I am posting this after reviewing a lot of forum exchanges about the playlist limitations.
I recently upgraded my home with four new Amps, replacing the Connect amps (though one is still in line). It was my understanding that these new Amps were more powerful and robust, faster processors and so forth using the S2 app.
I get that Sonos and other companies are pushing people to streaming or serving to the masses who stream instead of using their own music (if they even own any). But I’ve been in the radio business all my life. I have 15,000 songs and just shy of 1,000 playlists. Some people have asked on the Sonos forums; “Why do you need so many playlists?”
My response is; What does it matter to them? The fact is, I curate my playlists in ways that satisfy my tastes. For example, genres are broken into various categories such as AM Pop (Top 40 for your purposes), Classic Rock, XM, FM Pop, CHR and so forth as well as by eras (e.g. “1970-1975”), ratings (e.g. On top of the just named playlist, I might have 3-5*, 4-5, and 5*, so it might read “AM Pop, 1970-1975, 4-5*). I might combine genres, eras, tempo, ratings etc., as well. I have my music categorized further by “peak chart position on Billboard” so that’s even further ways of making playlists. So let’s just allow that THIS user (me) has a lot of playlists.
The problem with Sonos app is that it has these limitations, (this was what I received back from Sonos support):
Maximum of 40k tracks per playlist (iTunes limitation)
Maximum of 40k tracks total imported to Sonos
Maximum of 1,000 playlists imported to Sonos
With this said, if there are more than 40 thousand songs in playlists, Sonos won't show any other playlist after this has been fully occupied. In this case, I can imagine that your playlists are more than 40K and that would be the reason of the remaining playlists to not show.
So if I have a song like “Beatles - Hey Jude” and it appears in 100 playlists, that counts against the total track count. So this limit of 40k per playlist is not really an issue (except that one playlist would already meet the maximum number of tracks imported to Sonos. Also, I’m not sure this support reply (which was escalated to this person, meaning it was a higher-up tech person) is correct. I read it was 65,000 tracks.
Regardless, are there plans to allow for more to allow a user like myself to fully use his library of music and playlists? I respect that Plex is there, for example, so I don’t have that limitation. That’s great, but what I like about the 177 playlists Sonos has populated under “Music Library / Imported Playlists” on my phone app, is they list the playlists vertically like;
A
B
C
D
E
and so on. So if I want to go directly to a playlist such as “Rolling Stones Top 40 hits”, I can hit the “R” letter and go right to the R’s. With Plex app on the phone, I have to scroll through and it’s a much more arduous task. Also, they list them with a set of album covers (four squares/albums to a playlist) so getting down to the R’s can take an exceptionally long time.
If Sonos has upped their game to allow hi-res file playback now (which I have many of), can they not fine-tune their performance to allow loading of tracks in such a way that it can work? For example, just show the name of playlists as you do now but only populate the playlist when it’s selected? Or somehow tag a song that is in one playlist and tie it to any other playlist so it doesn’t have to load again? Surely there must be a way around this?
This is not a question, it is a request or comment that there are users who have invested a LOT of money into Sonos and we’re still saddled with a lack of performance that Sonos should provide. I’ve already been through a number of units, devices (e.g. docks, bridge, Connects, etc.) - the first go-round with the number of units was $3-4,000. Now with five new Amp’s and another $3500, I still can only see 177 of my 934 playlists???? Seriously??? And I was forced off the docks (using multiple iPods to do my music) because of the change in support, so I don’t think it’s too much to ask to have my music play my playlists.
Sonos should not rely on Plex to provide the necessary tool to get users like me the performance we need. Bravo for Sonos for at least having Plex there - so for that I am thankful. But really, just like vinyl has roared back, there are a LOT more people with their own music who want a system/platform that can do what we need it to do and could care less about streaming. I don’t want Apple music because they downgrade my Lossless files, and charge a monthly fee. Why would I pay $10-15 a month for music I already own?? Same with Amazon, Spotify, Tidal etc. (though at least all Hi-Res has some value).
If someone reading this knows how to maximize the system to get what I need, I’d love to hear about it. It could be that I’m not fully maximizing Sonos, but when a tech support person sends the limitations of the product, I don’t have any reason to think he’s wrong.
So Sonos, your product is great, but you can do better. I’m hoping for a new, improved app, Amp or something that can handle the music I own and cherish - and have worked REALLY hard to curate and enjoy.
Thanks!