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When are Spotify stopping supporting Pioneer Receivers which support Spotify Connect?

When are Spotify stopping supporting Pioneer Receivers which support Spotify Connect?

Hi,

I received an email yesterday to say Spotify are stopping support for my Pioneer Speaker soon.

 

- When is soon?

 

- Does stopping support mean Spotify just won't support it or it will stop working?
Stopping support means a company won't address issues but I believe Spotify are going to actually stop the feature from working.

 

- Why? There's no reason given why this is necessary.

 

The email rather bizzaely says:

"We want to make playing Spotify on your speaker and other devices better and easier"

How is stopping support better or easier? Why not just stop supporting it? So if it breaks too bad.

 

I only bought my receiver 2 years ago specifically as it supported Spotifty Connect. Spotify is in part more popular over rivals as Spotify works on so many devices, or did.

 

I guess like everyone else I'll need to buy a Chromecast Audio 😕

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383 Replies

Nice find works well.

Yes Hify seems to work. I don't think Pioneer or Spotify are coming with a solution?

What exactly does Hify do good? Stream to a Chromecast or something? Spotify Connect not working is a hardware issue, after all.

If you have Android je can try the trial version: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.hify.trial

 

If you run the app in the background (it also can be on another device) in the same network, you can see the the Pioneer speaker in Spotify connect again.

 

I'm hoping for a firmware update or a update from Spotify, but I don't think this is coming. Seems like they don't want to support "old" devices.

At last, a reasonable solution produced by a third party.

I've tried it with Airplay and DNLA connections to my Pioneer SC-LX57 and the Airplay connection is superior. I would say it is as good as the original direct Spotify Connect method.

I conducted a test tonight comparing the same recording played on my Pioneer receiver as follows:

1) Direct from CD

2) Streamed from my NAS drive

3) Spotify on the Amazon Fire Stick

4) Spotify via HiFy using DNLA connection to the Pioneer

5) Spotify via HiFy using Airplay connection to the Pioneer.

I could determine only small differences, but CD and Airplay seemed best and very close, with Airplay being a bit louder for a given volume setting on the receiver.

Overall I'm really pleased with this solution and for £2.49 it's a bargain.

It's just a shame that neither Spotify nor Pioneer were concerned enough for their customers to offer a similar cost-effective solution.

I'm only left wondering now how long it's going to continue to work before one of them updates their software so it is no longer compatible.

To me, apple user, the problem is not sound quality. It is about the flexibility to disconnect your phone from device so that you can save battery and being able to receive calls/watch short videos without the need of disconnecting from receiver. 

Built in spotify app is always superior and they took it from us.

 

What bothers me most is that they took something from us that we paid for.

About Hify, I've been checking it out.

So apparently the Spotify app can't stream to the Airplay/DLNA components of my Pioneer VSX-529 Receiver on its own. God knows why, cause it once could connect to the Spotify Connect component in the receiver. With Hify installed it CAN stream to the receiver!

 

I'm pretty happy with this solution, cause I was using a Chromecast before, since Spotify Connect stopped working. That had two major drawbacks for me: first the Chromecast sometimes influenced my other HDMI connected devices, making me have to disconnect some of them or disconnect the Chromecast to be able to watch TV. Secondly the Chromecast just stops streaming randomly very often and will not easily resume. Then I have to replug it and restart the Spotify app. That happens more often when the connected TV-screen is turned off.

 

What I like about Hify solution:

- it only transmits Spotify sound, no ringtones, notification sounds etc. It doesn't mute/duck it, what would happen when you'd stream over bluetooth and to Chromecast. You can watch youtube simultaneously and it will emit that sound from your phone's speaker.

- volume buttons when the Spotify app is open control the Receiver's volume.

- No need for other hardware like a Chromecast

- No need to keep the TV screen on, Chromecast would often but not always require that.

 

Where Hify solution is worse than Spotify Connect:

- quality? I don't know yet.

- you have to keep the connection between the app and de AV-receiver open.

 

But all in all, I'm pretty happy with it and paid the €2,79 for it.

 

I think there is no spotify support on Pioneer anymore. I just quit my subscription.

In the new receivers they support Play-Fi, which supports Spotify.

But that doesn't help if you have an old receiver.

For what it's worth, the network player that I use now has Play-Fi and it supports Spotify gapless. It's a Paradigm PW-Link.

https://www.paradigm.com/products-current/model=pw-link/page=overview

And it has ARC acoustic room correction, which is very good.

The HiFy app works a treat with the vsx s510. Thanks for the tip off. Really bad form from Spotify. 

Im angry for my VSX510 - i was change my router, wireless access point and nothing...
Now I read the forum and i'm understand whats it going on - pioneer show us fck off 😞
I'm use different solution - I have Raspberry Pi with LibreElec + LibreSpot Addon. Work perfectly just like oryginal Spotify Connect with my pioneer.

Thanks for the link to the HyFy app. This looks like a good workaround.

 

I have since connected my Logitech Squeezebox Touch to my Pioneer SC-85 and I am using the Spotty plug-in for it. The Touch device actually gives me better access to my stored media from my NAS (using the LMS Web Player or Orange Squeez App for Android) as well as a very reliable connection to Spotify.

You are lucky.  I bought my Pioneer VSX 933 only a few months ago and it too just stopped connecting to Spotify.  I tried iTunes but no connection there either.

Me too!

I sent a similar email.

Me too .... same Amp and also tried iTunes.  Same result.

Ahhhhhhhh!!!! Just realised why my amp isn't in the Devices Available list.

 

Spotify is really testing my loyalty.

If I open Spotify with Google, I can use the Chromecast dongle on my TV to cast to it .... and hence to my Pioneer amp. Clumsy but it works.
Otherwise I use I-Sound recorder to save Spotify tracks and open them with Win Med player and cast from it to the amp!

Spotify shows the amp in devices, but of course it no longer works.

I have emailed Onkyo-Pioneer CEO to ask for an update, but not holding much hope.
Cheers MC

It's not Spotifys fault Pioneer stops paying the license. You should be upset with Pioneer.

Thats why i switch to Yamaha... Pioneer NEVER again

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