The Sonos Brexit and pragmatic ways past it

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
January 23, 2020
570 replies
22878 views

I will start this thread with a few caveats:

First, this thread is not for rants. There are plenty here for those, and there is no bar on opening new ones.

Second, the thread is directed for the subset of users that have a large investment in legacy products, and are content to see their Sonos systems as music systems that offer stable streamed music from either a NAS or from the net, and have no expectation of more bells and whistles - just that things continue to work as they are working today. I happen to be in this boat as well, as someone that has three out of six zones running very well on legacy products that I simply cannot afford to jettison until the hardware dies.

Third, this thread is based on facts, some of which have been coming to light only over the last 48 or so hours. It is therefore incomplete to an extent, and may even be wrong in places. Feel free therefore to clarify/correct/add as necessary - and I specifically invite @Ryan S to do so. But, no rants please - they have a place, but this is not it.

All that said, this is the solution I intend to proceed with and recommend here:

Opt for a legacy system operation in May, that will run legacy and modern products, exactly as these run today; no faffing around with two networks. No more enhancements, but expecting Sonos to honestly fulfil their recent promise of all bug fixes that the legacy products can accommodate. Ditto for what needs to be done to accommodate changes driven by at least the mainstream service providers.

By a happy coincidence, all legacy products have line in jacks. So if something even happens at the streaming service end that cannot be accommodated in legacy products, I am confident of finding some device that can be wired to the line in jacks of these, that will still allow streaming from the culprit service to work including in grouped mode with all other products in the system.

The streaming from the local NAS will not have any issues in this mode, other than hardware failures including that of the NAS, and a key assumption here is that NAS changes will not need a Sonos software update.

Although Sonos has said that new products can be added to such a system, I do not see how this is possible once new products come installed with versions that are beyond the frozen legacy system one. Unless Sonos is not going to sell any new products in future with versions beyond the 2020 legacy one - I doubt that. And once a product comes with the latest version, adding it to a legacy system without rendering legacy products inoperable is going to be tricky because it will involve first separating the one system into two; I also admit to being a little fuzzy with this bit. In my case, this is all moot; I have no need for another zone. As an aside, I am someone therefore that is not of much interest to Sonos!

I also assume that if anyone at any time in the future wanted to jettison legacy products for any reason, all they will need to do is leave all such products powered off, invoke updates and the result will be a Sonos system updated to the day they do the invocation. The concern here for me is different - I need to have an ironclad way of NOT updating my system before I am ready to separate or jettison legacy products, and this needs more insights into how things will work on this front in future.

I am pretty sure that this way ahead will work in my use case and I suggest it will also work for many that are heavily invested in Sonos legacy products, that do not want to write it off or to trade up to new products just to retain all existing functionality.

Yes, it involves losing future enhancements/features, but once we accept that these essentially are music boxes that will keep doing all they do today, that should be an acceptable trade off, I suggest. It is to me, for sure.

So this way, this event will be just a minor inconvenience, and I expect to be able to use all my existing products till the hardware fails.

What this event has convince me though is to now look at/recommend smart systems that are truly modular in the sense that the smart bits can be periodically replaced at low cost, while the core “dumb” electronic hardware can be of such build/after sales support, that it justifies the higher investment in the consequent price, if better sound quality is also needed than what the smart front ends can alone provide. But that's for the future.

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K

KumarAuthor

I guess I could test the modern connect as there is a line in but I doubt anyone would continue to use these if they were going entirely away from sonos as their are no amp or speakers so why would it continue to be used.

And I am also interested in this thread from a perspective of how can a customer protect their own interests and investments when a tech company decides to change direction.

It would continue to be used by you the way you are using it today! So what stops you from running an easy test today?

And, to the second bit quoted, the best way of learning is by doing - which you can if you choose to.

K

KumarAuthor

@Smilja : let’s assume for discussion that the Line In is architected to not need the operating environment - an assumption based on how my Connect Amp Line In works with just mains power, no WiFi, and a signal sensed at the jacks. It even boots up in that environment. I can only make assumptions since I have no access to a bricked for recycling product.

If it did work based on the above, what next?

Smilja

@Smilja : let’s assume for discussion that the Line In is architected to not need the operating environment - an assumption based on how my Connect Amp Line In works with just mains power, no WiFi, and a signal sensed at the jacks. It even boots up in that environment. I can only make assumptions since I have no access to a bricked for recycling product.

If it did work based on the above, what next?

Your Connect:AMP is still driven by the firmware installed on the unit. The test requires a device with defunct firmware.

»And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space, Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.« (›Windmills Of Your Mind‹ [1967]. Music by Michel Legrand ; English lyrics written by Alan & Marilyn Bergman)

K

KumarAuthor

@Smilja I know; and I don't have such a device and will never be able to get one.

Are you saying then the recycling deletes the firmware? Because there may be a possibility that merely defunct as opposed to deleted firmware may still allow Line IN to work. A hypothesis that needs a test to prove.

M

MikeOinToronto

Lyricist III

It would continue to be used by you the way you are using it today! So what stops you from running an easy test today?

If I left the sonos environment I would just disconnect the sonos connect and take the line out from an echo dot directly to My receiver. The only function of the connect in my environment is to allow me to use the sonos infrastructure with my vintage audio system. I agree I could test if it would work without wifi but I just can't see anything gained by using a connect if you were not using sonos anymore. The connect amp and play 5s however could continue to provide amplification and/Or amp speaker functionality in another infrastructure providing line in functions without a sonos controller of some kind.

Smilja

I am going to trade-in my two Play:5s early in March, and I suppose they will be plain dead after walking the (green) mile. I shall see.

Trade Up Program

»And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space, Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.« (›Windmills Of Your Mind‹ [1967]. Music by Michel Legrand ; English lyrics written by Alan & Marilyn Bergman)

chickentender

Personally really don’t think ruminating on trade-up plan particulars, conscionable or no, is useful in this thread. That’s covered ad nauseum elsewhere. (I’ve my own feelings about it and they’re strong, but I can’t connect those feelings to a device.)

Smilja

No strong feelings here, maybe a wee bit melancholic. Parting ways is never easy, but often the right move - particularly when coming events cast their shadows before.

»And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space, Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.« (›Windmills Of Your Mind‹ [1967]. Music by Michel Legrand ; English lyrics written by Alan & Marilyn Bergman)

K

KumarAuthor

To me it is useful only as a reinforcement to an assurance that even if Sonos were to go belly up, line in equipped Sonos hardware would keep going on. Supplied by devices like echo that would also do things like grouping multiple units. Trade up isn't available in India and I do not expect it ever will be and I don't have any strong feelings about that - if any, these are of being happy it will never come, we have enough issues with trash management.

Smilja

To me it is useful only as a reinforcement to an assurance that even if Sonos were to go belly up, line in equipped Sonos hardware would keep going on. Supplied by devices like echo that would also do things like grouping multiple units. Trade up isn't available in India and I do not expect it ever will be and I don't have any strong feelings about that - if any, these are of being happy it will never come, we have enough issues with trash management.

Amazon would cut the cord in that case, just as any other service currently available on Sonos would.

»And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space, Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.« (›Windmills Of Your Mind‹ [1967]. Music by Michel Legrand ; English lyrics written by Alan & Marilyn Bergman)

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