Smart Speakers? Home Pod, Amazon Echo, etc

Do you have a mains power socket in your bathroom?

Good point - could be electrifying.

Bathrooms aren't the most friendly areas for electrical items (humidity) and mains electricity and bathrooms done incorrectly is not good. I'd take some advice from a specialist here (or stick with the Tivoli...)

ChrisSU posted:

Do you have a mains power socket in your bathroom?

Don't quote me on this (and I'm talking about UK legislation) ... but iirc you can have a power socket in the bathroom ... so long as it's 3m from any bath and shower.  There would be no (legal) issue having a shelf for a smart speaker with the cable running to a socket outside the bathroom either.

(The Tivoli radio is mains powered isn't it?)

Its a matter of time and you can order a new roll of toiletpaper using an Apple home pod.

Eloise posted:

ChrisSU posted:

Do you have a mains power socket in your bathroom?

Don't quote me on this (and I'm talking about UK legislation) ... but iirc you can have a power socket in the bathroom ... so long as it's 3m from any bath and shower.  There would be no (legal) issue having a shelf for a smart speaker with the cable running to a socket outside the bathroom either.

(The Tivoli radio is mains powered isn't it?)

Yes, in the UK it's 3m from the boundary of 'zone 1' although many UK electricians would be reluctant to instal one even then. I think Bart is in the US, though?

What about shaver sockets?

I have a "shaver" socket in my bathroom.  These are the only way power is normally made available in UK bathrooms & most countries in Europe (but not all)    It has a 230/230v  isolating transformer with a current limit of 200mA.   We use it for charging only,  shaver, tooth brush etc.  but no reason it can't power something like a smart radio

ChrisSU posted:

Do you have a mains power socket in your bathroom?

Yes (on a Ground-Fault Interrupt circuit; that is code here in the States these days)

Electrical code permits 120v/ 20 or 30 amp outlets in bathrooms and kitchens so long as there is a GFI in the circuit.  We have GFI outlets, and the breaker in the circuit box also has a GFI feature.  This is extremely common in the states, permitting hair dryers etc etc to be used in the bathroom.

Bart posted:

I'm thinking about replacing my 25 year old Tivoli radio in my bathroom with a smart speaker.  I only use it to listen to about 3 radio stations, and figure a smart speaker might be a little more satisfying.  We're totally an Apple home, so my first inclination would be to get a Home Pod.  But it's the most expensive option, and we all know that Siri is not nearly as intelligent as Google's voice assistant.  On the other hand, as I start to accumulate a few Home Kit compatible devices (Nest Thermostat, Haiku Fan, Nest Doorbell next perhaps, and maybe some Phillips color-alterable LED bulbs) having it all integrated again sounds interesting.

And I'm not sure if any option is capable of connecting to Asset or MinimServer running on my nas and playing that music.  That's not essential but might be interesting.

Any experiences here?

I did listen to the Home Pod and it sounded fine for what I want, but it's $349

 

HomePod is essentially a vehicle for AppleMusic controlled via Siri though you could technically Airplay any audio from iTunes or iOS device.

The HomePod is not a radio in the classic sense and I'm uncertain if it would readily support any radio stations you might want unless you could Airplay a stream (I assume the stations you listen to currently are not Apple ones!) from an iOS device or computer, and I suspect you'd not want a Macbook, iPhone or iPad in the bath or shower!

I wouldn't necessarily consider the bathroom as the best place for a HomeKit hub either unless it was in a good place for wi-fi.  Interesting idea but I'd concentrate on why you want a speaker/radio in the bathroom first of all.

Bart posted:

ChrisSU posted:

Do you have a mains power socket in your bathroom?

Yes (on a Ground-Fault Interrupt circuit; that is code here in the States these days)

Fair enough, better to face a dumb question from me than the iron fist of the moderator:0

Alley Cat posted:

Bart posted:

I'm thinking about replacing my 25 year old Tivoli radio in my bathroom with a smart speaker.  I only use it to listen to about 3 radio stations, and figure a smart speaker might be a little more satisfying.  We're totally an Apple home, so my first inclination would be to get a Home Pod.  But it's the most expensive option, and we all know that Siri is not nearly as intelligent as Google's voice assistant.  On the other hand, as I start to accumulate a few Home Kit compatible devices (Nest Thermostat, Haiku Fan, Nest Doorbell next perhaps, and maybe some Phillips color-alterable LED bulbs) having it all integrated again sounds interesting.

And I'm not sure if any option is capable of connecting to Asset or MinimServer running on my nas and playing that music.  That's not essential but might be interesting.

Any experiences here?

I did listen to the Home Pod and it sounded fine for what I want, but it's $349

 

HomePod is essentially a vehicle for AppleMusic controlled via Siri though you could technically Airplay any audio from iTunes or iOS device.

The HomePod is not a radio in the classic sense and I'm uncertain if it would readily support any radio stations you might want unless you could Airplay a stream (I assume the stations you listen to currently are not Apple ones!) from an iOS device or computer, and I suspect you'd not want a Macbook, iPhone or iPad in the bath or shower!

I wouldn't necessarily consider the bathroom as the best place for a HomeKit hub either unless it was in a good place for wi-fi.  Interesting idea but I'd concentrate on why you want a speaker/radio in the bathroom first of all.

 

The three radio stations I listen to most all have simultaneous streaming on the web.  At the Apple Store I asked Siri to play each, and it worked great.  These are stations for which, on my iPhone, I have apps that play them directly.  They are regular commercial over-the-air stations here in the States.  Now-a-days, virtually all such stations simulcast/stream online and can be listened to via a web browser or dedicated app.  Siri on the Home Pod apparently just finds these.

I bought a HomePod out of curiosity, being an Apple user, including Apple Music.  The sound is pretty good, and worth $349 in my opinion, vs. roughly three times that for a QB.  However, Siri is really dumb--not just as a "personal assistant," which I don't care about anyway--but even to find specific albums on Apple Music!  As a consequence, instead of talking to Siri directly on the HomePod, I choose my music on my phone or computer, and then stream to the HomePod via AirPlay, which works very well.  It is my understanding that you can also use Spotify and other services via AirPlay, so functionally these services are equal to Apple Music, from my point of view.  I don't think you can access an NAS, though.

aht posted:

I bought a HomePod out of curiosity, being an Apple user, including Apple Music.  The sound is pretty good, and worth $349 in my opinion, vs. roughly three times that for a QB.  However, Siri is really dumb--not just as a "personal assistant," which I don't care about anyway--but even to find specific albums on Apple Music!  As a consequence, instead of talking to Siri directly on the HomePod, I choose my music on my phone or computer, and then stream to the HomePod via AirPlay, which works very well.  It is my understanding that you can also use Spotify and other services via AirPlay, so functionally these services are equal to Apple Music, from my point of view.  I don't think you can access an NAS, though.

Thanks for that review.  Everything I've read agrees that Siri is really dumb as compared to her competitors from Google and Amazon   Apple needs to step it up here!

Not a smart speaker but we have a Panasonic SC-ALL05EB-K speaker in our bathroom.  It's available in black or white.

It's rechargeable so no concerns with electricity and it is supposed to be waterproof.  

It's a versatile little unit, there is an app allowing you to stream from UPNP servers, bluetooth and internet radio via 6 presets.  For its size and design it sounds pretty decent as well.

It's £200 in the UK but can be had for much less on eBay via Panasonics refurb shop.

Another option is the Q2 internet radio. This is a small cube and you control it by rotating the cube to select one of 4 presets with volume beng adjusted by tilting it up and down.  It sounds ridiculously good for the size and price.

I have a Tivoli One Digital in the the living room and I'm planning to buy a Cube or an Orb for the bathroom.... with the optional battery you can unplugged them from the main power (8 hours of music) and you can set a multi-room system, you can stream tidal, tunein, music on server and so on....

Bart posted:

Alley Cat posted:

Bart posted:The three radio stations I listen to most all have simultaneous streaming on the web.  At the Apple Store I asked Siri to play each, and it worked great.  These are stations for which, on my iPhone, I have apps that play them directly.  They are regular commercial over-the-air stations here in the States.  Now-a-days, virtually all such stations simulcast/stream online and can be listened to via a web browser or dedicated app.  Siri on the Home Pod apparently just finds these.

Thanks for updating on that aspect - good to hear.

Hi. Has anyone following this topic tried or thought about the Libratone Zipp or Zipp Mini https://www.libratone.com/uk/products/zipp-speakers ?

Only "smart" in that it has some Amazon Alexa supported commands (https://support.libratone.com/...85192-Zipp-Zipp-Mini) but it claims up to 10 hour battery life, has built-in radio tuning, supports Bluetooth and Airplay (with Airplay 2 support promised) and also has Multiroom and Spotify Connect along with 3.5mm analogue input and USB input from flash drive and iOS (with charging). It also seems to be a DLNA renderer https://support.libratone.com/...Zipp-Mini-About-DLNA.

It dates from a while back now but still seems well supported and I even may just have convinced myself to try one 

Roger