First-timer here and new to the Sonos community and ecosystem. I’ve recently populated the house with 5 x Sonos Fives + an Arc + Sub Gen 2. All lovely sound so far, but I have a slight issue playing music from a separate Astell & Kern (A&K) SP1000m portable music player. The A&K player has the ability to play music files to any other network-connected speakers, and all my music files stored on the player are recognized by the Sonos app. I can play the music files through the Sonos Fives, but the problem is that selecting “Next Track” on the music playing screen on the app does not play the next track(!). It’s very puzzling. I can pause, go back to the start of the track, or go back to the previous track. I can even “fast-forward” within the track, but for some reason, the app does not allow the next track to be played, which is disappointing, because I cannot then select the next track on a separate remote control device (iPort Xpress Audio Keypad), and it’s a bit clunky to have to go back to the album’s list of tracks on the app and select the next track from the list. Does anyone have any experience of using an A&K player with the Sonos system? I tried Sonos’s tech support, but they could not help. Ideas anyone?
Hi. Nice bit of kit.
My guess - and it is a guess - is that the player is using DLNA protocol to play to the speakers. Trouble is, Sonos is not DLNA compliant. It mostly works OK, but glitches would not be a surprise.
Thanks, John. Yes, I think that’s the issue: DLNA compliance, or lack of it, on the part of the Sonos, at least for the time being. It’s strange that it works 90%, but the most useful part of the functionality, the ability to skip to the next track, does not. If anyone from Sonos’s tech team is reading this, can we have this as a feature request for an app update, please? It seems quite an omission in my opinion, and there must be many other users who would like the convenience of being able to play their archived music files via DLNA from a portable player – or is it just me?!
+13Hi
Appreciate the details and efforts as well. If it’s all good with the Sonos app and just happening to the third party application, yes, you may need to check that with them.
We'd also be happy to share your interest with the team.
Please let us know if there’s anything else we can help you with. We and the community are always here.
Thanks, Krishma. This appears to be an issue with the Sonos app, not the A&K app. Is this something that the developers could look into fixing?
Thanks, Krishma. This appears to be an issue with the Sonos app, not the A&K app. Is this something that the developers could look into fixing?
it csnnot be an issue with the Sonos app when you are not using the Sonos app. You are barely using the Sonos system.
Sonos is designed to work with the Sonos app. Some music service apps can also be used. None of this relies on DLNA and I cannot see Sonos touching that.
Sonos just isn’t designed to play from portable music players. It isn’t a question of a ‘fix’. Options for storing and playing local content are:
Android mobile device, using ‘on this mobile device’ in the Sonos app
iOS mobile device, using Airplay 2 (some older Sonos products are not Airplay 2 compatible)
Computer or NAS drive, music indexed as Sonos Music Library and controlled using the Sonos app on computer or mobile device.
Airplay 2 from a Mac (I think - I am not an Apple man).
For me, the NAS drive is the best option. You can presumably sync your A&K player to a computer/network based source?
Thanks, John and Krishma. To clarify, I am using the Sonos app, after starting a track playing using the Astell & Kern app on the iPhone. The A&K player uses an Android system. It does not have a network path listed anywhere, so I’m a bit stuck, but it is “seen” by the Sonos system. Just seems strange that all the controls on the Sonos app work for playback from a portable device on the Sonos app (i.e. pause, play, previous track, cue/fast-forward), except next track. Almost like someone somewhere thought “Let’s make all the playback options available except one of the most useful -- next track” – I’m sure there’s no such intent on Sonos’s part, but if Sonos didn’t want to make its players DLNA-compatible, why am I able to use DLNA connectivity between a high-end portable player and my Sonos devices, just not quite with all the required functionality? Ah well: guess I’ll have to find an alternative solution. Will post again on here if I find one. Thanks again.
I am more surprised that it does what it does than that it doesn't do what it doesn't. The fact that it doesn't meet all the standards for DLNA doesn't mean it won't perform any functions.
You are still using the Sonos app and system in a way it is not designed to be used. I would be extremely surprised if Sonos saw this as a problem they need to fix.
Just a thought though. In your Sonos app system settings, under media servers, do you have UPnP servers set to show? (I have no idea if this offers a route for you but may be worth exploring. )
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