On these Surface, I am the ideal candidate for Amazon's new music device. First and foremost, I am a huge fan of Amazon. I use them for most of my product links, pay for Prime, and pretty much buy most everything I own from them.
Amazon Unlimited vs Apple Music
Right now, I use Apple Music for most of my listening needs. However, it is 9.99 a month (for a single account) vs 7.99 for Amazon with Prime. That is a pretty decent deal, but I have used Apple Music for a year so that it knows exactly what I like. This is important because it uses that information to recommend playlists and albums and it is spot on with the eclectic mix of music I listen to.
Siri is the real distinguishing factor, though. I unashamedly use Apple devices most of the time. I am writing this article on an iPad in bed while listening to Apple Music streaming from an iPhone to an Airport Express that feeds my bedside headphone setup. I have an Apple Watch that I use to skip songs or tell it what to play next. I will then add any links to this article and post it from an iMac or MBP. All of these Apple devices now work with Siri. The problem with Amazon Music is that it does not work with Siri.
Siri is the real distinguishing factor, though. I unashamedly use Apple devices most of the time. I am writing this article on an iPad in bed while listening to Apple Music streaming from an iPhone to an Airport Express that feeds my bedside headphone setup. I have an Apple Watch that I use to skip songs or tell it what to play next. I will then add any links to this article and post it from an iMac or MBP. All of these Apple devices now work with Siri. The problem with Amazon Music is that it does not work with Siri.
Family Plan
Literally, two days before Amazon launched this service, I convinced my girlfriend to try Apple Music. She has bought three or four CDs in the last week, so it was time to introduce her to streaming. Heck, I am even picking up the extra cost by increasing my membership to the Family Plan. Apple Music charges 14.99 for this service and Amazon will eventually charge the same thing (though, their Family Plan hasn't been launched yet).
Echo
This is the only enticing thing about the service for my needs. It is a $3.99 a month charge that gives you unlimited music on an Echo. Since I have the fantastically awesome Echo Dot and another one on pre-order, I could see this as a convenient addition. However, I paid $25 in May to load my music onto the regular Prime Music and I still haven't gotten my money's worth. When it is time to renew, I may consider this option again since it would only cost and extra $23 for the year over the matching service.
Location, location, location
My Dot sits in my kitchen between two rooms and it sends audio out via a Phillips Soundring speaker. For that use, the million song "free" service (not really free, but comes with a Prime membership), combined with thousands of songs from my library, is plenty. As a side note, one of the great things about streaming music is getting unlimited variety. However, sometimes I want to go to my well curated music library (~25,000) and listen to music I know I like.
(Note: I should mention that I still haven't gotten all of my files loaded up to Amazon because their app is awful and crashes every time I use it.)
(Note: I should mention that I still haven't gotten all of my files loaded up to Amazon because their app is awful and crashes every time I use it.)
Bluetooth
My iPhone or Apple Watch is on me most of the time. While it is slightly more inconvenient, I can start playing music on my phone and just tell the Echo to connect to it and Apple Music will play through the Dot. It is actually one of my favorite features because I use it for podcasts, rather than music, on most mornings. But the point here is that the Dot isn't really limited for music/audio options right now because it brilliantly has a Bluetooth receiver built in.
AirPlay
For my needs, AirPlay is simply a better way to listen to music for long sessions than the Dot. This is mainly because I have so many AirPlay devices, but it is also related to how this technology works versus how the Echo works.
The first shortfall to the Echo Dot is that it doesn't have a digital output. This means you are using the onboard DACs vs higher end DACs that you can use with the Airport Express which has an optical digital output.
Also, I now have 3 receivers with AirPlay built in. This means that I can hit one button on my iPhone and my receiver will come on, switch to the correct input, and start playing. It will even show album art, album info, and song information on my TV if I have it on. To listen to the Dot on that setup, I would need to turn on the receiver and switch to the correct input. Sure, with the Dot, I could do that with a command, but it is still more steps to start playing music. In other words, some of the convenience of the Dot would be outweighed by some of the inconveniences.
The first shortfall to the Echo Dot is that it doesn't have a digital output. This means you are using the onboard DACs vs higher end DACs that you can use with the Airport Express which has an optical digital output.
Also, I now have 3 receivers with AirPlay built in. This means that I can hit one button on my iPhone and my receiver will come on, switch to the correct input, and start playing. It will even show album art, album info, and song information on my TV if I have it on. To listen to the Dot on that setup, I would need to turn on the receiver and switch to the correct input. Sure, with the Dot, I could do that with a command, but it is still more steps to start playing music. In other words, some of the convenience of the Dot would be outweighed by some of the inconveniences.
AppleTV 4
Amazon and Apple are at odds, so I don't think Amazon Unlimited will be coming to the AppleTV anytime soon. I do have a Roku, but the Amazon music app is sparse compared to the AppleTV app. The implementation of Apple Music on the AppleTV is the best implementation of any music streaming service on any other streaming device. Once again, you get Siri control, which is great. I have used Spotify, Rdio, SiriusXM on Roku and none of them come close to the AppleTV implementation of Apple Music.
Proximity
The other issue with using the Dot in my main system is that it would need to be near my receiver to use the aux output. With music blaring, I think I would need to yell to have it pause music and issue it a command to play something else. While Siri is on my wrist, so I could whisper the name of the album I want to hear and it would start playing.
I should mention that my receiver also has Bluetooth built in, so I could place the Dot near my seating location and send music to my receiver wirelessly. However, AirPlay is lossless and Bluetooth currently uses compression which means the music might sound worse.
I should mention that my receiver also has Bluetooth built in, so I could place the Dot near my seating location and send music to my receiver wirelessly. However, AirPlay is lossless and Bluetooth currently uses compression which means the music might sound worse.
The Wrap Up
Right now, I am sitting this one out. I may eventually get the Echo Dot service, but right now there isn't a compelling reason for me to switch to Amazon Music Unlimited. The main reason is that Siri only works with Apple Music right now and Siri is with be everywhere. The second reason is that I use my Echo as a secondary music player and AirPlay works better and provides better sound quality for my main systems.
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