Contributor I

We need Audiophile Edition version of Port

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
February 18, 2021
108 replies
10976 views

First of I want to say that I have been using Sonos products since 2009. Besides Sonos, I had a lot of gear but none of it could match Sonos's ease of use and sound quality (for the price). I have to come clean and say that I am used to using Sonos everywhere and I love it.

As an audiophile, I was looking to replace my aging Sonos Connect with Port and realized from all the reviews that it does not have a better digital output. This was a show stopper for me and it is a show stopper for all audiophiles out there.

You are missing a very important niche of the market. It is taken by Raspberry Pie implementations and Bluesound and Aurelia, not because they have better software or support for services, but because they have a better digital output. That is it. Nothing else. Everyone I have talked to said they like Sonos but the digital output is jittery. I have tried a lot of solutions and even they sound better than Connect over coax they are all not easy to use, do not have support for the majority of services, etc… I meet old people putting Raspberry Pie solutions together and struggling with boards and power supplies and software issues just to get good digital output. Audiophiles are people willing to spend a lot of money on a good streamer.

Wired 4 Sound managed to mod Connect into a damn good streamer. There is no reason you can do it too!

Sonos has the best software and the rest of the products are great but you are missing the main link with audiophiles.

Sonos Port Digital or whatever you want to call it

No audio inputs or outputs. Audiophiles will not use them. They suck compared to $$$$$ priced amps. Just Digital Coax and maybe, just maybe, optical output.

Get power supply clean and stable, maybe even consider having standard power cable, get rid of jitter, use high-quality SPIDF connector…

Make Sonos digital output sound great and you will sell a bunch.

I will buy it first if you manage to do it for $899 or less.

I sure hope that someone from Sonos will take this seriously.

If anyone agrees with me please leave comments so we can get Sonos attention.

Cheers!

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Show previous replies

ratty

If the Port is to be used in Fixed Volume mode then all the criticisms of the digital out’s DSP are moot. There’s no DSP in Fixed. (Equally the analog out is perfectly fine in Variable Volume mode, but one can understand why you’d want to use the Topping: sunk cost.)

Buy a Port from Sonos. Try it. You have 100 days to return it if you don’t like it. Simple.

K

Kumar

There is more than the sunk cost fallacy for the Topping - there is the electricity it consumes. And the footprint and additional cable clutter.

C

chrisgtl

Lyricist II

Went to Sevenoaks today. Walked out with the Bluesound Node. Very happy indeed. Apart from no SoundCloud support I am very happy. For a little more money the Node offers much more than the Port.

ratty

One third more money, but if you’ve no desire to integrate with the Sonos world then Bluesound may suit. Hopefully the software is better these days. Just steer clear of the MQA stuff.

C

chrisgtl

Lyricist II

I would of loved to integrate with the Sonos Eco-system more but......I was sold on the Bluesound. HDMI, Bluetooth, Optical to name a few features which is well worth a third more IMO, YMMV of course.

I can't fault the BlueOS yet. So happy I can add my own radio stations via custom links. I couldn't find a definitive answer online but I'm happy to say you can.

I'll always love you Sonos but this time you were outdone by the competition.

ratty

That's okay. You're still contributing to Sonos revenues indirectly, in the form of royalties.

Stanley_4

Grand Maestro

I wonder how the Bluesound will hold up over time, both in hardware lifetime and in software support. 2006 era Sonos gear (minus the CRs) is still usable.

K

Kumar

I would of loved to integrate with the Sonos Eco-system more but......I was sold on the Bluesound. HDMI, Bluetooth, Optical to name a few features which is well worth a third more IMO, YMMV of course.

All this is useful if the wireless in sync grouped play mode is stable and does not suffer stuttering and drops as Bluesound is sometimes said to suffer from. Of course if this is not your use case, it does not matter.

R

Rocket Green

Lyricist II

Ivan - to be honest, I can’t see it happening. Whether you like it or not, Sonos is a volume manufacturer, but the audiophool market is (by comparison) a tiny one.

Sonos will probably want to leave it to the tiny specialists. It’s hard to be both a volume producer and a niche specialist, not least because in the specialist niche that you’re talking about, the marketing has to be completely different. It’s easy for a tiny, specialist company to do the necessary thing and start inventing things that don’t exist to satisfy this small group of people, but it’s hard for a big company to do that and maintain credibility with their “normal” customers (who will always bring in most of the revenue).

Here’s an example: How do you satisfy a niche market when most of the people in it don’t know what they want? Ask ten “audiophiles” what jitter sounds like, and you will get ten different answers. How do you manufacture a product on that basis?

So… IMO it’s something that Sonos will choose to leave to others...

Any self-proclaimed “audiophile” would use an external DAC which will reclock the signal, thus eliminating any jitter. So exactly what’s the problem (besides not being expensive enough for bragging rights?)

I think you’re slightly misunderstanding. When we’re asking for a good digital output it is so that we can use it with a DAC, Jitter is about the static that the DAC is becoming connected to which then gets amplified and passed on through the amplification process. (It can be treated within the DAC But its better to prevent a problem than to remedy it after the fact). It’s also about being able to pass a good digital signal to the DAC regardless of the electrical noise that might come with it. Lastly it’s about having multiple options. I don’t have a Sonos streamer but my DAC has optical and usb inputs, so even if they made a streamer i wanted, it wouldn’t be compatible without those outputs.

R

Rocket Green

Lyricist II

First of I want to say that I have been using Sonos products since 2009. Besides Sonos, I had a lot of gear but none of it could match Sonos's ease of use and sound quality (for the price). I have to come clean and say that I am used to using Sonos everywhere and I love it.

As an audiophile, I was looking to replace my aging Sonos Connect with Port and realized from all the reviews that it does not have a better digital output. This was a show stopper for me and it is a show stopper for all audiophiles out there.

You are missing a very important niche of the market. It is taken by Raspberry Pie implementations and Bluesound and Aurelia, not because they have better software or support for services, but because they have a better digital output. That is it. Nothing else. Everyone I have talked to said they like Sonos but the digital output is jittery. I have tried a lot of solutions and even they sound better than Connect over coax they are all not easy to use, do not have support for the majority of services, etc… I meet old people putting Raspberry Pie solutions together and struggling with boards and power supplies and software issues just to get good digital output. Audiophiles are people willing to spend a lot of money on a good streamer.

Wired 4 Sound managed to mod Connect into a damn good streamer. There is no reason you can do it too!

Sonos has the best software and the rest of the products are great but you are missing the main link with audiophiles.

Sonos Port Digital or whatever you want to call it

No audio inputs or outputs. Audiophiles will not use them. They suck compared to $$$$$ priced amps. Just Digital Coax and maybe, just maybe, optical output.

Get power supply clean and stable, maybe even consider having standard power cable, get rid of jitter, use high-quality SPIDF connector…

Make Sonos digital output sound great and you will sell a bunch.

I will buy it first if you manage to do it for $899 or less.

I sure hope that someone from Sonos will take this seriously.

If anyone agrees with me please leave comments so we can get Sonos attention.

Cheers!

I want this so much. I use a one so in my bedroom and have a separates hifi in my living room built from Chord, Cyrus, PMC and MK components. I love both, my separates system is vastly superior though (but not for convenience). I want to buy a streamer, currently it would probably be a blue sound node I most want but Ideally it would be a sonos product. I want it to work on the same app as. My sonos speaker and would probably already have a sonos port if it’s outputs weren’t point defeatingly poor and an outright £400 sonic downgrade. People already buy the port though, they do so to use with hi fi systems they clearly love enough to buy a £400 accessory for, so Sonos already has enthusiast and audiophile customers, however I personally (and I know other people who feel the same) feel like I’m only willing to pay the high price for the convenience of a Sonos port if it sounds as least as good as not having one. It shouldn’t be a big ask. I also wanna say I don’t mean to bash on SONOS right now. I like them and their products, but there is a product they don’t make that I want badly, it’s an attainable and exciting possibility I’m discussing here, not a complaint.

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