Amazon releases new Echo Dot & Echo Tap devices!

That’s disappointing. I had the echo and always wanted to ability to play through speakers. Then the dot gets released and that was exciting. I hate to put the echo into a box and not use it since I have only had it like 9 months. Hmm… Maybe they will come out with this feature in the future.

Orrrrrrr, you could sell it to me!

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I put a couple strips of Velcro on the bottom to attach it to the underside of the cabinet. I’ll bet there will be wall mounts available within the next few weeks.

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While it would be really cool to have a commercially produced ceiling mount, a couple of ‘L’ brackets (painted to match of course) and a large hose clamp will do the trick in my garage!

I agree with the dot mic not hearing me as well compared to the echo. One thing that is funny is my echo in my kitchen could never hear me from my sunroom unless I yelled. I put my new dot in my sunroom and first time I say Alexa the darn kitchen echo decides to hear me.

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We use different wake words for our two echoes to avoid both starting.

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Yeah that’s what I did but I feel like the wake word “Alexa” works better than “echo”. I really don’t want to use Amazon.

I would be saying Amazon way too often by mistake. I don’t like echo and I think that is too simple a word and might sound like other words. So all three off my devices (2 echo, 1 dot) are named Alexa and I try not to shout. I wish they had more wake words.

(NOTE:Quote in reference to my wish that 3.5 jack could be overridden via voice command.)

I suspect like most 3.5 jacks that it’s a physical switch and putting in the plug disables the speaker. They could have made it a software decision to switch but I don’t think they did. However, I am sure my idea to use bluetooth receiver connected to my audio receiver will work because I tested with a bluetooth speaker and I was able to connect/disconnect with voice command.

So I ordered this. http://www.amazon.com/Nyrius-Bluetooth-Streaming-Smartphones-BR51/dp/B00EVYJ4VC?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

Well not sure where to levy the disappoint, probably can blaim this on the Samsung Speaker dth…
This should have been simple enough.
I use my sami m7’s for tts and mp3 clip notifications.
Figured I would wire up the two dots via Bluetooth to two of the m7’s for Alexa output and continue to use them for st annunciation.
Well, this works until the first tts you issue, after which the m7 disconnects the Bluetooth and doesn’t restore it…

Just set mine also up with a Sonos 5. It seems like you can play music through echo real loud and the echo can hear very well. Thus, sound cancelling seems to work.:slight_smile:

However, like your experience, Sonos cuts out the Echo response a fraction of a second or more. This is very annoying.:disappointed_relieved: I also don’t think the fidelity is as good as Sonos by itself. This could be because the Echo is a “Pre-amp” output to the Sonos. If I recall, a pre-amp should be set at 3/4 power and then only the amp should be manipulated. Using the music through Echo requires keeping Sonos (amp) value constant and Echo (pre-amp) variable. For this reason, I tend to think the fidelity issue will be an issue with any speaker hooked up to Dot though maybe more or less noticeable than Play 5.

For me, the negatives out weigh the positives. I like the Dot, but not with a Play 5. Ideally, Sonos will integrate Echo into its architecture so it can use the noise cancellation and voice control natively.

Hey Mike, I was thinking about that Bluetooth breaking on Samsung speakers as I would like to get a dot somehow in Europe. I was thinking the only way would be to invest in the Samsung Link Mate, hook the dot into that, then use the dot for everything, playing radio stations. Would that work? The Link Mate is about £180 though.

I’m thinking utilizing the DOT for voice controlled TV through my Sony receiver (without a complicated Harmony routine) using the 3.5 output. :wink:

I had one of these on order 8 months ago, apparently these aren’t made anymore, at lease for the us market.
In any event given the issue seems to be on the speaker end of things, I think it would behave the same way.

Trying to figure out how I want to hook up my Dot to my Denon AVR-1613. Decided to go the Bluetooth receiver route.

I see you can get one for around $35. Would the auris bluMe True Hi-Fi Bluetooth Music Receiver: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0147FOJBY?psc=1 for $170 be worth the extra money? My goal is to plug the Dot in by my pool area (when needed) so I can control the receiver which would be about 40 feet away, 1 wall to go thru.

In a few weeks I’ll get some birthday (a big one) money that I can go crazy with. I need somebody to either talk me into or out of this idea.

This uses one of those 3m velcro wall hanging things.

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How do the mics work for you in that configuration? They’re designed to be horizontal, so I wonder if there’s any degradation to the far-reach end of the listening system?

I thought about that. So far, it works good. The location is in a 17x15 bedroom just outside the master bath. It was actually picked up from across the house when I was talking to her big sister Echo. So we will have to get used to 'NOT" yelling at Alexa from now on.

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I don’t see advantage of blueme to the one I just ordered. For $35 This one has Optical output and NFC to recognize your phone. So place your phone on top and it can link to the phone, say alexa connect bluetooth and it will like to your Echo Dot.

http://www.amazon.com/Nyrius-Bluetooth-Streaming-Smartphones-BR51/dp/B00EVYJ4VC?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

Hard to say without a side by side comparison I am betting you can’t hear the difference.

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Both of mine are setup, hard wired to an Onkyo receiver in the bedroom and Pioneer in my wife’s office. Was disappointed that “normal” Alexa responses go via the 3.5mm plug as well. Really wish it was a toggle in the Echo app, music to 3.5, everything else to internal.

With my Harmony’s and ST, I just issue two commands to get music playing though, and they work as well as my full size Echo so I’m a pretty happy camper.

That’s true and definitely not what I had hoped for/expected. Since our family room TV (and thus the sound base) are not on all the time, I had to use the base’s Bluetooth capability to connect the Dot to it. That works just fine, And you can tell Dot to connect/disconnect bluetooth by voice.

I will note another possibly annoying “feature”: You can’t be connected to Bluetooth audio input and output devices simultaneously. So you can play your prime music through your speakers, or you can stream music from your phone to the Dot’s internal speakers, but you can’t stream from your phone to the Dot and have the Dot play it on a Bluetooth speaker. You can use the 3.5mm audio out, though.