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Hi,

I know this subject has already been discussed but mostly about the delay/lag issue.

My concern is different and concerns sound quality.

I mostly listen to music in front of my computer, through Foobar (mostly FLAC) and Deezer Hi-res.

At the moment, I use a DAC (DACMAGIC PLUS) connected to the computer with USB and to active speakers (Focal Shape 65 plus a sub) through XLR.

It sounds good but it’s a bit annoying because I have to switch everything on and off when using the PC or not, as the “auto power on/off” of the different devices doesn’t work well.

Also, I have Play 5’s in my house and I love their sound, maybe more than the FOCAL (which are “studio” speakers thus more neutral and less “fun”) so I thought : why not try the SONOS on the computer ?

It works (with a slight delay but ok for me) but I find that the quality is altered because of the “aux / line in” connection.

Maybe it’s only in my head but as the only solution is to connect one of the Play 5 to the DAC through a AUX /RCA cable, I suppose my DAC becomes useless, as the PLAY5 “transforms” the signal back to digital, losing the benefits from the Hi-Res audio sent from the computer ?

And on top of that, how is the “line in” connection’s quality ?

Thanks for your help.

Vincent

Deezer HiFi isn’t “Hi-Res”, it’s Red Book lossless CD quality 16/44. You’re therefore adding nothing by streaming through the PC and out through the DAC. And arguably you could be losing slightly by going via the DAC, then the 16/44 ADC on the Line-In. For best quality you should simply stream Deezer to Sonos directly using the Sonos app.

Yes, I know it can be irritating that the Deezer functionality in Sonos lags behind the Deezer native app. Hopefully one day either the Deezer-in-Sonos features will catch up or a direct ‘casting’ approach like Spotify Connect will become available.

 

As for your own FLAC files through Foobar, if they’re sampled at more than 48kHz Sonos won’t play them. However anything else, in 16-bit or 24-bit FLAC (or ALAC), can be indexed into Sonos and played directly. IMO it would be simplest to downsample a copy of anything ‘Hi-Res’ and have Sonos play that.

Your Focals are dedicated near-field monitors, which should perform much better on a desktop than the Play 5s, which are meant to fill a room, and listened to at a distance.  The Focals will have much more directivity in the near field.  Hard to imagine the 5s sounding better on a desktop, especially in the mid- and high ranges.

If you wish, you can add EQ to the Focals using an app, as they are very flat speakers, designed to be that way.

Thanks to both of you.

The Focals do sound better but I was wondering if it was “normal” or because of the line-in connection.

So I suppose I’ll stick with them, and maybe try to apply some EQ.

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