Zp 24/96

But is Logitech still selling it today? I think that is a more telling question.

Did they ever get it working reliably when streaming hires files and trying to sync them?

My understanding is that their sync was unreliable at best, and that was only when streaming MP3s.

In fact they only got any form of syncing working relatively recently in the last couple of years, although this didn't stop them falsely claiming to have it.

If you want a hires, multi-room streaming solution, go ahead and try to find one, but such a mythical beast doesn't seem to currently exist, and I don't think ever has.

Cheers,

Keith

Did they ever get it working reliably when streaming hires files and trying to sync them?

My understanding is that their sync was unreliable at best, and that was only when streaming MP3s.

In fact they only got any form of syncing working relatively recently in the last couple of years, although this didn't stop them falsely claiming to have it.

If you want a hires, multi-room streaming solution, go ahead and try to find one, but such a mythical beast doesn't seem to currently exist, and I don't think ever has.

Cheers,

Keith

I know they had problems with synching anything that had to be transcoded on the server (ALAC was one) and 24/96 had to be transcoded for players that didn't support it, so there you go.

I too was always amused by the posters who stated "Sync works great for me!!" when their forum was always filled with sync problems - ALAC, gapless tracks (which every "Sync works great for me!!" person conveniently never owned), BBC station problem which evolved into "core server bug with synchronised playing", etc. The only sync problem ever posted here is when someone tries to play the same radio station on two zones without linking the zones first. 😉

If you want a hires, multi-room streaming solution, go ahead and try to find one, but such a mythical beast doesn't seem to currently exist, and I don't think ever has.

Cheers,

Keith

Would it be correct to add...regardless of price?

And a add on question: Again regardless of price, what is another solution that does all that Sonos does in the sphere of multi room audio - synched if the same music, or different music from one source? Or two sources, if one were to play internet radio from the broadband feed and music from a NAS.

Would it be correct to add...regardless of price?

There are certainly some Linn systems that appear to do this, but IMO not very well. The feature is called Songcast which basically retransmits the music received by a "master" unit to the others. The control of it seems clunky from the description (you have to connect each stream to the "master" specifically, and then have limited control, only volume it appears, from the "slave" devices), but much more importantly the sync is reported to be dreadful: apparently it is "a minimum of 100ms" between synced systems which will sound lousy if the rooms are within earshot of each other.

(To put this in perspective, my family complain about the 70ms delay Sonos has on line in if I pipe the TV audio to the kitchen unless I shut the door between them, and that's not even in an adjacent room).

Compare that to Sonos where the sync is good enough to use to create a stereo pair in the same room.

And, by the way, Linn are one of the main sponsors of hires (it's one way they justify the high cost of their kit).

So your answer is, no, if you are willing to pay enough money, and put up with a substandard user experience and poor sync, there are solutions out there that nominally do what Sonos does.

But if you want something that actually does what Sonos does with decent sync, but with support for hires then I don't think there's anything on the market at any price.

Cheers,

Keith

Hmm, well, Simple Audio's Roomplayers DO exist, I've seen them in the flesh. You didn't say it had to be wireless!

I've no idea how well they sync though...

I've no idea how well they sync though...

I'm told they don't have sync at all.

Certainly they didn't at launch which, if they add it later, it sounds like it's an addon rather than a fundamental part of the design (like it is on Sonos) which is likely to mean they'll struggle to make it work well. Put another way, if it was that easy, why has everyone except Sonos struggled to make it work effectively or reliably.

I think we can discount Simple Audio as a valid comparison.

Cheers,

Keith

Sonos is well established in the mass market I would say, now it's time to put out a true high end unit, with high resolution support.

Likely something that most people would use with a high end dac (maybe you wouldn't even need to include a built in dac just a high quality jitter free digital output).

Judging from this thread there are more than a few audiophiles that want all the best in the digital age with the ease and interface that Sonos offers and would easily throw down the cash...

I'd really like a high resolution unit. I'd pay at up to $1500 for a unit that could I terrace to a DAC that supports USB Class 2 audio.

My wish list of things would be for it to support 24/192 (or hey, maybe 24-32/384?). I would also like to see DSD streaming since a ton of DACs are coming out with that capability. I'd love to see the u it be able to index over SMB share connections as it currently does, but would love for it to be able to index The contents of SACD ISOs just like JRiver can.

Realistically this probably won't happen. And I'll just have to end up building a CAPS server with JRiver for all my hi-Rez stuff. 😕. I just like the Sonos iPad app so much! JRemote is decent but it just isn't up to par.

My Bloody Valentine have just released their long awaited follow up to Loveless. It is available to download in a variety of formats including 24/96 Wav.

This format is becoming increasingly available and I find it hard to believe that Sonos dismiss it so readily.

If it is not possible due to hardware limitations they should say so instead of making arguments that carry no weight.
Despite DBTs showing people can not tell the difference there is similar research showing the same between high bit rate MP3 and lossless yet Sonos have not stopped support for lossless formats on the ground that most people cannot tell the difference.

The same goes for hi-res having more 'noise' than redbook - if lossless is deemed to have better audio quality than why don't Sonos exhibit the same quality control and only allow lossless files and hi but rate lossy.

If it is possible for Sonos to play hires then they should allow this and let the customer decide what sounds best to them.

If it is not possible due to hardware limitations they should say so instead of making arguments that carry no weight.

Nobody involved with Sonos has taken part in this thread, the arguments that you think carry no weight do not come from Sonos. It IS a hardware limitation by the way.

Despite DBTs showing people can not tell the difference there is similar research showing the same between high bit rate MP3 and lossless yet Sonos have not stopped support for lossless formats on the ground that most people cannot tell the difference.

Because those are common formats, 24-bit isn't common, even now.

You also failed to mention that the My Bloody Valentine is also available in 16-bit WAV as well. Why the hell they decided on WAV I don't know, anyone that wants decent tagging or album art is going to have to convert it to a different format anyway, so they might as well have just done FLAC and ALAC versions.