Echo Link | Stream hi-fi music to your stereo system (requires compatible Echo device for Alexa voice control)

I bought the Echo Link to enable me to stream Amazon Music through my music system after trying for three frustrating months to do this through the Heos app. I have a Marantz system which combines an amp, cd player and streamer with Dali Oberon speakers. I have been able to stream Spotify easily and have an exceptionally good and stable bluetooth connection but have been totally unable to get Alexa to recognise the Marantz - a problem which many Heos users have shared. I tried streaming via RCA and aux cables from both a tablet and Echo dot but the sound was not what I knew my system could do and I wanted the sound to be as good as it could be without spending a lot more. I had doubts about this purchase after reading the reviews but as several people found the sound quality to be excellent I decided to try it.I noted several comments about set up problems but my own experience was brilliant. I used a Fire 10 tablet with the Alexa App and an Echo Dot plus RCA cables. It took less than five minutes. For any one struggling on the Alexa App, make sure your Echo Link is switched on and have your cables ready. On the Alexa App, click on "devices" at the bottom of the screen. A list of your devices will appear. If the Echo link is not shown click on the plus sign, top right corner. If Echo link still does not appear type it in the box. Alexa guides you through the rest, all I had to do was click continue a few times and connect the cables to RCA analogue out on the Echo Link and RCA in on my Marantz and turn on the system. Alexa automatically connects to the Wifi I usually use on the tablet or laptop you are using. I did not have to enter my password. I set the system source to Analogue In on my amp I then asked my Echo Dot to play and music started at once.The system works well for me with voice commands but can also be operated by the Amazon music app. Find your music library, choose what you want to listen to and look for the Amazon casting symbol - looks like a small screen with the Wifi symbol in the corner. Clicking on this will produce a list of your Amazon devices eg. Fire tablets, Echos etc. Your Echo link will appear there once Alexa has found it through the initial set up process. You can select any of your devices to play your music or if you have several devices, select play everywhere for multi room music. For those having volume problems look on the Alexa app, select devices, click on Echo Link and a volume control bar is there. I think the default setting is quite low. I tested mine and at a bit past the midway point it was incredibly loud and the windows shook! I can also use my amp remote for volume and of course the dial on the Echo link itself.You can of course use the Alexa App to control your playing as well but I find it doesn't show many choices and just opens Amazon Music for you. On the Amazon Music App you can see your whole library and if you have playlists set up they are shown clearly and it's easier to select your choice. I also find voice control works well with playlists - if you just ask for short tracks Alexa plays something similar after the chosen track ends but a playlist keeps her busy and focussed for a time!I like the sound so far. Having only had the device a day I have tested out several types of music including rock, opera, country, a little classical and a few things that are great to test out a system such as the Godzilla soundtrack, Ulladubulla War of the Worlds Remix and a few oldies. I have done a cd comparison and to me it seems as good as the cd and perhaps a bit better on some. I should say I am using the system in a small room with a lot of books and soft furnishings which does make a difference. If you are in a larger open space it will be different.I am delighted with my purchase - both with the sound and ease of operation. I hope this information may help anyone concerned about setting up and operating the device.

Weirdly I bought this without actually fully understanding how it would work for me. I was just fascinated by the potential for whole house audio controlled by voice. Amazon's description isn't all that good for something that should be a hit and even as a techno-nut I wasn't entirely sure of the purpose of this when I read about it first.So, lets explain.Basically this is a means to put hi-res audio stream into an amplifier. For someone like me with a number of good amps around the place it's a cheap(ish) way of getting my Amazon Hi-Res music into a decent Hi-Fi system. And one should applaud Amazon for that because most of the recent innovations in that area focus on small mono integrated streaming speakers which, are not bad but hardly going to appeal to enthusiast.This unit plugs into your amp using one of a number of ways. Co-axial, RCA or optical fibre which, I used.You then plug this into the internet using Ethernet or Wifi.Once connected to your home network you then control using another device. This is where I got initially confused when I first read about it because the pictures show it with an Alexa device all the time. And this isn't really needed to be with this unit or in fact at all because you can use your mobile and the Alexa or Amazon Music app.But, of course ideally you use Alexa and speak to it having given this a name which you can relate to. That means you can be in for example an upstairs room with an Alexa and then ask it to stream music through you Echo which, might be downstairs in a kitchen. A few of these around the place would mean you could literally be anywhere in your house and simply ask for you favourite music or radio streamer to play in whichever place you choose.The quality of the music is superb. Which, of course it should be especially if you have the Hi-Res audio from Amazon because you can stream at higher than CD levels of data. The limiting factor will be your amplifier and speakers.That's the good.The dropped star is for the less than perfect installation and operation. I set mine up on Wifi at first until I put it where I could plug in Ethernet. This took me a few attempts because you have to get your mobile to connect to the Echo wifi network and of course that can be a bit buggy. In my case it took three attempts and a bit of Googling Samsung mobiles because the help and setup on the app didn't entirely correspond to the phone.Once connected the Echo worked perfectly from my Amazon music app. I simply selected to play music through the Echo I had named. But, when using Alexa to do the same I've had far more limited success. The idea is that you tell Alexa to play 'X' through the named Echo and off it goes. For me this never worked all the time.Overall, I love this or the idea of it anyway. The sound quality is superb through a decent amp/speaker setup and the convenience is of course excellent. But the setup was not trouble free and the voice control via Alexa not perfect.

This device enables the easy integration of Amazon music HD into older HiFi set ups. It needs a decent WiFi connection for set up and is very easy to get up and running. It also needs an Amazon music device like your mobile phone or tablet.I had mine working in 15mins. It really is that easy.It works with your Amazon music enabled device to control and pick tracks. The device, in my case a Samsung phone, will, whilst running the Amazon music app, cast the music choice to the link. The link is hard connected to your amplifier with rca cables into the AUX IN. The link will then let you listen to your music in HD. Please note it is HD, 24/96 playback only. Not UHD. To get UHD you will need to buy a different device, even taking the coax output to a standalone DAC will NOT give you UHD. If you can make peace with this fact then it is a brilliant and great value proposition.I found it to be a massive upgrade in sound quality compared to my Samsung phone running into the amplifier from the headphone socket. I do also have an Audiolab streamer running into a Chord m scaler and Chord DAC. This is a much much more expensive way of listening to UHD music. Is it better? Of course it is, more space around every instrument, more holographic soundstage and a more vinyl like decay to notes. BUT, and this is what you need to make peace with, is it worth spending thousands of pounds more for a fraction more detail?The Echo Link will give you 75% of a state of the art top end system for less than £140. For me, this is an absolute no brainer. Buy it and just be happy you've saved a fortune. If however you are an audiophile, you will never be happy! Being and audiophile is like an addiction.This is my humble opinion. I hope it helps.