Inexpensive device for streaming Apple Music over WiFi.

[KEW]

I am trying to help a friend setup an inexpensive but decent stereo system for streaming Apple Music.
Basically, I want to replicate one of my systems, which is an Echo Dot connected to JBL-305's.
However, Apple Music is something I know little about and she and her husband are vehemently against having a device that can listen to them (somehow, their phones don't count - but I will not take on that lost cause).
The other stipulation is that it stream over wi-fi. She currently has a BT speaker connected to her iPhone, however, if the phone rings, it interrupts the music, or if she leaves with her phone, others cannot continue listening. Consequently the phone can be used to select and start the music, but not be a direct part of the streaming chain. An echo Dot would fit well at $30-50, but violates the "no listening devices" rule.
I need analog output to feed the JBL LSR-305's.
Would a Chromecast work with Apple Music? If so, it and a HDMI audio splitter might do the trick, but I would like a more elegant solution than stringing little boxes/pucks together, if available.
To be clear, no TV is planned.
... however, now that I am thinking about it, a small ~24" TV might be worthwhile merely as a screen to display what is playing if that helps in other capacities as well!

 

[txbonds]

Apple TV? I have one of the earlier models and it supports Apple Music.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Audioengine B-FI. Works like a champ with Apple Play.

 

[Irvrobinson]

The other stipulation is that it stream over wi-fi. She currently has a BT speaker connected to her iPhone, however, if the phone rings, it interrupts the music, or if she leaves with her phone, others cannot continue listening. Consequently the phone can be used to select and start the music, but not be a direct part of the streaming chain.

The music interruptions on iPhones appear to be a feature, and as far as I can tell it happens if you're streaming over WiFi or Bluetooth. I've never figured out a way to stop the muting, other than put the phone in airplane mode. Even enabling do-not-disturb will mute the music until the call goes to voicemail. And I'm running IOS 14, so this annoyance persists.

Unfortunately, what your friend needs is a device other than her phone to do the streaming from the cloud. I recommend an old WiFi-only iPad for this purpose. Unless she needs more range than Bluetooth can provide, there's really not a compelling reason to upgrade to WiFi.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Probably not an answer to your Kurt, but I used to use an airport express. It’s an Apple device similar to Apple TV but without any video output. It can also be used as a WiFi extender. When I used that. Phone calls would stop music, and notifications would cause output be much lower for the duration of the notification. Iirc, The mute switch allowed notifications to come in silently but calls were still an interruption. Since using an AVR that supports AirPlay directly, I can say for sure that the mute switch stops the momentary output dip, and I can take a call while the music plays. It doesn’t even quiet the music while the phone is ringing. I used be annoyed by that, but I’m used to it now.

 

[Kleinst]

I am trying to help a friend setup an inexpensive but decent stereo system for streaming Apple Music.
Basically, I want to replicate one of my systems, which is an Echo Dot connected to JBL-305's.
However, Apple Music is something I know little about and she and her husband are vehemently against having a device that can listen to them (somehow, their phones don't count - but I will not take on that lost cause).
The other stipulation is that it stream over wi-fi. She currently has a BT speaker connected to her iPhone, however, if the phone rings, it interrupts the music, or if she leaves with her phone, others cannot continue listening. Consequently the phone can be used to select and start the music, but not be a direct part of the streaming chain. An echo Dot would fit well at $30-50, but violates the "no listening devices" rule.
I need analog output to feed the JBL LSR-305's.
Would a Chromecast work with Apple Music? If so, it and a HDMI audio splitter might do the trick, but I would like a more elegant solution than stringing little boxes/pucks together, if available.
To be clear, no TV is planned.
... however, now that I am thinking about it, a small ~24" TV might be worthwhile merely as a screen to display what is playing if that helps in other capacities as well!

Sorry I'm not answering your question but rather asking one. I think feeding the echo to a powered speaker is a great idea (know your friend doesn't want to use one) and I'm doing it now to a sony powered radio/speaker that I had. Saw an ad for some JBL 308s today and saw you post about the 305's. Are those pretty solid speakers for this type of situation and perhaps even powered rears via a wireless hookup in a surround sound?

I agree with Bill that a spare Ipad or tablet with a 3.5 output or via bluetooth could be an simple choice.

 

[KEW]

I think the echo with JBL monitor option is a incredibly good system for what it cost!
I have also created a group where I say Alexa play Pandora everywhere and the music is playing throughout my house on 4 echo systems I have set up.
I don't know if I am just had dumb luck, but they all play in sync with each other so I don't hear any weird reverb type effects while I'm walking between rooms!
It is far from my best system but it is the one I listen to the most because it's so freaking convenient and usually I am not listening critically. I just want a soundtrack as life goes by!

 

[Kleinst]

I think the echo with JBL monitor option is a incredibly good system for what it cost!
I have also created a group where I say Alexa play Pandora everywhere and the music is playing throughout my house on 4 echo systems I have set up.
I don't know if I am just had dumb luck, but they all play in sync with each other so I don't hear any weird reverb type effects while I'm walking between rooms!
It is far from my best system but it is the one I listen to the most because it's so freaking convenient and usually I am not listening critically. I just want a soundtrack as life goes by!

Thanks for mentioning this as it gave me the idea to add the powered radio/speaker I had in a closet to provide the sound vs. the substandard speaker in the echo dot.

Man now I regret passing on a few "free echo dot" promotions (mainly one when I bought my Ring security stuff) figuring I don't need another one. I like the whole house audio concept.

Tell me what you think of those JBL monitors? Are they really good?

 

[KEW]

That's a hard question without knowing what you mean by really good! For the $300 MSRP of the JBL LSR 305s they are indeed excellent speakers and you can often get them with a little bit of a discount below that! Of course now we are talking about the 305P Mark II which is a slightly better speaker!
I have listened to the 306P Mark II and it is also excellent and I suspect the 308P is very much the same with a little bit of extra bass.
If you want a really good speaker to do this with, I would recommend the Focal Solo6Be, but you will pay for the added performance! If I recall correctly they run about $1,400 apiece.

 

[slipperybidness]

I am trying to help a friend setup an inexpensive but decent stereo system for streaming Apple Music.
Basically, I want to replicate one of my systems, which is an Echo Dot connected to JBL-305's.
However, Apple Music is something I know little about and she and her husband are vehemently against having a device that can listen to them (somehow, their phones don't count - but I will not take on that lost cause).
The other stipulation is that it stream over wi-fi. She currently has a BT speaker connected to her iPhone, however, if the phone rings, it interrupts the music, or if she leaves with her phone, others cannot continue listening. Consequently the phone can be used to select and start the music, but not be a direct part of the streaming chain. An echo Dot would fit well at $30-50, but violates the "no listening devices" rule.
I need analog output to feed the JBL LSR-305's.
Would a Chromecast work with Apple Music? If so, it and a HDMI audio splitter might do the trick, but I would like a more elegant solution than stringing little boxes/pucks together, if available.
To be clear, no TV is planned.
... however, now that I am thinking about it, a small ~24" TV might be worthwhile merely as a screen to display what is playing if that helps in other capacities as well!

Possible low-tech solution/workaround......get an echo dot, open it up, clip the leads to the mic.

But, is the mic the ONLY way to control the device?

For the Google Home, I have seen a more high tech DIY solution that avoids possible "eaves dropping". I believe it basically scrambles any audio going to the device's mic, except for the wake-up words, and once the wakeup command is given, the audio scrambling is temporarily suspended.

But, a lot of work to get there, likely there must be a more elegant solution.

 

[panteragstk]

Possible low-tech solution/workaround......get an echo dot, open it up, clip the leads to the mic.

But, is the mic the ONLY way to control the device?

For the Google Home, I have seen a more high tech DIY solution that avoids possible "eaves dropping". I believe it basically scrambles any audio going to the device's mic, except for the wake-up words, and once the wakeup command is given, the audio scrambling is temporarily suspended.

But, a lot of work to get there, likely there must be a more elegant solution.

Too bad they discontinued the chromecast audio. Would have worked well.

I have one in a box somewhere, but I'm not sure how compatible with apple it is.

 

[alain93]

I just set up a RPi 3B+ with an HiFi berry dac+pro and MoOde, it works very well. I'm using it with android, but there is an option for airplay in MoOde.

Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk

 

[slipperybidness]

I just set up a RPi 3B+ with an HiFi berry dac+pro and MoOde, it works very well. I'm using it with android, but there is an option for airplay in MoOde.

Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk

Tell me more!

What is MoOde???

I have a similar setup, but using Kali Piano DAC and power supply, and Volumio front end. I tried adding a touchscreen, but the touchscreen response was very slow compared to connecting to Volumio with my phone as the input device.

 

[panteragstk]

Tell me more!

What is MoOde???

I have a similar setup, but using Kali Piano DAC and power supply, and Volumio front end. I tried adding a touchscreen, but the touchscreen response was very slow compared to connecting to Volumio with my phone as the input device.

https://moodeaudio.org/

Interesting, but hell will freeze over before I go through and make sure all the metadata in my collection is right again. Once was too many times.

I do like the idea of the rpi being used as a DAC, but mine has another job so I'll just be lazy and use my Shield TV.

 

[slipperybidness]

https://moodeaudio.org/

Interesting, but hell will freeze over before I go through and make sure all the metadata in my collection is right again. Once was too many times.

I do like the idea of the rpi being used as a DAC, but mine has another job so I'll just be lazy and use my Shield TV.

Do you have an easy way to look for duplicate files? Or, identifying MP3 files with the same name as FLAC files?

I'm in the process now of:

1) Loaded and configured EAC on my tower PC, lost it last time my PC crashed. At least it was quite a bit easier to configure (esp FLAC routine) than last time I did it.
2) Ripped the CDs that I have been accumulating since the PC crash, a few years worth, maybe 100Gb in FLAC.
3) Deleting any MP3 that I have copies in FLAC format. MP3 are leftovers from my iPod days, and I do have a few bootlegs and rarities on MP3 only.
4) Removing any duplicate FLAC rips
5) Loading music on a new micro SD to install in my phone. Now that SDs are reasonably priced, I should be able to get my entire collection on a 400Gb card and have it all available on my phone.

 

[panteragstk]

Do you have an easy way to look for duplicate files? Or, identifying MP3 files with the same name as FLAC files?

I'm in the process now of:

1) Loaded and configured EAC on my tower PC, lost it last time my PC crashed. At least it was quite a bit easier to configure (esp FLAC routine) than last time I did it.
2) Ripped the CDs that I have been accumulating since the PC crash, a few years worth, maybe 100Gb in FLAC.
3) Deleting any MP3 that I have copies in FLAC format. MP3 are leftovers from my iPod days, and I do have a few bootlegs and rarities on MP3 only.
4) Removing any duplicate FLAC rips
5) Loading music on a new micro SD to install in my phone. Now that SDs are reasonably priced, I should be able to get my entire collection on a 400Gb card and have it all available on my phone.

I have a docker on my server called dupeGuru that looks for similar files. I used it to try to get my pictures organized (lots of different folders) and it worked great.

Looks like they have a windows version. https://dupeguru.voltaicideas.net/

I also use filebot to do all the naming from ID3 tags. I use musicbrainz via jaikoz to get the actual tags done.

It's a long, hard process, but once it's done. It's done.