Spotify HIFI and Sonos S1

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
May 5, 2021
22 replies
1090 views

When Spotify goes cd quality later this year will the S1 System and legacy players (of which I have many) be able to stream it? I hope so as streaming cd quality Spotify would obviously not be beyond the capabilities of legacy connects and amps which already stream 16/44 Tidal and Qobuz. Please confirm that streaming Spotify HIFI will be possible with S1.

I do feel let down and stranded as a customer when I am constantly worrying if my expensive system that took years to save up for will be the victim of ruthless planned obsolescence by denial of a software tweak required to keep it functional. If Sonos withhold the ability for these players to stream spotify at 16/44 as a lever try to force existing customers to upgrade to new products it would show considerable contempt and disregard for the loyalty their large historic customer base. Rant over, sorry, but why do I feel pessimistic about this?

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M

M_D_FAuthor

I think I' might start looking jnto multiroom raspberry pi streaming solutions for the future.

Since Sonos still cannot voice control local NAS, nor offer album art, I have my ripped CDs on a USB stick inserted in a Raspberry. Works brilliantly on voice via an Echo Show 5 that is wired to the line in of a Sonos unit and if I group other Sonos units, the group works fine as well for this source.

I hear no difference in sound quality compared to music from the same files on my regular NAS played via the Sonos controller.

That's a neat solution. It's how I play LP's round the house.

chicks

Has anyone else split their system to use S2 just on one device?

Not sure I get what you mean but split systems cannot talk to each other, as in form one group. Or be controlled by the other Sonos app.

Not with the Sonos app, but with LMS or SnapCast, split systems can be unified. Sonos devices are treated like any other UPnP endpoint. I disliked the original Logitech LMS UI, but with the Material Skin, it transforms into a better UI and overall experience than the Sonos app, IMO. I’ve rarely if ever used the multi-room synch/grouping of Sonos, so this may not be ideal for those who use it frequently.

J

John B

When Spotify goes cd quality later this year will the S1 System and legacy players (of which I have many) be able to stream it? I hope so as streaming cd quality Spotify would obviously not be beyond the capabilities of legacy connects and amps which already stream 16/44 Tidal and Qobuz. Please confirm that streaming Spotify HIFI will be possible with S1.

I do feel let down and stranded as a customer when I am constantly worrying if my expensive system that took years to save up for will be the victim of ruthless planned obsolescence by denial of a software tweak required to keep it functional. If Sonos withhold the ability for these players to stream spotify at 16/44 as a lever try to force existing customers to upgrade to new products it would show considerable contempt and disregard for the loyalty their large historic customer base. Rant over, sorry, but why do I feel pessimistic about this?

May I point out that your rant about the awful things Sonos might do is completely speculative and that there is no evidence or reason to believe that they have any intention of behaving as you suggest.

J

John B

By the way, I have recently upgraded my Amazon Music subscription to CD quality and it appears to work fine on S1 and S2.

Given that Sonos has been able to stream CD quality for years this hardly comes as a surprise.

M

M_D_FAuthor

When Spotify goes cd quality later this year will the S1 System and legacy players (of which I have many) be able to stream it? I hope so as streaming cd quality Spotify would obviously not be beyond the capabilities of legacy connects and amps which already stream 16/44 Tidal and Qobuz. Please confirm that streaming Spotify HIFI will be possible with S1.

I do feel let down and stranded as a customer when I am constantly worrying if my expensive system that took years to save up for will be the victim of ruthless planned obsolescence by denial of a software tweak required to keep it functional. If Sonos withhold the ability for these players to stream spotify at 16/44 as a lever try to force existing customers to upgrade to new products it would show considerable contempt and disregard for the loyalty their large historic customer base. Rant over, sorry, but why do I feel pessimistic about this?

May I point out that your rant about the awful things Sonos might do is completely speculative and that there is no evidence or reason to believe that they have any intention of behaving as you suggest.

This is true and I hope I'm wrong. But it is true that Sonos have said that legacy products will not be supported any more except for bug fixes and security patches and that they will receive no new features. If for example Spotify or Tidal change something in their streaming systems that means S1 needs an update to reinstate them (this happened when the BBC switched to HLS streams) would that be a bug fix or a new feature? Would it be fixed or not?

I also accept that the older hardware will not be capable of running new features, that's inevitable. It does not mean older boxes are obsolete though and I think it would be reasonable to expect updates where they are needed to continue an existing service on products that aren't really that old. What is missing often is clarity on these issues. We all end up guessing. If Sonos posted a reply ' yes don't worry customers we'll make sure your legacy connect plays Spotify at 16/44 when it happens and we will ensure that your tidal and Qobuz services continue to function if an update is needed' then we'd know and wouldn't have to speculate.

J

John B

Why on Earth would Sonos make themselves hostages to fortune like that? It would be immediately seized on as a precedent for some other enhancement. No chance they will give any such undertaking if it requires any change at all.

Airgetlam

I thought the messaging was pretty clear. No new features will be put in to S1, only security updates and bug fixes, where possible. All new features will be added to S2.

Bruce

K

Kumar

By the way, I have recently upgraded my Amazon Music subscription to CD quality and it appears to work fine on S1 and S2.

Given that Sonos has been able to stream CD quality for years this hardly comes as a surprise.

This suggests that this matter rests on how Spotify implements the change.

I assume you can also cast the cd quality streams to S1 from the Amazon native app?

K

Kumar

Not with the Sonos app, but with LMS or SnapCast, split systems can be unified. Sonos devices are treated like any other UPnP endpoint. I disliked the original Logitech LMS UI, but with the Material Skin, it transforms into a better UI and overall experience than the Sonos app, IMO. I’ve rarely if ever used the multi-room synch/grouping of Sonos, so this may not be ideal for those who use it frequently.

Leaving aside personal preference for other apps, I don't see a big problem with using two Sonos apps for split systems IF people are willing to use them as such. One app would be nice, but two isn't a dealbreaker.

The problem really exists for people that can't get S1 and S2 to do group play, and there seems to be no solution for that.

The other problem with the quoted is that many that are forced to split systems by heavy investment in S1 hardware won't know the way to the kind of solution quoted.

M

M_D_FAuthor

Why on Earth would Sonos make themselves hostages to fortune like that? It would be immediately seized on as a precedent for some other enhancement. No chance they will give any such undertaking if it requires any change at all.

My view is that it would be pretty poor customer service to allow a perfectly functional unit to brick itself so your customers have to buy the new one even if they don't really want to. Also in these environmentally challenging times we should be pioneering new ways to avoid waste not add to it. Not only Sonos are guilty of this nowadays though it's become the norm for phones etc. but traditionally hifi products are expected to last a long time for your money. Unlike cd's, which have a red book standard to ensure functionality with all players, new tech that works on proprietary software leaves us at the mercy of the manufacturers to change, update, downgrade or end products remotely as they wish without our involvement. At the time of the announcement of S2 when Sonos backed down to the customer outcry and created the option of the split system I emailed the CEO and asked why they couldn't offer an upgrade service for legacy products to extend their lifetime instead of encouraging the throwing away of otherwise perfectly functional hardware. This is not unheard of in the HiFi world, Graham Slee amps and DACs at Hifi System Components provide exactly this service for owners of older products who want an upgrade to new models. I never received a reply. I just think it would be good to see a bit of environmental vision from such an influential company instead of giving products a 5 year supported lifespan.

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