Author Topic: Spotify and hi-fi: Which method?  (Read 1690 times)

Spotify and hi-fi: Which method?
« on: 20 September, 2019, 08:19:37 am »
Seeking advice

I have a conventional hi-fi (amp&speakers), a mobile phone, a Squeezebox with Nas,  a ps4,  super fast broadband,an Apple tv and a family Spotify account.

I want to listen to Spotify on my hi fi but...

I dont want to plug it into my mobile
I'm finding  the Squeezebox a bit clunky these days
I want excellent sound quality
I dont really want to have to switch on a chain of ancillary devices (eg ps4 or apple tv via the smart tv) to be able to listen to music

I have young children. It would be quite good for them to have access to music in their rooms without being able to access the web

Any suggestions?

Re: Spotify and hi-fi: Which method?
« Reply #1 on: 20 September, 2019, 09:42:38 am »
Buy the kids a ukulele each.

Re: Spotify and hi-fi: Which method?
« Reply #2 on: 20 September, 2019, 09:50:42 am »
You need some connection to your speakers to stream spotify to them, which if its a conventional (old fashioned) hi-fi you prob dont have. I dont think there is a way to do this.

I got our boys a sonos 1 for their rooms which accesses the NAS. They can also use spotify on it via their phones.
I know the phone bit doesnt fit with your "not accessing the web" though.    This worked well for us.

Woofage

  • Tofu-eating Wokerati
  • Ain't no hooves on my bike.
Re: Spotify and hi-fi: Which method?
« Reply #3 on: 20 September, 2019, 10:31:28 am »
Chromecast audio?
Pen Pusher

ian

Re: Spotify and hi-fi: Which method?
« Reply #4 on: 20 September, 2019, 11:02:03 am »
An actual subscription to Spotify lets you play music offline, though online it's all through the app rather than web.

I have Sonos which I really like – they have a gadget for connecting up existing hifi systems. It's spendy, though probably not so much in typical hifi component terms (the Ikea bookshelf speakers are £99, if you want stereo you have to buy two, of course). You can stream to speakers independently or group them. You can either play via the Sonos app and the NAS, any music service (Spotify, Apple, Google, Amazon etc) or internet radio, or via Airplay. The speakers sound pretty good to me (I have a bunch of Sonos Ones and Play-1s, and my wife has one of the Ikea lamps). Bose and others do similar multi-room systems.

Chromecast would also work though I'm not sure how many devices have it natively, it's usually a dongle for existing devices then a phone or similar to 'cast from.

For a cheaper route, there's always Bluetooth – adapters for the line-in of any stereo system are dirt cheap (and of variable quality since a DAC chip is involved) and there's no shortage of Bluetooth speakers on the market for the kid's rooms.

Re: Spotify and hi-fi: Which method?
« Reply #5 on: 20 September, 2019, 11:16:30 am »
What I'd like for kids is a cheap way of accessing spotify without them being able to surf the net.

I have a good DAC already.

I could just run a line from my phone to the DAC/Amp but I'd really like to take my phone out of the equation.

DaveJ

  • Happy days
Re: Spotify and hi-fi: Which method?
« Reply #6 on: 20 September, 2019, 11:26:07 am »
SONOS Play:1 or One for the kids, Sonos Connect to feed the HiFi.

 

ian

Re: Spotify and hi-fi: Which method?
« Reply #7 on: 20 September, 2019, 11:55:29 am »
Most current Sonos speakers have voice control (Alexa or Google Assistant) which can be linked to Spotify – so they could use that without needing a phone and the temptation to play on the web. It might depend on your definition of cheap though. You could get the Amazon speaker which is cheaper, I assume that can also be connected to other music services.

Most 'cheaper' streaming systems rely on phone apps to control and play the music (I just use the library on my phone) – there are ones from Denon, Naim etc. with standalone controllers for a NAS and online music services, but you're getting deeper into spendy territory.

fuaran

  • rothair gasta
Re: Spotify and hi-fi: Which method?
« Reply #8 on: 20 September, 2019, 12:30:13 pm »
Google Home Mini for the kids. Often available for £25. Works fine with voice control to play Spotify, without a phone. Not exactly hifi, but not too bad.
Or Onkyo Google speaker for £50, if you want something a bit bigger and louder.

For the hifi, a Chromecast Audio could work, it has digital out. It doesn't have voice control, but you could use a Google Home Mini, and tell it to play through the Chromecast Audio.

fruitcake

  • some kind of fruitcake
Re: Spotify and hi-fi: Which method?
« Reply #9 on: 20 September, 2019, 12:45:26 pm »
Assuming the problems are:
1. how to restrict a device to access spotify but not the rest of the internet
2. how to connect the player device to the hi-fi

Possible solutions:
1. a browser setting telling the device not to go online except for spotify (e.g. this is achieveable in Firefox). The player decive could be any phone or tablet running the browser.
2. if you don't want to plug in a wire to the device's headphone socket, or use a bluetooth connection, you could connect an audio sender to the device and tune a radio receiver to that frequency (perhaps as a channel preset). Sound quality would be that of FM radio, which kids may be happy with.

Re: Spotify and hi-fi: Which method?
« Reply #10 on: 20 September, 2019, 01:23:38 pm »
Not bothered at all about sound quality for kids (they wont give a fuck)

Very bothered about sound quality for me and my hifi.

ian

Re: Spotify and hi-fi: Which method?
« Reply #11 on: 20 September, 2019, 02:40:51 pm »
Then the Google or Amazon voice-controlled speakers for the kids are probably the cheapest option – just check they work with Spotify, but they should. Other than asking Alexa rude questions (she'd heard 'em all) there's little other online mischief they can get up to.

Bluetooth from your phone to hifi is the simplest solution – plug it into the line-in, and select that as the audio output for the device you're Spotifying from. While Bluetooth specifies some audio compression voodoo, it's unlikely you'll detect it without special gold cables, Spotify will be compressing the data anyway.

marcusjb

  • Full of bon courage.
Re: Spotify and hi-fi: Which method?
« Reply #12 on: 20 September, 2019, 03:06:45 pm »
https://www.meridian-audio.com/products/streamers/210/

New Meridian streamer is  :thumbsup: especially when coupled with a nice DAC - just seeing the first of them going onto jobs this last couple of weeks.

Unfortunately, you'll not take a phone/tablet/PC out of the equation with Spotify; they are driven by maintaining a consistent UX, hence Spotify Connect exists.  There are a couple of legacy devices out there (Autonomic being the big one in my world) that still have native Spotify access in them (but that could stop any time now!)

Obvs. for even higher audio quality; Tidal.  There's a number of ways of getting that into an existing system, or a number of systems with native Tidal.

(when not listening to local content) I primarily listen to Tidal (native on my Linn streamers), but do use Spotify Connect to my Linn in the office from time to time (from my PC).
Right! What's next?

Ooooh. That sounds like a daft idea.  I am in!

Re: Spotify and hi-fi: Which method?
« Reply #13 on: 20 September, 2019, 04:21:00 pm »
Yeah...err...I'm not £800 bothered  ;D

(but thanks  :thumbsup:)

Just punted £25 on a Chromecast, which I'd never heard of prior to this thread, so thankyou to all who contributed.

The chromecast will go straight into the CA Dac on optical so sound will be acceptable hopefully. It's not streamed from phone, phone is just used as a controller, so that is cool.

Re: Amazon speakers

Not sure about these on two counts. Firstly, my kids already seem to be able to find ways of circumnavigating my attempts at circumscribing their screen use. (How the fuck did they crack my password on the telly??  :o)

Secondly, a voice activated speaker lessens their ability to discover new music in so far as they have to ask for what they already know, although there is the horror scenario where they may utter the words "Smooth Jazz, please, Alexa"

Also, I want  my 7 year old to have to type in words and read a screen as the lazy fucker is reluctant to read and write.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Spotify and hi-fi: Which method?
« Reply #14 on: 20 September, 2019, 04:52:26 pm »
Not sure about these on two counts. Firstly, my kids already seem to be able to find ways of circumnavigating my attempts at circumscribing their screen use. (How the fuck did they crack my password on the telly??  :o)

That sounds normal and healthy, TBH.  Hopefully they're learning some useful skills.


Quote
Secondly, a voice activated speaker lessens their ability to discover new music in so far as they have to ask for what they already know

In which case the solution would appear to be a radio?  Though I thought the voice-activated speaker things could do that sort of thing already.


Quote
Also, I want  my 7 year old to have to type in words and read a screen as the lazy fucker is reluctant to read and write.

Set them some more hacking challenges...  :thumbsup:

ian

Re: Spotify and hi-fi: Which method?
« Reply #15 on: 20 September, 2019, 04:54:54 pm »
If they need web access, then you'll have to somehow circumscribe it at the router as described. But they're probably teeny hackers in which case, Mr Deflatus, you are doomed. They'll learn when the FBI and NCA come crashing through the windows and they're extradited to the US and sentenced to 100 years in a supermax.

But that's what kids need these days: discipline.

fuaran

  • rothair gasta
Re: Spotify and hi-fi: Which method?
« Reply #16 on: 20 September, 2019, 05:01:29 pm »
Spotify is rather clever at learning what you like, and recommending new stuff based on that. eg it automatically creates a "Discover weekly" and "Release radar" playlists for you. I have discovered some new music I like anyway.
Or radio as Kim suggests. You can use these smart speakers to play a variety of radio stations, probably more interesting than than the stuff on FM/DAB.

If you want a screen, simplest option is a phone or tablet. You could only install the Spotify app, and block all other apps. Though I'm sure a smart kid could get around this...

tiermat

  • According to Jane, I'm a Unisex SpaceAdmin
Re: Spotify and hi-fi: Which method?
« Reply #17 on: 20 September, 2019, 05:02:42 pm »
One thing to be aware of, which keeps biting us and we need to fix it. The screen less devices used for streaming need, by necessity, to be linked to an account used on another device. Thus each time tld starts listening to Spotify on the kitchen Google thingy, it cuts me off in the car or on the train.

If you wanted to go a bit more hitech then the Google home, Max and Max Plus (or whatever the one with the larger screen is called) have, iirc, audio out.
I feel like Captain Kirk, on a brand new planet every day, a little like King Kong on top of the Empire State

fuaran

  • rothair gasta
Re: Spotify and hi-fi: Which method?
« Reply #18 on: 20 September, 2019, 05:18:12 pm »
One thing to be aware of, which keeps biting us and we need to fix it. The screen less devices used for streaming need, by necessity, to be linked to an account used on another device. Thus each time tld starts listening to Spotify on the kitchen Google thingy, it cuts me off in the car or on the train.
You can setup the Google speakers for multiple user accounts. Use the Google Home app to add a new home member.  Then they can use the Home app on their phone, to link their Spotify account. After that it should automatically recognise your voices, to figure out which Spotify to play.

ian

Re: Spotify and hi-fi: Which method?
« Reply #19 on: 20 September, 2019, 08:45:01 pm »
Oh, just buy them a tape deck and some C90s. I spent my childhood lingering over the rec-pause button, psychically willing Bruno Brooks to the shut-the-fuck-up. I got so good at it I could control him with my mind. I had a graphic equalizer. I could quite literally pump up the bass while the LEDs frantically flickered and dials waved like a drowning man. It was awesome. I had buttons for 'metal' and 'Cr02' and Spotify has neither.

Jaded

  • The Codfather
  • Formerly known as Jaded
Re: Spotify and hi-fi: Which method?
« Reply #20 on: 20 September, 2019, 11:32:04 pm »
Definitely don't use C120s. Only pain with them.
It is simpler than it looks.