*** Official SONOS Thread ***

[Minstadave]

The fuss isn't about the sound - the sound is good, especially for the size of the units, but it's not going to beat a dedicated hifi of the same price.

What it excels at is the multi room and streaming experience. You can have rooms perfectly in sync, you can move music around the house, I can have my TV audio playing in the kitchen with a couple of taps on my phone - it's slick and it works. I can add a new Sonos zone by just plugging in the power cable and pressing the button, no fuss.

The interface is good too, you can jump from local music to streaming or internet radio within one app and make playlists combining sources.

Sonos support is good too, they add music sources (slowly), they added Trueplay tuning to all their devices, not just new models.

 

[beachBOYken]

In a slightly round about way, yes: https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/261

With Sonos I definitely think you benefit from a subscription to an online service. Just so simple.

With local music on your computers/devices you need to make sure that device is on. Obviously solved with a NAS (or similar) but not everyone has one.

As in sleep on?

Or do I need my ipod touch for example with its screen on and playing the music.

I don't normally turn my tablet or ipod off but was hoping the sonos had some sort of timer that could play music at a certain time automatically.

 

[Basher]

As in sleep on?

Or do I need my ipod touch for example with its screen on and playing the music.

I don't normally turn my tablet or ipod off but was hoping the sonos had some sort of timer that could play music at a certain time automatically.

The music streams from the speaker not your device. So just queue things up and I'm pretty sure you can set a timer to turn it off.

 

[beachBOYken]

The music streams from the speaker not your device. So just queue things up and I'm pretty sure you can set a timer to turn it off.

Yeah cheers, I just was not sure if my idevice had to actually have the screen on all the time when using the play 1.

Shame sonos have ended the bundle starter pack offer, was going to get it from there.

 

[beachBOYken]

Line in is exactly the sort of thing I was trying to avoid by getting Sonos, so not high on my requirements.

More base doesn't add much for casual listening, especially when 99% of the time it's going to be the radio and background music when friends are over. Don't get me wrong, I'll no doubt appreciate the improvement in sound quality when I finally cave and buy a Play:5 for the living room, but for us I think the "whole house" thing is higher on the priority list.



2xPlay:1 but DON'T use them in "stereo pair" mode - USE them in "group" mode.

Couple of reasons for my suggestion:

1) If you put each Play:1 at opposite ends of the room you'll end up being able to have them quieter while still having the whole room able to hear music. Conversations in the room will be much easier no matter where each person is standing (in my opinion)

2) Having them at opposite ends of the room in stereo pair mode will mean that music that makes use of stereo shifting will result in the possibility of one speaker not even playing some part of the music. If you have them turned down low - from the kitchen you might not even be able to hear the other speaker playing the backup guitar that's only coming out the other speaker.

3) Set them up as separate speakers then "group them". When you go to play music both will play a mono version of the music and in turn will play both left and right channels. When grouped together like this setting one to play music (either or) will result in the other playing the same thing. Additionally using the app to pause, change track or even change volume will effect both (both speakers volume can be controlled individually while grouped as well). You've even still got the added benefit that the "play/pause/stop" button on the top of either speaker will "play/pause/stop" the other speaker while grouped.

Essentially, "grouping" your speakers will function identically to a "stereo pair" but instead of each speaker only playing the left or right channel it will play both channels out of each speaker.

Hi Roy

I have just purchased myself a starter set, can I ask what the reason is for setting them as separate speakers and then grouping them?


Also whats is the correct way of turning the speakers off, should I just press the play/pause button to mute or is it best to do it all within the app and then closing the app.

thanks

 

[Minstadave]

They turn themselves off when you pause or stop streaming via the app.

 

[RoyMi6]

The music streams from the speaker not your device. So just queue things up and I'm pretty sure you can set a timer to turn it off.

With local music (i.e. music in your itunes library) I'm not sure this is the case.

I don't have any local music so can only test when I visit my parents (who don't have any steaming services!) but it seemed to be a whole bunch of issues stemmed from the fact that my mum had local music on her iPad which my dad couldn't choose to play unless from his iPhone unless my mum's iPad was on.

It really seems to me that local music isn't copied to the Sonos speakers so, in turn, they can't play "local" music without the source device being active. Whether it needs to be fully "on" or just "sleeping" I'm not sure.

Hi Roy

I have just purchased myself a starter set, can I ask what the reason is for setting them as separate speakers and then grouping them?

Also whats is the correct way of turning the speakers off, should I just press the play/pause button to mute or is it best to do it all within the app and then closing the app.

thanks

As Mistadave says there's no wrong way to turn off the speakers - they're always on, so stopping the music via the app or pressing the play/pause button on top achieves the same thing.

Also, when I said "set them up as separate speakers and then group them" I just mean "group them".

You don't see the option to group them unless they're NOT a stereo pair - so they need to be set up as individual speakers before you can group them. Long story short, just set them up as a group and you're done

 

[beachBOYken]

With local music (i.e. music in your itunes library) I'm not sure this is the case.

I don't have any local music so can only test when I visit my parents (who don't have any steaming services!) but it seemed to be a whole bunch of issues stemmed from the fact that my mum had local music on her iPad which my dad couldn't choose to play unless from his iPhone unless my mum's iPad was on.

It really seems to me that local music isn't copied to the Sonos speakers so, in turn, they can't play "local" music without the source device being active. Whether it needs to be fully "on" or just "sleeping" I'm not sure.



As Mistadave says there's no wrong way to turn off the speakers - they're always on, so stopping the music via the app or pressing the play/pause button on top achieves the same thing.

Also, when I said "set them up as separate speakers and then group them" I just mean "group them".

You don't see the option to group them unless they're NOT a stereo pair - so they need to be set up as individual speakers before you can group them. Long story short, just set them up as a group and you're done

Confusing but I'm sure Its easy enough, I will have to test the lcoal music and device on vs sleep to see what happens.

Im hoping it's different for radio stations and streamed music via Spotify and the likes, as long as these services are queued I presume pressing play/pause will just resume playing as and when without having to use the sonos controller app?

Thanks

 

[Minstadave]

Radio stations and streaming music just restart when you press the button on the Sonos.

You can't play music from one mobile device if you're controlling the Sonos from another as far as I'm aware. It doesn't download he music onto the Sonos. But you can play your local from network sources (pc, NAS etc.).

 

[RoyMi6]

Just a heads up that "The Rainforest" and "Mr John of Lewis" have the Play:1 in stock for £149 each - which actually works out the cheapest they've ever been - by a pound.

Great if you were thinking of expanding you're Sonos collection but couldn't justify buying two.

EDIT: Also, to expand on what Mistadave has said again - it's been covered in the thread before but when you "pause" a radio station it actually stops it. When you "play" them again they continue live. As far as I'm aware there's no real way to "pause" the radio. It's just an off/on button.

When it's a streaming music service that's queued up (like Spotify) then the play/pause button works exactly as expected.

To clarify further, if I started playing my "evening music" Spotify playlist on my phone then stopped it (via my phone, OR via the play/pause button on the device) when I went to bed, when I got up in the morning and pressed the play/pause button on one of the devices (even another one in the same group) it will resume where it left off.

This is why we find that having a "reset" alarm in the morning is a good idea. We've got a alarm that comes on in the morning for all the devices downstairs set up to tune in to Radio 2, with ZERO volume then turn itself off again 15 minutes later - the shortest time it can be. This means when we go downstairs we just press the play/pause button and Radio 2 comes on without having to use our phones - which we just find easier.

 

[beachBOYken]

Just a heads up that "The Rainforest" and "Mr John of Lewis" have the Play:1 in stock for £149 each - which actually works out the cheapest they've ever been - by a pound.

Great if you were thinking of expanding you're Sonos collection but couldn't justify buying two.

EDIT:Also, to expand on what Mistadave has said again - it's been covered in the thread before but when you "pause" a radio station it actually stops it. When you "play" them again they continue live. As far as I'm aware there's no real way to "pause" the radio. It's just an off/on button.

When it's a streaming music service that's queued up (like Spotify) then the play/pause button works exactly as expected.

To clarify further, if I started playing my "evening music" Spotify playlist on my phone then stopped it (via my phone, OR via the play/pause button on the device) when I went to bed, when I got up in the morning and pressed the play/pause button on one of the devices (even another one in the same group) it will resume where it left off.

This is why we find that having a "reset" alarm in the morning is a good idea. We've got a alarm that comes on in the morning for all the devices downstairs set up to tune in to Radio 2, with ZERO volume then turn itself off again 15 minutes later - the shortest time it can be. This means when we go downstairs we just press the play/pause button and Radio 2 comes on without having to use our phones - which we just find easier.

Like you said previously the way the radio resumes live suits you better and I believe its also better to have it like this.

By the way with the speakers grouped does pressing the volume control on the device or via the app control both speakers?

 

[RoyMi6]

By the way with the speakers grouped does pressing the volume control on the device or via the app control both speakers?

Pressing the physical volume button on any individual speaker changes the volume just for that one, even if grouped.

In the app, when you click on the volume slider it will adjust the volumes for all speakers in the current group but ALSO display the volumes for each speaker above the master volume slider. As such you can tune each speakers volume individually form the app as well.

If you do adjust one volumes speaker then the master volume slider on the app will then adjust all speakers volumes at the same time while keeping the user defined separations of volume for each speaker - it won't automatically set them all the same again, but you can easily just tweak them to all be the same again just as you set them differently.

 

[beachBOYken]

cool, good to know. I cant wait to receive my play 1's, I got them in white. Im currently ripping a few albums into AAC as I read the Sonos does not support certain streaming formats from an IOS device.

 

[a1ex2001]

I've got a £200 JL voucher arriving tomorrow (reward from work) gutted I missed out on the Play:1 for £149 offer as that was what I planned to buy! I have noticed that Sevenoaks sound and vision are still offering the play:1 for that price though has anyone managed to get JL to price match?

 

[beachBOYken]

Just got mine in white, yet to test them out.

They are incredibly small and look brilliant, build quality seems first class.

For anyone thinking about getting them, Peter Tyson is selling the starter kit at £296, only had white when I bought.

 

[beachBOYken]

Had a day to try my play 1s and I'm pretty impressed. Sound quality is fairly good, on par with my zeppelin air I would say, maybe even better for filling a room with sound.

I have 1 in the bedroom and 1 in the lounge both grouped and the sound is in perfect sync, very impressive!

I've tuned them using the trueplay feature, I thought it was a different app I needed to download but it prompted me to do this in the Sonos controller app setup.

Im using a public beta release so I can play apple music.

One thing I noticed is apple music that is downloaded to your device for offline listening does not stream to the sonos (apple protection ********). So you have to stream from the internet.

Had me thinking, if I lost my internet for a while could I still stream music from on my device or do they rely on the internet?

 

[Journey]

I've got a £200 JL voucher arriving tomorrow (reward from work) gutted I missed out on the Play:1 for £149 offer as that was what I planned to buy! I have noticed that Sevenoaks sound and vision are still offering the play:1 for that price though has anyone managed to get JL to price match?

Can't see it be a problem, since they are bricks and mortar stores, and online.

 

[a1ex2001]

Can't see it be a problem, since they are bricks and mortar stores, and online.

Got the voucher yesterday but annoyingly Sevenoaks had put the price back to £163 then I discovered sonic direct still had them for £149 and they have a showroom in Bradford. I sent John Lewis a price match request which this morning they have agreed to match so a new sonos will be on the way shortly

 

[beachBOYken]

To you all who listen to the radio on your Sonos, what service do you find best?

Im currently using tunein, unsure if there is anything better.

 

[booyaka]

To you all who listen to the radio on your Sonos, what service do you find best?

Im currently using tunein, unsure if there is anything better.

tunein works fine for me - never any issues