Can it do multiroom? I'd look at snapcast if not. Both look like a bit of work though
Spotify Box
81–90 of 156 posts
Re: Spotify Box
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's called Bandcamp
Did this for years. Finally gave up last year. It’s so much work, discovery is a huge pain, listening on all devices is a pain. None of it was worth it. Now I just use Spotify and don’t care. I don’t need the extra work in my life.
Just wanna throw this out there: Plex now has an app for accessing music in a way better way than their movie/series-app, called Plexamp. [1]
I dont see it solving discoverability yet, but it worked completely fine on my Android devices. It also does some automatic tagging of your music to generate dynamic playlists.
it is limited to plex pass subscribers for now though. i'd say it's worth trying a free trial at least.
Re: Spotify Box
#83Re: Spotify Box
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's called Bandcamp
Did this for years. Finally gave up last year. It’s so much work, discovery is a huge pain, listening on all devices is a pain. None of it was worth it. Now I just use Spotify and don’t care. I don’t need the extra work in my life.
One method that has worked for me is following other users that actively buy music on Bandcamp that I like. I get an email digest when they buy new music. That's a strong signal to me: I already know they have similar tastes by seeing what they have purchased in the past, and I can conclude that they really like the music they are willing to spend money on.
Re: Spotify Box
#85This is very similar to the OtterCast, which is an open source and open hardware Chromecast replacement.
Overview: https://cast.otter.jetzt/ Sources: https://github.com/Ottercast
There's also a version with a built-in class D amplifier and color display. On the software side it's neatly packaged with a web UI for configuration, as well as support for snapcast (multiroom), airplay and pulseaudio besides spotify.
I'm not affiliated with them, just very tempted to build one.
Re: Spotify Box
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's called Bandcamp
Bandcamp really is a fantastic company. There are some barriers to listening to music on it directly (some intentional) but I've found so much great music through their recommendations. I still pay for streaming due to the convenience of typing most songs and playing it instantly... but if I like something enough to click the heart button I'll often hop over to Bandcamp to see if I can pay the artist more than the $.…
This is the way. I also use Spotify because it makes most of my music available instantly on all of my devices and the discovery is good enough.
But that $150 for Spotify is only a small fraction of my yearly music spend. With most of it going to concert tickets, merch at concerts and merch/downloads on Bandcamp to support the artists I like.
Spotify and Bandcamp are not mutually exclusive
Re: Spotify Box
#87Separating the internet-connected (and therefore low life-expectancy) bits from the analog sound-reproduction (and therefore expensive and high life-expectancy) bits is a great way to build a solid system that can grow and adapt over time.
This is a super cool and gratifying way to deliver the internet-connected bit at low cost (at least for those with hardware inclination, and access to means of production). For those without, Sonos' Port product does a great job filling the same niche. Though at $450 its a ... multiple ... of the cost of the project presented here!
Re: Spotify Box
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sure. But we’ll need some sort of centralized market or exchange on which to discover these artists and send them funds. Oh wait….
https://bandcamp.com https://rateyourmusic.com for discovery.
I'm using my app Tracknack for discovery and staying up to date with releases by artists and record labels I like. This app, of course, is very much integrated with Spotify and does not really work as a way of cutting Spotify out of the picture. It does, however, allow me to support lesser known artists via Spotify streams.
Re: Spotify Box
#89You can use a raspberry Pi amd Balena Sound to make one of these. Bonus feature: it also support Air Play.
Re: Spotify Box
#90Very well done !
I see this trend continue: "Bring Your Own Client" from examples like this to pure software like the apollo reddit client or youtube client featured a few days ago.