Just noticed a Synology article on accessing music on their units via voice control. http://bit.do/SynAlexa
Is US English only and only supports 2014 and later units, but it's a move in the right direction for accessing local music. Though it does send the music from your NAS to Echo via Amazon servers rather then local LAN.
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What was the last report I read? 95% streaming now? Not much of a market remaining for this.
Well I think it's interesting... :)
It shows you can access local music if you want to, and that Alexa's quality threshold at 128kbps MP3 is not that high. I would imagine this is sending to Alexa simply because it's playing it via an Echo.
Amazon and Google are taking a big bite out of an area that Sonos had had little real competition in with streaming of music around the house, so maybe it's time for Sonos to remember where they came from and perhaps use that to their advantage.
It seems from the Alexa integration so far that you are limited to single streams, unless you upgrade, and those streams are low quality. IF Sonos can get local control working, then with local music you'll get much better quality and no restriction on number of streams. If they can then extend that local control to control streaming services via Sonos rather than direct from the voice integrator, then Sonos could offer better quality and more flexibility than an Echo, or a Google assistant audio solution.
Personally I think if they don't offer something above Amazon/Google, then it will be tough.
It shows you can access local music if you want to, and that Alexa's quality threshold at 128kbps MP3 is not that high. I would imagine this is sending to Alexa simply because it's playing it via an Echo.
Amazon and Google are taking a big bite out of an area that Sonos had had little real competition in with streaming of music around the house, so maybe it's time for Sonos to remember where they came from and perhaps use that to their advantage.
It seems from the Alexa integration so far that you are limited to single streams, unless you upgrade, and those streams are low quality. IF Sonos can get local control working, then with local music you'll get much better quality and no restriction on number of streams. If they can then extend that local control to control streaming services via Sonos rather than direct from the voice integrator, then Sonos could offer better quality and more flexibility than an Echo, or a Google assistant audio solution.
Personally I think if they don't offer something above Amazon/Google, then it will be tough.
Ian_S wrote:
Well I think it's interesting... :)
Alexa's quality threshold at 128kbps MP3 is not that high.
Alexa's quality threshold at 128kbps MP3 is not that high.
Amazon Unlimited streams at 256kbps, Spotify, soon available via Alexa, at 320kbps. Both are transparent.
chicks wrote:
Ian_S wrote:
Well I think it's interesting... :)
Alexa's quality threshold at 128kbps MP3 is not that high.
Alexa's quality threshold at 128kbps MP3 is not that high.
Amazon Unlimited streams at 256kbps, Spotify, soon available via Alexa, at 320kbps. Both are transparent.
And it doesn't say all music is streamed at 128kbps, it said that any music stored on the Synology not in mp3 format will be transcoded to 128kbps. I will be risky and assume that mp3 files will be streamed at their native quality.
I must be one of the 5%. Although 95% stream it doesn’t mean that’s a paid for service. I use the radio. My library is shared throughout my family and can’t wait for Alexa voice control. I don’t pay for streaming services and don’t want to.
Just spent afternoon upgrading to beta on ny Synology only to find the skill in alexa looks like it’s not in the UK yet , Doh!!!
+21Is this a skill where you have to "tell Synology to play [artist]"? If so, then it may not work, just like other skills that play audio - nature/sleep sounds, Plex, etc. - don't seem to work with Sonos.
If Synology can get their skill linked as a "music service" with Alexa, (i.e. "play [artist] from [service name]", then it will likely work with Sonos.
If Synology can get their skill linked as a "music service" with Alexa, (i.e. "play [artist] from [service name]", then it will likely work with Sonos.
Rather than create a new thread, I'll reply here.
Like many folks here, I have Sonos wireless speakers, Amazon Echo Dots, a Synology NAS, and have tried several different music services.
First, I tried Amazon Music. The voice control worked fine, but the music quality wasn't as good as Apple Music, and more importantly less of the movie soundtracks and other albums I wanted to listen to were available through the service. Then I had trouble with an Amazon Music update not allowing one of my iPads to update my library on a particular Apple iPad. Frustrated by all of the above, I cancelled my Amazon Music account (which was the cheapest yearly option at $75 annually).
I next went back to Apple Music. And I could even control my Apple Music with the Echo Dots and my voice for a time. But Amazon got greedy, took away that capability, and while I kept Apple Music for it's larger audio library and better sound quality, the lack of voice control really started to bug me. (I've cancelled my annual service, but it won't actually be "over" until December.) It was at this point I looked for a new solution.
I thought I read that I could use the Amazon "Audio Station" skill to play my Synology NAS music over my Sonos speakers using my voice. But it required me to have my own domain name, to create an SSL certificate for my NAS, port forwarding, and most importantly... if I enable VPN service on my NAS, it seems to interfere with my Echo's ability to connect to the NAS over the Internet.
I decided I'd give this a try. So I paid for a domain name with Google Domains. I went through setting up my NAS to work with the Domain name, getting the SSL setup with that Domain Name, enabling the Amazon "functionality" in Audio Station on the NAS, etc. It took several days, lots of banging my head against the wall without anyone I really knew to ask for help from, etc. I found the UPnP on my router wasn't nearly helpful enough, and the Port Forwarding the NAS setup on the router wasn't nearly enough or the right ports. I had to add more forwarding options so I could get to the NAS through my router, etc. But in the end, I got it all setup.
HOWEVER, it did NOT work out as expected.
1) I have NOT been able to play music over my Sonos speakers. The voice control only works ON the Amazon Echo or Dot that hears the command. As a result, the audio quality isn't very good, no matter the file type or bit rate of the music on the NAS.
2) MORE IMPORTANTLY, it doesn't seem like the Audio Station skill is very well implemented. Where I could ask for any album to be played from Amazon or Apple, and both seemed to find what I was asking for and play back what I wanted pretty reliably... the Synology Audio Station skill usually indicates she can't find any music that matches my request. I've tried wording the requests differently, but it's usually the same. "Alexa... ask Audio Station to play back the Album - Avengers: Infinity War". Before it would error out. Now that I've re-enabled my VPN connection to Windscribe VPN, it seems the Echo can't get to my NAS, and all I get is a blinking blue ring on my echo.
I wish I could say I've found a solution that lets me play the music I want, through my Sonos speakers, using the Amazon Echo devices. But its all pretty frustrating and annoying to have spent this much money, and be unable to make it work how you expect it to... despite spending HOURS of my personal time to try and figure this out. Pretty frustrating. 😞
Like many folks here, I have Sonos wireless speakers, Amazon Echo Dots, a Synology NAS, and have tried several different music services.
First, I tried Amazon Music. The voice control worked fine, but the music quality wasn't as good as Apple Music, and more importantly less of the movie soundtracks and other albums I wanted to listen to were available through the service. Then I had trouble with an Amazon Music update not allowing one of my iPads to update my library on a particular Apple iPad. Frustrated by all of the above, I cancelled my Amazon Music account (which was the cheapest yearly option at $75 annually).
I next went back to Apple Music. And I could even control my Apple Music with the Echo Dots and my voice for a time. But Amazon got greedy, took away that capability, and while I kept Apple Music for it's larger audio library and better sound quality, the lack of voice control really started to bug me. (I've cancelled my annual service, but it won't actually be "over" until December.) It was at this point I looked for a new solution.
I thought I read that I could use the Amazon "Audio Station" skill to play my Synology NAS music over my Sonos speakers using my voice. But it required me to have my own domain name, to create an SSL certificate for my NAS, port forwarding, and most importantly... if I enable VPN service on my NAS, it seems to interfere with my Echo's ability to connect to the NAS over the Internet.
I decided I'd give this a try. So I paid for a domain name with Google Domains. I went through setting up my NAS to work with the Domain name, getting the SSL setup with that Domain Name, enabling the Amazon "functionality" in Audio Station on the NAS, etc. It took several days, lots of banging my head against the wall without anyone I really knew to ask for help from, etc. I found the UPnP on my router wasn't nearly helpful enough, and the Port Forwarding the NAS setup on the router wasn't nearly enough or the right ports. I had to add more forwarding options so I could get to the NAS through my router, etc. But in the end, I got it all setup.
HOWEVER, it did NOT work out as expected.
1) I have NOT been able to play music over my Sonos speakers. The voice control only works ON the Amazon Echo or Dot that hears the command. As a result, the audio quality isn't very good, no matter the file type or bit rate of the music on the NAS.
2) MORE IMPORTANTLY, it doesn't seem like the Audio Station skill is very well implemented. Where I could ask for any album to be played from Amazon or Apple, and both seemed to find what I was asking for and play back what I wanted pretty reliably... the Synology Audio Station skill usually indicates she can't find any music that matches my request. I've tried wording the requests differently, but it's usually the same. "Alexa... ask Audio Station to play back the Album - Avengers: Infinity War". Before it would error out. Now that I've re-enabled my VPN connection to Windscribe VPN, it seems the Echo can't get to my NAS, and all I get is a blinking blue ring on my echo.
I wish I could say I've found a solution that lets me play the music I want, through my Sonos speakers, using the Amazon Echo devices. But its all pretty frustrating and annoying to have spent this much money, and be unable to make it work how you expect it to... despite spending HOURS of my personal time to try and figure this out. Pretty frustrating. 😞
I'm not a streamer - one of the benefits when I bought my Sonos system a long time ago was the ability to build a Music Library. Then, they decided not to release this with Alexa support. Why? If I look at the Alexa app, it has all my music.
But thanks for finding this great workaround - it will be great to be able to play the stuff I own and love through my Sonos One.
But thanks for finding this great workaround - it will be great to be able to play the stuff I own and love through my Sonos One.
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