Amazon Echo Dot

Yeah, "Alexa, turn on TV." works. Then some other activities I have set up like "Alexa, turn on smart TV." that turns on all the same gear but sets the TV to the Smart Apps home rather than the HDMI input. Still have to select the smart app itself, like Netflix, with the remote because the TV does not have a direct command/hotkey for Netflix.

Also, with favorite channels set up in Harmony, can say "Alexa, turn on National Geographic" or "...turn on SyFy", etc. and it will change the cable box to those channels.

Edit: It seems to struggle recognizing channels having abbreviated names; ABC, CBS, CW23, etc. I have not yet been able to voice command those sort of channels through Alexa/Dot.
Thanks for the info. I am using an app called Simple Control that does many (if not all) of the same features, but requires "ask Simple Control" in every command. I think I may put the Harmony Companion on my Christmas list. :D I have a Harmony 880 in two rooms now and like the physical buttons when I want to use the DVR.

I came up with a new solution for my Office setup. As I mentioned, I was using Bluetooth to my receiver, but it was a bit too limited. I couldn't use my headphone setup with it and it only allowed me to use the Echo Dot speaker when I would connect it with my iPhone via Bluetooth. I have a Tivoli Pal radio (I have two of them, the other is my bathroom) that I keep in the living room for listening to the occasional local basketball game that isn't being televised. It is portable, so I like it for carrying out to the pool for local radio, too. Anyway, since it wasn't getting much use, I moved it to my office. I then used a headphone splitter that I had laying around and sent one Echo output to the Tivoli (it has aux in) for listening to podcasts or just for better sound quality for regular functions. I then ran the other output to a preamp that feeds my headphone setup..which feeds my receiver.

This gives me the option to listen to the Tivoli Pal or the Onkyo receiver (or both if I want to be crazy). I am listening to the Onkyo playing a playlist that Alexa put together for me and I think it sounds pretty darn good. I like the sound of it with Bluetooth, to be honest, so maybe I am not as picky as I used to be.

I mentioned in another thread that Burson Audio is supposed to be sending me a Cable + adapter. I initially wasn't interested, but they claimed that it could help with the sound quality coming out of the Echo, so I asked them to send me one to review.

https://www.bursonaudio.com/products/cable-plus-a2r/


I am interested to try it, but I am definitely skeptical. I will also test it with my Phone, where it might make a bigger difference.
 
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With The Harmony skill do you just say " Alexa, turn on tv" or "Alexa, tell Harmony how turn in TV"? I love it with my Hue lights. Just got some Hue 3rd gens. They are supposed to be brighter and have more accurate colors than the 2nd gen. Unfortunately, one of them was shattered in the box when it was delivered, so I only have 2 of them to try out.
I got a chance to test the two Hue 3rd gen Bulbs. If you use the color modes very often it is a nice upgrade. Blues and especially greens are much truer to the real colors.

Didn't want to bump this again, but I thought this was pretty funny:

 
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^^^
LOL the fish is killer.

I may have to look into a couple 3rd Gen bulbs. I just picked up 3 more 2nd Gen color bulbs a bit ago.

As far as the problems I mentioned previously about recognizing some channels, got that fixed. Just had to go into the Harmony skill and add a better "friendly" name for those it had problems with. You can add multiple friendly names to each thing if you wish.

EDIT: Heck, just found out don't even need to tell Alexa to turn on the TV first. As long as it's set up as a favorite in Harmony and has been discovered by Alexa, even with the TV/HT turned off, can just say, "Alexa, turn on Discovery Channel". It'll fire up the whole system and tune to that channel.
 
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Ordered a couple of Wemo Switch outlets, Amazon black Friday deal with points made them free. Hopefully it can handle the power surge of the ONIX A120 when I ask Alexa to power it on...
 
Ordered a couple of Wemo Switch outlets, Amazon black Friday deal with points made them free. Hopefully it can handle the power surge of the ONIX A120 when I ask Alexa to power it on...
You will love them. I just got an iHome plug that works with Siri and Alexa. It also has a small remote if you want to turn it on and off without touching a phone or bothering someone in the room by talking to Alexa. Another benefit is that it is wider than it is tall, so two of them would fit in a normal two outlet setup. It is my favorite plug so far and I have WeMo and iDevice plugs around, as well.

Today, I got an iDevices thing that you screw into a light socket and then you can use it with any bulb. I haven't set it up yet, but I like the idea of using old school bulbs by the bed where I do a lot of reading.
 
Alexa, Stereo on!
OK

Lol. Works beautifully. Utter simplicity to set up. WeMo/Echo work well together.
 
Alexa, Stereo on!
OK

Lol. Works beautifully. Utter simplicity to set up. WeMo/Echo work well together.
Hard to get much easier than that.

I got around to testing the iDevice Socket I mentioned above. It is the first device I have run across that works perfectly with Siri, but has shortfalls with Alexa. It has two features. It screws into a socket and then you actually screw a bulb into it. You can turn on and off the socket with Siri and Alexa. It also has an LED "Night Light" that is at its base. This light can be changed many different colors with Siri, but Alexa doesn't see it as a separate device, so it has no control over the LEDs. Personally, I prefer Hue Bulbs, but this one is nice if you like incandescent bulbs. (Note: because of the size of the iDevice, it may not fit under or in some lamps)
 
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... I like the idea of using old school bulbs by the bed where I do a lot of reading.

I also have some of the newer Hue White bulbs. Granted they don't change color nor color temp, but they do have an incandescent-similar color temp and they are variable intensity. $15 each. I've started putting them in places where just white with dimming is OK.

Gonna pick up a few receptacle adapters too, just have to decide on the brand/type.
 
I also have some of the newer Hue White bulbs. Granted they don't change color nor color temp, but they do have an incandescent-similar color temp and they are variable intensity. $15 each. I've started putting them in places where just white with dimming is OK.

Gonna pick up a few receptacle adapters too, just have to decide on the brand/type.
Yeah, we have Hues all over the house now (and on the porch/garage). I really don't recommend the iDevices socket unless you just have a ton of old bulbs laying around.
 
A tit over a month in and all is pretty much well in Echoville. :)

What skills I've employed work fairly well. Just loaded the Campbell's Soup - What's For Dinner and I dig it.

But now that my feet are well wet, I have noticed an annoying goof at times. She seems to go dead asleep on me for reason. Untested but usually when I streaming tunes. One minute she's at my beck and call...the next she won't wake no matter what. :confused::mad:

Anyone else experiencing this "anomaly"?
 
A tit over a month in and all is pretty much well in Echoville. :)

What skills I've employed work fairly well. Just loaded the Campbell's Soup - What's For Dinner and I dig it.

But now that my feet are well wet, I have noticed an annoying goof at times. She seems to go dead asleep on me for reason. Untested but usually when I streaming tunes. One minute she's at my beck and call...the next she won't wake no matter what. :confused::mad:

Anyone else experiencing this "anomaly"?
Strange, I have not had that issue. You may want to try unplugging it for five minutes or so and plugging it back in. That might help...not sure, though.
 
Haven't noticed this, either. I've hidden mine away in a perforated votive candle holder. She still hears me fine from across the room.
 
Got my Dot a couple days ago and wired it to the main system. Didn't know whether I would really like voice control, but love it. SQ is good. For a non-techie like me the thing is pretty much foolproof. Easy to set up. Like the flash briefing, which I customized. Love not scrolling all the time, though sometimes I want to do so. I'd already signed up for Music Unlimited a couple months back. A couple of the music albums I've uploaded to the cloud apparently aren't available via Unlimited, and Alexa has twice failed to find them until I repeat the command as "My Music [artist name] album [title]" then it starts playing the album. I've been hoping for awhile that Amazon will go gapless for album play so I get the full effect of segues, and that hasn't changed.

One visitor had never heard of Echo, but has ordered and intends to join Amazon Prime and subscribe to Unlimited after seeing/hearing it in action. I'm sure we'll be adding a compatible climate control thermostat before long and a few select lights. And a Fire TV streamer eventually - right now I still like the selections I have via ROKU. My intent is to keep it all in the Amazon family. We'll see.
 
Haven't noticed this, either. I've hidden mine away in a perforated votive candle holder. She still hears me fine from across the room.

Yeah, I'm amazed at how sensitive it is. I have mine in the living room. Even when I'm upstairs in bed, just speaking in a slightly louder than normal voice gets me the morning weather report.
 
A tit over a month in and all is pretty much well in Echoville. :)

What skills I've employed work fairly well. Just loaded the Campbell's Soup - What's For Dinner and I dig it.

But now that my feet are well wet, I have noticed an annoying goof at times. She seems to go dead asleep on me for reason. Untested but usually when I streaming tunes. One minute she's at my beck and call...the next she won't wake no matter what. :confused::mad:

Anyone else experiencing this "anomaly"?

The only glitch, as I'd call it anyway, happened to me just yesterday. It didn't respond so I gave the command again and it swirled around a bit then the light turned red. Came back with the connection had been lost or something like that, try again in a little while. I waited a minute or two and it was back to normal. :dunno:
 
The only glitch, as I'd call it anyway, happened to me just yesterday. It didn't respond so I gave the command again and it swirled around a bit then the light turned red. Came back with the connection had been lost or something like that, try again in a little while. I waited a minute or two and it was back to normal. :dunno:

That's happened to me too, but only when there's a problem with the router or cable service.
 
Don't forget a WeMo outlet to voice control power to your rig!

I may get a WeMo switch/outlet to give it a try. It's hard to say if the negative reviews are just the result of loose connections between the seat and steering wheel, so to speak, or if they're a bit glitchy yet.
 
Don't forget a WeMo outlet to voice control power to your rig!
I got a new Bluetooth/Airplay combo device (Yamaha WXC-50) and have it hooked to a headphone amp and my vintage Marantz receiver. I went ahead and hooked up the Marantz to iHome plug (similar to Wemo, but also works with Siri). Now I just tell Alexa to connect to speaker, turn on Marantz, and play music and next thing you know my Marantz is on and playing music. Pretty sweet!
 
I may get a WeMo switch/outlet to give it a try. It's hard to say if the negative reviews are just the result of loose connections between the seat and steering wheel, so to speak, or if they're a bit glitchy yet.
Well, mine has already flaked on me. Sigh. Spent two hours last night trying to resuscitate the damn thing, including two hard resets. Looks like it tried to update itself and wound up bricking itself instead.

Back to the good old reliable Sonos Connect:Amp to drive the QUADs. Never a glitch, can't hear a scootch of difference in SQ between it and the ONIX (as expected), despite it delivering half the power. Dot will activate its Aux in via voice, so that'll do until full Alexa integration arrives.
 
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