Amazon Echo Studio

[4-earredwonder]

"It was so much easier in the old days when we only had ONE speaker to worry about."and cigarettes were a penny!

 

[proufo]

“We are excited to announce the all-new Echo Studio. We worked throughout its development with Dolby to bring our customers an unparalleled listening experience from a single, easy-to-use speaker,” said Miriam Daniel, Vice President of Echo and Alexa Devices, Amazon. “Echo Studio is the first smart speaker to deliver a truly immersive audio experience with Dolby Atmos. It allows you to hear objects placed into the three-dimensional space around you—it’s music the way the artist intended you to hear it and we can’t wait for our customers to try it.”

This is so laughable, but great if they can get away with it. Money changing hands is always a good thing.

It would be great to be able to upmix (in the receiver/processor, real time) stereo recordings to an Atmos setup that improves greatly on Lexicon's ambiance generation capabilities.

 

[JonUrban]

You know you all want to try it!

Actually, it will be very interesting to see what content they offer in 5.1. This would be the major motivation move for me. I do expect that if I did get one to try it out, it would end up in the pile with everything else I've bought along the way that I generally forget I have and forget to use.

 

[HugoPhyrst]

I'm curious what this development does in terms of new music mixes. I'm testing the Amazon HD services and it is pretty impressive for lossless stereo 24/96 sources. I don't have Atmos, but I'm more interested if there is a growing industry of Almost re-mixed music out there.

 

[J. PUPSTER]

Well they sure know how to sell ****; what I've noticed mostly from watching that Abbey Road Web Cam (which by the way fascinates me more than Alexa) is all the Grey Amazon delivery vans that go through there

 

[key_wiz]

Let’s keep in mind that stereo became the standard not just because it was the choice of audiophiles and hi-fi enthusiasts, but because they were able to make some form of its reproduction easily available on even some of the most low-fi of equipment and in cars.

If surround sound is ever going to go beyond being a niche/hobby format, it will need to be able to be reproduced in some form or another on every kitchen counter and in every bedroom.

Devices like this won’t be the way WE want to hear it, but if it results in more recordings available that we can enjoy on the systems we prefer? It should be encouraged, imo.

 

[JonUrban]

Let’s keep in mind that stereo became the standard not just because it was the choice of audiophiles and hi-fi enthusiasts, but because they were able to make some form of its reproduction easily available on even some of the most low-fi of equipment and in cars.

If surround sound is ever going to go beyond being a niche/hobby format, it will need to be able to be reproduced in some form or another on every kitchen counter and in every bedroom.

Devices like this won’t be the way WE want to hear it, but if it results in more recordings available that we can enjoy on the systems we prefer? It should be encouraged, imo.

Very true. This is why I was so annoyed when the auto manufacturers virtually ignored SACD and DVD-A. Most cars have/had speakers all over the car, could they at least put in a head unit that would utilize all of those speakers properly? You know some car owners would have seen the logo's and wondered what they meant and maybe checked them out.

This device, as abhorrent as some of us may think it is, might interest some people who like new stuff and would never in a million years set up a surround system

 

[proufo]

I'm curious what this development does in terms of new music mixes. I'm testing the Amazon HD services and it is pretty impressive for lossless stereo 24/96 sources. I don't have Atmos, but I'm more interested if there is a growing industry of Almost re-mixed music out there.

It is likely that most of the Atmos offerings would not be remixed by a capable human being but processed by an algorithm, perhaps with a little human input in some cases.

We have at this point two acronyms that do not mean in some cases what one would expect: HD music and 4k (video). It both cases they can be just upsamples of lower-res contents.

Of course no one cares what I think, rightly. I will buy almost no music in the future, probably just new mch releases of old music. I'm an old fart happy with my Lps and CDs.

 

[proufo]

Well they sure know how to sell ****; what I've noticed mostly from watching that Abbey Road Web Cam (which by the way fascinates me more than Alexa) is all the Grey Amazon delivery vans that go through there

I now deeply respect Dolby's marketing vision and capabilities. It seems they are aiming at having the Atmos logo in all gear and all recordings. Atmos was initially just a movie format, one that very few home users would adopt due to its complexity and cost. Now it is a logo that can be put even in soundbars and Amazon devices.

I hate what they perpetrated with HDR (video), but as someone said, you can either make sense or make money.

 

[key_wiz]

It’s ALL about marketing and always has been. Two-channel stereo became the standard because the term “stereo” came to mean “superior sound” in the minds of most everyone. So if the manufacturers were able to slap the label “stereo” on systems that didn’t really benefit from the technology and sell them to people who couldn’t really tell the difference, or care about it anyway? So much the better for all of us in the long run.

Dolby and Amazon seem to be trying to do the same thing here and make “Atmos” the new “Stereo” in the minds of people.

As long as the mixes are good and discreet and not just a lot of crappy upmixes? I’m good. And heck, even upmix technology is getting pretty good.

 

[J. PUPSTER]

Let’s keep in mind that stereo became the standard not just because it was the choice of audiophiles and hi-fi enthusiasts, but because they were able to make some form of its reproduction easily available on even some of the most low-fi of equipment and in cars.

If surround sound is ever going to go beyond being a niche/hobby format, it will need to be able to be reproduced in some form or another on every kitchen counter and in every bedroom.

Devices like this won’t be the way WE want to hear it, but if it results in more recordings available that we can enjoy on the systems we prefer? It should be encouraged, imo.

I believe I also saw a post by @Old Quad Guy with similar thoughts; and I sure hope you guys are right. Some smart youngster hears these devices and thinks "there's got to be a better way to hear this music?" As you all know, it's the really smart ones that "gets" the whole surround sound / Hi Def bug

 

[key_wiz]

I believe I also saw a post by @Old Quad Guy with similar thoughts; and I sure hope you guys are right. Some smart youngster hears these devices and thinks "there's got to be a better way to hear this music?" As you all know, it's the really smart ones that "gets" the whole surround sound / Hi Def bug

My first “stereo” system was a plastic suitcase style phonograph that had one speaker in the bottom section pointing up and another one on the lid portion pointing out with two separate volume controls. Each speaker was maybe three-four inches?

We all have to start somewhere.

 

[key_wiz]

The whole concept stinks; 1st off, you need a DAC converter, to hear the Hi-Res sound
Therefore, headphones, are useless, & the files take up way too much space on an IPhone; even my 128GB
The downloading on the phone becomes tedious; the Hi-Res tracks are displayed as playlists
I'm sticking to the normal resolution, for headphones, & Apple CarPlay
Not DVD/A, or SACD, 5.1, but hey, you can't have everything

Shouldn’t you be able to hear the hi-res sound by streaming it to your receiver or Firestick?

 

[CPR]

Shouldn’t you be able to hear the hi-res sound by streaming it to your receiver or Firestick?

Yes & no
It becomes a matter of changing the settings, & streaming; which creates problems of its own
I would say, if you ONLY downloaded Hi-RES, or standard, it's fine
when you start combining them, it gets tricky
I'm sticking with DVD/A's, & SACD's, in 5.1, for the house, & standard Amazon Music streaming for Apple CarPlay

 

[HomerJAU]

If it all comes out as mp3s, a lot of the audiophile audience will be highly disappointed...

Atmos will be part of the new Amazon Music HD service so I’d expect lossless delivery, but how can it be used in our current listening rooms?

My two Sony TVs have Amazon Prime apps but both TVs and AVRs don‘t support lossless ARC so that solution will require ALL new TVs and AVRs.

Kodi (media player) has an Amazon Prime app. Hopefully that will deliver lossless Atmos streaming... I Think this is currently Dolby Digital + Atmos (640kbps lossy) like Netflix.

Lots of unknowns, especially for ‘audiophiles’ who just want lossless multichannel music.

EDIT: I forgot to mention Amazon Music HD is not available in Australia and many other countries!

 

[HugoPhyrst]

Atmos will be part of the new Amazon Music HD service so I’d expect lossless delivery, but how can it be used in our current listening rooms?

My two Sony TVs have Amazon Prime apps but both TVs and AVRs don‘t support lossless ARC so that solution will require ALL new TVs and AVRs.

Kodi (media player) has an Amazon Prime app. Hopefully that will deliver lossless Atmos streaming... I Think this is currently Dolby Digital + Atmos (640kbps lossy) like Netflix.

Lots of unknowns, especially for ‘audiophiles’ who just want lossless multichannel music.

EDIT: I forgot to mention Amazon Music HD is not available in Australia and many other countries!

My NAD includes integrated Bluesound streaming and handles the lossless Amazon HD nicely. Don't have Atmos, but the receiver does have the capability.

 

[Philip Spinner]

We have the real Shoe House here in York County, PA, just off Route 30.

I'm in Strasberg right now. Would like to check it out tomorrow. Do you know exactly where it is.
Thanks.

 

[John Svensson]

It is just outside Hellam, or Hallam, east of York on 30. You can just see it on South side of 30 where an overpass goes over 30. If you Google it you should find it, it's now a B&B, was built by a one time Show Magnate.

 

[John Svensson]

Strasburg? You are either a fellow train nerd or you like to chase Amish buggies. I live in Lititz, but am down in Yorktown VA right now for daughter #1's graduation from Coast Guard A school.

 

[Philip Spinner]

Will be riding behind 611 tomorrow at 10:30 and 11:30 at Strasberg. Thanks for the info. Will check it out tomorrow after train if I feel up to it.