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deepspace
Lyricist III
June 4, 2020
Answered

Can I play Flac files direct from a USB hard drive connected to the Port?

  • June 4, 2020
  • 23 replies
  • 2098 views

I’m new to the Sonos world.  I have many ”lossless”  FLAC files(from CDs) on an external USB hard drive.  Is there a way for me to connect this directly with the Port to play these music files?  I don’t have an NAS, and would like to avoid using a computer in this chain if at all possible.  Right now, I plug this USB drive into the Blu Ray player and access the drive through the Blu-Ray menu.  

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Best answer by yians

Instead of an old laptop, I am thinking of a Odroid system to be permanently switched on and connected to my external HDD and router. Alternatively, a ravpower 25$ hub could also work if SMBv1 is enabled, this is what i understood. 

the ravpower hub seems a much simpler and cheaper solution but i am a little reluctant. Maybe i could just buy it and just waste 25 bucks if its not working with SONOS. Maybe i could use it elsewhere...

It is as you say, between Hi-Fi and IT, terrible combo :grin:

23 replies

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yians
Lyricist III
October 29, 2020

thanks for your reply deepspace

I also asked Ravpower directly and told me that their hubs do not connect with Sonos, something you also realised the hard way. There is a user here who posted that it worked for him, which is strange. 

Next step is to look for a Odroid solution, it costs around 50-60 euros and you can attach to it an external hard drive and have it as a NAS server. 

I still havent understood how exactly this happens as it is the first time i have to deal with NAS and its settings but i suppose that it wont be that hard (from info i fould it seems to be much easier than using a Raspberry PI and its a faster machine overall). 

Yet, its strange that we have to do such a research for something that so many people probably already use. 

 

deepspaceAuthor
Lyricist III
October 30, 2020

Y,  it looks like you've done some good research here.  I agree with you that it should be an easier subject, but it does seem to fall between Hi-Fi and IT.

Before Sonos,  I used my DVD player to play the Flac files.  Sonos is so much better.  Please post if your proper equipment works.  You can always consider a used inexpensive laptop to use as the server for you USB hard drive.

I've used J River software for managing my Flac library (over 1,500 CDs) and I ran across the Raspberry Pi as a way to interface the library, but i didn't think I was tech savvy enough to be confident.

Sonos works great as being able to access all the Flac music files and use my phone as the remote to play through the Hi Fi system.  It's much better than my DVD approach which was awkward and limited.

yiansAnswer
Lyricist III
October 30, 2020

Instead of an old laptop, I am thinking of a Odroid system to be permanently switched on and connected to my external HDD and router. Alternatively, a ravpower 25$ hub could also work if SMBv1 is enabled, this is what i understood. 

the ravpower hub seems a much simpler and cheaper solution but i am a little reluctant. Maybe i could just buy it and just waste 25 bucks if its not working with SONOS. Maybe i could use it elsewhere...

It is as you say, between Hi-Fi and IT, terrible combo :grin:

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