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Dear Sonos and Comminity,

I have a new idea for Sonos:

The idea is to launch a subscription. For that subscription you will be able to make your own sonos functionality with like Raspberry PI's. More specefic you build a website where you can enter all your software details like the name and password for your WiFi. Then your site can generate an image what you can put on a SD Card and then put it in a supported device like a Raspberry PI. Then you will be able to get like the sonos multiroom functionality with a Raspberry pi and your own speakers. I know it is not realistic to just give it to the world. So you can make a subscription for like €5 p/m for 2 speakers, €10 p/m for like 8 speakers etc.



This would be so handy for people who already have a speaker system but want to make a sonos compatible one. Alternatives that also will be okay are systems like a Sonos Connect but based on a Raspberry PI without an amplifier built in. So we can connect it to an existing amplifier or an active speaker.



Hope an idea like this or this specefic will come out.



Regards

Kuno
Sonos have the Connect and Amp for this very purpose. Can't see them going for your suggestion, although I like the idea 🙂
About as likely as a snowball in hell !



In any event you can turn any sonos speaker into a upnp//dnla device. For something like your scheme to work the sub would have to be much higher, and probably separate for each speaker/device.
People have been requesting a "software ZonePlayer" since 2005. It would be commercial suicide and will never happen.



The next best thing is the 'Flex' player rental program which Sonos recently announced.

If you just want to listen to musicians are a Hi-Fi geek, have your own CDs on a hard drive and aim for excellent audio reproduction - this is you still entertain a full blown stereo system - you might want to check out Roon. You and up running a dedicated server for your music, you can perfectly incorporate RPi devices, stream to your Sonos speakers as well etc.  Caveates are that you are limited to high quality streaming (Tidal, Qobuz, etc ...)

 

if it is just streaming from your phone to RPi plugged in your stereo, there a plenty options. For me Allo player ( Hardware), Ropieee XL and my iPhone do the trick. Again for this there are plenty options and if you choose to get a soundcard for your RPi (USB or HAT) the result is really nice. 
 

This does not interact with the Sonos system though. if you want to have this like a multiroom experience and streaming is independent of your phone - see above. Looking at the cost (Roon, Hardware,...) you might want to consider a Sonos connect or Amp instead. This gives you the versatility to stream your analoge sources to your Sonos speakers. Truly great stuff....

Hmm …. Roon?  Expensive (Price: $119 USD per year or $499 USD Lifetime subscription).

Alternative - Logitech Media Server … cost (  $0 USD per year or $0 USD Lifetime)

Absolutely, for me the interaction with Sonos, Rpi and the brilliant Raat (Roon specific) transfer protocol as I am streaming Qobuz matters. 
 

i guess the Sonos app allows for media server or squeeze box integration. I have not tried that for myself. 
 

again if it is „just streaming“ to your stereo the Rpi preferably with a sound card and some sort of package like ropieee xl does the trick. You and up with some compression due to airplay but that might not make the experience bad. Just the hardware will cost you some as a typical tinkering project. 
 

cheers ...

Absolutely, for me the interaction with Sonos, Rpi and the brilliant Raat (Roon specific) transfer protocol as I am streaming Qobuz matters. 
 

i guess the Sonos app allows for media server or squeeze box integration. I have not tried that for myself. 
 

again if it is „just streaming“ to your stereo the Rpi preferably with a sound card and some sort of package like ropieee xl does the trick. You and up with some compression due to airplay but that might not make the experience bad. Just the hardware will cost you some as a typical tinkering project. 
 

cheers ...

You can access Qobuz using Logitech Media Server - just a simple plugin.  

 

 

 

Thanks - I will definitely have a look. 

If you’re interested …. the actual player shown above is a Chromecast Audio (it could easily be a Sonos) which is playing through an Avantree Priva long-distance aptx bluetooth transmitter.    Versatile, or what?!

 

And, to show LMS and Sonos, here’s another screenshot:

 

 

Just to clarify for those interested, the above LMS-Sonos integration IS dependent on another network device running on your network.

In my case this is the tiny wifi-enabled Raspberry Pi Zero-W (about 20 usd) powered by router’s usb output.

 

And, here’s an altternative web-interface (also available on smartphone browsers)

 

 

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