I am seeking a little more help from those experienced posters on here who have helped me find an entertainment solution that works perfectly for me.
Now that we have fibre, I have an Amazon Firestick to provide access to UK TV and radio. Its main advantage, apart from quality of audio and video, is that I can install a VPN directly on it without having the faff of putting it on routers or modems. This also makes it totally portable.
I bought two Echo Dots in the latest Black Friday deals and have them linked as a stereo pair using the home cinema system in the Alexa app. This gives amazing quality/price value.
Now for my problem. I can control the volume easily. I can change the ambience using the graphic equaliser facility. I can even swap left and right channels BUT I can find no way to change the stereo balance between the speakers. Does anyone have any ideas?
This has been a problem with them from the start and I don’t think it has ever been fixed no matter how many requests have been put in
One thing to check is unpair them and check the volume levels are the same on both of them as they can end up with different levels starting point and be unbalanced that way, then re pair them.
Thanks for the suggestion Griff. I did try what you suggested but when I re-paired them they seemed to adopt the same settings for each Echo Dot for volume and even for graphic equaliser. It also upset some other settings I had made. Perhaps it was a finger problem on my part so I will give it another go.
I didn’t know you could do that (stereo pairing) in the first place. Great idea though: those little speakers sound much better than I’d expected (friends had a first generation one, which was awful).
I agree. It is such a basic function. I am no audiophile so I find the quality of the stereo sound generated is incredible. The Echo Dots (5 gen) are amazing value at €65 each but were available for €21 each in black Friday deal and I notice that today they are on offer at €25 each ( https://www.amazon.fr/echo-dot-2022/dp/B09B8X9RGM )
Could you not plug the Echo Dots into the mains using a WIFI plug then use “hey Google” to switch them on when required. I don’t think I have any data worth collecting.
They are quite good sound wise but when you buy a set of better speakers that dont steal data the sound quality is truly stunning.
Old hifi is almost not hifi nowadays and single box systems are near the old audiophile stuff we grew up with. Each time I switch my stereo on and listen to music, Its fantastic compared to the old system.
I don’t understand the concern about the data Alexa is “stealing”. For me, it is what makes the Alexa experience so helpful. It gets to know what I like to listen to and where to give weather/traffic forecasts. Is this just an urban myth or a real fear of harm?
I must admit I did NOT find that clip to be interesting viewing. It came across as someone who precociously calls himself Blackbeltbarrister on a monetised YouTube video providing a drearily long advert for his “partner” Incogni.
I started to get disinterested when he said “little devices which have a name that I won’t say because it will trigger your device in the background and start ordering things off the Amazon website”. This is simply scaremongering.
When he said “no actual evidence has come to light yet but, if true …….” His credibility started to disappear before my eyes. The only damage he received, as far as I could detect, was his doorbell stopped chiming and that didn’t even seem to be as a result of Amazon stealing too much data.
I get that Amazon can store loads of information about me. So do many other organisations. Sometimes that is a very good thing. What I am trying to understand is what actual harm, in practical terms, will it do to me.
@Mik_Bennett I had a couple of echo dot gen 3’s and based on your thread gave it a whirl to get them paired in stereo which worked quite easily, but must say I didn’t find the sound great. Is it the gen 5 dots that you’ve got? And by any chance do you happen to know how they compare to the gen 3’s?
@Mik_Bennett in itself you are correct. A lot of people agree with you that the small pieces of data collected are insignificant.
The thing that’s often undervalued though is that whether the data-sucker admits it or not, this data is then sold on and/or directly combined with data about you that’s obtained from other sources.
Suddenly far more about you can be known than you ever suspected. .Simply by joining as little as 2 dots.
I have 5 gen Dots. I am new to Alexa so cannot compare with previous incarnations. I use hearing aids anyway so my audio appreciation mat be rather lacking.
Well, finally just bitten the bullet and purchased a Sonos Move as also on offer on amazon, primarily due to the sound quality, plus it’s mobile with a battery, so let’s see how that stacks up when it lands​:crossed_fingers:
I am hoping that providing I take sensible precautions and keep bank details secure not much harm can be done. I have enough trouble spending my own money without the bank security phoning to ask if I REALLY want to buy something on Ali Express!
On the other hand it can be very useful to have information collected about me. I was once detained by Mossad, when I was making a crossing from Jordan to Israel, as a person of interest relating to the hijacking of an aeroplane to Entebbe. They were able to read files kept by UK security forces, (where I have been positively vetted in connection with MOD work), and discover that for their purposes I was one of the good guys.
I just can’t get passed the always on and data collection business with them I’m afraid.
I don’t think I have any data worth collecting.
