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Works with Sonos details

  • November 19, 2018
  • 3 replies
  • 1254 views
I
Hi, I'm considering upgrading my receiver and was thinking about one of the new Works with Sonos receivers by Onkyo or Pioneer.

What I'd like to know is some details (if there are any):
- will the volume in the Sonos app control the volume of the receiver, or will it just adjust the volume coming from the Sonos Connect (so that would be why the settings videos state to set a default volume on startup - essentially an upper bound, or...?)
- does optical work or there's a reason it needs to be RCA inputs?
- when you stop playing, will it auto-switch back the input?
- what would you do if you have a universal remote like a Harmony Hub, and the receiver auto-turned on for the Sonos Connect? The Harmony would be out of sync unless there's some way to get around this?
- any other details we should be aware of?
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    3 replies

    I
    • ikrolo
    • Author
    • Contributor I
    • November 19, 2018
    Also, how is it different than Sony's Music Connect shown in this video https://youtu.be/snez-L3C_no? Is the only additional feature that it turns on automatically? The Sony Music Connect seems to at least have the volume for this specific input rather than system wide. I'm starting to understand that as the max volume if I'd still like to use the Sonos app for the volume.
    I
    • ikrolo
    • Author
    • Contributor I
    • December 2, 2018
    I purchased an Onkyo TX-NR787 and a used Sonos Connect, so I'll answer my own questions here in case anyone wants to know. I upgraded primarily since I had an older Yamaha entry-level receiver from a few years ago - the sound difference overall has been great!

    Power and Inputs: As expected, Onkyo switches on when it notices the Sonos Connect play something and switches the input. If you switch to another activity, you can pause-play the music and Onkyo will switch back to the Sonos Connect input, which is great. Also, looks like the receiver has defined "On" and "Off" commands and not Power Toggles, so the Harmony turning on to watch TV doesn't accidentally switch the receiver off and cause headaches, which was one of my biggest concerns. When you stop playing, it doesn't auto-switch back to the other input but it's not that big of a concern.
    Volume: The Onkyo video on YouTube doesn't show the latest firmware and how it chooses to deal with the different inputs and sound. They've recently updated it so that there is a specific volume just for this input. I've set this 85 on the receiver and I get good range from the Sonos app directly
    Optical: Works perfectly fine and it's how I've operated it since the beginning.

    One thing that was happening was the optical connection (set to BD/DVD) would be switched to when the Sonos Connect would start playing, which would result in just a blue video feed to the TV. There are settings within the receiver to let it know that there is no video feed for that input, so now it stops switching the video feed. This is better than a blue screen, but I still have to fiddle with it to see if I can get this to be a bit nicer. If there's a way I could pick up the signal change (via some home automation tool like Home Assistant?) then perhaps I could at least send the Home/Menu option to the Nvidia Shield, which would then start the ChromeCast screensavers after 3 minutes. Ideally there'd be a way to just trigger the Shield screensaver if I could detect the Onkyo receiver input switch.
    T
    • Tuomas
    • Lyricist II
    • December 19, 2018
    Hello ikrolo. Could you please tell me how to specify the volume for the Sonos input? I have a RZ730 with Sonos connect and an optical connection. I'm having difficulties finding the volume setup. Either the volume is really weak with the own volume control, or with a fixed volume you cannot control it at all.

    "They've recently updated it so that there is a specific volume just for this input. I've set this 85 on the receiver and I get good range from the Sonos app directly"

    EDIT: Found it, thanks!
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