Leaving Sonos behind

  • 5 November 2017
  • 36 replies
  • 1428 views

  • Anonymous
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Hi all, just wanted to say I am selling my Sonos devices.
After the death of my 2nd CR200 I found neither the iOS nor the Android app are appropriate replacements.
For me it's (most of) all about convenience.
And after a few weeks with another (officially long dead) music system I now decided I found a good replacement (but only because there is this Android app which is, in its simplicity, similar to the CR200!)

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36 replies

Oh Thomas...:-))
[...I will be competing against your to sell my 15 Sonos components, hopefully, that is still before everyone else comes in and they are all completely worthless.
As I said, I wasn't using much of Sonos' abilities anyway.
But, depending on your type of use, it may prove difficult to find anything better than Sonos.
Just saying.
Userlevel 7
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Good for you. But you have to ask yourself for the price that Sonos charges, should you have to write your own software interface? It would have been one thing if we have all purchased their hardware knowing we had to do that. It is a completely different thing having a great GUI and then taking it away without asking existing customers if it was OK.

SONOS = :@


I didn't write anything, I'm still using the awful glare white 8.1.1 controller software on Android. One bright spot though, the v8 glare is bad enough that I can use it to replace my flashlight app saving a bit of internal storage. :-)

What I did do was replace a outdated WD Live drive with a Pi since Sonos doesn't support the more secure versions of SMB that I want to run on my big NAS.

I opened up the Pi's Samba web page and copied/pasted a couple lines from that to my Pi. Went to my Sonos, squinted into the glare, and deleted the WD music library and added the Pi's version. I do look at the Pi every month now and run two lines that I copied from their guide to pick up all the latest updates, takes a couple minutes, about the saqme as the WD took for the same tasks.
Lol. I can't wait for him to sell and move on. And I am a Sonos developer that won't mind the consequent hit to my salary.

Let's see how my boss in Sonos responds to that. :-)) Capisce?
Gee, where have I heard this tune before . . .
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My Pi is happily serving up my music library to my Sonos via SMB v1 letting me secure my real NAS.

Just needed a Pi, 4 GB SD card, 2A USB wall wart, USB to SATA connector and a spare SSD. Any SATA drive will do if you provide it enough power.

Followed the Pi's instructions on setting up Samba (SMB) sharing, copied my music and added it to my Sonos.

Needed something to replace the no longer safe to use WD Live drive I have sitting here with no more security updates available for it. Something that won't be happening to the Pi for many years.

Wife has a hoard of CR-100s and rotates them through her two cradles and updates them as needed. She won't touch the app, regardless of version and the CR-200 was too small for her to use comfortably.


Good for you. But you have to ask yourself for the price that Sonos charges, should you have to write your own software interface? It would have been one thing if we have all purchased their hardware knowing we had to do that. It is a completely different thing having a great GUI and then taking it away without asking existing customers if it was OK.

SONOS = 😠
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Hi all, just wanted to say I am selling my Sonos devices.
After the death of my 2nd CR200 I found neither the iOS nor the Android app are appropriate replacements.
For me it's (most of) all about convenience.
And after a few weeks with another (officially long dead) music system I now decided I found a good replacement (but only because there is this Android app which is, in its simplicity, similar to the CR200!)
Thomas,

I feel the same exact way. Over the past ten plus years of buying Sonos equipment and being very happy with it, I am on the verge of selling everything myself. I still have two of the original CR100 controller that work; these are the only control my wife will use. I also use the Windows app, which is good, but running to your computer to change the music is worse than walking over to your old stereo receive (pre-remotes).

Personally, I am giving Sonos another month or two to realize that this new phone App is going to bring down their company. If they haven't rolled back or at least announced a roll-back by then, I will be competing against your to sell my 15 Sonos components, hopefully, that is still before everyone else comes in and they are all completely worthless.
Userlevel 7
Badge +22
My Pi is happily serving up my music library to my Sonos via SMB v1 letting me secure my real NAS.

Just needed a Pi, 4 GB SD card, 2A USB wall wart, USB to SATA connector and a spare SSD. Any SATA drive will do if you provide it enough power.

Followed the Pi's instructions on setting up Samba (SMB) sharing, copied my music and added it to my Sonos.

Needed something to replace the no longer safe to use WD Live drive I have sitting here with no more security updates available for it. Something that won't be happening to the Pi for many years.

Wife has a hoard of CR-100s and rotates them through her two cradles and updates them as needed. She won't touch the app, regardless of version and the CR-200 was too small for her to use comfortably.
Much obliged @pwt. Time to learn a new skill; I have heard a lot about how interesting and varied the uses of a Raspberry can be.

I have never done any programming in my life other than setting rules for handling incoming emails; never too late to start trying at least.
Userlevel 7
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Ahh, ok. Perhaps it is time to get myself a Raspberry and play with it for entertainment and learning. Can it be used in any way with Sonos? What is the risk of breaking Sonos while trying to do so?

Yes, e.g.:
- You can run Samba on it and host music libraries
- You can populate those music libraries with automatically downloaded podcasts and other content, e.g.: https://squarepenguin.co.uk
- You can use it as a poor-man's line in: http://www.instructables.com/id/Add-Aux-to-Sonos-Using-Raspberry-Pi/
- You can write Sonos control programs using SoCo: https://soco.readthedocs.io/en/latest/index.html
- ...

Only the last of these interacts at the API/UPNP level with Sonos, and I think it's unlikely to break anything.
Ahh, ok. Perhaps it is time to get myself a Raspberry and play with it for entertainment and learning. Can it be used in any way with Sonos? What is the risk of breaking Sonos while trying to do so?
I was referring to the Orange Squeeze app, which enables me to control the Squeezeboxes just as easy as the CR200 allowed me to control my Zoneplayers.
Without this app I wouldn't have jumped ship!

And this Android app is just great, at least for me.

Which Android app are you referring to?
I trust that this whole thread is sarcasm Thomas. Because I cannot see the sense in moving from Sonos to that replacement system.
Hi Burt,
Andrews has got it right.
No sarcasm at all!
The controller was the reason why I bought Sonos in the first place.
Now that it's gone I looked around again and found that replacement.

The system as a whole is not as easy to set up as Sonos, not as good looking as Sonos, agreed.
But I only had to set it up once and that ugly Raspberry is hidden behind the speakers anyway.
And this Android app is just great, at least for me.
After this recent update, I can't seem to figure out how do I choose the line in on my Sonos P90 connect...
Where in this new Android app is the option for me to tap on and listen the sound that goes in the P90 line in on my living room so I can listen to the music on my bedroom?


Most of the functionality that was on the sources page is now on the Browse page. In what I think is one of the better moves of the new interface, other functions like settings, alarms, voice control, etc, are not stuffed in with the sources and are instead on their own page under the "More . . ." tab.
Userlevel 7
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After this recent update, I can't seem to figure out how do I choose the line in on my Sonos P90 connect...
Where in this new Android app is the option for me to tap on and listen the sound that goes in the P90 line in on my living room so I can listen to the music on my bedroom?


1. Bottom Tab Bar | Rooms | Choose 'Bedroom'
2. Bottom Tab Bar | Browse | Line In | Choose 'ZP-90'

You're done.
Userlevel 2
Badge +1
After this recent update, I can't seem to figure out how do I choose the line in on my Sonos P90 connect...
Where in this new Android app is the option for me to tap on and listen the sound that goes in the P90 line in on my living room so I can listen to the music on my bedroom?
Userlevel 6
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I trust that this whole thread is sarcasm Thomas. Because I cannot see the sense in moving from Sonos to that replacement system.

Apologies if I’m talking out of turn or for Thomas but if I’ve understood him correctly I think he’s is saying not that the system as a whole is better, but that the interface he has now found for Squuezebox is better than Sonos’s current offering — now that his CR200 has died.

I must confress I miss my old CR200, it was — in my opinion — a triumph of design and usability.

Andrew
hopefully Sonos can redeem themselves to some extent with the next update ..
I know you will be different, but I am sure that you also know that going by the history of updates here for many years, many users will get used to this one and complain bitterly when the next one shows up - one that is as much a change from this one as this one is from its forbears.

My apologies for thinking you may have IP conflicts.
Userlevel 7
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Trying to work out what I was doing wrong with quick grouping today, I realised it was unpredictable/ broken.

Trying to look like a faux iPhone app has done it no favours at all.


Many of the reported symptoms surface for updates even where there is no UI change. They relate to IP address conflicts exposed by the update. Research fixing these issues and fix them. They will arise in future also, if left unfixed.

The problem is that a UI refresh has to necessarily involve an update and the system can then appear to be broken for two reasons, compounding the problem. A large part of which is fixable by users by doing some research.


I have no IP conflicts and no amount of research can roll back my firmware and App to 7.4 unfortunately..
Userlevel 5
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I trust that this whole thread is sarcasm Thomas. Because I cannot see the sense in moving from Sonos to that replacement system.
Oh c'mon Thomas, are you saying that your Raspberry based solution is easier for most laymen to manage compared to Sonos?
Hi Kumar, what makes you think I said such rubbish?
Of course Sonos always was - and still is - much easier and I never said anything else.
So easy, that's what I called it.
Userlevel 6
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Sonos just worked with a harddisk attached to my router, and it came with a wonderful controller.
So easy!

That's indeed what sonos used to stand for, straightforward, simple and easy.

I still remember my delight when setting up,my first Sonos speaker. Prepared for an hour long ordeal, I was happily surprised to be up and running within 5 minutes.

This is also why people are so upset with the new app imho. Instead of simple and easy, it's inefficient and cumbersome.
Oh c'mon Thomas, are you saying that your Raspberry based solution is easier for most laymen to manage compared to Sonos? I don't dare venture near the Raspberry!
Also, anyone doing what Thomas has done needs to be lot more savvy...
That's right.
Or, like me, desperate enough and prepared to learn.
Back then when I bought my Sonos, I also had a look at the Logitech solution.
But I didn't want something that needed a server running all the time.
Sonos just worked with a harddisk attached to my router, and it came with a wonderful controller.
So easy!