The Sonos Brexit and pragmatic ways past it - ADVANCED APPROACHES

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K

What do you use for the display? It is wire connected to something?

chickentender

Just a comment on the above diagram.. for this situation, you could have done a trade of the Connect for a Sonos Amp, which looks to be cheaper than the Node 2i after trade in discount. The amp could connect to your TV with optical and your phono through RCAs (assuming your player doesn’t need preamp).  You could also get rid of the receiver, as the amp can power those.  I’m not trying to knock your solution as it make sense if hi rez, bluetooth or something else bluesound can offer is important to you.  Just pointing out an alternative.

Is Quboz better through bluetooth over directly streaming to a Sonos device?

Great points for someone else in a similar (not uncommon) scenario. For my part, that receiver is one my favorite pieces and I love the warmth of it in combination with a number of speakers I’ve had over the years; it’s going nowhere. :)

Also, my table does require a phono stage. The hi-res capability and bluetooth options are just gravy.

chickentender

@melvimbe  Qobuz via regular Bluetooth in my short experience seemed equal to direct from Connect (if taking hi-res out of the equation) - I noticed no real difference. But honestly that’s after just a single night at low volumes and with no real critical comparisons whatsoever between the two.  I mentioned it mostly for usability - the SQ was very good to my ear last night while I was listening, but it was simply remaining within the lovely audio sandbox that is the Qobuz desktop app that was so enjoyable. (This as opposed to listening via Sonos controller or BlueOS natively - though the native BlueOS did seem to have a good bit more clarity and headroom, but again, that was only from a very brief comparison.)

C
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Pi zero w

This is useful:

 

https://core-electronics.com.au/tutorials/raspberry-pi-zerow-headless-wifi-setup.html

C
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I only use the Jogglers as displays - there are some ready-built solutions with dispkays but I think they’re too expensive.  You can control the whole thing from a PC web browser, or use apps on Android, and iOS (eg. iPeng).

 

Here’s a link for an all-in-one (player and server setup) on a small SD card - lots to readL

https://www.picoreplayer.org/main_howto.shtml

I use it on a raspi zero w. 

C
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This spam filter is a pain!

Been trying to follow the setup video - seems they drill down from /   to  Users  in order to set the path - look there to see if you can spot the nas folder SharedMusic

Clutching at straws because I don’t have a mac to try any of this out

K

No, that isn't visible. I am now trying to just use the first one, just the / - it is at 450 and scanning, but the content count is still at 0! Will wait it says scanning over and see what happens.

File formats are Apple Lossless and Apple AAC, that should not be a problem.

C
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No, that isn't visible. I am now trying to just use the first one, just the / - it is at 450 and scanning, but the content count is still at 0! Will wait it says scanning over and see what happens.

File formats are Apple Lossless and Apple AAC, that should not be a problem.

I’m still not sure how the mac sets the path to your  nas …  Did you check Settings to see if there’s a mapped drives tab ?

C
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I’ve had an email from the developer … hope he can advise on this.

Is your nas always on and accessible to the mac?

K

No, there is just one tab in mymedia settings - I have now received a email from support that I need to mount my WD to my Mac and then point mymedia to that mount. Why Sonos does not need this is a mystery, but I will now try to google and find out how to do this mounting!

K

 

Is your nas always on and accessible to the mac?

Yes, it is.

K

Google suggests that the fact that I can copy a file on the Mac and paste it to the WD by opening it by just on clicking WD in the Mac Finder window means that the WD is mapped to the Mac, which is the same as mounting it!

Which is also why for setting up the Music library for Sonos from the Mac for music files lying in the WD, it just involved pointing Sonos to the SharedMusic folder on the WD, visible on the Mac - and the Sonos controller can now be told to play music sitting in the WD. 

So this is back to square one.

K

If you see the Mac finder screenshot I have posted, there is a eject like button seen next to the WD - tapping on that would eject - unmount - the WD. So why mymedia is not seeing it from the Mac is a mystery.

K

And I have asked mymedia support these questions, response awaited.

C
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No, there is just one tab in mymedia settings - I have now received a email from support that I need to mount my WD to my Mac and then point mymedia to that mount. Why Sonos does not need this is a mystery, but I will now try to google and find out how to do this mounting!

 

Sonos uses samba to access the WD directly.  MM needs to access via a locally mounted folder on the PC it’s running on.   

No idea why the WD share isn’t showing under /Volumes/Public - let’s hope the dev has a solution.  I sent him the screenshots you posted.

I’m out again this afternoon until about 5pm CET

K

Great points for someone else in a similar (not uncommon) scenario. For my part, that receiver is one my favorite pieces and I love the warmth of it in combination with a number of speakers I’ve had over the years; it’s going nowhere. :)

 

You do realise that this warmth, if not psychological, is distortion?:-).

Not that I am against the sentiment expressed. 

By the way, think of a visible Echo Dot or Port, playing music with active well veneered Hi Fi speakers from Dynaudio or ATC or Dali. Then think of the same source, hidden away, streaming to a recently manufactured valve amp that has a bunch of EL34 or KT88 valves glowing on top, driving the passive model of the same speaker - in both cases at night in a quiet room with the lights low.

Which one would sound better?!

PS: also no argument if you need the extra features in a receiver - the tape out/monitor in as a classic example. Or the phone socket with a ground terminal.

K

@melvimbe : I agree; unless there is a cheap Bluesound device, you are just exchanging one frying pan for another. If not going from the proverbial pan into the fire.

chickentender

Great points for someone else in a similar (not uncommon) scenario. For my part, that receiver is one my favorite pieces and I love the warmth of it in combination with a number of speakers I’ve had over the years; it’s going nowhere. :)

 

You do realise that this warmth, if not psychological, is distortion?:-).

Not that I am against the sentiment expressed. 

By the way, think of a visible Echo Dot or Port, playing music with active well veneered Hi Fi speakers from Dynaudio or ATC or Dali. Then think of the same source, hidden away, streaming to a recently manufactured valve amp that has a bunch of EL34 or KT88 valves glowing on top, driving the passive model of the same speaker - in both cases at night in a quiet room with the lights low.

Which one would sound better?!

PS: also no argument if you need the extra features in a receiver - the tape out/monitor in as a classic example. Or the phone socket with a ground terminal.

Of course I do. :)  If, also of course, by “distortion” you mean the literal sense of the word, causing innate colouring and not necessarily degradation. It is certainly not psychological, except for “that sounds better” and “that doesn’t sound as good” is happening in my head. :)

And to that end, for MY part, my old Fender Bassman 135’s tubey goodness (an extreme example) always took the cake compared to other more “accurate” amps,  or modeling (read “DSP” in these applications) that entered the output further down the chain (or before with newer amps). As with those music scenarios where one fit the bill to my ear across the most number of sources (e.g. guitars and pedals), I’ve settled on a few receivers over the years to do the same, no DSP (and minimal EQ) required.

But also to this end… I’m no extreme audiophile either and I don’t introduce analog or digital enhancing units into my setup for the sake of simplicity. I’m a “good enough” listener comparatively… but a “that’s not good enough” listener in the eyes of plenty of less musically oriented friends and family, e.g. plenty would consider my approach too casual, and plenty more see it as obsessive. Whatever. :) hahahah

chickentender

But moreso I am not in love now with the idea of a Sonos component becoming even more integral to my entire audio setup for for future-proofing reasons. I’m much more comfortable with Sonos remaining in a supporting role rather than a front-and-center one. 

 

Just my opinion, but I’m not that comfortable with bluesound, due to the age and size of the company and the fact that they are currently facing a lawsuit from Sonos.  I understand why people have concerns about investing in Sonos, but for those that want to drop reliance on Sonos, I would be pushing more towards an Amazon or Google solution.  Besides the size of the companies involved, you’re just not investing that much for it to matter too much.

I understand that sentiment. But they’re owned by Lenbrook andare the sister company of NAD which has been around for decades. I’ve no more worries about Bluesound than I do Sonos at this point to e honest. Perhaps fewer. As to legal issues, they can all work that out as best they see fit and I’ll respond accordingly down the road.
To that end, specifically in the case of Bluesound and to @Kumar ‘s point about frying pans… it’s only a single component I’ve added and I’ve zero plans to jettison Sonos and acquire more Bluesound units into my environment (at this point)… hence the “hybrid”, or diversifications. That and I’m far more comfortable overall making a small investment into a company’s product that has deep audio ties as opposed to deep information-technology ties.

chickentender

@melvimbe : I agree; unless there is a cheap Bluesound device, you are just exchanging one frying pan for another. If not going from the proverbial pan into the fire.

More to the point, from my perspective, the cheaper options available that accomplish the same thing come with an exchange of one type of fire for another. There’s no perfect solution.

chickentender

I’ve just finished setting up a O2 Joggler touchscreen device:

(stock image as I can’t access my smartphone!)

 

 

This provides a controller for Logitech Media Server (also installed on the Joggler) which displays the various player/speakers (including Sonos, of course) in my system.

O2 Joggler - rare as hens’ teeth.  Price varies between 15-75 USD when available on ebay

Usb memory stick - 5 USD

Software - free

I haven’t attached the Flirc IR dongle as yet which adds remote control of the touchscreen.  

Interesting. I’ve never even heard of that thing.

chickentender

Going back to Amazon/Google over other streamer solutions, that is likely the cheap stop-gap but it doesn’t sit well with me. There is no DLNA or local library support otherwise. As well, the Echo for instance will always be tied to the Amazon Music platform first and foremost, and though some other streaming platforms are supported that can always change at the whim of Amazon.

I like hardware agnostic alternatives far more, similarly to how I feel about Roku for television streaming - they seek to be as platform-inclusive as they can be without tipping one way or another as opposed to app support within Samsung Tizen or LG WebOS, etc. (or Apple Music on an iOS device for that matter).

K

This give you album art for Nas play? My echo show 5 looks very similar, but not for Nas play, it does not do that.

K

@castalla : thanks for the above and beyond levels of assistance here, via PM and emails.

I followed the instructions for mounting the WD - over and above mapping it to the Mac so that it could be seen by the Mac as had been done in 2016. This mapping was enough for Sonos to use the WD as NAS, but even after the mounting that has been done per the link you sent, the mymedia dashboard is still not listing the WD as a drive that can be selected for indexing.

Since the mymedia app did work to allow Echo show to play media downloaded to the Mac from mymedia, this is puzzling and frustrating, because the solution to NAS play on the Show seems to be in sight!

K

@chicks has some cool ideas/pictures for this thread! Invited to share, please:-).

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