epike Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 I hopefully just have a simple question - what is the best way to integrate Spotify into C4? It looks like most people here mention Sonos or Denon Heos, but it looks like the Sonos driver recently changed? Any guidance would be much appreciated. epike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elvis Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 I'm very happy with Spotify Connect. It is built into Denon and other receivers, as well as Amazon Echo and Dots. Integrating it into C4? Sorry, I can't help you if you want it to show up like your NAS media. I haven't been down that road. We use the Spotify app on our phones, on the TV, or on the receiver as the "front end" interface. I use custom buttons on the wand to pipe to various audio zones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epike Posted January 8, 2017 Author Share Posted January 8, 2017 Thanks Elvis. Maybe "integrate" wasn't the best word. I was just trying to determine what's the most common or best way to use Spotify with C4. I don't mind Spotify Connect, but it would be nice if we didn't have to leave the C4 environment and use a second app (that's one of the reasons we are considering C4 vs using a hodge podge of other "smart" offerings). If using Spotify Connect is the best options currently available, I can live with that. epike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elvis Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Just now, epike said: Maybe "integrate" wasn't the best word. Actually, it is the best word if you want to stay in the C4 environment. Others will eventually chime in, I hope. I feel certain this is done routinely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d1amund Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 There is no native Spotify with C4 controllers so either way you look at it you're piecing together third party equipment and subject to the whims of that third party equipment and Spotify regulations. For me, if I'm going to put together a hodgepodge and have to use third party apps I would stick with Sonos...it's hard to beat their interface and reliability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C4CA Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 I recently added a MMS-2 from autonomics and seems to be working great, the Spotify integration is better in my opinion then Sonos old driver. There is also fusion research! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elvis Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 What about Spotify on Roku? You can directly launch it and then your C4 app and wand will control the app. I don't see why that would not work. Worth a look, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axis24 Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 In the past I have used Sonos Connect to make this work. With the change of the API, C4 is saying there is new drivers to make it work. Autonomic would be my other suggestion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d1amund Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 What about Spotify on Roku? You can directly launch it and then your C4 app and wand will control the app. I don't see why that would not work. Worth a look, anyway. I haven't given that option much thought as I tend to keep sources for what their primary intention is. TV is a monitor only. BDP only plays video discs. CD/transports only for music discs. Streaming video boxes for video only. I've never really been big into crossing over and like to keep things dedicated. Especially when it comes to TVs and BDP....I absolutely cannot stand using either of them for streaming content. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C4RVA Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Denon HEOS link gives you basic transport controls over Spotify connect. Play, pause, next , previous. No meta data. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mallom Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 If you want the ability to browse for music without leaving the C4 app, go with Autonomics or Fusion Research. But keep in mind that they cannot guarantee that this feature will work forever. If Spotify comes up with a crazy update, it could break the integration and you would have to wait for months for those companies to update their drivers. Or just get a Sonos connect and use their app for browsing. Liking or not, their music players have been solid for years and the app interface is pretty good. I am still using my Sonos on pre-7.0 firmware and EV drivers on 8.1.3. Its been working great. I will jump to the endorsed driver once the integration breaks completely. I just hope C4 will come up with a way to support Spotify in the future. Even if it is just Playlist selection. Even my old Roku has a channel for this. Have a great Sunday yall! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcmiro Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 It you don't mind a two step solution. Playing Spotify to a 2015+ Yamaha reciever from your phone works really well. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epike Posted January 11, 2017 Author Share Posted January 11, 2017 Any thoughts on whether it would be better to consider switching from Spotify to Tidal, since Tidal is supported natively in the C4 controllers and presumably would provide for better integration? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adidaswood Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 We've been having similar discussions in my house. We are on the verge of dumping Napster. Their playlists are terrible. My wife hates them. Spotify's playlists are much better and more updated in my opinion. I was ready to go buy a sonos but then all this noise with the API started. I've though about Tidal and or Deezer but again, I'd have to investigate the playlists. we have been launching spotify via our phone from the spotify app and selecting the airplay driver or sharebridge or whatever they call it via the app. Then if you want you can add other rooms or switch to spotify connect. Issues there are that your wifi better be good, any weak spots and it all breaks down, probably goes without saying. feels like we've take a couple steps backward as of late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 We've been having similar discussions in my house. We are on the verge of dumping Napster. Their playlists are terrible. My wife hates them. Spotify's playlists are much better and more updated in my opinion. I was ready to go buy a sonos but then all this noise with the API started. I've though about Tidal and or Deezer but again, I'd have to investigate the playlists. we have been launching spotify via our phone from the spotify app and selecting the airplay driver or sharebridge or whatever they call it via the app. Then if you want you can add other rooms or switch to spotify connect. Issues there are that your wifi better be good, any weak spots and it all breaks down, probably goes without saying. feels like we've take a couple steps backward as of late. Have you considered a Chromecast audio? Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 4 minutes ago, msgreenf said: Have you considered a Chromecast audio? Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk For that matter, Sonos is still an option there. In both scenarios once you 'connect' Spotify, it hands off the actual streaming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin L Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 The Fusion Solo and Duet are awesome and still have direct spotify control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adidaswood Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 4 hours ago, msgreenf said: Have you considered a Chromecast audio? Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk Seems like this isn't much different than using spotify connect or shairbridge. Still can't launch it from a scene or a button tap. Am I wrong? Sonos would still work in this regard as long as I use a favorite? I don't know much about sonos yet. is this a sonos favorite or a spotify favorite? 3 hours ago, Kevin L said: The Fusion Solo and Duet are awesome and still have direct spotify control. I'm hesitant to invest in any hardware based solutions, including sonos or fusion. Until I can get some reasonable understanding from control4, sonos or somebody that Spotify or <Insert Hardware Vendor Here> isn't going to smash my integration because they didn't care about their partnerships or customers. One of these companies leaders needs to just tell people what their intentions are so consumers can make an educated decision. Until then they both look bad in my opinion. Do they have partnerships or not? Sorry just really frustrated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 6 hours ago, Adidaswood said: Seems like this isn't much different than using spotify connect or shairbridge. Still can't launch it from a scene or a button tap. Am I wrong? the main difference is where the feed is playing from. With a chromcast or sonos they are playing the song, not your phone. Your phone is only the remote. So wifi issues won't come into play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adidaswood Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 OK that makes sense. I guess I didn't get that impression from my quick spin around the website. I'll go back and take a closer look at chromecast audio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elvis Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 Don't forget that Amazon Echo and Dots are Spotify Connect-able. I just tried it by starting a playlist on my phone, doing the Spotify connect thing from the app to my Dot. With the music playing, I then turned my phone to airplane mode. The Dot didn't care, it kept right on playing. Alexa, pause. Alexa, next. etc. When I turned off Airplane mode and called the Spotify app back up, it sync'd itself with the current song and position playing on the Dot. A pretty cheap option for adding Spotify Connect to any amplifier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adidaswood Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 2 hours ago, Elvis said: Don't forget that Amazon Echo and Dots are Spotify Connect-able. I just tried it by starting a playlist on my phone, doing the Spotify connect thing from the app to my Dot. With the music playing, I then turned my phone to airplane mode. The Dot didn't care, it kept right on playing. Alexa, pause. Alexa, next. etc. When I turned off Airplane mode and called the Spotify app back up, it sync'd itself with the current song and position playing on the Dot. A pretty cheap option for adding Spotify Connect to any amplifier. So that seems cool and all, but if we are talking about local listening, I have these nice overhead speakers in nearly every room in my house. Just seems ludicrous that I would opt for the little Dot in my kitchen to play spotify. I'm really not knocking your setup, I just made an investment and I would really like to use it. Plus the overheads sound way better than that little tiny Dot. sorry if I've been too liberal with my assumptions here. For whole home listening, adding it to my amp as I see it right now, isn't without issues. As I understand it, one dot cannot make another dot do something right now. They can only figure out who heard me first? Maybe I'm thinking about this wrong but even without voice I'm still launching two apps to get this done. I agree the wifi issue goes away. Putting one in my rack only moves the ball forward slightly. We have 4 I could move one down there, but I have still moved outside of the control4 ecosystem a fair bit and I've lost a lot of automation options. Buttons that launch my favorite playlist etc, alarms that wake me with my favorite playlist. This is the only reason we haven't completely dumped napster on its ass. In the meantime I think we can live with it, but I would really like to see Control4 champion this. At the very least make some kind of statement about how they might address this. Their fault or not, they have an opportunity to make some headway in customer service here. I'm sure even the dealers would appreciate that. I won't hold my breath. Am I way off here? Sorry to make a big deal out of a small thing. Music is what we use the most in our house. Wheather it be streaming, Itunes, my turntable, music is always on in some form or another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adidaswood Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 what's the rough price range on Autonomics or Fusion? But i guess even with those there isn't a guarantee that spotify, api or diver issues wouldn't break that integration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 58 minutes ago, Adidaswood said: So that seems cool and all, but if we are talking about local listening, I have these nice overhead speakers in nearly every room in my house. Just seems ludicrous that I would opt for the little Dot in my kitchen to play spotify. I'm really not knocking your setup, I just made an investment and I would really like to use it. Plus the overheads sound way better than that little tiny Dot. sorry if I've been too liberal with my assumptions here. you can feed a dot into control4...still use your speakers but use voice control instead of app control Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chopedogg88 Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 Yep and all for $50! Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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