music streaming service

I’m subscribed to Apple Music but if I wasn’t getting as part of the Apple One package I would be paying Deezer. CD Quality and love the Deezer flow.

My Sonos has been happy streaming FLAC quality music for many years, it is choking on the Amazon Ultra-HD streams that sound no different to me than CD quality streams. Both on wired  gigabit connections and SonosNet wireless, using a high end router and a lightly loaded 175/10 mbps cable connection.

You may get lucky or see issues too when trying to stream the high-bitrate stuff.

The key is to remember that the “choking” aspect is likely between your router and the speakers, i.e. local network, rather than the speed of your router to the outside world. Not always, but likely more often in most user’s world than not. 

Thanks everyone.  I got everything hooked up including a Gen3 sub and it sounds great!  When streaming from Qobuz, Deezer or Apple Music, now playing shows no indication of the audio format.  Am I missing something?  How am I to confirm the quality of my stream? Thanks!

If you can’t hear the difference - does it really matter?

Considering my local setup I’m pretty sure it is not an issue with my connection to the ISP or an internal issue.

The router (info below) will happily saturate the ISP link up and down while maintaining low usage levels.

The router is connected via GB Ethernet to a GB switch that is directly wired to the Arc and one Beam, a second Beam is connected to a downstream GB switch. Cables test good and clients tested on the far ends max out the ISP link on speed tests.

I have seen this glitch on my direct wired Beam Gen 1, don’t listen to much music on the other two wired Sonos.

The SonosNet speakers I have seen this issue on are a Play 5 Gen 2 that is about 10 feet across an open room from the wired Arc and a Beam Gen 1 that is about 15 feet and one sheet-rock wall away from a wired Beam Gen 1, 2o feet and two walls from the Arc. The WiFi channel shows around 20% usage (below) using an RF (not WiFi) monitor. The Matrix is all green too.

I don’t have any fancy testing gear since I retired but a few days ago, just for fun, I fired up my collection of Amazon FireSticks, 2 running different HD streams and one a 4K stream, far more load than I usually see to my ISP or internally. I saw no sound issues streaming CD quality FLAC from my local NAS. Didn’t want to let it run long term and wait for the occasional glitch so I don’t know how it would have impacted the Amazon high rez stream.

If this ever acts up at a convenient time to play phone tag I’ll send a diagnostic and call Sonos Support. Until them just switching stations and back fixes it and I am lazy.

Listened for several hours and this is taken right after several short dropouts of Amazon listening.

There were only dropouts, it was not the stop playing sound but keep showing the stream as playing I have had before. I’ll keep waiting for that and post another diag.

Diag # 1734007325

Frankly, I think hi res streaming is a distinction without a difference.  I streamed Ultra HD tracks from Amazon and the same tracks from Apple in lossy AAC and I could hear zero difference.  This is both on a pair of Sonos Ones paired with a Sonos 3 sub and a Sonos Port feeding a Denon receiver and 3K worth of Aperion Audio speakers.  I used a variety of sources, jazz, classical, folk, electronic, etc.  Granted Im 52 and maybe don’t have perfect hearing but nobody else I auditioned the streams for could hear a difference either and they ranged in age from 18 to 35. 

Both the hi res and lossy AAC streams sounded great in all honesty so worrying about bitrates and sample frequencies feels sort of academic.  I’d say it more important to find a music service that works both in your home and when you are out and about as well.  

Working on another issue, playing with adding a Boost and got another diagnostic showing possible noise impacting the Play 5 G2 called End Table.

Diag #  1611629961