INTERACT FORUM

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  
Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: Sonos: An Effective (for me) Workaround to Stream MC  (Read 1833 times)

john h

  • Regular Member
  • Junior Woodchuck
  • **
  • Posts: 94
Sonos: An Effective (for me) Workaround to Stream MC
« on: December 15, 2006, 10:37:17 am »

I've been a longtime consumer of the good opinions/advice on this board.  I'm not a sophisticated computer guy, so apologies if this post is too pedestrian.  I have used MC since the first MJ days, and after painstakingly creating my beloved playlists and smartlists, and also enjoying some internet radio thru MC, searched for about 2 years for an effective way to stream this stuff through my house.   I've used the Tivo for a while, which was nice enough, but the lack of digital audio output was a big minus and I experienced hiccups in the radio performance.  There are many posts where MC users explore the limitations of various devices, and I was always looking for a post where a user summed up something that works, so that's why I'm trying this.  I'm not involved in any way with Sonos, just pleased with how it worked out, so here goes. 

I wanted: (1) digital audio output, (2) control by remote among various zones, so that I did not have to change songs by logging onto the computer, and perhaps most importantly, (3) the ability to synchronize in zones, so that when I have a party I didn't have to crank the receiver in the den up to 11 to allow everyone in other rooms (ie., mostly the kitchen) to enjoy the bliss of my playlists. 

The first and third criterion together eliminate most of the sound bridges that are for sale today.  I read carefully Mastiff's many postings on how to use cheap PCs and a NetRemote to create zones that can be synchronized, but I sadly realized this was pretty much beyond my expertise and ability to remain employed.

The Sonos devices accomplish all 3 of my objectives.  They're not cheap, and they are not UPnP compatible, so I had pretty much given up on them.  But, much thanks to Peter Engrav, who explained a workaround that allows you to enjoy all the benefits of your MC library with just a few extra steps (see http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=33280.0).  All you need to do is to export all your playlists to a folder that is shared with the Sonos devices, and your playlists and smartlists are there for you to choose on the sonos remote.  The drawback is that, if you make a change to your playlists or smartlists, you have to perform another export, but this is really not that big a deal to me, as I just do it once a week or so.  All the internet radio stations I like actually came as choices already programmed into the sonos remote, so I am enjoying those too.

The benefits to me are the quality of the digital sound, which is demonstrably improved compared to the Tivo.  The devices are extremely easy to set up and they work very well, and the interface of the remotes are so easy that my wife picked it up and without any instruction was able to find music she liked while using her laptop in the kitchen.  Best of all, the synchronization is awesome, and you can even change the volumes of the various zones with the one remote, so if you have company and there are people sitting in the dining room, you can turn that zone down while still playing more loudly for those in the den.  You can change the queue of songs while music is still playing (if you stream your MC to a stereo receiver like the Denon 4306, you are familiar with the extreme limitations of the interface there).

Like I said, you can do this cheaper following Mastiff's method, but for me this is (so far) a great solution.  And who knows, maybe enough MC users will try one so that Sonos will go ahead and implement full UPnP compatibility.  For now, I'm just excited that, after so many years, my hard work with all my MC libraries are following me all over the house!

john
Logged
johnh

SuperRabbit0

  • Regular Member
  • Junior Woodchuck
  • **
  • Posts: 50
Re: Sonos: An Effective (for me) Workaround to Stream MC
« Reply #1 on: December 16, 2006, 07:52:57 pm »


I've had a Sonos for a year or so now and love it a lot.  I don't think I could possibly say enough good things about the Sonos.  I also spent many many hours working with Netremote and had a solution that was almost workable.  But the first time I held a SOnos controller in my hand, I knew that was the system for me.  I bought one the next day and have never looked back.

Like you, I find the export of the Sonos playlists is pretty adequate for my needs.  From my understanding, their original Rhapsody service actually did use upnp though it was closed to that service, so I think there is hope that MC and Sonos could coexist one day.

I actually think the 2 companies have a lot of common philosophies and both produce excellent closed software which is a bit different than many competitors in this area.  As Sonos seems to be added partners that they tie closely to, I think MC and Sonos would make a great fit.  MC could allow Sonos to add the industry's best library organization that many of their users are requesting and Sonos could bring many users to MC by selecting them as their supported library management tool like they have with Rhapsody.

If only these 2 companies saw the world my way...
Logged
Pages: [1]   Go Up