When I was buying speakers for my apartment some time ago, I was similarly considering going for the all-in-one options like this, but I’m glad I didn’t. I prefer the “dumb passive speaker + networked amp”, as it allows you to pick / replace / upgrade the separate components. Went for the KEF LS50, and for the amp Lyngdorf TDAI-1120. And that’s despite KEF having the all-in-one active version of those speakers. Very happy with my choices!
Volume controls need to be logarithmic, not linear.
To a first degree approximation, everybody gets this wrong.
This works because function.toString() in modern runtimes gives you back fully parse-able input source.
You need to make sure you don’t reference anything outside the function, but it’s generally nicer overall than JS-in-string.
Then you treat it as an IIFE. Example:
function globalJS() { document.write('hi') }
const html = `<script>(${globalJS})()</script>`
With that system, I could set the amplifier’s analog volume knob such that the max volume out of the streamer corresponded to my actual maximum preferred listening volume, giving me access to the full range of Spotify or AirPlay’s volume controls.
A rotary knob with an integrated esp32.
https://shop.m5stack.com/products/m5stack-dial-esp32-s3-smar...
There's a reason why local web applications aren't a collection of HTML and JS files, and are instead full copies of the Chromium browser.
Weird you can't limit digital output. I also listen mostly at low volumes and have the same issue. Part of the reason I chose Sonos is this is built in across all products, alongside an effective loudness toggle. This has been particularly helpful with some little Genelec 8010s I use as desktop speakers plugged into a Sonos Port.
Hope this person segmented this device away from other devices. The lack of basic security in the IoT space is astounding to me.
My favorite "smart" speaker in the house is a very old (~20 years) Altec Lansing 2.1 speaker kit that has a (sadly now discontinued) Chromecast audio plugged into it's headphone in.
Edit: found this which looks to fit the bill - https://github.com/balena-io-experimental/balena-sound
Is the sound quality better when not approaching to maximum volume?
The kid in me thinks there could also be a way perhaps to transmit audio through this (or another) API? (very low chance, but…)
// Yes, this is JavaScript embedded in HTML embedded in TypeScript.
// I only recently learned that you can reference elements by ID this way.
// It's kind of horrible but also I love it on tiny pages like this.
-Spencer DinwiddieAlthough I don't use USB for audio (rather buggy) the control interface works perfectly.
I duly created a websockets API that allows me to remotely control the volume over wifi via a phsyical rotary controller. Allows me to conceal all the hifi equipment in a cupboard upstairs but remotely control it from a knob downstairs in the kitchen.
Like the OP I also implemented volume limits to prevent accidental damage to the speakers (primarily from twiddles by little fingers)....works a treat!
So, instead of using the Spotify alexa skill, I have to use my phone and connect it via bluetooth, so I can turn down the volume on my phone in addition to using the quietest volume on the Echo.
Sonos volume control remains broken in their new (forced) app update, “reasonable control” on the roadmap for two months out
Why do they do this? The problem is so obvious that you'd reckon they're doing it to deliberately annoy users.
The problem doesn't stop there, the lack of gain with Bluetooth is notorious. Almost every Bluetooth device I own has insufficient gain, franky it's a damn nuisance. The audio in the two sound bars that I own is so low on some audio material that I'm thinking of pulling them apart to see if I can find an op amp and increase its feedback resistor to obtain more gain. I should NOT have to do this.
Let me give you an example, the audio levels on many YouTube videos can be all over the place. Often the audio can be 6 to 10 dB below what it ought to be, thus it's impossible to listen on a laptop's speakers, especially so when one is listening in a location where the background noise is high.
What's wrong with the designers who design this digital stuff, don't they ever use the equipment themselves?
Haven't they ever seen a traditional radio or HiFi where the volume potentiometer is off at the 7 o'clock position, 12 noon is the maximum volume with a nominal one volt input signal or a radio station that's using normal levels of modulation, and the reserve gain is the range from the noon position to the 5PM one?
Do I have to say it again? The reserve gain is for when the input signal is lower that it ought to be. The world is not ideal, audio signals can be far from ideal—even from high tech companies like Google.
Occasionally help comes along, VLC has settings that allow the gain to be set to over 100℅ but I've often had situations where even VLC hasn't had the necessary reserve.
I've come to the conclusion the designers and programmers of this digital equipment haven't a clue about how ordinary amplifiers work. Or they have never taken the trouble to find out. They just assume a 16-bit input has 65536 levels and that's the range. Full stop! They never give consideration to what happens when the peak audio input covers perhaps less than one third that range of bits.
To get enough volume I've even had to use the audio equalizer, that's when one has been available, and often there is not. To get the extra gain I slide all sliders to maximum. Having to do this frequently is an ergonomic nightmare.
This is what happens when the arrogant digital world is too prowd to take a leaf out of the analog world—the world that managed to get these issues right about a century or more ago.
BOM: a halfway nice powered speaker with an integral amp and a single board computer. mount the sbc onto the speaker. then use a audio server to ship the sound around. I am a huge obsd fanboy so I would use sndiod but the linux ones(pipewire?) would probably be better for the task.
The main thing stopping me from doing it is that it turns out I dislike dumping sound into the atmosphere, nothing wrong with it, I just don't enjoy blasting music. so I just stick to my headphones, and think about it once in a while.
Your Father and Mother must be very proud of you.
Marty DiBergi: Oh, I see. And most amps go up to ten?
Nigel Tufnel: Exactly.
Marty DiBergi: Does that mean it's louder? Is it any louder?
Nigel Tufnel: Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?
Marty DiBergi: I don't know.
Nigel Tufnel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?
Marty DiBergi: Put it up to eleven.
Nigel Tufnel: Eleven. Exactly. One louder.
Marty DiBergi: Why don't you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder?
Nigel Tufnel: [pause] These go to eleven.
- This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
https://github.com/scottbez1/smartknob
Video demo here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip641WmY4pA&t=1s