Music in the shop after jobsite radio

[Aaron Rosenthal]

Last night my Rigid radio wouldn't turn on. Remote or manual turn on, change plugs, no cord damage etc.
I like my music, so the choice is a new radio with remote, or a set of in-ear earphones, and they have to be programmable.
I have over the ear sound attenuation headphones, but they're uncomfortable more than an hour at a time.
Have you made a change, and what have you done?

[Rob Luter]

I use a Bose Mini Soundlink and the music library on my phone via Bluetooth. I can stream Sirius/XM too. It works well. I have a cheap boombox as a backup if I need on air broadcast.

[glenn bradley]

I can't wear ear plugs so buds are also out. I use ear muffs for hearing protection so I don't want something on my head. I put a small unix version on a laptop from 1995 and plug it into an old receiver and speakers. 4000-odd songs on a $40 1TB USB drive and away you go.

What is your source? That may get better responses.

[Jim Koepke]

My set up is obsolete. This interests me since it is an iPod model which is no longer made with an add on FM transmitter. My fear is one day it will give up the ghost.

jtk

[ChrisA Edwards]

I have WiFi out in my garage. So I use a couple of Bose Soundtouch speakers.

These allow me to use Bluetooth to play audiobooks or music from my library on my phone.

I also use noise cancelling headphones when I'm doing lot of cutting or routing, where the machine noise cancels out a normal speaker. In this mode, I'm pretty much Bluetoothing content from my iPhone.

I can play many streaming radio stations, via the Wifi, controlled from an app on my iPhone.

Having the Wifi opens up a world of possibilities. The WiFi in my garage is just an extender from my house system.

[Doug Garson]

I have two sources, an old Sony boombox for live radio and an old Android cell phone with an external hard wired speaker to play Google Play Music (GPM )(which is being replaced by Youtube Music but I haven't switched over yet). GPM plays the music on the phone plus free music streamed from the web. Also have a set of Sony sound cancelling headphones with Bluetooth to wear when I want noise protection and music. I have a clock app on the phone (which is left plugged into a charger) so it acts as a shop clock plus I can use ok Google commands to check weather, set timers, start and stop music etc all handsfree.

[Jim Becker]

I use an older "shelf system" with a subwoofer in my shop....the unit and the R/L speakers are up on the wall and the sub is down on the floor near my bandsaw. I tried in-ear solutions but the lack of bass response was just not cutting it for me. (I have that problem with my hearing aids, too...great music reproduction via BlueTooth, EXCEPT the mdi-to-low bass is missing. When I'm wearing hearing protection for machining wood, either with traditional tools or my CNC where things get loud, I just accept that I'm not going to hear the music much during that time period.

[Rod Sheridan]

441412

This is what I bought for the shop this spring.

I use it for FM or with my iPod for podcasts or my stored music.

I also have a set of 3M worktunes earmuffs for FM or Bluetooth using the ipod..........Rod.

[Clifford McGuire]

I still use the old GE SuperRadio (remember those???). Gosh, it's got to be 25 years old or more.

I know you said that you don't do earbuds. I have a wireless pair if I want to listen t a podcast on my phone. I just put one bud in so I can hear other things. They are small enough that I can put my hearing protection muffs over the top.

[David Publicover]

I have an older Denon HT receiver with an even older pair of B&W speakers on the wall. Sounds pretty good for a shop system. Mostly I listen to CBC radio but I can run Spotify though my iPad as well. I have no expectations or desire to listen to music while running machines and my dust collector would drown it out anyway...

[John Goodin]

I use the Makita bluetooth speaker to stream off my phone. Basically bought it since I have the batteries and can make it portable when working in the yard, house, etc.

[Kris Cook]

I haven't listened to conventional radio in several years. I just upgraded my 20 year old Technics amplifier to a Yamaha amp with Bluetooth which is connected to some older Bose 201s. I have a Sonos Connect which I plug into the amp. The Bluetooth allows me to connect from Spotify or other source without the Sonos if they ever completely "brick" the Connect unit.

I also invested in a set of Samsung Galaxy Earbud Plus buds. They weren't cheap but sound great and have 11 hour battery life. They are awesome for cutting the lawn or running a chainsaw.

[Jeff Body]

I have an old sony portable speaker that's connected through bluetooth to an echo dot. It stays plugged into the wall most of the time but I can unplug it and take it outside on battery when I'm working out there.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/-zNod5hwAsP3cGjBZMg_bqkxtCs5_H9PbxjNU9sKh3fbmIxIg7P cB0hVoyQBJv6aXILKK7utxVbI46_IID98_aP6mNJYwjiPPvC8S 0Jy2Bo0km48soIvqg45OIOuBS-Yn6eajCJey__CKzI843g_Ng9Wphtf

[Jason Ost]

I use my DeWalt tough system music system, that way I can charge batteries and listen to music/npr.

[Larry Frank]

I use Bluetooth from my phone to either ear buds or a speaker. I built the Bluetooth speaker for my shop. It is rugged built with a plywood case and can run with the rechargeable batteries. The speakers can handle 30 watts each. It is amazing how cheap the components are these days.

441429

[Izzy Camire]

I just bought a used Bose Wave Radio off Ebay. It arrived looking like new and works well for off air radio which I like.

[Steve Demuth]

My kids bought me an Amazon Echo for Christmas some years ago. I won't have a smart speaker in my home, so I put it in the shop. Great for streaming music from almost any source, audio books, podcasts ... whatever. If I'm doing things that don't involve a lot of machine noise, I just use the speaker as is. The ability to start and stop it with audible commands means that I can just pause, if, say, I'm in the middle of a book or podcast, and need to use a noisy machine for a few minutes. If a body wanted better sound fill for the shop, I believe you can make multiple smart speakers work in unison. If I'm doing lots of things with machines, I bind the Echo to 3M worktunes over the ear hearing protection, and tolerate that the time I'm deep into the router, or whatever.

[Mike Soaper]

"I won't have a smart speaker in my home"

ditto here.

In the shop I have an old school Nakamichi TA-4A receiver, with some Madisound diy ported Recession Buster speakers and use a stereo cable to a laptop.

Once the amp gives up the magic smoke, I might get a small refurbed GraceDigital amp. with a sub out. The Grace amp has audible feature that say's "power on" and "bluetooth connected" which can be helpful, but it can seem relatively loud in the late night quiet
and you can't control it's volume.

[mike stenson]

I've always had a stereo of some variety in the shop. It's usually a 'hand me down' receiver or some such and a speaker set. I used to plug an iPod into it. When we moved, and I was starting the shop build mode I discovered I had an old tv, and an appleTV unit. So those are now in the shop, and I normally just stream music from iTunes. Since the 2 channel sony amp is 25 years old, I have it going through a schitt DAC and some old 301s and some old outdoors. I don't have in ears or the like, because I generally don't need ear protection.

[Erik Loza]

I have a bookshelf system and sometimes still use it but mostly, Airpods and phone in my pocket these days. They let a lot of background sound in, so you can hear the world around you while still listening. If I was running machinery or a compressor a lost, then would probably get a set of wireless ear buds with the foam inserts.

Erik

[Terry Wawro]

I have an old stereo receiver wired to two speakers that are suspended from the ceiling. My wi-fi signal reaches the shop via a repeater. I use an old Samsung smartphone to connect to the wi-fi. Patch cord from smartphone to CD input on stereo lets me stream free music. 99% of the time it's RadioMargaritaville.com or RadioTropRock.com

[Daniel O'Neill]

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00WIXL46Q/?coliid=I2ZZNFFB7S1PCI&colid=2LFRCZ6BTOHV9&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
I'm thinking of getting these in the future. There is also a brand called IsoTunes that some contractors have recommended. I figure this way your music doesn't get drowned out by machines. I have a little boombox with bad reception as music isn't really important to me. might change in the future when kiddos are a little older though

[Bill Carey]

I use the Harmon Kardon Onyx Studio 4 blue tooth speaker with Pandora or my saved music from old cd's. It is an amazing speaker.

[Bruce Wrenn]

My set up is obsolete. This interests me since it is an iPod model which is no longer made with an add on FM transmitter. My fear is one day it will give up the ghost.

jtk


If it has an ear phone jack, go by Walmart in the auto stereo section and buy an FM transmitter for around eight bucks. Uses two AAA batteries. I use the NMH ones from HF in mine last about 32 hours of play time.

[Bruce Wrenn]

For me it's an old receiver / amp with sub woofer, and book shelf speakers. I have a pair of Scosche FM transmitters (from Walmart) that connects to either You Tube from computer in the house, or oldies channel from Direct TV. When using power tools, using head phone jack, rebroadcast out put of stereo to WorkTunes, using a third Scosche transmitter. This transmitter is set to a different frequency from the two in the house. Also can do transmitter onto my Sony Walkman (remember those?) to play CD's to both receiver, and WorkTunes. Plus we have a local oldies station.