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I think this is a request for enhancement. Spent some time searching the community and didn’t find this already discussed.

It would be nice if the Sonos PC and Mac apps could be enhanced (or maybe a separate app created) so that a PC or Mac and its connected speakers could serve as a Sonos “speaker.” That is, it would appear in the Sonos app in the list of devices in the Sonos system and could be grouped with other Sonos speakers.

For example, when I play music from iTunes on my PC, using AirPlay I can send the sound to any or all of my Sonos speakers and the computer’s connected speakers, all nicely sync’d. When I’m playing music from Pandora using the Sonos app, I’d like to be able hear that in the room where my computer and its speakers are.

Well, looked some more and found this. Sounds like the old-timers know this (fairly obvious) idea has been around and rejected for years. Also, it sounds like one could put a Port in-between the PC and its speakers and accomplish this at considerable added cost and with increased complexity in the normal use case.

Guess I’ll put this out there anyway and see what pops up.

Edit: Well, just found this including including an older, broken link from buzz: "very long, sometimes tense thread" and this. And it is true that my request came from a desire to accomplish this at less expense and without more hardware. And, unlike many, I do get it that the controller app isn’t “playing” the music -- it’s going directly to the speakers from, for example, Pandora (to some degree “through” Sonos, somewhere).

So, please consider this request withdrawn.

Unlike iTunes and some other Apps, the Sonos App is not an audio player - it’s merely a remote ‘controller’ for the Sonos speakers/products.

It’s the Sonos devices that play the chosen audio direct from source and it’s why the Sonos App can be closed and the music started by the App will continue playing from that source.

The likely answer here is to output the PC audio direct to Sonos devices only. Maybe connecting the PC soundcard to say a Beam HT over optical (just as an example) - that setup is widely discussed within a few older community threads.

Other options include a Bluetooth connection from a PC to Roam 2’s, or Move 2’s, using Bluetooth, or I guess there’s the line-in option aswell to some Sonos products that have that feature, albeit that entails a ~75ms audio buffer delay in comparison to any video onscreen, but perhaps is okay for an audio-only source.

Unlike iTunes and some other Apps, the Sonos App is not an audio player - it’s merely a remote ‘controller’ for the Sonos speakers/products.

It’s the Sonos devices that play the chosen audio direct from source and it’s why the Sonos App can be closed and the music started by the App will continue playing from that source.

The likely answer here is to output the PC audio direct to Sonos devices only. Maybe connecting the PC soundcard to say a Beam HT over optical (just as an example) - that setup is widely discussed within a few older community threads.

Other options include a Bluetooth connection from a PC to Roam 2’s, or Move 2’s, using Bluetooth, or I guess there’s the line-in option aswell to some Sonos products that have that feature, albeit that entails a ~75ms audio buffer delay in comparison to any video onscreen, but perhaps is okay for an audio-only source.

The request was not about “PC audio” but about a PC and it’s connected speakers together behaving as a Sonos device which could then receive the Sonos “stream” (from whatever source) in the same way as Sonos devices do. That could certainly be implemented, but the idea has a long and contentious history (that I hope won’t need to be rehashed here, see my edit above) and seems to have been rejected by Sonos.

The request was not about “PC audio” but about a PC and it’s connected speakers together behaving as a Sonos device which could then receive the Sonos “stream” (from whatever source) in the same way as Sonos devices do. That could certainly be implemented, but the idea has a long and contentious history (that I hope won’t need to be rehashed here, see my edit above) and seems to have been rejected by Sonos.

…and have your idea/suggestion likely affect the sales of their own products. My money will be firmly on Sonos not choosing to ever do this, for fairly obvious reasons. They want you to purchase their own hardware, not use 3rd-party speakers.

Wasn’t there an open source project that did something like this? And flamed out? I’m trying to remember the name, it’s come up every 6 months or so as an object lesson on how this type of thing isn’t easily done. Jukebox, maybe?

​@jgatie might know what I’m talking about.

For me the major selling point for SONOS was that the computer/phone/pad is not playing the music, it’s just the controller. I’m a speed demon and I don’t want to drag computer performance down playing music. Plus, if the computer must be rebooted for some reason, the music continues.

Hello, 

This may seem rudimentary given the earlier posts in this thread.  I would just like to get to where Paul was originally.  I have an old PC running W7 using iTunes as my music server plugged into A/V system so essentially PC speakers.  I just added two ERA100 speakers.  When operating iTunes from the PC, I am trying to use Airplay to cast to the SONOS speakers.  Both show up in iTunes Airplay lists and actually appear in the Sonos app as if they are playing music but no sound is coming out.  Additionally, the Sonos App can also control iTunes (e.g advance songs).  Any ideas on why there is no sound emanating from speakers would be most welcome.  Media Streaming is enabled. 

Best,

Scott

Hey Scott,

You’ve brought up a different topic, but I’ve had exactly that problem with my two Move 2 speakers. Sonos tech help told me it’s a known bug (I’ve experienced it working correctly previously, so it was introduced with a fairly recent update) with, at the time I spoke to them (November 21, 2024), no expected date of resolution. My Port and Roam still work correctly.

Best,

Paul

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