Request for feedback: Shuffle

Is there a way to have the songs fade away or an option to enable this like a cross fade when we manually change songs in the middle of a song? Kind of like a dj. So that there is no abrupt stop when we decide to change songs and there is a gradual transition. With such a large library of songs some people can be picky with their songs and there would be so many sudden abrupt stops in the music which just really isn't smooth and deserves a nice crossfire transition away
Two asks:
1) make it pseudo random so where you have a number of songs within a queue from the same artist it doesn't sequence them all in a row
2) second (or third?) the request that the queue is re-ordered to show how it has been shuffled, and enables you to then edit the shuffle order, skip tracks, etc.

Thanks.

STEP 1. Open iTunes. /  STEP 2. View "shuffle" behavior. /  STEP 3. Do that. Problem solved. 

This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled Random /Shuffle. Hi Ben, reading all the comments here I think it looks quite clear that it would be very appreciatet If you could give some advice when you think it could be improved the experiece with the Random funcionality.Today when you create a Sonos playlist and you want to use the shuffle mode it works mostly with the same Random ( example: 1-5-7-...) I would expect that using Random it would not always be the same sequence (e.g. 2/7/1 next time 8/1/3) It looks for me may you have to improve the Formula.

Hi, Would be nice when the shuffle mode could be saved to a playlist. Some Playlists I always want to suffle, some never. And I can´t find a way to save this setting to a playlist. 
And I don´t want to start the shuffle play with the first track of the list

It seems to me we are all talking about two separate functions.

1. Shuffle which is available in Sonos software, but its functionality is weak to say the least. For example, I have a playlist with over 2 thousand songs, but only about 200 of them ever play in the shuffle mode. So obviously this needs all kinds of improvements as suggested by others.

2. Randomize. This doesn't exist in Sonos, but would be a great additional function. When the user clicks on "randomize" the entire playlist is jumbled up in a totally haphazard fashion. It is then played sequentially which guarantees that no song will be played more than once until the end of the playlist is reached. This feature has always been available in Winamp and some other players, and in a number of ways I prefer that over any "shuffle algorithm", especially that you can also double or triple randomize to really have a new "deck of cards" whenever you wish.

All the other improvements suggested here are great, but I would first vote for the added "randomize" functionality.

I always tend to listen to my music collection on shuffle, whether it be a playlist or the whole library. What I am really missing is a Play Next feature. For instance, I am looking through my queue on the android app and I see a song I want to listen to. I don't want to stop listening to the tune I am currently enjoying, and I don't want to wait around for three minutes until it is finished to manually select the new song to play. Play Next would tell my system to play that track next in the shuffle order once the current track had finished and go back to a random shuffle after (unless I selected another track in this way). Google Play has this feature, even a few obscure music players have it. Is it possible future functionality?

Hi Ben,

the way i have set up my playlists in iTunes is i use ratings to create a top playlist by genre and Sonos is pointed at my iTunes XML library.

i use Sonos by loading a playlist of a particular genre into the queue and hitting shuffle. My playlists are huge (5000+ tracks), so i am in the habit of leaving the same queue in place for weeks at a time. the issue with this is after each listening session, the next time i hit play, the queue replays the same tracks in the same order, which is annoying. i have to remember to scroll down the queue to a track i have not heard in a while and start playing from there. that gives the illusion of ongoing random play each session.

I would like for the number seed to to re-randomise each time play is pressed after stop or pause so the track order is changed due to the seed changing (or to have this option in settings to allow me to choose this.). Alternatively and/or additionally, put a randomize button at the top of the queue list, I have some coding skills in various languages, so think this solution should be trivial for your guys to implement.

Best,

James

Hi Ben,

the way i have set up my playlists in iTunes is i use ratings to create a top playlist by genre and Sonos is pointed at my iTunes XML library.

i use Sonos by loading a playlist of a particular genre into the queue and hitting shuffle. My playlists are huge (5000+ tracks), so i am in the habit of leaving the same queue in place for weeks at a time. the issue with this is after each listening session, the next time i hit play, the queue replays the same tracks in the same order, which is annoying. i have to remember to scroll down the queue to a track i have not heard in a while and start playing from there. that gives the illusion of ongoing random play each session.

I would like for the number seed to to re-randomise each time play is pressed after stop or pause so the track order is changed due to the seed changing (or to have this option in settings to allow me to choose this.). Alternatively and/or additionally, put a randomize button at the top of the queue list, I have some coding skills in various languages, so think this solution should be trivial for your guys to implement.

Best,

James


Well said James , Ben can we have an update from sonos please?

I totally agree with you! Couldn't have said it in a better way. Thanks!

Ben,

It is over 2 months now since your initial request for feedback.  It would be great to hear what the next steps from Sonos are?

Stuart