Viewing 33 posts - 1 through 33 (of 33 total)
  • SONOS wireless music thingummies – howzitwork?
  • IHN
    Full Member

    In my day you put a CD in a stereo and pressed play (and, of course, this was all fields). However I am aware that things have moved on.

    If, for example, I had a father with about 100 CDs, a laptop and a new Nexus 7 that he’s got for his 70th birthday, could he rip all the CDs to his laptop, whack ’em on the Nexus and then lay them from there on one of the Sonos wotsits?

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    all these streamed/wifi music things will work best with an always on data store (general old PC usually) but if he has wifi then it will all work (probably best off the laptop) SONOS has android apps now too

    IHN
    Full Member

    Yeah, an always-on thing is never going to work (he turns the router off when he’s not using it, never mind the laptop).

    I’ve been looking on the SONOS website and I don’t quite get what the ‘Bridge’ thing is for.

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    OK the basics

    Setup on a NAS Drive and hide the router so he can’t turn it off.

    http://www.sonos.com/support basic setups, find a shop for demo and they will go through it

    frogstomp
    Full Member

    The Sonos hardware uses its own wifi network (to prevent interference / minimise latency when it is sending to multiple devices).. the bridge ‘bridges’ onto your network so it can retrieve the music to play. Each of the Sonos components is also a ‘bridge’ so if one of them is close enough to the router to be plugged in with a cable you won’t need and extra bridge.

    Also, check his router – some newer ones have the facility to plug a USB stick directly into them, negating the need for a separate NAS etc.

    mossimus
    Free Member

    If your Sonos device is near enough to router to plug in then you will not need to bother with a bridge.

    meesterbond
    Full Member

    The Bridge is what connects to the computer / NAS to effective send the music out into the ether for one of the other units to pick up and play… It doesn’t have an amp or speakers built in.

    As mentioned, for it to work properly, you do need the storage system (whether that be a laptop or NAS) to be on the whole time (or at least whenever you want to use it).

    Great kit though… we’ve had a Sonos system for 6 or 7 years and keep adding to it. Using a tablet as a controller works really well to – better than the dedicated one to be fair.

    climbingkev
    Free Member

    If that’s all he’s after I’d go for a decent bluetooth speaker. Jambox, Bose etc. I picked up a Gear4 street party wireless for £35 from Sainsbury. I know it’s not got the quality of a posher speaker, but it’s fine for the kitchen and far better than the pants iPad speakers.

    IHN
    Full Member

    OK the basics

    Setup on a NAS Drive

    Nope, you’ve lost me, sorry 😳

    The setup I’m envisaging for the old man is:

    1) Nexus tablet in lounge with his music and the Sonos app on
    2) Sonos Play3 or Play5 speaker wotsit in lounge
    3) Router in hall by phone socket (25ft max from lounge)

    Will this work?

    edit – ah, Bluetooth, that’s an idea

    frogstomp
    Full Member

    If you only need to play the music in one room then Sonos is overkill. Just get an amp/hifi that has a USB input facility.

    IanW
    Free Member

    I recently bought a sonos play 5 and really like it. The bridge is IMO a must if you want to get the most out of the system.

    My system works from a iMac which is always on albeit sometimes in sleep mode, it just looks after itself never gets turned of anyway.

    The play 5 could work without the bridge just connect it by ethernet cable to your router, it would then create a sonos wireless area to which other devices could connect. However using this method means the unit is stuck near the router.

    A bridge creates the sonos network allowing you to place your speaker(play 5 or 3 ) anywhere within range, which will be anywhere in any reasonable sized house.

    You then put an app on your phones or tablets and a dashboard on your pc / mac which you can use to control the media.

    Although I have a couple of hundred albums in iTunes since getting the sonos I have mostly used it to listen to Spotify and the radio which can be selected through through the App.

    Bottom line is it works effortlessly, Mrs W downloaded the app and was surfing spotify within minutes.

    Only downside is I now must have more speakers!!

    IHN
    Full Member

    To be honest, the more I think about it I think SONOS is overkill.

    One of the drivers is that my mum wants the (as she sees them) ugly CDs, stereo, cables and speakers out of the lounge. However, my dad likes to listen to (mostly classical) music.

    So, can someone recommend a one-box, probably bluetooth, ‘system’ that will let my dad play his music (let’s assume it’ll be on the tablet), that sounds half decent and looks kind of ‘classy’?

    sockpuppet
    Full Member

    Would an iPod and decent dock be simpler? Can look neat, likely to be much less hassle, and simple to use so long as you get one with a decent remote.

    Not what you asked for, i realise, but might give the same result?

    IHN
    Full Member

    iPod is likely to be too fiddly – his dexterity isn’t great (arthritis).

    Dorset_Knob
    Free Member

    Rip your CDs to iTunes.

    Get an AirPort Express, plug it in to the mains near your Dad’s amp/Hi-Fi (I’m assuming he already has something to play his CDs on), and then connect it with a lead to the ‘Aux-In’ socket. Give it a name like ‘Living Room Speakers’ when you set it up (which is easy with AirPort utility).

    Go to Itunes on the laptop and turn on Home Sharing.

    Open iTunes on your ipad/whatever. I assume you can get itunes for these other tablets?

    Go to ‘Shared Libraries’ and select the one you’ve just shared.

    Click the ‘AirPlay’ icon and select ‘Living Room Speakers’.

    An AirPort Express costs about £70 I think.

    HTH.

    Dorset_Knob
    Free Member

    my mum wants the ugly CDs, stereo, cables and speakers out of the lounge.

    Oh.

    Just get one of those B&W Zeppelin things then and connect with some sort of adaptor I suppose?

    thx1138
    Free Member

    Following on from my enquiry about the same topic here:

    http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/sonos-or-airplay-for-music-in-every-room

    I’ve concluded that the Sonos system is really rather overpriced for what it is, and doesn’t offer the flexibility of an Airplay system. Listening to Sonos and other speakers side by side in a showroom (ok, not the definitive testing environment but hey), B+O and Bose offerings were significantly better in terms of sound quality, for the same sort of money. With more manufacturers taking up the Airplay standard, there is a lot more choice too. And an £80 Apple Airport Express unit will turn any existing audio gear into Airplay enabled equipment. The Sonos equivalent is £250+.

    All of this Wi-fi audio stuff is way overpriced though anyway. You’re paying for convenience over quality. Better to get some decent powered speakers and an A AE. Would probably be cheaper too.

    cranberry
    Free Member

    If he already has a set of speakers and an amp, then you could pick up a Logitech Squeezebox Touch from Ebay, and either connect a USB hard drive to it, or set up one of them NAS things ( the NAS being the more flexible but expensive/complicated solution )

    Using a hard drive directly would only allow the music to play through the local player/wouldn’t work with additional players in other rooms, but is obviously cheaper as you can simply pick up a 2.5″ drive* from anywhere. The Touch would also give you a full set of digital radio channels and access to the BBC iPlayer for any of their radio programs that you have missed.

    The Squeezebox Touch isn’t manufactured any more, but it seems that since production stopped the price of them on Ebay has gone up.

    * Yes, you would also need to store a backup copy of the music somewhere.

    thx1138
    Free Member

    If that’s all he’s after I’d go for a decent bluetooth speaker.

    Isn’t Bluetooth somewhat limited though; ie, it needs to be more or less in the same room as the computer? I can’t see it working in other rooms, especially in a properly built house.

    my mum wants the ugly CDs, stereo, cables and speakers out of the lounge.

    Is this a ‘women’ thing? Just that it echoes what my wife says, and many of my male friends have the same issue. Seems that many women hate the way a lot of hi-fi gear looks. Anyone else experience this?

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    I went to have a look at SONOS, compared to other stuff it all sounded about the same (yep they never managed to sell me gold plated cables)
    The SONOS system looked better and simpler than some of the others and I’m just saving up.

    Anything that involves itunes is out really.

    IHN
    Full Member

    Cheers chaps.

    Existing speakers and amp are a no-no; that’s the point, my mum wants rid.

    Something that looks something like:

    Is what they’re after.

    The obvious answer is, as Dorset_Knob said, an iPod and a docking station, but an iPod is too fiddly for his arthritic knuckles.

    So, what sounds good, doesn’t look like it’s designed for a teenager’s bedroom and plays stuff via Bluetooth (or wifi)?

    Dorset_Knob
    Free Member

    Anyone else experience this?

    yeah we all have that, just need to ignore it

    fannybaws
    Free Member

    have you thought about coupling the sonos with an internet music subscription? i think you can still run napster on the fiver a month one or spotify at 10 a month. more music than you will ever listen to. no need for NAS etc always to be on and less clutter.

    frogstomp
    Full Member

    It sounds like the wireless is a red herring and the overriding requirement is ease of use.. something like the Brennan JB7 sounds like it would fit the bill – you rip CDs directly to it’s internal harddrive (so your Dad can add new ones easily), connect up speakers and play..

    IHN
    Full Member

    It sounds like the wireless is a red herring and the overriding requirement is ease of use

    Afraid not. One box and unobtrusive are the overriding requirements.

    The Brennan would get rid of the CDs, but not the speakers and cables.

    thx1138
    Free Member

    yeah we all have that, just need to ignore it

    A friend of mine tried this approach; seriously underestimated the power of a highly emotional pregnant wife with a large pair of scissors which she stabbed into the cones of a rather nice pair of Heybrooks (she’d been concerned about the big heavy things falling onto and killing the baby once it had started crawling). They now have small discreet little speakers high up on wall brackets, and a subwoofer hidden away.

    He still gets a little moist-eyed over any mention of the event. But he never ignores what his wife says now.

    kcr
    Free Member

    Simplest, neatest solution would be to rip the CDs onto the laptop, and plug in headphones.

    If you must have speakers, get a decent set of USB powered laptop speakers. No power cable required, just plug them into the laptop when you want to listen to some music. A set of small speakers will be less obtrusive than some sort of integrated boom box style player, and you could even stick them in a drawer when you are not using them.

    joolsburger
    Free Member

    Much as it pains me to recommend anything they make I have to say that the Bose Soundlink sounds decent looks quite good and is a doddle to use via blue tooth.

    ask1974
    Free Member

    THX1138, just out of curiosity could you expand on…

    I’ve concluded that the Sonos system is really rather overpriced for what it is, and doesn’t offer the flexibility of an Airplay system

    Exactly how is Airplay more flexible?

    thx1138
    Free Member

    Airplay allows you to use virtually any speaker system with AE, which is cheaper than the Sonos equivalent, plus it allows video content streaming as well as remote printing. Sonos is just audio. There is a far greater range of Airplay speakers available.

    So, quite a bit more flexible. Hope that answers your question.

    stumpy01
    Full Member

    Couldn’t you just get something like this:

    http://www.johnlewis.com/231595078/Product.aspx

    and stick a large enough USB drive/SD card in it to fit all his music on?

    You’d wanna make sure that you could navigate it well enough to actually find stuff on the memory, I s’pose…

    Stoner
    Free Member

    If you put google music play on his nexus and rip his choons then upload them to google (free 20,000 choon vault to upload your stuff to) he can then play those choons on his tablet anywhere with a decent wifi connection to the t’internt.

    no bridges, no expensive hardware. Easy interface too.

    stumpy01
    Full Member
Viewing 33 posts - 1 through 33 (of 33 total)

The topic ‘SONOS wireless music thingummies – howzitwork?’ is closed to new replies.