Integration with Desktop PC / Philips Hue / Razer Synapse

  • 6 February 2021
  • 11 replies
  • 296 views
B

Hi there,

This is my first post and I’ve read and did a lot of searching about this. I have a suggestion for Sonos for implementation. I see the need for “native” connectors to be very big. And this can be done easily.

 

First of my setup is :

  • 6 Sonos speakers of different kinds.
  • I also have a Windows Desktop PC with the Sonos Desktop Controller on it.
  • Several Philips Hue lights which are bridged with entertainment rooms

Am I happy with all this, yes. But to make the home more smart I don’t understand why Sonos can not help make it really smart.

My suggestions as my setup is (and which anyone could achieve) even without some of the peripherals I will mention from another manufacturer of computer peripherals.

 

If the Sonos Desktop controller app could also play the music to your local pc then my idea would be like this:

Desktop controller app launches music to speakers and local output device (this local output device is the key). Why is it key? With the Razer Synapse application on your computer you can set lighting to your Philips Hue and linkk it to your Sonos Desktop app. The Razer Synapse on itself does all the work and picks up the sound from the source on the local peripheral. This way you can integrate Sonos with the Philips Hue and have nice lighting effects. In my opinion then people with other lighting applications or ideas can do a bit more already.

This is as well a commercial + as well as a real + to making home smarter with a simple adaptation to the Sonos Desktop app.

I hope the devs will look into this cause I think this will not only benefit myself but many people and continue to enjoy and expand their setup. All I ask is an extra option in the sonos desktop app settings to also be able to select “also local output”. This is not an extravagant change and might even incentive other people to have the sonos app w/o sonos products to actually buy sonos products for the ease of it.

I hope my “idea” is clear and I thank you for readin my suggestion.

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11 replies

ratty

The Sonos controller is not a media player. It doesn’t go anywhere near the audio stream. It’s simply a remote control for the players. 

B

Hey Ratty

That I know, but as probably other users I sit at the pc and control my music from my PC to stream on the speakers. It’s a small adjustment  for them to do this so you can use it as a media player. And that would refrain me to use a itunes or local spotify or … it is technically perfectly possible for them and has no effort at all to implement this. Make life easier. I only ask this for the desktop controller not the app because that would be a lot of work. If it’s a setting you can turn on/off then you have the choice and stream to “local audio hardware device”. As I said if they can do that maybe more people will use it as a media player and it might be an incentive to expand to actual physical Sonos speakers. And if they din’t at least people will see the Sonos on regular base by using the media player as such. And name recognition as a brand is also important.

ratty

It’s a small adjustment  for them to do this so you can use it as a media player. And that would refrain me to use a itunes or local spotify or … it is technically perfectly possible for them and has no effort at all to implement this.

“No effort at all”?! Are you a software engineer? I guess not.

Never mind, the idea of a “software Sonos player” has been doing the rounds for at least 15 years. Sonos will never, ever do this, because it would instantly be ported to, say, a Raspberry Pi and deprive Sonos of their primary source of revenue, i.e. selling hardware players. In short it would be commercial suicide.

Smilja

It’s a small adjustment  for them to do this so you can use it as a media player.

 

I presume you are an experienced multiroom system engineer. Granted, having the PC playing in perfect sync with the Sonos speakers is decidedly easy-peasy to achieve.

»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)
B

I’m not an engineer at all but I do work in software.

you both look anti to my idea and I don’t understand why to be honest.

@ratty why would it be suicide? You still control sonos speakers in the end… so how would that deprive them of income? If sonos wants they can still check if a sonos speaker is existant before activating the option i ask for.

it’s not like the sonos controller is that much different than others on the market…

my idea is to slim down the number of apps to use but be able to take more out of it with a music/light sync which is another application that works out of the box. 

B

And with the “no effort at all” I meant “no effort at all compared to the complicated programming behind the entertainment / sync programming”.

ratty

 

@ratty why would it be suicide? You still control sonos speakers in the end… so how would that deprive them of income? If sonos wants they can still check if a sonos speaker is existant before activating the option i ask for.

Any pure software player that was a participant in the Sonos system could be hacked/ported to alternative, low-cost platforms. Even if there was somehow a ‘lock' which ensured that one speaker had to be present Sonos would obviously be deprived of business, by a reduction in add-on hardware sales.

 

it’s not like the sonos controller is that much different than others on the market…

Which others did you have in mind? Certainly not media players. As I’ve already pointed out, the Sonos controller is … a controller. It has no audio rendering capabilities whatsoever.

B

I’m sure bose and other streaming speakers have a controller like this which also have spotify and apple stream and...

i myself only have sonos. Then i wonder if you could use your pc as streaming device within the sonos controller then i’m also set but i don’t want the hassle of running another program that slows my pc down to make that happen.

i am merely suggesting something which “could” potentially make peoples life easier.

the hows and whats are not my cup of tea.

P

To the development team at SONOS,

 

I too indorse Beno Vldg. I was just happened to scan to see if such an option existed today.  

I too would greatly appreciate such a option of a Windows Controller with an option to also be a media player locally on my desktop PC. Do you expect me to purchase another pair of SONOS speakers just to adapt music locally?  I have several SONOS components in my home and yard setup already.

The thought of a media player combined with a registered/subscription SONOS device  to only function on a Windows PC is not that far fetched.

Bang-Olufsen has it If you don’t think it would generate revenue, you are all missing the boat.

Just like the issue that a customer can only purchase just so many SONOS components for 1 home.

Think about and stop being the Ostrich 

B

To the development team at SONOS,

 

Bang-Olufsen has it If you don’t think it would generate revenue, you are all missing the boat.

 

Now you’re bringing me an idea to just throw out all the sonos and go for this…

 

B

I know it has been asked a lot and been replied to a lot.

Just FYI, O managed to fix it by booting the sonos desktop controller and just installing itunes.

Now I can play my music in itunes on pc, and my RGB controller profile on my pc adresses the lights on the music beats and in iTunes I just choose airplay devices for having the sound on my Sonos speakers. Just an idea for those who are interested.

Now with spotify desktop app unfortunatly you can only control 1 speaker at once.

 

So everything has it’s limitation. If Sonos would only let the desktop controller also control the local output I and others will be happy I think.

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