Sonos Favorites NEEDS the Line-In as a selection!! It's easier for family!

  • 21 February 2013
  • 64 replies
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Userlevel 2
Please add where we can use the Line-In selections as a Sonos Favorites! It's easier for family to select a Favorite than to know what Line-In means. Thanks!!!!!

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64 replies

Just went through all the updates with the latest 7.0 Sonos revision and, much to my disappointment, the line-in function is not there. Do we have any idea if Sonos is planning on allowing Line-in functions to be part of the favorites list? And, if so, when?
No, we don't have any indication. Sonos rarely gives any indication it is working on something, and even then it is only when it involves a major partnership.
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Also been wanting this for my Logitech setup for about 6 months now. This seems like the most basic thing to include and that it should already be there.
Please let us add Line-In as a favorite within the Sonos app to be able to automate it with Logitech Harmony. This would be so awesome and I think as you can see, A LOT of people have the same need like myself.

Please listen to your customers!
Yes. Please allow adding Line-In to Sonos Favourites.
Please add my voice to this request. I need both line-in and playlists to be added to favorites so they can be used with Logitech Harmony.
Please add my voice to this request. I need both line-in and playlists to be added to favorites so they can be used with Logitech Harmony.

You can add playlists to Favorites now.
Userlevel 7
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Please add my voice to this request. I need both line-in and playlists to be added to favorites so they can be used with Logitech Harmony.
You can add playlists to Favorites now.

I was just thinking about this as well... Harmony only allows you to add items in Sonos Favorites to its own interface. Since you can't add Line-in to Sonos Favorites, it is not easily accessible through Harmony controls/systems.

I was just thinking about this as well... Harmony only allows you to add items in Sonos Favorites to its own interface. Since you can't add Line-in to Sonos Favorites, it is not easily accessible through Harmony controls/systems.


I'm fairly sure the reason Line-in is not on favorites is because it requires some sort of manual manipulation to get going, and Sonos already provides Autoplay to automatically get the line-in source playing on a designated speaker whenever it senses the source in use. So the option of "Put on CD/LP, press play/lower needle, choose room groupings" is not that much different (in fact it is easier) than "Choose line-in, Put on CD/LP, press play/lower needle, choose room groupings.", which is only a single click away from "Choose line-in favorite, Put on CD/LP, press play/lower needle, choose room groupings."

Indeed, with Autoplay you can get a line-in source playing without touching a remote at all, Harmony or otherwise, and since it seems logical that a manually attended source will default to playing where that source is located, I guess the "one-click" saved by making it a favorite is not worth the effort.
I could see a scenario where a tuner is always on and tuned to a station that is not available on the internet and Autoplay is disabled. Having a favorite to select that source using a Harmony remote would seem logical in that situation.
I'm not sure you can call it logical to have a tuner playing into a Connect at all times. Who would leave something powered on and playing at all times just so you can choose it as a favorite? In addition, the line-in is meant for legacy equipment. Indeed, there seems to be more and more people using it because they are technophobes and are uneasy about transitioning to Sonos. Wouldn't the legacy operation of turning the tuner on and the sound comes out of the speaker seem more in line with those wishes, than leaving it on constantly and choosing a favorite?

But then again, I was just offering an opinion. Agree to disagree. Nobody knows for sure why Sonos does not include it in favorites, and probably never will.
I was just proposing a hypothetical situation that assumes you want to select the tuner without being in the room it is in so it needs to be already running. I only use line-ins for my reel-to-reel and my Nakamichi Dragon cassette deck so AutoPlay works fine for me.
I was just proposing a hypothetical situation that assumes you want to select the tuner without being in the room it is in so it needs to be already running. I only use line-ins for my reel-to-reel and my Nakamichi Dragon cassette deck so AutoPlay works fine for me.

Personally I would call that a fringe case. Probably also why this thread is over 3 years old and less than two pages.
Just to throw something into the pot, I wonder if it has something to do with the fact that the "line in" option doesn't even appear as an option unless there's something plugged in? Might be a "logic" issue in the software, although I could imagine there would be ways around it. But I agree that I think it's a fringe case, although I could see some people using it.
Userlevel 7
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Harmony actually allows the option of choosing a Sonos Favorite to start playing when you start the "activity"... so one could set up a "Listen to Turntable" activity that automatically starts a Line-in connection if it were possible to add a Line-in to Sonos Favorites.
+1 on this. My TV is plugged in to line in on a connect:amp but I don't always want to use sonos for sound. Being able to select line in as a favourite would allow me to use Alexa (via Yonomi) to make the switch. Much easier than digging out a phone...
+5 Another reason. I have a Luton Pico remote for sonos in my kitchen. I like to listen to the TV through the line in input. The Pico remote for sonos works great for quick access to sonos. Unfortunately the source button on the Pico remote will only access favorites. 99% of the time I want to listen to my TV (football, UFC, etc..) while in the kitchen. For some reason that is where everyone ends up.
I want to use the new iPort xPRESS keypad to control a pair of PLAY5 that I to feed a line input source from a CONNECT in another room. Problem is it will only choose from the favorites list. I could use autoplay but that would make it come on whenever that source were active - NOT what I want. Sonos please update software so line input can be on the favorites list!
For the Logitech Harmony people: You can add a step to your activity to select Line In. For reference, I do this in the last step of my activity after the receiver has changed to the correct input. Hope this helps!
Userlevel 2
+1 Add my voice too for this option too. This needs to be included for the simplicity of using Harmony, Alexa, Yonomi, etc when trying to not dig out a phone when you can just set up a scenario and say it. Most of the time im making food in the kitchen, and don't want to touch my phone when I can just use Alexa to start everything. Plus when you have some of the guys over and see the home automation it blows their minds how technology works now-a-days.
+1 Add my voice too for this option too. This needs to be included for the simplicity of using Harmony, Alexa, Yonomi, etc when trying to not dig out a phone when you can just set up a scenario and say it. Most of the time im making food in the kitchen, and don't want to touch my phone when I can just use Alexa to start everything. Plus when you have some of the guys over and see the home automation it blows their minds how technology works now-a-days.

Since the Line-in function by very definition requires a physical action to start it playing (putting needle down on turntable, inserting CD and pressing play, turning on radio, etc.) the Autoplay feature should be used. That way, whenever action "X" causes audio to output to the Line-in, the Line-in source is selected automatically and the line-in is played on the designated speaker.
+1 Add my voice too for this option too. This needs to be included for the simplicity of using Harmony, Alexa, Yonomi, etc when trying to not dig out a phone when you can just set up a scenario and say it. Most of the time im making food in the kitchen, and don't want to touch my phone when I can just use Alexa to start everything. Plus when you have some of the guys over and see the home automation it blows their minds how technology works now-a-days.

Since the Line-in function by very definition requires a physical action to start it playing (putting needle down on turntable, inserting CD and pressing play, turning on radio, etc.) the Autoplay feature should be used. That way, whenever action "X" causes audio to output to the Line-in, the Line-in source is selected automatically and the line-in is played on the designated speaker.


To continue with your response, what happens when a person wants that Line-in source in a separate room? The process, as I understand it, would be to group the separate room to the Autoplay room. The problem with this scenario is that, should that person then want to play, oh say, a Pandora station on the newly formed group, then the original Autoplay room would be changed to the Pandora station and the ability to obtain access to that Line-in would be lost for any other room in the house. I believe this is why everyone is asking for direct access to that line in via the ability to set it up as a favorite.

To continue with your response, what happens when a person wants that Line-in source in a separate room? The process, as I understand it, would be to group the separate room to the Autoplay room. The problem with this scenario is that, should that person then want to play, oh say, a Pandora station on the newly formed group, then the original Autoplay room would be changed to the Pandora station and the ability to obtain access to that Line-in would be lost for any other room in the house. I believe this is why everyone is asking for direct access to that line in via the ability to set it up as a favorite.


Why would the "ability to obtain access to the line-in be lost?" The line-in source choice is right on the Source menu, a click higher than Favorites. Are you saying it is easier to click Source Menu->Favorites->Line-in than Source Menu->Line-In?
Userlevel 7
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Why would the "ability to obtain access to the line-in be lost?" The line-in source choice is right on the Source menu, a click higher than Favorites. Are you saying it is easier to click Source Menu->Favorites->Line-in than Source Menu->Line-In?
By adding a Line In connection to Sonos Favorites, it's three clicks/taps either way. Source menu > Favorites > Line In - Sonos Connect, or Source Menu > Line In > Line In - Sonos Connect.

Remember that the Line In source selection is a menu that lists out all available Line In connections on your Sonos system. Being able to add one particular Line In connection to the Sonos Favorites puts that single connection in with your other Sonos Favorites, making it easier to find a particular input, as well as allowing other devices that make use of Sonos Favorites be able to connect to that Line In as well.
Ohhh, Now I understand why we are not agreeing on this. I am a Crestron Integrator and am therefore utilizing the Crestron system to control Sonos. The problem is that the API provided by Sonos to Crestron does not allow any access to sources that cannot be accessed in the favorites. Hence, the techniques that you all are listing do not apply to my scenario. I think this is fairly common to anyone who is not utilizing the standard Sonos provided interfaces (Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, etc.). The reason I replied to the comments was that I have been told by others to attempt to use the Autoplay and then select it by grouping that room with the room that I wanted it to play in. That is all fine and dandy except for the scenario such as I listed earlier. Hence, I thought maybe someone had a trick that I was not seeing. Sorry for the confusion. But hey, at least now you know why we are asking for it 🙂