I’ve been trying to (1) prioritize quality sleep, (2) set a good mindset for the day.<p>I have a playlist of advice/wisdom* audio files that I’d like to shuffle-play when I wake up & go to bed.<p>I’ve experimented with using home automation (Alexa Routines, Apple Shortcuts) to do this. I created a Spotify playlist, and had Alexa routines “shuffle playlist ‘Advice’ on Spotify” at 6am. It works.<p>However, I encountered problems:
- External Cloud/network issues would occasionally result in not being able to connect to Spotify. Last thing I want is a system that I can’t trust.
- Voice interfaces are frustrating. Alexa dots would occasionally soft-advertise services to me. It’s disruptive a peaceful mindset. Accidentally triggering the activation was comically infuriating.
- I travel frequently, and don’t feel like hauling around an Echo Dot, then setting it up on the hotel network, etc.<p>So… I axed all of the Echo/Homepods, and decided to start from scratch.<p>I want a single-purpose physical device, with buttons. Like an old school iPod Nano. I want to add files to it using USB storage. It should have multiple alarms (morning, afternoon, night), each which could shuffle-play a playlist. It should not require an internet connection to function.<p>I was tempted to hack something together with a Raspberry Pi (I suppose you could use cron to open VLC playlist files at custom schedules), but thought to ask here first.<p>This morning, I did some searching for standalone MP3 players. Haven’t found anything that jumps off the page. Sony still has a Walkman, there are some expensive audiophile devices like Fiio. Not a huge fan of touchscreens, even Apple-quality touchscreens are infuriating.<p>Is anyone aware of a product which:
- Standalone, dedicated device (not a smartphone, app)
- USB-accessible storage (USB-C would be great, SD card slot is ok)
- Multiple alarms
- Alarms can shuffle-play a playlist
- Headphones jack out (can plug into speakers while at the house)
- Physical buttons > Touch screen
- Long battery life, can be used as a music player on a road trip
- Easy to use
- High quality - would love to “solve” this problem for 10 years.<p>* For those curious, the advice playlist is “Earl Nightingale ‘The Strangest Secret’ and episodes from ‘Direct Line’. The dude nailed it & it works.<p>Who’s gone down this route and has suggestions?