streaming deal

satkinsn

low end audio
Subscriber
Cheap way to try on-demand music, from a not awful source.

Microsoft is offering through Labor Day a $9.99 for six months of its Groove music service. I've used it in the past, found it to be surprisingly good at the things I'm interested in, which tend toward the unpopular and out of the way.

The deal is in Microsoft's app store.

s.
 
They're trying another rebrand, huh? Historically they've had a good mix of licenses, but Zune broke my heart.
 
They've been "Groove" for the last couple of years, which I suppose is an improvement from "XBox Music." Microsoft is like that uncle of yours who will never, ever be hip, no matter how hard he tries. That said, they do some good stuff these days - I like Windows 10, from what I read the Surface line is well-received, and Groove is not bad in its substance.

One thing I don't know, what the streaming rate is. Over my Sonos it sounded as good as Pandora, iHeart, most other radio-type streams, though maybe not quite as good as Spotify, Apple Music.

s.

edit - I dug my Zune out, charged it up a few months back. It was one of the small ones, and I was shocked at how well designed the thing was, and how irrelevant it seemed.
 
@satkinsn the ZuneHD was a fine little piece of kit. Microsoft being who they are though, had to abandon any innovation to try and play catch-up.
 
Interesting that Amazon is going to allow Alexa and Cortana to be on speaking terms with each other soon. Wonder if Groove Music will be coming to Echo/Dot?

You should be able to voice control all services on your Sonos via Alexa in a couple of months.
 
Chicks -

Will I be able to speak directly to my Sonos Play1s, or will I have to, say, tell my Amazon Tap to tell the Sonos to do something?

s.
 
I liked Groove Music when I used it ... was Xbox Music at the time and I was using it on a desktop PC rig. Selection & sound quality were good.
$9.99 is a good rate for 6 months .... nice trial period. Nothing to loose really.
 
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Chicks -

Will I be able to speak directly to my Sonos Play1s, or will I have to, say, tell my Amazon Tap to tell the Sonos to do something?

s.
Tap should work, or a Dot, $35 at Staples right now after EZ rebate.
 
Will I be able to speak directly to my Sonos Play1s, or will I have to, say, tell my Amazon Tap to tell the Sonos to do something?

s.
In order to speak directly to Sonos... you'll have to sit tight until they conjure up a speaker with a mic array AND seal their Alexa deal with Amazon. Both in the works according to rumor mill
 
In order to speak directly to Sonos... you'll have to sit tight until they conjure up a speaker with a mic array AND seal their Alexa deal with Amazon. Both in the works according to rumor mill

No, all of their existing devices will work with Dot & Echo. They are also working on a new range of speakers with built-in microphone array, but their existing devices will continue Sonos' 13-year legacy of non-obsolescence, unlike the vast majority of hifi manufacturers.

Amazon announced their Connected Speaker API on Monday, which Sonos and several other hardware makers have worked on with them for the past year. Most will have Alexa integration by October, initially with Dot/Echo dependency, but soon enough standalone.
 
No, all of their existing devices will work with Dot & Echo.
Yes, of course Sonos works with Dots/Echos. But the voice control is presently handled by the Dot not Sonos directly. Hence why I noted, "speak directly to Sonos ". :)
They are also working on a new range of speakers with built-in microphone array...
I mentioned this as well. :)
 
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Yes, of course Sonos works with Dots/Echos. But the voice control is presently handled by the Dot not Sonos directly.

Presently, Dot only works with a Sonos device with an analog input, from the Dot's analog output.

Soon, possibly by October 4th, the Dot will connect to any Sonos device, in the cloud, via Amazon's Connected Speaker API.

At some point, probably early 2018 or possibly earlier, Sonos will have at least one device with a built-in microphone array, which will not depend on an Amazon Dot/Echo.
 
Presently, Dot only works with a Sonos device with an analog input, from the Dot's analog output.

Soon, possibly by October 4th, the Dot will connect to any Sonos device, in the cloud, via Amazon's Connected Speaker API.

At some point, probably early 2018 or possibly earlier, Sonos will have at least one device with a built-in microphone array, which will not depend on an Amazon Dot/Echo.
Yer preachin' to the choir brother. ;)
 
Chicks -

Will I be able to speak directly to my Sonos Play1s, or will I have to, say, tell my Amazon Tap to tell the Sonos to do something?

s.
I know I saw an article that made it look like you could set up the Sonos to play when you just asked the Echo to play something, but we probably won’t know for sure unti October 4th. Though, I am not sure how it would distinguish between the Echo speaker and the Sonos speaker. Maybe you can tell it to play on the Sonos speaker when you first use it, but it holds that info until you change it, like it does with the Echo multiroom audio feature.

Definitely some major changes coming to voice control as competition heats up.
 
One note for anyone who took advantage of the deal: Microsoft didn't send me my vouchers for the extra months until the15th, 13 days after my order. It would be easy to overlook the email/have it end up in spam.

s.
 
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