Small Playback

[the kid]

Hi all.

 

I am on the hunt for a device, I think it might not be a thing.

 

A simple, small, mains powered, wifi, device that can be user set up for playback.

 

Currently we use laptops, which in its self is ok. But using a laptop seems expensive and excessive when there might be a far better alternative.

 

I was looking and saw there was a kickstarter for a spotify "puck" simialr to the old ipod mini. Logically it would be great but in a managment view I think not simple. Is there anything out that is simple and small or are we looking at phone or tablets as "good" alternatives for playback solutions.

[radiomike]

Using a laptop is a fairly expensive way of doing this - especially assuming that you are just using them for audio playback. However they are multipurpose devices so you can also use them for other tasks, like video or powerpoint. Also not forgetting the power of tools like Q-lab for playback of audio and video.

Assuming from that you are just after playlist playback then options are limited. In my opinion tablets are probably the way to go. Dedicated mp3 players do exist, but usually propriety (like sony) and don't do wi-fi so you will be adding media via app over usb or via sd-card. Anything that does wifi is likely to be an android device anyway, in which case a proper tablet with google services or amazon may give you more options. Audio quality and build quality would be something to look at when purchasing. If mainly looking to stream, rather than store locally then an 8gb device with sd-card slot may be all you need. You also need to watch out for 3.5mm jack sockets disappearing and being replaced with usb-c on these devices, as they are with phones.

 

With apple, assuming you don't want invest in Ipads, there is always the Ipod touch which is more like a limited iphone, does have wifi and some phone apps like spotify work on it. But probably more expensive than basic android tablet and you can't add sd cards to it if you run out of storage.