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Amazon Echo Studio - First Impressions

ThELiZ

pfm Member
Thought I’d give another one of these ‘HiFi quality’ devices another go. Last one I tried was an Apple HomePod, which was far too bassy and muddy in the mids.

Had the Echo Studio on for a little bit now and have to say... Meh. It’s fine for what it is, which is a convenience product (background music). Still, I like to try these products as these companies have some serious money behind them and I like to hope they can come up with something interesting that can maybe one day replace a traditional separates system.

I don’t even think it’s a case where adding a 2nd would help the quality. Who knows, I certainly won’t be finding out.

To describe the sound (being harsh and evaluating as a piece of hifi) I would say that it’s veiled in the mids, splashy at the top end and worst of all, too muddy in the bass. Bass does go low, but it’s just not controlled enough.

Will add to this after a couple of days getting used to it.
 
Basically a waste of money then ?

Yep! Although, my family would be more than happy with it for the kitchen. Our DAB radio recently died, so I was planning on using this to replace it. Just fancied testing it out as a piece of HiFi.

Also, if I really didn’t like it, Amazon have a great returns policy.
 
I'm struggling to understand what that does that 60 quid raspberry pi does not.

That was the conclusion I drew. As an avid tinkerer, and coder for a living that doesnt worry my in the slightest, but for many people its scary.. They are the target market.
 
One of these:
https://www.raspberrypi.org/

A cheap, small computer that has taken over the world, used for a million and one things.

Lots of decent bits available for them, touchscreens, DAC's etc etc.
https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/pi-dac
https://thepihut.com/collections/raspberry-pi-screens

People have got squeezebox and a whole host of other things working on them, I have one that I use as a PiHole, that does whole network ad blocking (at home), and another thats used for retro gaming (megadrive, snes, arcades etc)

Because it became so popular there are a million and one uses and (fairly) easy to follow guides. Not much to go wrong either unless you do something really stupid.

The basic/cheapest one is the pi zero, lower powered but the price really is right!
https://thepihut.com/collections/raspberry-pi/products/raspberry-pi-zero-w

And then the latest one is a beast, capable of driving two displays, 4k, 4gb ram, 1.5GHz Quad-core CPU, gigabit ethernet etc etc
https://thepihut.com/collections/raspberry-pi/products/raspberry-pi-4-model-b?variant=20064052740158

BUT its not plug and play, it requires a varying amount of following instructions/experimenting... At the basic level you are simply installing a bit of software and plugging it into a tv/monitor with a keyboard and mouse.
 
You need one piece of software on pc - etcher.

It will make what ever you do on pi so very simple.

Start at Volumio for a streaming solution for your hifi
 
I went the Google Home Max route and have to say that from an audio perspective.....they're great! The sound quality is remarkable for such a compact device (they're not small, but then neither are the sounds they make in all fairness). Are they worth £300 each...? Debatable; I bought 3 when they were reduced to £200 a pop (man-maths made it a 'buy-two-get-one-free' scenario in my mind).

They see a lot of use; they're synced as a group and I regularly cast to them when I get up in the morning and am moving around the place getting ready for work etc. If you can pick one up used or on a promo like I did then they're a better value proposition. I wouldn't want to be without mine now, put it that way.
 


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