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Pine64 launch $50 smart speaker for Home Assistant tinkerers

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Re: Pine64 launch $50 smart speaker for Home Assistant tinkerers

#41
post #40

I really wish someone would come out with a $25 "box" that sits on top of my bookshelf speaker that allows me to Airplay to it and power said speaker with a ~50w class-D amp. Then if I have multiple ones, it would allow them to pair and setup stereo or surround sound. I might even pay $50 for it. Kinda like a Sonos Amp but not at that price point.

Does https://sonocotta.com/louder-esp32/ look like something you might be looking for?

Whoa, yeah that does look very promising!!! Thanks!

Re: Pine64 launch $50 smart speaker for Home Assistant tinkerers

#42
post #30

I really wish someone would come out with a $25 "box" that sits on top of my bookshelf speaker that allows me to Airplay to it and power said speaker with a ~50w class-D amp. Then if I have multiple ones, it would allow them to pair and setup stereo or surround sound. I might even pay $50 for it. Kinda like a Sonos Amp but not at that price point.

I'm thinking about getting an Audiocast M5[0]. It seems to do exactly that. The price seems to be around US$ 30. [0] - https://audiocast.io/

Doesn't look like the Amp50 is available to buy...

Re: Pine64 launch $50 smart speaker for Home Assistant tinkerers

#43
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe not anymore, but that used to be a thing. I suspect some are still left, but I stay away from the places where audiophiles hang out.

It’s still a thing, but it is no longer based in objective reality.

I can understand thinking analog sounds nicer or more nostalgic, but it is strictly worse than digital

Re: Pine64 launch $50 smart speaker for Home Assistant tinkerers

#44

I really wish someone would come out with a $25 "box" that sits on top of my bookshelf speaker that allows me to Airplay to it and power said speaker with a ~50w class-D amp. Then if I have multiple ones, it would allow them to pair and setup stereo or surround sound. I might even pay $50 for it. Kinda like a Sonos Amp but not at that price point.

Whats the justification for Sonos Amp being 31 times the price you're willing to spend? Niche problem or is the tech inside it worth that?

I do like my Sonos setup (have a pair of Era300s, an Arc Ultra, Sub4, and Sub Mini) and now that they've fixed the app issues, it works really well. And the sound quality is good enough for me. I just wish the Amp product was about half the price. It doesn't do all that much more.

Re: Pine64 launch $50 smart speaker for Home Assistant tinkerers

#45

i just wonder how good it sounds. open audiophile grade hardware is something of a gap.

Nah. A true audiophile would be analog only - no room for anything digital, smart or connected. “Wifi EM interferes with the sound”

If only; you can definitely get "audiophile network switches" which provide a cleaner sound when you pull your music from Roon over them, or something.

Audiophiles are the easiest marks on earth, man.

Re: Pine64 launch $50 smart speaker for Home Assistant tinkerers

#47

I really wish someone would come out with a $25 "box" that sits on top of my bookshelf speaker that allows me to Airplay to it and power said speaker with a ~50w class-D amp. Then if I have multiple ones, it would allow them to pair and setup stereo or surround sound. I might even pay $50 for it. Kinda like a Sonos Amp but not at that price point.

After reading this comment I also wanted the same thing and found this https://www.up2stream.net/products/up2stream-mini-receiver-b...

Re: Pine64 launch $50 smart speaker for Home Assistant tinkerers

#49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s still a thing, but it is no longer based in objective reality.

I can understand thinking analog sounds nicer or more nostalgic, but it is strictly worse than digital

That is false for reasons that have nothing to do with analog vs digital.

Analog doesn't allow all the tricks the loudness wars required to win, so often analog really was better than digital. That is garbage in garbage out, and analog got less garbage on the input side. When someone who cares about good music in a perfect listening environment mixes and masters everything to the best of the technology, then digital is better. (but note that perfect listening environment is rare in the real world so good experts are compromising anyway to try to correct for the bad environment people listen in, this can be done well or bad)

Re: Pine64 launch $50 smart speaker for Home Assistant tinkerers

#50
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can understand thinking analog sounds nicer or more nostalgic, but it is strictly worse than digital

That is false for reasons that have nothing to do with analog vs digital. Analog doesn't allow all the tricks the loudness wars required to win, so often analog really was better than digital. That is garbage in garbage out, and analog got less garbage on the input side. When someone who cares about good music in a perfect listening environment mixes and masters everything to the best of the technology, then digital…

I feel like mastering shouldn't be a factor in this, because yeah some CDs where obviously terribly done to sound louder but that isn't a quality of the format itself
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