Amazon Echo Club

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Well, many of those in question were iTunes freebies. I don't even know if they're still doing that or not, but it's a wonderful way to build a large and really crappy music library really quickly.

I read within the last week or two that they have just stopped the freebies. Probably at the beginning of 2015, I would guess.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by DreamWriter

This is your lucky day, tubemonkey. I learned how to mark TuneIn and iHeart Favorites within the Echo app just a few days ago. Following are the instructions for TuneIn. I haven't tried it for iHeart, but I've read that the process is the same.

Thank you so much

It worked for TuneIn, though I did have to exit out and go back in to add one station. I already had a list of favorites at iHeartRadio and have no idea how it happened.

This is a stop gap measure at best. I like to re-order the sequence and delete at will. It's unfortunate that we can't do that yet.

Thanks again

[DreamWriter]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Thank you so much

It worked for TuneIn, though I did have to exit out and go back in to add one station. I already had a list of favorites at iHeartRadio and have no idea how it happened.

This is a stop gap measure at best. I like to re-order the sequence and delete at will. It's unfortunate that we can't do that yet.

Thanks again

You're welcome.

The method for adding favorites certainly isn't very intuitive. I'd like to see the process streamlined and the app bugs fixed, but it gets the job done.

I've never used iHeart myself. If you had previously saved favorites on their Android app or website and then signed into that account in the Echo app, maybe the favorites transferred that way?

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by DreamWriter

You're welcome.

The method for adding favorites certainly isn't very intuitive. I'd like to see the process streamlined and the app bugs fixed, but it gets the job done.

I've never used iHeart myself. If you had previously saved favorites on their Android app or website and then signed into that account in the Echo app, maybe the favorites transferred that way?

Intuitive, it's not!

I never used iHeart until I got the Echo. My go to stations were AOL Radio, TuneIn, and Pandora. With only two stations (iHeart & TuneIn), I had no choice but to start using it. I did have a nice list of favorites in TuneIn and not one of them transferred over to the Echo app.

[DreamWriter]

Alexa's responses to the first two questions below can vary, but she seems pretty certain about the third one!

Ask:

• "Alexa, what do you think about Siri?"
• "Alexa, what do you think about Cortana?"
• "Alexa, what do you think about Google Now?"

[Carmelreader]

I decided to try importing some music from iTunes to Amazon for the Echo. I started with the laptop, new, so only thing on it in iTunes were some audiobooks from the summer audiobook program for young people. They were imported to Amazon as an album. Fun to have an audiobook via Echo. Found I really enjoyed listening that way. Major drawback of course is no bookmark that I can figure out. If you don't listen to anything else pause works. I also have listened to podcasts on it. Am totally enjoying it. I hate to admit it, but the timer is probably the most used function, well after music.

Thanks for all the tips. The radio favorite was a great one. I like BBC radio 4 extra which amazingly enough Alexa will find by voice command.

[mlewis78]

I just caved and paid the $25 fee to have up to 250,000 (?) songs from my hard drives to Amazon. I was going to select certain folders of music, but it was too slow. Then I started the scan of my computer and it said I had (apprx.) 1650 songs and I would need to pay the fee to import them all. I used to have all of my music imported to it, but then they imposed the fee when I was only doing temp work, so I didn't pay it.

[WT Sharpe]

I have imported over 2,000 iTunes songs into my Amazon library in anticipation of the arrival of my magic talking speaker. 82 contained DRM and I was unable to import them or convert them to another format. Now for the good news: I have discovered that getting rid of DRM on songs in your iTunes library is ridiculously easy. Embarrassingly easy, it seems. All you need to do is delete the song, but select the option to keep it in your library (and make sure that you don't check the "delete from cloud" option or you'll be screwed). The song will still be visible in your library, but will now have a cloud icon next to it. Now click on that icon to download a fresh DRM-free copy. I've already tried it on two of those 82 locked songs and it works! If you have any questions, here's the USA Today article on the subject that appeared in one of my News apps a couple of days ago.

While detailed instruction in DRM removal is normally forbidden at MobileRead, I think the fact that Apple no longer sells songs with DRM gives me a bit of a pass. That, and the fact that iTunes itself is providing the DRM-free replacements.

[mlewis78]

I've been importing music with the Amazon music importer for about 25 hours now and see no end in sight. I stopped it a few times (had to restart my computer when I lost internet and then it was back). I have been in touch with amazon help twice during this, because it looked as if it was stuck on the same number of songs for 12 hours. It simply doesn't let you know exactly where you are at with what has been imported and the number of hours left changes from 8 to 97 to 32 for no reason whatsoever.

I think this will be worth it once it's all done. I stayed up too long last night (um, this morning) trying to monitor it. I just have to let it keep running.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

...getting rid of DRM on songs in your iTunes library is ridiculously easy. Embarrassingly easy....

One caveat: Three DRM-infected songs remain. Not bad, considering that my iTunes music library—just the music, not including podcast, lectures, audiobooks, and etc.—contains over 2,000 items or 6.2 days of no repeat listening. Apple loves me. I've bought a lot of music from them over the years. Of course, many of those were CDs I imported, and a few are songs bought from Amazon, but most are straight from the iTunes store.

So why can't I get replacements for those three? The answer is that iTunes no longer sells those three songs. One was a major disappointment: Emerson, Lake & Palmer playing "Bo Diddley". It's on one of the few Emerson, Lake & Palmer albums I never bought (most on vinyl), Return of the Manticore (a 4-disc retrospective).

[Purple Lady]

Does anyone else with an Echo also have a Nexus 7 2013? The sound from my Nexus 7 sounds so much better that I am wondering if I have a defective speaker. Even my Kindle HDX 7 sounds better, but only twice as good. The Nexus 7 is better with metal music, better with rock, and better with new age type music too. I would say it sounds nearly ten times better. Better highs, better lows, better midrange.

Can someone else with a Nexus 7 compare the sound between the two and tell me how you think they compare? I am planning to return mine, but if others think the sound compares well maybe I'll ask for a replacement.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

Does anyone else with an Echo also have a Nexus 7 2013? The sound from my Nexus 7 sounds so much better that I am wondering if I have a defective speaker. Even my Kindle HDX 7 sounds better, but only twice as good. The Nexus 7 is better with metal music, better with rock, and better with new age type music too. I would say it sounds nearly ten times better. Better highs, better lows, better midrange.

Can someone else with a Nexus 7 compare the sound between the two and tell me how you think they compare? I am planning to return mine, but if others think the sound compares well maybe I'll ask for a replacement.

Sounds like a defective Echo. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give my Echo a 10 and my Nex 7 (2013) a 1. There's no comparing the two, the Echo blows the Nexus 7 out of the water.

[WT Sharpe]

Only 114 days and 32 minutes until my Echo arrives.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Sounds like a defective Echo. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give my Echo a 10 and my Nex 7 (2013) a 1. There's no comparing the two, the Echo blows the Nexus 7 out of the water.

Thanks. There's no comparing mine either - Nexus 7 is a 10 and Echo a 1. I'm dyslexic - do you think that might have something to do with it?

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Only 114 days and 32 minutes until my Echo arrives.

Then you have time for the full LP version