How do you listen to music?

[wurly]

With your ears of course :0) I know.

I have many methods. For listening away from home my mobile is very good. It has noise cancelling headphones and as long i have data credit there is a pretty much endless library for music on the web.

For the car i have a real powerful setup. The head unit on the dash takes a little usb stick so i can load up about 20 albums or more. One gripe is navigating but since i'm driving a click one way to next track or volume up/down is safest so i'm very ok with that.

For listening at home, i have my entire collection of music albums as mp3. I usually have these 'bundled' or 'album wrapped' so i tend to play whole albums start to finish. Remember when your record players needle played the entire side. You were forced to listen to your least favourite tracks. Sometimes they eventually became favourites!
All albums are on the PC with an output to an old stereo amp where i can sitback and listen in the privacy of my headphones. I have favourites of course, but sometimes i like to set the player to random just to see what pops up.

But dont you ever listen to the radio i hear you all say!!!!

Well..yes. I love 6music. Thats only available online or DAB. I dont have a DAB radio so thats online then (and i can catch up missed shows).

There is a point to this long thread.

And that is. Too much music and not enough time. So i end up combining listening to music with other tasks.

And now my point. To control what i want to listen to, is getting ever more complicated.
The pc will not connect to my phone (xp and android software issues). I would love to get the music from the Pc to play in my garage. I would love to control volume, track selection from my armchair etc etc.
If only a system existed whereby i could stream music from several sources and have complete control over it.

There must be something suitable?
I couldn't think of a better forum to ask a techy question.
What i need is a complete new setup. Maybe active speakers?A central source? Chromecast? Plex?
Any ideas?



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[soundwave]

or
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/audio-and-headphones/audio/hifi-systems-and-speakers/sony-gtk-xb5b-wireless-megasound-hi-fi-system-black-10153797-pdt.html?istCompanyId=bec25c7e-cbcd-460d-81d5-a25372d2e3d7&istItemId=xwxpqwrttx&istBid=tztx&srcid=198&cmpid=ppc~gg~0003 (PLA) HOME AUDIO~All Products~Exact&mctag=gg_goog_7904&kwid=GOOGLE&device=c&ds_kids=92700027233277365&PLA=1&tgtid=0003 (PLA) HOME AUDIO&gclid=Cj0KCQiA_JTUBRD4ARIsAL7_VeUcB3odK8I5f6SzH0ISbn0KvWNNGdpC7e2pEctKADV5hgcRO3bUg8caAqsMEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

http://www.argos.co.uk/product/5061903?cmpid=GS001&_$ja=tsid:59158|cid:200217410|agid:12488199530|tid:aud-144400486596:pla-167031012290|crid:66128549570|nw:g|rnd:9686801193789004766|dvc:c|adp:1o20|mt:|loc:9045572&gclid=Cj0KCQiA_JTUBRD4ARIsAL7_VeVORWIRToz4nLQK11ML4curK0f7f5aWUITGeeLwnKjj6BCS_JRp-zwaAgkVEALw_wcB

tho tbh every wifi portable speaker,sound bar ect sounds like a pile of crap you cant get bass from a 2inc woofer lol no matter what make it is.

i have active master studio genelcs so none of that crap is even going to come close

 

[Zlatan]

I,ve recently bought a Bose Microspeaker...bluetooths to phone and sounds fantastic...Compares with speakers 5 times larger...was expensive but well worth it..most accessible music device I,ve ever had...Very impressed.Its around 4 inch square and an inch deep...travels everywhere with me...agree with SW re you cant get great bass from tiny speakers but reckon Bose make best attempt at it. way better than all other speakers I,ve heard at this size...Compares well with Bose house speaker on low to mid volumes...To be fair on normal listening they are hard to distinguish...( My only complaint is coming from different range they cant link together !) Surely that shouldn't be hard for Bose to make their entire range compatible...not just ones within same size...

But point is between my Bose house system and microspeaker I can listen to anything on my PC, on my phone or 8 preset inline stations..( which the Bose can connect to without phone or PC).
Can control it all from phone or from remote.. ( I tend to download stuff to phone, listen to it and transfer to Bose house/ or PC if I want to keep it...but I was really disappointed micro cant communicate or double up with midi , you would have to buy a midi system room.. You can link 2 midis or 2 micros for same room operation...but not a midi and a micro ????? Mistake on Bose's part..

 

[wurly]

Thanks for the replies.
I think i'm going to look at getting a new amp rather than active speakers.
Doing a bit of research, some new avr amplifiers have wifi/bluetooth all controlled via downloadable apps. Looking at denon or yamaha atm. They're approx £350. Loads of connectivity but are missing the basic treble/bass controls i am so used to. Programmable sound filters can be a real annoyance. I guess it largely depends on how user friendly the s/w is.
We have a good audio shop in my hometown so will pay a visit.
Genelec systems look really nice. I'm guessing they are for professional studio use?


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[soundwave]

you can use genelcs if you want to but there not cheap but if there active with the amps inside them all you need is a line output to them from a amp/receiver with wifi ect.

mine have trim controls on the back for each driver so you can set them up in the space you have but you wont get that on bottom end speakers.

 

[Wheel-E]

Genelecs are lovely. Yes, they were designed for studio use but they work for normal listening. My favourite things about them are that although they are clear, they never get tiring to listen too. Even the smaller ones are powerful and have enough bass. I'm thinking more of the 3040 or 4030 or whatever they're called. If you ever get the bug for more bass then the matching subwoofer is bloody brilliant, but largely unneccessary.

Personally, I'm a Tannoy guy due to the point source and how naturallly room filling they sound. There are some real bargains out there for the 1990's era ones but that's a matter of choice. In a similar vein, I haven't heard them myself, but everyone is raving about the KEF LS50 so do try and audtition them.

And for your stream anywhere solution the answer has to be a Chromecast Audio. IIt has a regular and digital optical output so you can add a quality DAC later if you fancy it. You can send music from your PC or phone to anywhere you add a Chromecast Audio and even get them to sync up. I can play music everywhere in my house at once on the various speakers, for example when pottering around the house, and it's there!

Chromecast Audios are very cheap and regulalry on sale at Currys. Then, you can add more in the ktchen, lounge garage etc. With Google asistant on your Android phone, smartwatch, or on Google Home (£35 well spent) you simply say "Stream BBC 6 music to Kitchen" and off it goes!

 

[Wheel-E]

You can also stream music or video to a regular Chromecast attached toyour telly or HDMI monitor. They're great too but sadly don't synchronise to the Audio only versions.