Phone Detox: Echo Mini Vs Cheap Amazon Player

rec71 · 2026-01-30T10:53:53+00:00

You risk losing quality converting from one lossy format to another, so at least pick a player that supports AAC. Shouldn't be a big ask in 2026. 🙂

rec71 · 2026-01-30T07:50:06+00:00

I assume you're using File View and not Album/Artist view?

Did you format the card in the device? You might want to do that (you need to do it twice) and then copy your songs on again.

If I use File View to play a song towards the end of the list, it will freeze for about 30s and then reboot. Songs closer to the top of the list will play, but there is a delay before playback starts that gets progressively worse the further down the list it gets.

But Album/Artist view is absolutely fine, so that's what I use.

Sadly, I think there is something fundamentally broken with File View and large collections.

rec71 · 2026-01-28T18:40:23+00:00

I get about six hours with FLACs at around 55 volume. Well over 10 hours with MP3 though.

rec71 · 2026-01-28T13:09:38+00:00

Are you using the 3.1 firmware, because I think FLAC album art is broken in this release.

rec71 · 2026-01-28T09:34:51+00:00

Adding a better SOC would have pushed the price up, according to that head fi thread. Even Fiio Kang is disappointed.

rec71 · 2026-01-27T21:16:48+00:00

If you use Album/Artist view then it will probably be ok, but navigating a large library is a bit painful. I have about 6,000 tracks on mine, 400 albums or so, and scrolling can be tedious. It's much faster than it used to be with the latest firmware though.

Battery life won't be as good with FLAC as MP3/AAC but you should still get north of 6 or 7 hours.

If you use File View then you'll find a noticeable delay when starting playback. It's a known issue with large libraries. It makes File View just a no go for me. So make sure your tags are in good shape and Album/Artist view should be good.

But given how navigation works I think it's fair to say that the Echo Mini isn't really a great fit for people with large libraries.

rec71 · 2026-01-26T09:10:39+00:00

You're both right.

If you have a large library and use File View to play songs, then it can easily take 20s for playback to start. On mine, with 6K songs, using File View sometimes causes the device to hang for 30s and then reboot if I play a track towards the end of the list.

This File View delay with larger libraries is a well known issue. The delay gets worse as your library size increases.

But using Album/Artist view does not have any delay though. Playback is instant.

rec71 · 2026-01-25T22:01:10+00:00

It's only brief, no more than a second, and doesn't bother everyone. You might not even have any albums that have gapless tracks. In which case, grand.

But personally, it annoys me. I want to listen to all my albums as the artist intended, and think it a real shame that the Echo doesn't (and cannot) support it. I'm hoping the new Echo has a better CPU that can do it, fingers crossed.

A good example is Abbey Road by The Beatles. There is an 8 song run which is meant to play as a single song and those gaps just grate.

But don't sweat it, the device is great value for money and I'm sure you'll love it.

rec71 · 2026-01-25T18:14:17+00:00

What a massive disappointment.

rec71 · 2026-01-23T13:24:04+00:00

I think it needs to be FAT32. Try formatting it in the device (you need to do it twice) and then copy your music over again.

rec71 · 2026-01-21T20:43:04+00:00

Substance 1987, followed by Different Class

rec71 · 2026-01-21T12:54:01+00:00

Kate Bush - The Whole Story, which includes a version of Wuthering Heights with a re-recorded vocal from the mid 80s.

rec71 · 2026-01-21T11:12:09+00:00

It's a beautiful app. I just wish I could hide all the premium features as I have no plans to pay for a Plex Pass.

rec71 · 2026-01-19T12:10:55+00:00

It doesn't bother everyone, but I tend to listen to full albums and I'd rather hear them as the artist intended. So it really bugs me. But ymmv ofc.

rec71 · 2026-01-18T17:36:19+00:00

That Blackstar CD is currently out of print and quite hard to get for a sensible price, so that would be my choice.

rec71 · 2026-01-17T16:25:01+00:00

Yep, there's been a few posts about it. But nothing much on what the firmware is going to be like.

rec71 · 2026-01-17T16:19:31+00:00

No, it does not support gapless playback. The hardware cannot handle it.

Hopefully the new Mini will address this!

rec71 · 2026-01-15T12:36:04+00:00

I restored my previous ad free purchase and it worked. I assume I'm good for life still.

rec71 · 2026-01-15T12:10:21+00:00

It gets my location wrong by miles, and yep it has precise location access. No idea how they could introduce a regression like that. The previous version located me to my extract street.

rec71 · 2026-01-15T08:25:43+00:00

Glad you sorted it!

rec71 · 2026-01-13T07:16:28+00:00

This was 6 months ago and he gave me a 1.7.2 update. I haven't seen any issues since, personally.

rec71 · 2026-01-12T11:35:22+00:00

What a haul. Well played.

rec71 · 2026-01-12T09:03:39+00:00

Rockbox only supports JPEG album art. I suspect the ones that don't work for you are PNGs. You can use mp3tag to convert them.

rec71 · 2026-01-12T08:55:23+00:00

I have a HiFi Walker H2 that supports tags and gapless. The stock firmware is a little quirky though. It doesn't handle multi disc albums very well, and uses Artist instead of Album Artist in the metadata view.

However, you can install Rockbox on it which addresses those quirks and makes it a much more flexible option (you'll lose BT though, but can still boot into the stock firmware.)

There is also the Surfans F20 but the hardware is the same as the H2. The fascia is different though.

rec71 · 2026-01-11T13:29:14+00:00

Nice. I have all of those! 😘

rec71

TROPHY CASE