Smart Speakers, Internet Radio + Music Apps

[danski]

I have an Audiopro Addon C10 mk1.
It has 4 radio preset buttons. The mk2 had 6 I believe. I have rinse, nts2, 6music and worldwide preset. Via their multi room app, you can store tons more

 

[danski]

Doesn’t list What’s available but there’s quite a lot.

Audio Pro Control App

We design award winning sound.

audiopro.com

 

[hash tag]

sadly not, my impression is that proper Internet Radio Radios only have legal licensed stations from around the world and are missing lots of actual internet radio stations. It'll be to do with some kind of protocol which those stations use and which allows the radio to find them when it does a scan.

If you can be bothered if you could check which if any of the five listed in the OP you can pick up on it, Id be interested. But my guess is it will be none of them.

Sure, when I'm back home

 

[ska invita]

Supposeldy these are called Smart Displays
And this is meant to be a good sounding one

Google Nest Hub Max review

The Google Nest Hub Max is a great smart display

www.techradar.com

ETA Supposeldy the Amazon Echo Show 10 (3rd gen) has best speakers: 2x 1-inch tweeters, 3-inch woofer!! wub wub

...cant handle buying amazon anything though...

(Nest Max also has 2x 1-inch tweeters, 3-inch woofer supposedly)

So it turns out these Smart displays dont let you install whatever android apps you want on them, they have a limited list of the biggest corporate ones only. So these are ruled out and it seems there isnt yet a confirmed device I can find that can play all the stations i want.... am curious to hear about peoples internet radio results.

 

[ska invita]

This should work and this Grade C on eBay is a good price (£70) but the speakers will be pretty crap
A ten inch tablet that sits in a charging dock which has built in speakers
If I could find one like this but with better quality speakers that would be it

LENOVO Smart Tab M10 10.1" 16GB Black Android Tablet With Smart Dock - Grade C | eBay

The sound is loud and clear, and it's good enough for watching movies and listening to music. The tablet also has a microSD card slot that can be used to expand the storage up to 16GB. Alexa Built-In: This tablet doubles as a smart speaker when you dock it.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[skyscraper101]

I have an Audiopro Addon C10 mk1.
It has 4 radio preset buttons. The mk2 had 6 I believe. I have rinse, nts2, 6music and worldwide preset. Via their multi room app, you can store tons more

I like the idea of preset buttons. The most annoying thing about using Amazon Echo or Google smart speakers is the faff with just listening to stations when you have to do everything via voice. I get really tired of barking commands to the Echo all the time when I just want to press a button and turn a volume knob. Plus they always want to stick their little idents all over it "playing xxxx radio station via TuneIn/BBC Sounds/Global PLayer" and even worse is when they do a pre-roll ad.

 

[ska invita]

I like the idea of preset buttons. The most annoying thing about using Amazon Echo or Google smart speakers is the faff with just listening to stations when you have to do everything via voice. I get really tired of barking commands to the Echo all the time when I just want to press a button and turn a volume knob. Plus they always want to stick their little idents all over it "playing xxxx radio station via TuneIn/BBC Sounds/Global PLayer" and even worse is when they do a pre-roll ad.

That's what I like about the Audials radio app... Each station is basically a button to press.

Screenshot from phone but button aspect works better on a big screen like a tablet

 

[mwgdrwg]

I have a Google Nest mini...my tests confirmed that it's a piece of shit.

"Hey Google, play Underground Bass" - Played the album "Underground Bass Rituals" on Apple Music
"Stream Underground Bass on TuneIn" - not available

"Hey Google, play Venture FM" - Played the album "Kooks FM" on Apple Music
"Hey Google Stream Venture FM on TuneIn - not available

"Hey Google Play Cyndicate" - Played "Syndicate" on Apple Music
"Hey Google Stream Cyndicate on TuneIn" - sorry I didn't understand

"Hey Google Play Real Roots Radio" - Sure, here's Real Roots by DJ Diss on Apple Music
"Hey Google Stream Real Roots Radio on TuneIn" - not available

"Hey Google, list every track on every Fall album chronological till I remember which one I want" - Sorry I don't understand.

e2a Worldwide FM the only one that worked.

 

[ska invita]

I have a Google Nest mini...my tests confirmed that it's a piece of shit.

"Hey Google, play Underground Bass" - Played the album "Underground Bass Rituals" on Apple Music
"Stream Underground Bass on TuneIn" - not available

"Hey Google, play Venture FM" - Played the album "Kooks FM" on Apple Music
"Hey Google Stream Venture FM on TuneIn - not available

"Hey Google Play Cyndicate" - Played "Syndicate" on Apple Music
"Hey Google Stream Cyndicate on TuneIn" - sorry I didn't understand

"Hey Google Play Real Roots Radio" - Sure, here's Real Roots by DJ Diss on Apple Music
"Hey Google Stream Real Roots Radio on TuneIn" - not available

"Hey Google, list every track on every Fall album chronological till I remember which one I want" - Sorry I don't understand.

e2a Worldwide FM the only one that worked.

SO useful, thank you!! As expected...
If i could have an independent radio app installed on it then you could press the buttons, but it doesnt allow for that

 

[klang]

I'm kind of tempted to build my own wooden casing for a good bluetooth speaker and a small tablet....maybe repurposing an old radio somehow....

Fuck that. Let's share EX NIGHTCLUB - REGGAE SOUND SYSTEM BASS BINS - Speakers - Amplifiers - Decks  | eBay

 

[hash tag]

We have an older version of this Stream 95I

Underground Bass
Venture FM
Cyndicut
Worldwide FM
Real Roots Radio

Cannot find cyndicut or real roots.
The radio is split into dozens of genres and also loads of countries. Hundreds od=f station on it.

 

[ska invita]

We have an older version of this Stream 95I

Cannot find cyndicut or real roots.
The radio is split into dozens of genres and also loads of countries. Hundreds od=f station on it.

thanks hash tag....but you found the others? thats pretty good going i think.

I think after all this it turns out there just isnt something that exists like id like it to so i'm just going to get a 7 inch tablet for about £30-£40 and a little bluetooth speaker and maybe one day at a push build a little wooden stand so they can sit side by side. Its a strange gap in the market i think, but my impression its almost deliberate, designed to push consumers to bigger corporate ecosystems, amazon have all their own apps, apple of course, google nest is similiar, and when they allow other apps its all spotify, disney + etc

 

[ska invita]

THis is quite a smart solution, a bit more expensive than Id like (about £220 it seems)
You put your tablet or phone on the space to the right and thats it - it charges it from there too
Having some easy to reach volume buttons is good

Tivoli Audio Revive

More than just a speaker. Revive is so much more than a Bluetooth speaker. Stream high quality audio and change the direction of the speaker with the pivoting head. Light up any space with the LED lamp with 4 brightness options all whilst charging your phone. In stock now at blankspace.co.uk.

www.blankspace.co.uk

designed for bedside and pairing within phone really rather than kitchen, speaker might be a bit crap too not sure
i think its smaller than it looks in the picture
eta speaker is 25 w and goes down to 50hz not bad at all

 

[ska invita]

similiar principle is this kind of speaker+charger set up
from looking just now there are a few of these kind of things out there... sticking a cheap tablet or even old phone with just a few music apps on it, basically does the trick

Belkin launches its Soundform Elite Smart Speaker + Wireless Charger and other wireless charging accessories

Belkin has just launched its new smart speaker that also features wireless charging capabilities for your iPhone, along with additional wireless charger accessories.

www.idownloadblog.com

 

[danski]

On the Audiopro app, I can get Worldwide and Cyndicut. That’s via Tunein which is built into the app. No adverts or stuff either.
It also has vTuner but I’ve not really explored that

 

[danski]

Looks like this


And the options you can add to that front screen

 

[ska invita]

Looks like this
View attachment 454027

And the options you can add to that front screen
View attachment 454028

I used to use TuneIn happily....TuneIn used to be the one radio app that anyone needed (near enough), and then they got big and kicked off pirates and smaller stations (see below)

hence people moved to apps like Online Radio Box, Simple Radio, Audials....and its exactly those apps that wont install on the products that are out there.... Seems to me Android remains the only open source way to get these apps it seems

Heres some random posts from radio forums regarding TuneIn

TuneIn starts to remove UK radio stations from its platform

TuneIn has removed a number of UK radio stations from its platform over music licensing rights, even if the radio stations don't actually play music!

radiotoday.co.uk

People got sent this in 2022

My station was listed on Tunein since like 2005 in like 2021 they deleted it no big deal Tunein has always sucked it never gave many listeners to Phat Beats Radio. The group that sued Tunein wanted them to remove 95% of the internet radio station and turn in to a service like Sirius XM where 90% of the stations suck.

Yeah Radioplayer is another internet radio app that only accepts those stations licensed by Ofcom. (Who don’t licence online stations, they licence fm and dab). So in summary they only allow commercial stations that people can just turn the radio on for anyway…..meaning even if you are paying the correct ppl prs mcps that your stuffed, as they don’t allow stations that are internet only.

(Not a question of pirates it’s a question of why do they give established stations an unfair advantage over new internet only stations - I expect it’s because they are trying to tell themselves that only allowing those stations who have a separate relationship with Ofcom that they are keeling the quality up, but that isn’t always the case. It should be about giving the listener choice and allowing those who are laying the correct web streaming costs for the performing rights that are being cast)

etc etc etc

 

[ska invita]

Its interesting...just like pirate radio had to fight to get on the FM theres now a fight to get on to smart speakers and internet radios

 

[skyscraper101]

TuneIn used to be so good and now it massively sucks. It’s also another example of an app I paid a premium for ages ago for a “lifetime” pro version with no ads and an ability to record and then they reneged on the deal to launch a subscription only service. So fuck them.

Radio Garden was also good and another app I paid a premium for for no ads and now it’s basically blocked in the U.K. for listening to any station not in the UK, unless you use a VPN which is just more cost/hassle. The whole app thing is a pain the arse frankly. Direct URLs and internet radios with preset favourites/hot buttons are the only way to go.

 

[ska invita]

TuneIn used to be so good and now it massively sucks.

It’s also another example of an app I paid a premium for ages ago for a “lifetime” pro version with no ads and an ability to record and then they reneged on the deal to launch a subscription only service. So fuck them.

thats outrageous

Direct URLs and internet radios with preset favourites/hot buttons are the only way to go.

yes my conclusion too
though there are still good radio conglomerating apps out there

 

[ska invita]

Audials has no adverts btw
also create an account and you can open the app on different devices and all your stations are on there

 

[skyscraper101]

I wish I still had my Freecom MusicPal. It cost less than £30 back in the day and you could just plug in any URL and save it as an favourite without any app nonsense or having to shout voice commands at it. Nifty little thing so it was.

 

[ska invita]

Direct URLs and internet radios with preset favourites/hot buttons are the only way to go.

just had a look an Audials lets you add URLS and .pls addresses



its not the perfect app but it does do what you need

 

[skyscraper101]

just had a look an Audials lets you add URLS and .pls addresses

View attachment 454075

its not the perfect app but it does do what you need

Cheers I’ll have a look