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Contributor I
November 30, 2013
Question

How do I play audio from my iMac through Sonos?

  • November 30, 2013
  • 53 replies
  • 74663 views
How do I play audio (e.g. soundtracks for movies and TV in iTunes) or stream internet content (e.g. netflx or iPlayer) from my iMac through my Sonos system? I've tried a phono lead out from the headphone socket on the Mac into a Sonos bridge "line in", but the sound was poor and very quiet. My music library is on my iMac, and that works fine.
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53 replies

Lyricist I
March 19, 2016
beam the macbook to your tv via apple tv and play your music. Boom !
Lyricist I
March 20, 2016
Cheers
Lyricist I
March 28, 2016
If directly saved to your Apple MacBook i.e not cloud or streaming
1. Download/ Open Sonos app.
2. Select Preferences from Sonos drop down
3. Music Library option
4. On Folder option hit + sign
5. 3 options will appear to select where your music is stored. "in my music folder" suits most needs but you can select networked drive if you want to get technical
6. on the next screen you will be asked to enter your MacBook System Administrator password.
7. Once complete "Music library" will appear in Sonos user interface.
Avid Contributor I
May 16, 2016
I want to be able to connect external speakers to my iMac. It has a headphone jack which will apparently function as a headphone jack or a line in connection - but not both at the same time. I have 2 Thunderbolt and 4 USB 3.0 ports on my machine. It would seem that Sonos could work that out that line in from my CONNECT could come in on one of those ports with an adapter and some software magic in the controller to product sound like a Windows machine with a sound card line in.
Lyricist I
June 20, 2016
Hello Jonathan,

For now, Sonos is not able to play the system-sound of your computer wirelessly. We call that functionality Virtual Line In, and it is something we may be working
on in the future. You can voice your support by +1 this idea.

Apart from that, the only method to have the PC sound play through Sonos is to use the analog-cable with the Line-In of your PLAY:5/CONNECT/CONNECT:AMP.

In regards to the volume-level of the Line-In connection, I recommend that you check the Line-In settings within the Room Settings of your Sonos app. There you can select
the signal level of the Line-In source.

Regards,

Bjorn L.

I agree with others who have posted… disappointing and frustrating. I just invested in a multi room Sonos system, none of them are Play 5's, and now just finding out I can't run laptop, iMac or TV sound through any of the Sonos speakers I just purchased. Even a line-in from Play 1 or 3 would have been logical and appreciated.


I must agree. Totally disappointing you can´t play music on the songs systems via bluetooth from Mac or PC. This seems so logical. I totally agree... Also disappointing you have to play music through the songs app and can´t use other players :/

I think it is also sad you can't create groups for certain rooms and sonos players f.e. This is a feature I am desperately waiting for 😕
Stuart_W
World-Class Superstar
June 20, 2016
Hello Jonathan,

For now, Sonos is not able to play the system-sound of your computer wirelessly. We call that functionality Virtual Line In, and it is something we may be working
on in the future. You can voice your support by +1 this idea.

Apart from that, the only method to have the PC sound play through Sonos is to use the analog-cable with the Line-In of your PLAY:5/CONNECT/CONNECT:AMP.

In regards to the volume-level of the Line-In connection, I recommend that you check the Line-In settings within the Room Settings of your Sonos app. There you can select
the signal level of the Line-In source.

Regards,

Bjorn L.

I agree with others who have posted… disappointing and frustrating. I just invested in a multi room Sonos system, none of them are Play 5's, and now just finding out I can't run laptop, iMac or TV sound through any of the Sonos speakers I just purchased. Even a line-in from Play 1 or 3 would have been logical and appreciated.


I must agree. Totally disappointing you can´t play music on the songs systems via bluetooth from Mac or PC. This seems so logical. I totally agree... Also disappointing you have to play music through the songs app and can´t use other players :/

I think it is also sad you can't create groups for certain rooms and sonos players f.e. This is a feature I am desperately waiting for :/


There are other products available for you if you wish to use the vastly inferior Bluetooth technologies.

As far as grouping room and players is concerned you are quite wrong in stating it's not possible - this is one of Sonos' unique selling points - speakers can be grouped and the music SYNCHRONISED perfectly around your house. It's marvellous and no other system works as well.
Arc + Sub (Gen 1) + 2 x Play 1/ Stereo Play 3s/ Era 100 Stereo in Kitchen, One Stereo in Bedroom, Play 1 stereo pair in Study, Play 1in Bathroom, Sonos Move 2
June 20, 2016
Agree with @Stuart_W wholeheartedly. How can you be "disappointed" that a product doesn't do something it is fundamentally not designed to do and has never claimed to do?

Sonos aren't stupid. They have undoubtedly considered Bluetooth, and for good reason rejected it (rubbish and outdated technology). They must have made a calculated decision not to put a ilne-in on the P:1 or P:3 (cost versus minimal effect on overall sales, probably).
Lyricist I
June 20, 2016
Hi, ok I didn't know bluetooth was an outdated technology. So far I haven't had any Problems with bluetooth, but I guess I can unterstand that bluetooth is not the optimum for a multiroom sound system. Anyways I am disappointed there is no option to play my Macs music on my sonos play 1 speakers 😕
Is there any other way connecting my Mac with my sonos speakers or is the only way the Sonos Play 5 with the in line?
I just bought a Sonos playbar and a Play 3 ok ebay. Is it possible to use the playbar in order to play music from my Mac or are there any other possibilities?

When I ment groups I didn't actually mean groups. I know you can create groups, but what I ment was (maybe you could call it-> scenes). So for example: I have a Sonos Play 1 in my bedroom, Kitchen and bathroom. I would like to create a scene where I could just choose play in Kitchen and bathroom or Play in Kitchen and bedroom or play in all 3 rooms. I know this is possible but you can't configure this in the app and save them as individual scenes. Do you know what I mean? This would be really really Great.

Btw I am really happy with my Sonos speakers but there are some minor tweeks I wish were available 😉 thanks in advance.
June 20, 2016
Yes I get what you mean about the groups. I think quite a few people have asked about "permanent" groups like this and it would seem a nice feature. So it's on Sonos' radar but they never indicate in advance if these things are coming.

The Playbar doesn't really help with the Mac overall, but I think you can pair you YouTube on your Mac to YouTube on your TV (assuming that you have a Smart TV) and play videos that way wirelessly. Any audio available to your Playbar can be put through other speakers by grouping.

Or you could in theory wire your Mac to the TV (eg with HDMI) and get sound to your Sonos speakers that way, depending on the wired connections the Mac has (of which I have no idea). That may be rather unsatisfactory or impractical though.

Rumours persist, although with no solid evidence, that Sonos will introduce some sort of casting solution (e.g. Google Cast) that would give you something much more like what you are looking for. That does seem a logical development but only time will tell.
June 20, 2016
A further thought - just rereading your last post - you say that you cannot play your Mac music. I assume you mean your Mac audio output. You do know that you can play music files stored on your Mac through Sonos? You probably do, but just making sure.