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tippex

@Tony_A I would still be interested to know if I can change the input source with Alexa and if so, what command(s) can be used.

tippex

@Tony_A - I've actually worked this one out. If I say "Alexa, stop" or "Alexa, Pause", but then resume by saying "Alexa, play music" it will start a new playlist. If I say "Alexa, resume music" it will ask me what playlist I want to play. "Alexa, play" or "Alexa, resume" both have the desired effect. Just a bit of a learning curve here.

tippex

Hi Mods, I was wondering if there is anywhere where there is a complete list of Alexa commands that can be used with the Bose smart speakers and if not whether it would be possible to get a sticky post in this forum where new commands can be added as and when they become available. I have worked out most of the basics but it would be good to know what commands are available that are specific to Bose as opposed to the generic Alexa ones.

tippex

I purchased the Soundbar 700 at the weekend to replace my ST300. A purchase which was a much easier decision due to the fact that it was compatible with my existing Accoustimass 300 sub. I am aware that this is a new product and there is therefore more functionality still to come. Firstly, I am impressed with the pickup from the microphones when compared to my HomePod. I can control the Soundbar 700 from two rooms away without raising my voice, quite impressive. It's likely that a Soundbar 500 will be following for the bedroom to replace my ST20. There are a few things that it would be great if they could be passed onto the developers though if there is not a way of achieving this that I am not aware of. - Music - getting Spotify functionality with Alexa is a must for this product. Happy to use Spotify connect through my phone and Amazon music through Alexa for now, but would very much apreciate a seamless experience with Spotify. - Changing input source - Is there a voice command for changing this? If I am listening to music but then want to switch to HDMI audio from my TV, I currently have to use the remote. Doing this via Alexa would be so much easier than reaching over to the coffee table ;-). - Pausing music. There doesn't appear to be the ability to pause music via Alexa. When I pause, and then try and resume (for example "Alexa play miusic"), Alexa will just pick a playlist at random. If I pause music, I would expect things to pick up from exactly where I left off as it does on HomePod. Addressing these would make it a much more seamless experience for me. Alexa functionality is still a bit lacking when compared to my Sonos using friends but very happy with the sound as Sonos dont make a proper Alexa soundbar.

tippex · ‎08-29-2018

Looking at the manual that is online for the soundbar 700, it appears that it is compatible with my existing accoustimass 300 sub. Is a wireless connection supported between these devices or would this be via the wired connection?

tippex · ‎07-28-2018

I know that I have moaned a bit on this thread in the past, but at least the Bose mods have now pinned the post to say that Airplay 2 is coming and on that post it says by the end of the year. I am happy with that timescale but would be even happier if they were to let me know if the ST300 would be likely to be getting the update. I was really unimpressed with the announcement of the Sonos Beam, in my opinion it's the product that nobody needs. Looking at a lot of the AV forums, my opinion seems to be shared. If they would have bought out a full blown soundbar with the same functionality and some better surround codec support I would have more than likely made the switch. In the meantime, I have purchased a homepod for the kitchen and it blows my ST20 III out of the water for sound quality, the balance is a lot more natural than the ST20 which tends to have too much bass and not enough mid (my assessment may be slightly unfair here as the homepod is streaming over wifi whereas I am still relying on bluetooth for the ST20)... yes I know it's more expensive but it also has the added bonus of voice control for my Homekit lighting / thermostat etc. It looks like the ST20 in my bedroom will be going soon to be replaced with another Homepod as I have been really impressed with it. I have been holding off buying the surrounds to go with my ST300 and sub for the last 18 months until Airplay 2 becomes available. If it does, I think that the Homepods in other areas of the apartment and the ST300 with Airplay 2 in the lounge would be the perfect system. I really want Bose to make this happen as I will reiterate that the ST300 and sub is a fantastic setup for film / TV. It's just lacking with music support. What I will say here is that Sonos appear to have stolen a march on not just Bose but a number of other established audio vendors. Bose was a launch partner of Airplay 2 in June last year, Sonos didn't even announce a partnership until October last year. Other companies are giving timescales of August / September for their implementations. I work in software specifically for media and there have been a number of traditional hardware companies in my sector which have pretty much dissapeared due to relatively young, but more innovative companies entering the marketplace. If Bose were to put the effort into development that they do in other areas, they could have the sector sewn up.

tippex · ‎06-06-2018

Meanwhile.... https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/6/17434294/airplay-2-sonos-speakers-in-july

tippex · ‎06-05-2018

This may sound like a silly question, but have you tried unplugging the ST300 from the wall for a period of time and plugging it back in again? I use mine with the same TV and while I have never had issues with the ARC signal dropping out, I have had to do this a couple of times when losing the sub connection.

tippex · ‎06-05-2018

Let's not make this personal by questioning my integrity please. I'm probably repeating myself a bit here, but I bought my system last year when Airplay 2 compatibility was announced. This was one of the driving factors in making my purchase as I had been using the original Airplay since circa 2007. I appreciate that there has been a large delay with Apple bringing Airplay 2 to market. The Integration with my TV works fantastically, for everything else I have been using bluetooth which has quality and range issues as well as my music dropping out if I get a phone call or my timer goes off. Sonos is already Apple Music compatible, having Airplay 2 which they have mentioned will be in their future speakers and the resultant ability of being able to integrate into HomeKit would just be a bonus. If they bring out a AV speaker with HDMI (my reason for discounting them in the first place) as is rumoured then I would have no problem with buying the system that does everything that I need it to do. I am in a fortunate position where buying a new system is not an issue and if the Playbase is anything to go by the sound should be on a par. Having said that, if I were to know that my existing system would be compatible by the end of the year I would be more than happy to keep it. It's the not knowing that is the issue here. I don't want a system that might not ever do what I need it to. I don't think that I have any more to say on the matter, so will leave this here as if I repeat myself any more I am going to seriously start boring the people that are following this thread.

tippex · ‎06-05-2018

wrote: Could Bose be more transparent about the AirPlay 2? Sure. Are they obligated to? No. Apple is currently listing those spearkers who officially announced an update for AirPlay 2 (besides the HomePod no other speakers support AirPlay 2) - and no timeframe when it will be released. My guess is, that Bose is exploring the possibility on how to implement AirPlay 2 the best way. Suprisingly such a process takes usually some time. I rather prefer to have a "perfect implementation" which takes its time for developing and testing than having a buggy implementation which needs several updates to fix all issues. Sometimes it is impossible to give a timeframe. Apple itself needed almost a year to release AirPlay 2. I am not convinced that this will be coming to the full soundtouch range based on the following info from the Sonos website ( https://blog. sonos.com/en- gb/ airplay2-coming/) . Their very detailed explanation says that only certain models will have backwards compatibility due to the amount of computing power required. I am assuming that this will be the case with some speakers in the soundtouch range. Sonos also explain that they aim to have Airplay 2 by the end of the year. If only we could get such transparency from Bose. All I would like to know is if my ST300 and ST20 III will eventually be compatible. At the moment this is preventing me from buying any more Bose speakers and potentially compelling me to sell my current set up depending on what Sonos announce as their new home theatre speaker tomorrow. Moderators, if you are unable to comment any further than you aren't able to give us any info and keep on checking, maybe management should be sent a link to this thread so they can see how dissatisfied their Apple Music using customers are?

tippex · ‎06-05-2018

Apologies... I appear to have double posted. Mods, can we delete this duplicate please?

tippex · ‎05-31-2018

Thanks for the advice. I am aware of the ST300, I own one as well as the sub and a ST20 III all purchased within the last year since the Airplay 2 announcement was made. If both of these are able to recieve an Airplay 2 enabling update within the near future (or at least a promise that it will be available), I will more than likely stick with my Bose. It is still extremely frustrating that no one from Bose is updating their customers who have invested a lot of money in their kit when their competitors are able to offer this info. I see that other topics on the forum are being watched by mods so am sure that this is being read. Bose customer service advice is to continue checking their channels and website when the competition announced which devices would be backward compatible nearly a month a go. The last offical update from Bose was June last year. I am aware of the bluetooth option and it is flawed both from an audio quality and range perspective when compared to wifi streaming, not to mention the interruption to music when recieving phone calls. I fail to see how this 90s technology gives Bose the technical edge over what Sonos are currently offering... for example, being compatible with more streaming services and having Alexa built in just to name a couple. At the end of the day, I want a system that sounds good, looks good and meets my requirements of working with the TV via HDMI ARC connection and being able to stream over wifi throughout the house with Apple Music. If another system becomes available that meets these requirements while Bose have still made no comittments to their existing customers I will have no issues whatsoever with buying a new system. Over to you Bose......

tippex · ‎05-30-2018

I also think that it would be nice if Bose would give us some information, but given my experience as an owner over the last year I very much doubt that this will be the case. I don't know why they can't have a much more open approach like Sonos and at least let us know which speakers will be firmware updatable even if it is not possible to give a date. Surely that's not too much to ask? All this lack of response is doing is making me more likely to get rid of my Bose kit and replace with Sonos which is already Apple Music compatible irrespective of which models are Airplay 2 compatible. With the upcoming Sonos event next week on June 6th, if they announce a HDMI equipped soundbar as is expected then it wont be a difficult decision for me. Bose really need to up their game given the current competition.

tippex · ‎05-15-2018

I currently own a ST300 with sub alongside a ST20. As an Apple Music user switching to Sonos is currently a consideration. I do not want to switch my music service to Spotify as my car is equipped with Apple CarPlay and the voice control over Apple Music while driving works very well for me. Apple Music also syncs my personal music collection from my iTunes collection from the pre streaming days a lot of which isn't available on the main streaming services. The decision on whether to give up on my Bose setup is hanging on two things at the moment... 1. Whether Bose are going to introduce Airplay 2 on the Soundtouch 300 and Soundtouch 20. While Sonos have issued a press release advising exactly which of their existing speakers will be compatible with Airplay 2 in the future via firmware update, Bose's position of referring to an update made last June while not providing any new information is frustrating to say the least. If Sonos are able to disclose this information, why can't Bose? 2. What Sonos are going to announce at their June 6th event. They appear to be launching a new home cinema speaker. If this is a sucessor to the playbar and has everything that I need it to do, including Airplay 2 and HDMI (optical only was a reason of mine for discounting the Playbar in the first place) then I will seriously consider getting rid of my Bose kit. As an added bonus, the new Sonos speaker is rumoured to have Alexa / Google assistant built in. More info here... http://variety.com/2018/digital/news/sonos-june-6-event-1202796800/ Sound is a subjective thing, although hearing friends' Sonos systems they seem to be on a par with my Bose kit. The ability with Sonos to be able to tune the system EQ wise to anything other than the standard calibration as is the case with Bose is also a bonus as I find the Bose system to be lacking a little in the mid range with no way of correcting this. I have not been able to give sound of the Bose speakers a fair chance though having been streaming my music over bluetooth for nearly a year which I know affects the sound quality. I'm happy with the sound when watching the TV though. On the software and features side as well as communication of this with their customers, Bose seriously need to up their game. I will add that I am aware that the delay in Airplay 2 is down to Apple... the implementation is not my issue here, it's the lack of information. If Sonos release their new speaker and it does everything that I want, while Bose remain silent and unhelpful on upcoming features I can see myself making the switch.

tippex · ‎04-30-2018

@Emulordwrote: Then we both are stupid, haha. I bought a set of ST20 + 2 ST10 + ST Adapt last year, following the announcement, and truly hope that this won't end up being a letdown. I might very well buy another set of speakers designed by a competitor if these, while brand new, won't let me create the "home cinema" I am patiently waiting for as of now. Anyway, the relative lack of news is not really Bose's fault, the implementation not even being final on iOS and Apple's very own HomePod. If Sonos are able to annouce which of their speakers are going to be compatible with Airplay 2, I fail to see why Bose can't. I just want to know if I am keeping my speakers or putting this forray into Bose down as a (rather expensive) bad experience.

tippex · ‎04-26-2018

While I have been very patient with Bose and Airplay 2 support bearing in mind a lot of the delay appears to be on the Apple side, Sonos have today announced which speakers will be supporting Airplay 2 (https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/4/25/17283114/sonos-apple-airplay-2-support-details). The issue appears to be that not all Sonos speakers are able to support Airplay 2 due to the processing power involved and the amount of audio that needs to be buffered. How far are Bose away from making a similar announcement? I bought a Soundtouch 300 and subwoofer as well as a Soundtouch 20 series 3 not long after Bose's Airplay 2 announcement last June (https://twitter.com/bose/status/871833192524730369?lang=en). It is somewhat of a frustration that any questions regarding Airplay 2 appear to be directed back to a statement made by Bose in the forums nearly a year ago. I am not looking for a firm date but a bit more information would be appreciated. I have spent a lot of money on Bose kit on the promise of Airplay 2 compatibility, yes this was probably a bit stupid on my part and I may have to start from scratch to actually achieve what I am looking for if Bose don't come through on their promise, but surely with Airplay 2 now in beta and Bose being a launch partner there is more information available. I am not, however, expecting a helpful response based on other responses on these forums.

About tippex

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