auto.

(The same applies if the car only has a 3.5mm input)

It just seems to be a better microphone array than the one in your phone.

[Bullett]

I used an Echo input in my car for a while. Hardwired to the Aux input.2010 Skoda, so no BT or built in dohickeys.
Worked really well. These days I just use my phone and BT as the car supports that option.

Amazon Auto is pretty niche.

[masterzarlak]

My 5 Series has BT for phone calls but not music. I have an ipod connected through the 3mm jack to listed to my music, hopefully this thing will connect my iphone to the BT properly, if not it can go back to Amazon.

[CallMeLegend]

My i3s recently appears to have done a software update & Alexa has appeared on the BMW connect menu, cannot get the bloody thing to work though.

[Podie]

CallMeLegend said:

My i3s recently appears to have done a software update & Alexa has appeared on the BMW connect menu, cannot get the bloody thing to work though.

I suspect there will be a BMW / Alexa skill you'll need to setup / install

[ajprice]

Podie said:

CallMeLegend said:

My i3s recently appears to have done a software update & Alexa has appeared on the BMW connect menu, cannot get the bloody thing to work though.

I suspect there will be a BMW / Alexa skill you'll need to setup / install

And maybe a BMW phone app too, if it doesn't connect to the standard Alexa app.

[feef]

Deep Thought said:

Anyone else got an Echo Studio?

Got one yesterday for my study and very impressed with it.

Have opted for the 3 months free HD upgrade but not sure yet thats worth it - normally +£5 per month over music unlimited.

I got one a couple of months ago, and replaced my Firestick with a 4k one which is compatible with the Studio.

Now the studio works as the speaker for the TV when playing anything via the FireStick. I'm pretty impressed with the sound quality for both tv/film and music, but I'm no audiophile.

Using it tied to the firestick also means the Firestick remote now turns the TV on and off, so I've almost completley stopped using the TV remote itself, and even the Apple TV has been relegated to second place as there's an Apple TV app in the firestick now. The only thing that's missin is NowTV which I have on the Apple TV, but I might just cancel that.

The most minor of minor niggles however, is that while the physical firestick remote will turn off the TV when you turn off the firestick, it doesn't do it via Alexa. So my 'Alexa, good night' skill which turns off various devices as well as stops whtever is playing on the Firestick, doesn't turn off the TV too. I've not found a skill to turn off the firestick, only stop playing.

[CallMeLegend]

ajprice said:

Podie said:

CallMeLegend said:

My i3s recently appears to have done a software update & Alexa has appeared on the BMW connect menu, cannot get the bloody thing to work though.

I suspect there will be a BMW / Alexa skill you'll need to setup / install

And maybe a BMW phone app too, if it doesn't connect to the standard Alexa app.

There is, I have them all. No joy

[Blink982]

My Echos have started playing up. This morning, I tried to play Spotify on my 'Whole House' group and the command was accepted but no audio came out, no matter how many times I tried. I tried playing Radio through the (terrible) BBC sounds skill and it didn't recognise my voice and kept playing the same random tune but when I checked the Alexa app, the command that I spoke is there word for word but it's as if the stupid cow is doing the exact opposite!

[james_TW]

Blink982 said:

My Echos have started playing up. This morning, I tried to play Spotify on my 'Whole House' group and the command was accepted but no audio came out, no matter how many times I tried. I tried playing Radio through the (terrible) BBC sounds skill and it didn't recognise my voice and kept playing the same random tune but when I checked the Alexa app, the command that I spoke is there word for word but it's as if the stupid cow is doing the exact opposite!

My echos did the same - I rebooted them and applied the latest firmware "Alexa, do you have a firmware update" and rebooted again. They've settled down, but they were very tempermental...

[i4got]

Just got an Amazon alert - the Echo Spot price has dropped to £79.99 (normally £119.99)

Unless I'm mistaken the lowest I've seen it before was £89.99.

[kingston12]

i4got said:

Just got an Amazon alert - the Echo Spot price has dropped to £79.99 (normally £119.99)

Unless I'm mistaken the lowest I've seen it before was £89.99.

Thanks. It could be worth a punt at that price. I've always wondered why it has remained so expensive when the Show 5 is probably an equal/better option for those who aren't really space constrained and is often only £50.

[Gary C]

Deep Thought said:

Anyone else got an Echo Studio?

Got one yesterday for my study and very impressed with it.

Have opted for the 3 months free HD upgrade but not sure yet thats worth it - normally +£5 per month over music unlimited.

Yes, got one for the wife (she really likes them with my Sonos system) and its a fine little speaker and she is happy. can use it in the garden and it fills the area with music without having to be 'loud'. Base is actually well controlled.

[Semmelweiss]

I've just returned my Echo Studio.

Can't get the voice lip-sync to my SkyQ, the volume is not equalised when using the Netflix and YouTube apps on the SkyQ, and most importantly, no remote volume control (I don't like shouting "Alexa volume up/down/mute, constantly, every time the phone rings, wife asks questions etc).

Other than it had pretty good sound.

[Gary C]

Semmelweiss said:

I've just returned my Echo Studio.

Can't get the voice lip-sync to my SkyQ, the volume is not equalised when using the Netflix and YouTube apps on the SkyQ, and most importantly, no remote volume control (I don't like shouting "Alexa volume up/down/mute, constantly, every time the phone rings, wife asks questions etc).

Other than it had pretty good sound.

Actually, the remote is a good point. Must be a market for some very slim & stylish (and cheap) programmable volume remotes for Alexa and Sonos speakers.

I wonder if the remote for the firestick can do it.

[feef]

Gary C said:

Semmelweiss said:

I've just returned my Echo Studio.

Can't get the voice lip-sync to my SkyQ, the volume is not equalised when using the Netflix and YouTube apps on the SkyQ, and most importantly, no remote volume control (I don't like shouting "Alexa volume up/down/mute, constantly, every time the phone rings, wife asks questions etc).

Other than it had pretty good sound.

Actually, the remote is a good point. Must be a market for some very slim & stylish (and cheap) programmable volume remotes for Alexa and Sonos speakers.

I wonder if the remote for the firestick can do it.

I have my Studio linked to my 4K Firestick and it does exactly that. The only caveat is that it turns on the TV via HDMI and displays the track playing, but I'm not too fussed by that.

[Semmelweiss]

feef said:

I have my Studio linked to my 4K Firestick and it does exactly that. The only caveat is that it turns on the TV via HDMI and displays the track playing, but I'm not too fussed by that.

That would drive me insane! I'd want my TV remote to drive the volume on the Studio. I have no need for a firestick any more, with Smart TV.

Looks like it'll be a soundbar instead, as much as I liked the Studio...

[feef]

Semmelweiss said:

feef said:

I have my Studio linked to my 4K Firestick and it does exactly that. The only caveat is that it turns on the TV via HDMI and displays the track playing, but I'm not too fussed by that.

That would drive me insane! I'd want my TV remote to drive the volume on the Studio. I have no need for a firestick any more, with Smart TV.

Looks like it'll be a soundbar instead, as much as I liked the Studio...

TBH, I've been using my TV's remote less and less since I got the Firestick to the point that I realised the other day that I couldn't find it and couldn't remember the last time I used it. The TV is a Samsung with all the smart features.

The Firestick remote can turn the TV on and off in tandem with the firestick, and I've all but given up watching broadcast TV : there's nothing broadcast live that I can't get streamed on the Firestick (just a shame NowTV doesn't have an app on the Firestick).

[The Rotrex Kid]

Can anyone help me with this fkING DOT?

All plugged in, connected to the app, supposedly connected to the wifi, but continuously showing as ‘offline’



I’ve reset, uninstalled, reinstalled, reset, turned off and on, changed the router password etc etc but it still refuses to work. Talking to Alexa gets a ‘sorry I’m having trouble under right now’ message. Please for the love of all that is good, help me.

Edited by The Rotrex Kid on Tuesday 28th July 21:20