Question

14 Play:1s do not start at the same time when changing songs

  • 10 April 2017
  • 8 replies
  • 545 views

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I have 14 Play:1s (yes, I know it's an unusual* set up 🙂 that don't start at the same time when I put a new song/playlist on. There's general no delay when the song shifts to next song in the same playlist, even though I've heard some of the speakers stop playing and then start playing again a few seconds later.

Is it my network causing this or is it because I have 14 speakers?
I read somewhere that changing the audio compression could make a difference, but should it compressed or uncompressed? (my logic says compressed, since the files are smaller then?)
I have also a Sonos Boost (not connected at the moment though). Could a Boost help?

Any other things I could try?

In general it's not the biggest problem, but it sounds a bit weird when some of the speakers don't play a sound.
But since the speakers are in cafe* we put on a song when, with a little announcement in the start, when we are going last round in the bar. And this announcement is cut off for some of the speakers.

Best regards
Jost

*We should probably have bought another system for a cafe, but we found a good offer on Sonos at Black Friday 😃

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8 replies

First question: Are your grouping all the speakers together? When Grouped, they should be playing in perfect sync. If you are starting a playlist on each separately, not grouped, they will be out of sync.

As to the rest of your post: Compressed/Uncompressed only applies to the Line-in. If you are playing via a Line-in on another component, that could help. However, with 14 units you should most definitely be operating in Boost mode. This enables Sonosnet, which is a separate mesh network allowing each Sonos unit to communicate with each other, instead of all having to go through the router. After enabling the Boost, be sure to set the Sonosnet channel to something different from your router's channel setting. This will keep them from interfering with each other.

For more info on Standard setup vs. Boost setup, see this link:

Choosing between a Standard and BOOST Setup
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Hi jgatie,

Thanks for the answer.

To your first question: Yes, all 14 speakers are grouped. I don't start each speaker one by one. When all speakers are playing they are all in sync. It's only a question about when they start playing.

Does that alternate your answer about using the Boost? Or else I will try that, even though I would like to avoid it if possible (long story :-)

/Jost
No, that does not change the Boost recommendation. Sonos recommends a Boost setup for anything over a few units. You have 14, which is far more than a few. Connect the Boost to your router to activate Boost mode, as described in this link:

Switching your system between a Standard and BOOST Setup
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Ok, I will try that and see if it helps.
Thanks.
Better than using an actual BOOST: Wire one of the PLAY:1s to the network. This will invoke SonosNet mode (BOOST Setup). Then, when grouping, start with the wired one and add all the rest.

At present there are 27 streams crossing the WiFi: one out to the group coordinator (the first player in the group), plus two for each of the other players -- one back to the router and another out to the player in question.

Wiring one PLAY:1 to the network and making it the coordinator (the first player in the group) would reduce the number of streams to 13.
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Hi Ratty,

Interesting suggestion. I will look into that.
Just to be sure: It's enough to wire one of them and then group them using the app? I don't have to connect each speaker to the new SonosNet mode separately? It took me 2.5 hours setting up all 14 speakers last time 😃

/Jost
Hi Ratty,

Interesting suggestion. I will look into that.
Just to be sure: It's enough to wire one of them and then group them using the app? I don't have to connect each speaker to the new SonosNet mode separately? It took me 2.5 hours setting up all 14 speakers last time 😃

/Jost


Just wire one and the rest will switch to Sonosnet mode in a few minutes. To check if a unit has switched you can look at the Settings->About My Sonos System menu.

The About My Sonos System screen displays all of the Sonos products connected to your household, and whether they are connected to your home’s WiFi (Standard Setup) or the dedicated Sonos network (BOOST Setup). Look for a row under each player that says “WM”.

“WM=0” means your system is in a BOOST Setup
“WM=1” means your system is in a Standard Setup
"WM=2" means the device is bonded as a surround speaker or SUB to a PLAYBAR or PLAYBASE in Standard Setup
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Thanks 🙂