I have to ask this question again. Why is it the performance of Sonos in playing FLAC files has waned over the last couple of years since Sonos preoccupation with being all things to everyone i.e. streaming from every possible source, 5.1 etc. Despite having the matrix I have attached speakers drop out especially one side of stereo pairs. Whenever I skip to the next track speakers drop out and slowly synch up again. Does not happen on MP3s with their lower bitrate. Those of us who were early adopters can remember that Sonos was supposed to have the ability to play 32 speakers with multiple music streams in different rooms. The S2 app takes an age to load on a fast laptop. Changing volume settings can now have a delay as others mentioned. Has some of the memory capacity that used to be available been used for the new features. Don't forget the original system was just designed to play music from local sources and a bit of Internet Radio. Perceived reliability has really begun to suffer as witnessed by a lot of disillusioned contributers on this site. I may sound crass to say this but if I could go back about 30 upgrades to the old blue controller I would do so. Sonos is taking my system in a direction I appear to have little or no control over.
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All of the symptoms you describe are typical of network-related problems. I have no problems playing local FLAC across my seven zone system. I suggest you submit a system diagnostic and post the number back here.
Thanks John, I am using an ASUS RT-N66U router running Merlin Firmware 3.70 and all the Sonos Units have Manually assigned IP Addresses. I use a WD Elements 1.5tb drive connected to the ASUS USB and shared using SMB1 with some 35k flac files. The system has been set up like this for over five years.
Diagnostic
Your confirmation number is: 1898907387
The fact that this is almost certainly network related doesn’t mean your networking equipment is inferior or faulty. But for some reason data is struggling to get around the network.
There is absolutely no reason to believe that the addition of internet streaming services would have any adverse impact on local play.
Have you always stored your files on a USB connected drive?
Have you always stored your files on a USB connected drive?
Yes - always and it works really well.
Could you possibly post a full matrix please - the existing one has a couple of columns missing.
Thanks. Well there is some interesting stuff there. Significant wireless interference in the living room, some weak signals. Any idea what could be causing the interference in the living room?
And a really weird feature is that your kitchen left speaker is getting its stream from the Boost, whereas the right one is getting its stream from the living room left speaker.
There is also interference affecting most of the paths from the Boost.
I would expect problems with the two stereo pairs given this matrix. It will be interesting to see if the diagnostic gives more info.
I really don’t think your problems are caused by a general decline in Sonos’ ability to handle local files, because no such decline has occurred.
And a really weird feature is that your kitchen left speaker is getting its stream from the Boost, whereas the right one is getting its stream from the living room left speaker.
That’s the STP topology. In practice the kitchen right will get stream data from the kitchen left, via Direct Routing.
And a really weird feature is that your kitchen left speaker is getting its stream from the Boost, whereas the right one is getting its stream from the living room left speaker.
There is also interference affecting most of the paths from the Boost.
Weird indeed because the Kitchen Speakers are probably furthest away physically from the Boost. I thought the whole idea of Sonosnet was to forward to each other. On my Matrix they are all connecting to the Boost bar one!
I have no Cat 5 cabling in the house otherwise I could move the Boost more centrally or just connect one of the central speakers with Cat 5 and forget the Boost altogether.
And a really weird feature is that your kitchen left speaker is getting its stream from the Boost, whereas the right one is getting its stream from the living room left speaker.
That’s the STP topology. In practice the kitchen right will get stream data from the kitchen left, via Direct Routing.
Am I missing something or is the Kitchen Right not getting the stream from Living Room L which is very marginally further away than the Boost?
And a really weird feature is that your kitchen left speaker is getting its stream from the Boost, whereas the right one is getting its stream from the living room left speaker.
That’s the STP topology. In practice the kitchen right will get stream data from the kitchen left, via Direct Routing.
Am I missing something or is the Kitchen Right not getting the stream from Living Room L which is very marginally further away than the Boost?
Direct Routing links don’t show in the matrix. They’re used, where possible, directly between grouped nodes to optimise performance. A pair is a type of group. Direct Routing only applies to the audio stream within a group, i.e. between the Group Coordinator and the other nodes; all other traffic uses the STP topology in the matrix.
BTW SonosNet tries to minimise the number of hops, but the Boost/kitchen-left direct signal strength is rather low. The mesh should self-adjust automatically if it needs to, but you can always reboot say the Boost and the kitchen units to force a topology recalculation.
Is the Boost close to the living room speakers? Is there a gap of at least a couple of feet between router and Boost? What channels are your router and SonosNet on?
Thanks @ratty. I forgot that direct routing could override the STP in ‘groups’, including stereo pairs.
Is the Boost close to the living room speakers? Is there a gap of at least a couple of feet between router and Boost? What channels are your router and SonosNet on?
Yes Boost is a few feet from Living Room Left speaker but at least a three feet away from Router. Router on 6 Sonos on 1 (the clearest channel). All of my computer equipment and mobiles/tablets are connected by 5ghz, only smart switches and one CCTV camera on 2.4Ghz.
Router on 6
20MHz channel width?
As you can see the Matrix can change hour by hour!!
A strong interferer is coming and going.
Router on 6
20MHz channel width?
Yes
A strong interferer is coming and going.
Maybe this one:
That won’t make Sonos on 1, or your router on 6, very happy at all. Is it yours? At -57dB it's not that far away.
The system will play flacs quite reliably for long periods if the queue is not edited. Move a song underneath the song playing (play next) or a simply click on play next track and speakers will drop out and then slowly come back into sync. The microwave in the kitchen is another story - that will wipe the floor with the system and causes the system to play the next track briefly, cut out altogether etc. On MP3 it is more reliable with little or no issues. Unfortunately I am one of those rare individuals who despite my age can tell the difference in sound quality especially on the Play5 Pair.
That won’t make Sonos on 1, or your router on 6, very happy at all. Is it yours? At -57dB it's not that far away.
No it is not and unknown to me (I live in London so a lot of WiFi around). It does another nasty trick of spanning channel 2-8 on occasions!!
Based on the pic above I would try Sonos on ch 11. Overlaps are especially damaging.
If the problem strikes when rooms are grouped then try starting off with a different room. The first room contains the Group Coordinator, responsible for fetching the stream and distributing to the other nodes. In a room with a stereo pair the left unit is usually the GC. The best GC is a wired node; the next best would be one with a good wireless signal.
@ratty . if practical would there be any possible benefit in wiring Livibg Room (L) instead of (or as well as) Boost?
