Question

NEWBIE HERE, IS THERE ANY WAY TO GET ALEXA TO PLAY LOCAL LOSSLESS FILES

  • 2 January 2018
  • 8 replies
  • 2040 views

I bought an echo show and absolutely love it's voice capabilities to play music.
Unfortunately, it seems limited to only play files from services which do not support lossless (e.g. flac files).
I want to direct the music to play to a stereo system for better sound quality (I have a mcintosh amp and PSB speakers). I figured out a way to play locally stored files mp3 files over bluetooth to a toslink connector on my dac, and that sounds pretty darn good...

But I want to play locally stored flac files. Someone said that sonos has a device that has digital out that might work?

I also have heard about using skill "HEADBAND" with jriver, and haven't tried that yet (actually tried but failed, but i am sure i probably just need to configure my firewall/router), and I heard ROON is working on a method, but wondering if there is any tried and working methods YET??

IS THERE ANY WAY KNOWN TO PLAY LOCALLY STORED FLAC FILES TO A REGULAR STEREO SYSTEM CONTROLLED BY ALEXA?

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8 replies

it looks as though you have a product "SONOS CONNECT" that might work?
Does it support DLNA and flac (maybe even dsd????)

And can the ALEXA SHOW use all the commands to it to play my DLNA files?
e.g.

play genre
play song
play artist
next song
volume 1-10
etc....

This would be great if it does?
Userlevel 7
Badge +21
There is no way to get Alexa to play ANY local files, whether they're FLAC, MP3, or AAC. Alexa has no way to access local music.

I believe Synology is working on a skill that will allow accessing music from their NAS devices, but that will be specific to them, and they'll likely have a component that needs to run on the NAS to make it work. Plex also has a skill that works with their media server software, though it doesn't work with Sonos yet.
There is no way to get Alexa to play ANY local files, whether they're FLAC, MP3, or AAC. Alexa has no way to access local music.

I believe Synology is working on a skill that will allow accessing music from their NAS devices, but that will be specific to them, and they'll likely have a component that needs to run on the NAS to make it work. Plex also has a skill that works with their media server software, though it doesn't work with Sonos yet.


I found there is a skill called house band that will work with jriver and play any file format...got it to work after enabling a port on the router....can even play dsd files that way!

It would be nice if amazon just made an alexa with digital out though.
They need to combine the fire10 android capabilities with alexa show's video call capabilities and have digital out...then they would have a good product.
Userlevel 1
Have I been duped? Just bought a play one with Alexa so that the Wife can easily find the music from our collection (rather than get all the CD's out and buy a CD Player!!), all MP3 on a NAS and accessible to the Sonos Music Library but Alexa can't play them - what's the point of voice control if it can't get what's already there? Reading this post suggests I misunderstood the capabilities when I bought it or am I missing something?
Userlevel 7
Badge +22
Have I been duped? Just bought a play one with Alexa so that the Wife can easily find the music from our collection (rather than get all the CD's out and buy a CD Player!!), all MP3 on a NAS and accessible to the Sonos Music Library but Alexa can't play them - what's the point of voice control if it can't get what's already there? Reading this post suggests I misunderstood the capabilities when I bought it or am I missing something?

No. Most people who have an Alexa speaker or bought the Sonos:1 and have their own music library want to be able to initiate playback via Alexa of their music. It's not possible to do that yet though we know it is something Amazon/Sonos are working on.

However:-

- If you have a queue already on a speaker or group you can ask Alexa to resume and then move backwards and forwards on that Queue/playlist
- You can still access your music very easily using a smartphone or tablet Sonos app.
Userlevel 7
Badge +20
Have I been duped? Just bought a play one with Alexa so that the Wife can easily find the music from our collection (rather than get all the CD's out and buy a CD Player!!), all MP3 on a NAS and accessible to the Sonos Music Library but Alexa can't play them - what's the point of voice control if it can't get what's already there? Reading this post suggests I misunderstood the capabilities when I bought it or am I missing something?
I think 'duped' is putting it a bit strongly. This page may help describe the current capabilities: https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4343

Your wife can, of course, access your local collection via the Sonos app, then subsequently control playback using Alexa.
Have I been duped? Just bought a play one with Alexa so that the Wife can easily find the music from our collection (rather than get all the CD's out and buy a CD Player!!), all MP3 on a NAS and accessible to the Sonos Music Library but Alexa can't play them - what's the point of voice control if it can't get what's already there? Reading this post suggests I misunderstood the capabilities when I bought it or am I missing something?

You’ve not been “duped”. You’re guilty of not doing your research.
Userlevel 1
You’ve not been “duped”. You’re guilty of not doing your research.

Agree, but until now Sonos has exceeded my expectations, this feels like a kick in the teeth!