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Fed up with having to dig out/rake through CDs when I've heaps ripped on the laptop.
Looking at a STEP: 3, a bridge and a NAS drive and reripping everything to FLAC.
Later on probably add a connect to my denon cd/dab thang.
Control through my iPad.
Anybody done something similar?
Is it really as simple as it sounds and work without glitches?
Qnap nas device hosting music. Ipod Touch and Ipad Controllers and A bunch of Squeezeboxes around the house I'm able to Steam all my music, listen to Iplayer and Spotify anywhere in the house and it just works. Unless you're technically inept then Sonos is just an overpriced idiot proof Version of Squeezebox Just my opinion of course 🙂
I used to have Sonos in 4 rooms, excellent (if a little expensive) kit which took the "work" out of setting up a decent multi room.
That said, there are far cheaper alternatives out there now which are just as capable and flexible, just not as slick IMO.
I do it through a Squeezebox, and broadly yes, it's that simple. Fire up the laptop (obviously a good NAS will avoid this part), turn on the hifi, listen to tunes.
By all accounts Sonos products are even more foolproof and better designed than Squeezeboxes
Sonos - works a treat.
We've a decent sized library ripped into iTunes and some on an SMB/windows share. SONOS picks up and browses them fine. Plays flawlessly. In terms of format - I think we're MP4/AAC not sure if FLAC works but Sonos site should keep you right on this.
Also use Spotify and the radio station streamer (all built in). All work as advertised and haven't had a problem over the last couple of years.
We've two players - one all-in-one thing and another that's just a box plugged into the ARCAM amplifier. Can play different things on either or play them both together.
Control from out phones, laptops and iPad works fine. Can't think of any downsides really. Not cheap but is fit and forget once in place.
3 squeezeboxes here.
squeezebox touch connected to the living room amp
2 squeezebox radios - kitchen and dining room.
all normally synchronised, so you can move between rooms, turn on the one near you and it will join in - or you can separate them and listen to your own thing.
Dave
Will squeezebox run off a NAS drive with the laptop off?
What do you need for each room? And how much?
Was looking at sonos as probably only realistically need two units. Agree that connect unit to my denon is pricey... Rest doesn't seem that bad...
Oh any recommendations for a NAS drive, was think 2Tb should do it... 
Will squeezebox run off a NAS drive with the laptop off?
Yes
What do you need for each room? And how much?
For the squeezebox touch, you need something amplified to plug it in to. I use a digital coax connection (also does optical or various analogue connections) to my amp.
For the squeezebox radio, nothing else needed beyond a power socket.
Oh any recommendations for a NAS drive, was think 2Tb should do it...
I've got a netgear duo.. works fine. Haven't touched it in a year.
Another benefit of squeezebox which my friend with Sonos hasn't managed to do (doesn't mean it isn't possible) is bbc iplayer. I can play any bbc radio station live, or listen to any show from the last week (listen again). All browseable on my squeezeboxes or on my phone.
Top tip - use the iPeng app; it is better than the logitech one.
Dave
We have a sonos play3 that moves between the kitchen and my study and a connect that has a digital connection to my home cinema system. Both work semelessley, same music, different stuff etc. the play3 is SO good I seldom power up the home cinema stuff.
All controlled via iPhones, but the PC interface is also very good. I find it easier to use than iTunes which I previously thought was very good.
I'll be adding a connect amp to drive some proper hifi speakers when we build our extension.
The play3 & 5's look like spectacular value for money when you consider how good they sound.
I've got music on a LaCie NAS, flacs sound pristine but even lower bitrate stuff sounds pretty good. Only issue I've had is I can't seem to write to the NAS if the sonos system is on (can read fine) but that's an issue with the NAS share as Ie tested it with freenas and it works fine.
The radio app is great (we listen to a lot more radio now than we used to) and its pretty good at picking up podcasts. Lastfm etc is also very good.
Most importantly, in ovr a year it's taken up absolutely no time doing maintenance or system updates, never fallen over and my Luddite wife loves it too. We let visitors connect to the network and download the app to smartphones and everyone has been very impressed by how easy it is to use.
But it - you won't regret it.
Re iplayer on sonos - it's all in the same radio app, you can either search by station and listen to whatever is on live, or search by show and it will show you when the next live show is on, or let you listen to a podcast.
FLAC or ALAC is fine for Sonos, I love mine, it's a brilliant bit of kit, particularly when piped through an external DAC. I initially had some minor problems with my controller [iOS] connecting to the Zoneplayer [old router compatibility issues, fixed with a firmware update to router].
Lots or early reviews described the user experience as Apple-esque, i.e. 'it just works', except Sonos does genuinely 'just work', whereas Apple stuff, 'just works, mostly' 😉
The only grief I get with it is when they release new controller/zoneplayer updates and I forget to update the missus' Android app.
As above, Sonos isn't cheap but it is very good. Esp if other people in the house are not technically minded.
Logitech have dropped the Squeezebox line now so stock up on any extra players you are thinking of buying. They will hopefully support it for a while. typical, just as I get it running nicely. was thinking of adding a Squeezeboom but will have to think of an alternative now.
Logitech have dropped the Squeezebox line now
idiots!!
<wanders off muttering>
<wanders back to keyboard and buys more squeezebox radios>
edit: no really, I've just bought another radio - was thinking about getting one for the bedroom and this has given me the push i needed 😉
I bought a sonos then sold it to try other alternatives, nothing compared. So bought a new setup.
Now have a 4 room setup - they are genius and simple. Especially with a spotify account. ZP90 into a hifi in the lounge, S5 in the bedroom (use as alarm clock too), S5 in the Kitchen and a zp120 in a cupboard feeding waterproof B&W's in the bathroom.
All my music is running of a 5tb NAS drive in a cupboard.
Tried loads of alternatives and can't rate sonos enough.
alfabus-have to agree with you, My touch is a great bit of kit especially running through an Audiolab M.dac, what are they thinking-- not even a replacement, just a completely new radio thingy which is incompatible with the Squeeze system.I suppose they are reverting to the company that supplies mouses & keyboards rather than streaming systems.
[url= http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/29/logitech-squeezebox-support-open-letter/ ]Logitech promises continued support for Squeezebox, says it won't force a switch to UE Smart Radio[/url]
however these links don't look good:
http://vortexbox.org/threads/4178-End-of-line-for-Squeezebox-as-we-know-it
Well squeezebox being discontinued settles it, guess I'll just have to get a songs then
Had coffee with a mate who has one and loves it, I think he's sold me on it too.
Thanks to everyone.
One last thing though, is ripping everything via windows media player alright? If not (or if there's something else worth considering) what is recommended?
Cheers, mh.
I use an Apple TV connected to a DAC with an optical lead. The DAC converts the optical signal into RCA which is then plugged into my amplifier.
I can use spotify or iTunes or anything else then. Works brilliantly and best of all is fairly cheap 🙂
I have Sonos, wouldn't consider anything else. The sound quality of the play 3 is brilliant, they're subtle, and can be hidden away and never touched. iOS, android, mac controllers are all brilliant. got 2 at the moment, considering a play 5 for when the dining room is decorated as well...
Sonos sounds great and works so well.
Apple TV works a treat if you use iTunes anyway and have amps & speakers around. The Apple remote app makes Apple TV control a breeze.
i wouldnt bother,i have sonos and sqeezebox,all over complicated and overpriced in my opinion,iv gone back to an ipod in each room in docks,just as good and cheaper!!
Have 2x sonos play 3s and a sonos connect 'running' off a synology nas.
In general it's a good setup, very convenient having all of our music so accessible and as mentioned the Internet radio player is great. Sound quality of the play 3s is pretty good, much better than most iPod docs I've used (but you'd hope so for the price.
There are a few -ves: It took a bit of fiddling with wireless channels to get a reliable connectin to all of the units (we live in an area with lots of wifi points). According to the sonos forums there is a 65535 track limit (still a lot of tracks!) and the dacs/digital outs on the connect aren't that great - by 'audiophile' standards. There are a few features of iTunes that I would like to see on the sonos system (recently added, genius) but sonos refuse to implement despite a loads of requests...
Even with the above I'm still happy with it.
One last thing though, is ripping everything via windows media player alright? If not (or if there's something else worth considering) what is recommended?
EAC (exact audio copy) generally comes highly recommended. My music is all ripped as native WAV but you can choose to go for compressed if space is an issue. All I'll say is that you'll only want to rip your collection once so go for the best quality you can. I have heard that WMP and itunes tend to prioritise speed of ripping over fidelity but it's a conversation I had a while ago.
@RichPenny: thanks, I'll look out for that. So wav the way to go. I agree that I only want to rip things once...
Looking at NAS drives, there's a hell of a lot out there and a hell of a price spread. I'm not looking to go mad (need the total bill to be sub £500 tbh) so specific recommendations for ~£150 NAS please...
Thanks...
[quote=metalheart]Looking at NAS drives, there's a hell of a lot out there and a hell of a price spread. I'm not looking to go mad (need the total bill to be sub £500 tbh) so specific recommendations for ~£150 NAS please...
Check your router - quite a few recent ones have USB ports so you can just plug a USB stick or hard-drive straight in and use that..
PS. Very happy with my Sonos ZP120 / Play 3 setup.. would buy more if I had a larger house.
Check out Richer Sounds for good prices (and price match) and regular special offers on them..
Ah 😉
WAV will not work with Sonos, as it doesn't have ID tags so won't index as you would expect. My gear runs a custom database to get around this. One option would be using a program that will rip to WAV as an archive file then compress all files to a decent format like FLAC automatically. Thus you'd have a reference library of WAV files and a parallel one of FLACs that SONOS could play. To be fair most people would just encode straight to 320Kbps FLAC.
No idea if it can do the auto file conversion plus EAC actually looks quite geeky. dBpoweramp maybe a better bet?
I've used a ReadyNAS duo for a few years with no issues, seems the NAS of choice at work too.
Any recommendations for drives? All the recommended nas units seem to be 'enclosure' only....
I thought it looked all a bit too easy... 🙄
I have a sea gate 2tb FireWire jobbie that I'm struggling to fill 🙂
i wouldnt bother,i have sonos and sqeezebox,all over complicated and overpriced
Are you kidding? The Squeezebox touch in the hifi wold as been the bargin of the century..... Try finding another streamer for the same price that's streams up to 24/96 khz? The squeezebox is sonically better than Sonos.
If you don't want your Squeezebox I will ate it off you
To be fair most people would just encode straight to 320Kbps FLAC.
30kbps is a lossy format
FLAC is a lossless format
They are not the same thing
In the context of iPods and mini hifis you probably can't tell the difference in sq
However once you starting using separate quality hifi the lossy formats reveal there inferiority to lossless
30kbps is a lossy format
no, it is a bitrate...
plus he said 320kbps, which would be a high bitrate for MP3.
With Flac you specify the level of compression, which determines the amount of time it takes to compress the file and the file size, and more importantly the amount of power required to decompress the file in a reasonable time to avoid latency problems. The bitrate in the decompressed file will always be the same no matter the level of compression, and depends on the complexity of the music.
Yes I meant 320 Kbps
Sorry, good point. Sometimes I get mixed up with my compression formats. Agreed that FLAC would be better than MP3. Just out of principle, I prefer to keep the highest possible quality as a master.
For NAS, I just ordered a western digital my book live, 3TB for £140 on amazon. Current 1TB LaCie is fine, but flakey when writing files to it when Sonos is on. Sonos never seems to have any problems accessing it.
Well as they've only gone and brought out a get a bridge free with a PLAY:3 (i.e. £40 off) I've taken the plunge and ordered one up. Will pick it up sometime next week.
Gonna see how it just using it with my laptop goes. Depending on the results I'll get a NAS later. Leaning towards a Qnap dual enc with WD red discs...
I've installed a few Sonos systems for clients. They really are very good and very easy to use. At home I currently have an Airplay based setup with Apple TV and Airport Express. It's not a patch on a Sonos setup.
I'll be installing my own through-house Sonos system just as soon as I can scrape some wedge together.
Go Sonos, you won't regret it.
One thing, if you get any reception issues (unlikely), then just spend an extra £39 on another bridge. It acts as a booster.
And Spotify Premium rocks!
I love mine but I seem to get drop out when listening to 6 music....it's just 6 music, I can stream everything else without issues. Tis very annoying.
Saying that, I have a call open with sonos support and they are trying to sort it out
I ripped all by Cds to FLAC (1500, took me a month :() but it was worth it and stream through a Sonos Zoneplayer connected to my stereo in the front room and I'm very happy with it. I think the Zoneplayer is great value for money and is an excellent sound. The problem with the sonos is that once you've bought into the system you'll find yourself buying addons such as the Sonos controller (which is great but very expensive for what it is). I also bought a play 5 for the bedroom and again think it is grossly over priced for what is is (and have you seen the price of the new sub!). My advice would be if you were getting into the Sonos system don't bother with the units containing speakers, you'll get a better sound using a Zoneplayer or Sonos Amp and putting it through your own amp/speakers.
(The Play 5 is useful as a portable device for taking into the garden etc)
Well got the Play:3 and it's set up.
Sounds impressive so far 😀