Good advice on NAS device selection for Sonos and general use.

The Sonos music library maxes out at such a small amount of data that it is easily supported on even the smallest dedicated NAS devices, and they will provide the needed throughput to support multiple audio streams. Aside from insuring the NAS supports SMB sharing your selection criteria will be driven by your other data storage needs.

For folks not needing a NAS for other uses a simple file sharing computer can suffice at lower price. A Raspberry Pi is a good example, inexpensive, low power, silent and reliable. Either of the two below, or several models in-between will serve well, you will need to add the needed cables and a power supply as well as storage media for the music library but a $50 system is possible. Given the number of used Pi and old storage drives available you might be able to spend less or have more capability.

Minimum: (my older/slower one similar to this easily supports 4 music streams)

https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-zero-2-w/

Maximum: (plenty of capacity to add other functions to the NAS service)

https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-500/

This is a simple, well supported software option that requires minimal skills.

https://www.openmediavault.org/

Also an option is to enable the Pi's built-in SMB server, not that difficult but more so than the Open Media Vault option.

Which ever route you take it is nice to have your personal media collection  available for Sonos to play. In my case I have some tracks not commercially available so this is really handy versus setting up a CD player and plumbing it into the Sonos system.

Update on Synolgoy NAS devices _ 8/3/25

As of 2025 new Synology NAS models will only accept drives with the Synology label. However if upgrading  from a Synology NAS that is pre-2025 with 3rd party drives they will migrate to a Synology 2025 model. Although you’ll see warnings that the drive(s) are not Synology certified. The use of 3rd party drives may be allowed later on as those manufacturers meet Synology certification.

Every time I start thinking about buying an off-the-shelf NAS device I see something like this.

I think I’m going back and giving a Raspbery Pi / SSD based NAS build a second look. They have some interesting M.2 drive options that offer a lot of possibilities. A four stick NAS running RAID 5 seems like a good option, maybe add automatic backup of the RAID to a USB attached hard drive or SSD on a managed power outlet for additional corruption protection.

Update 8/4/25 to Original Post 

Something you might find useful to properly setup a NAS device is a Raid Calculator found in the link below.

• Click this link to see a Raid Calculator to determine Reserved Capacity, Available Capacity, Data Protection against drive failure and  Unused Space based upon number of installed Drives/TB’s.
• Full Disclosure: The link will take you to the Synology website

For Example: 

• In Step 1 you see one 4TB drive installed. In Step 2 you see the resulting Raid configurations that shows Reserved Capacity, Available Capacity, Data Protection against drive failure and Unused Space. Also, whether or not a particular RAID configuration is possible.
• Play around with the tool as I’m sure you’ll find it and the results interesting. 

Hi,

Interesting post, I'm wondering whether to go down the NAS route or just buy a Brennan B3? The Brennan seems to be a one stop shop with a cd drive, storage and album graphics etc. The cost obviously is a consideration but I no longer own a computer with a disc drive so I guess it would be more of a problem for me to add to my music library. So I guess my question is what is the price difference between a NAS drive unit + hard drives compared to the Brennan?

So many NAS options, commercial units run from $200 to $20,000 for reasonably sized (not rack mounted) units. User configured run from $30 up to about the same as commercial units.

Add a bit to the low end price if you wan't SSD drives.

Sonos needs are so minimal the bottom of the range of either type will do.

​@Atlanticboy 

Let’s start by admission that the Brennan B3 is a worthy purchase if none of the unique features provided by a NAS device are needed. It has excellent construction, UI features not found on a NAS device, and looks that allow it to be a center show piece.

Now let’s talk about what a NAS device provides that a Brennan B3 may or may not.

Simple setup and operation (Plug n’ Play)

• Brennan B3

Redundancy against lost of data

• NAS with 2 Drives
• Brennan B3 requires extra cost USB back-up solution

Can be used as a Computer backup solution 

• NAS

Can back-Up purchased iTunes media

• NAS

Can back-up Pictures and/or Video

• NAS

Can be purchased for under $525 including two 4TB Hard drives

• NAS

All said it really boils down to your personal preference and/or in the case of the Brennan B3 aesthetic appeal.

Thanks AJ,

Your analytical response has helped, I like the Brennan but I guess I think it's over priced however;

"Can be used as a Computer backup solution "; I haven't got a computer, these days I make do with an Android tablet, so that's not an issue.

Can back-Up purchased iTunes media; I don't use iTunes.

Can back-up Pictures and/or Video ; I don't need this as I've got a PVR.

Can be purchased for under $525 including two 4TB Hard drives; I'm in the UK so would have to workout the difference.

I suppose my my reluctance towards the NAS direction is that I'm not sure what's involved in trying to transfer my cd collection and any potential new CDs using NAS.

Any suggestions as to which NAS and drives to buy? and do I need a computer to transfer my CDs?

​@Atlanticboy 

Given your use case I’d recommend you go with the Brennan B3.

• It’s a one-stop-shop turnkey purchase.
• No additional setup or learning curve as might be with a NAS device.
• You don’t need the additional storage options associated with a NAS device.
• It rips your CD’s so no need to purchase a computer to perform the ripping process or requisite ripping software.
• Storage is decent in the base model although for the price difference I might choose the B3 2TB. The added Optical and 3.5mm outputs make the B3 + (2TB) appealing for future proofing versatility.
• It works with Sonos

https://brennan.co.uk/pages/introducing-b3-1?srsltid=AfmBOooZKO1sKzoOCCuOJ6GdFr8K8ZE--H9wB0vUbuF5AVYuX9nfk4Hj

The B3 is also an amplifier, so you can connect passive speakers (which would not be in sync with Sonos). The Helix could be better, but cannot handle enough storage (or so it looks like to me).