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Turntable to ZP80 through Play1 speakers

  • 22 November 2020
  • 20 replies
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Hi all, 

I’ve been running a couple of Play 1’s in my office, my music library sits on my Mac, and the S2 OS app on the mac links the library to the Play 1’s.

I have an old ZP80, which I plan to reinstate with a turntable connected via RCA in, running to the S1 controller app, I will then factory reset the Play 1’s and add the to the S1 controller app.

I am hoping that the music from the turntable, through the ZP80 will then come through the Play 1’s.

 

Am I planning this correctly? Is anyone doing the same and using a turntable into a ZP80.

Any conformation and advice would be appreciated.

 

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Best answer by Ken_Griffiths 23 November 2020, 20:30

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20 replies

Ken_Griffiths

Yes, that should be okay. You will need to use the S1 App to create a new Sonos Household with the ZP80 and you can attach the turntable to it’s line-in. Note the turntable requires either a built-in pre-amp or (if not) you will need to connect a pre-amp in between.

Then you will need to factory reset the Play:1’s and add these to the S1 HH. They will downgrade to S1. Then you can use the ZP80 line-in as the audio source and play the turntable audio to your speakers.  

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Thank you Ken, that is exactly as I’d hoped. When you say a new house hold, do I just allow the S1 app to find the ZP80 once plugged in and follow the instructions to link to the app.  

Ken_Griffiths

If you have the S1 App installed already you may need to reset it (or you can delete it completely and get it again from your mobile App Store).
 

On opening the S1 App, after introduction and some advice screens, it will invite you to connect to an ‘existing system’ or create a new system. You need to choose to ‘create a new one’… it will then look for your factory reset ZP80 and create a new Sonos system/Household. 
 

Once the ZP80 is setup and fully working in the S1 App, add all your music services, turntable etc. - you can then go onto factory reset your Play:1’s and add them into this new S1 Household and they will downgrade to S1. When both are installed to S1, you can remove the S2 App as it is no longer required.

I
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Thanks again Ken, perhaps you should work for Sonos, customer services told me this wasn’t possible with a turntable.

ratty

customer services told me this wasn’t possible with a turntable.

Oh dear.

 

One possible caveat about the proposed plan: some here have reported problems with downgrading an S2 component back to S1. I suggest you set up the S1 household (system) with the ZP80 as outlined, update it to the latest S1 software, then try a reset-and-add on just one Play:1 to begin with. It might be worth playing safe and wiring the ZP and P:1 to the network for this exercise.

Ken_Griffiths

Thanks again Ken, perhaps you should work for Sonos, customer services told me this wasn’t possible with a turntable.

The representative may just have got the wrong end of the stick perhaps🤔?... and thought you intended to setup a ‘split’ system with both an S1 and S2 Household. Anyhow I don’t see a reason why it shouldn’t work under an S1 system only. Let me know how you get on.

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I run a pair of Play 1’s which I’ll reset to S1, I’ve already reset them but they won’t add to the S1 app. As you mentioned, I think I need to add them after the ZP80 has created the house hold.

I have another Play 1 in another room, which can stay on S2 as it is really only used for radio and digital music.

I may switch it to S1 if all goes well, but switching between two apps for separate rooms isn’t an inconvenience for me and I only want the vinyl in one room in this instance.

Ken_Griffiths

Just to quickly, add you cannot downgrade an S2 device to create a ‘new’ S1 Household. You need an ‘S1 only’ device, like a ZP80 to create the S1 Household first ...and then you can add the factory reset Play:1’s and downgrade them to the ‘existing’ S1 Household. Do them one at a time as @ratty suggests. 

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Thanks for confirming that, I’d sort of come to that conclusion and you and @ratty confirmed it, I’ll confirm all done when I sort it all later in the week.

ratty

See my edit to the post above about playing safe and wiring the ZP and P:1 whilst attempting to add the latter. Sometimes wireless communication can stumble when the devices are running mismatched versions.

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Following on from the advice above, I dug out the ZP80 this afternoon, connected up a turntable with a built in pre amp and plugged in.

Deleted all evidence of Sonos apps on my iMac (were my music library is stored) and unplugged all Play1 speakers in the house. Downloaded the S1 app to my phone and created a new system, the turntable was recognised as 'line-in'.

After factory resetting one of the Play1's, it added to the new S1 system via the phone app, and a second in the same manner and created a stereo pair.

Finally, I added the S1 app on my iMac again selected 'line-in' placed the needle of the record and it worked exactly as I had hoped.

No need to reset the router, or used a wired connection.

 

Thanks for all the advice guys 

ratty

You might want to configure Line-In Autoplay in the ZP80, so it automatically starts Line-In play to the P:1s when it detects a signal (and autostops on silence).

Ken_Griffiths

@Icepixmike,

Thanks for the update and letting us know the outcome and glad to hear that everything worked for you.👍

I
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You might want to configure Line-In Autoplay in the ZP80, so it automatically starts Line-In play to the P:1s when it detects a signal (and autostops on silence).

 

I’ll have a look at that, sounds very useful, thanks again.

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 @ratty

As you recommended, I set the Autoplay feature and it works a dream, I don’t touch the app on phone or iMac, just place the needle of the record and it plays through the 1’s.

While I was at it, I reduced the Audio Delay from Max too High and have noticed no issues, and adjusted the Source Level from Level 2 to Level 9 and that has caused no issues either.

I also changed the Audio Compression to Uncompressed as well.

 

On another slightly related subject, when I purchased the ZP80 I got a Bridge bundled with it, which I’ve never used, what would be the benefit of using it? Or is it simply a case of if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

ratty

While I was at it, I reduced the Audio Delay from Max too High and have noticed no issues, and adjusted the Source Level from Level 2 to Level 9 and that has caused no issues either.

I also changed the Audio Compression to Uncompressed as well.

Uncompressed is best, being lossless transmission. Personally I would prefer a higher audio delay than risk dropouts, since a turntable doesn’t mind a slight delay. See how things go anyway.

 

On another slightly related subject, when I purchased the ZP80 I got a Bridge bundled with it, which I’ve never used, what would be the benefit of using it? Or is it simply a case of if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

Bridge is pretty much obsolete, though it would still work with your ZP80 if you wished to wire it and run the system on SonosNet. That said, old Bridge power supplies have a habit of failing. I’d say the best use you’d have for it now is to get a discount off a new Boost if you wanted one.

By the way, the firmware on the Bridge would be so old that it probably wouldn’t be able to update itself; you’d require direct assistance from Sonos Support to get it up and running.

I

 

On another slightly related subject, when I purchased the ZP80 I got a Bridge bundled with it, which I’ve never used, what would be the benefit of using it? Or is it simply a case of if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

Bridge is pretty much obsolete, though it would still work with your ZP80 if you wished to wire it and run the system on SonosNet. That said, old Bridge power supplies have a habit of failing. I’d say the best use you’d have for it now is to get a discount off a new Boost if you wanted one.

By the way, the firmware on the Bridge would be so old that it probably wouldn’t be able to update itself; you’d require direct assistance from Sonos Support to get it up and running.

 

@ratty  I’ve taken advantage of the black friday deals and purchased a Move with the intention of using it in another room like a Play/One, but having the benefit being able to use it in the garden or garden house. My wi-fi is pretty strong, but I was wondering if you’d had experience of using a Bridge running SonosNet and if the range is better than home wi-fi.

 

ratty

I’d suggest you don’t use the Bridge. As I said, it’s ancient technology, with doubtful reliability as the power supply ages. The range is not that great anyway. 

I

I’ll test the range when the Move arrives and get a new Boost if needed then.

ratty

You might as well test it now. Move doesn’t use SonosNet, it connects to WiFi, so whether it’s a Bridge or Boost is immaterial.

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