Switching from Squeezebox to Sonos

  • 30 December 2021
  • 50 replies
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H
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Hi

I’m considering switching away from a Squeezebox infrastructure to Sonos.  I’ve found some answers contained within this site and FAQ style help pages.

But one question remains…

Can I turn off an alarm from the speaker itself?

 

I don’t mind setting up alarms from the app but we don’t keep phones in the bedrooms and therefore would like the ability to switch off and/or snooze and alarm from physical buttons on a speaker.

In addition, is it then possible to switch to random play of my Windows music library?

Lastly, I don’t use voice services in the house, so that’s not a solution for me I’m afraid.

 

50 replies

K

If I may barge in with a question in what looks to be a interesting discussion:

I am presently very well served by Echo Show devices wired to the line in jacks on my Sonos kit, that allow me to bypass the Sonos controller app, and allow album art to be seen for all that is playing, whether on a single Echo or on all that are grouped together. The problem I am anticipating is when any Echo need to be replaced, because none of the current line up have a line out - the Google devices never had these.

Is there a way to get these devices to play as mine do now, via Sonos, but without a wired connection between line level jacks? 

Note that the Sonos Alexa integration cannot be used, it is not available in India. And even if it was, it would not show album art, so I would not use it anyway.

PS: Using a third party application hosted on a Raspberry, I am also able to listen to my ripped music files in all formats, with album art, via the Echo Shows, and the solution would have to address this as well. Ideally...

C
Userlevel 6
Badge +14

If I may barge in with a question in what looks to be a interesting discussion:

I am presently very well served by Echo Show devices wired to the line in jacks on my Sonos kit, that allow me to bypass the Sonos controller app, and allow album art to be seen for all that is playing, whether on a single Echo or on all that are grouped together. The problem I am anticipating is when any Echo need to be replaced, because none of the current line up have a line out - the Google devices never had these.

Is there a way to get these devices to play as mine do now, via Sonos, but without a wired connection between line level jacks? 

Note that the Sonos Alexa integration cannot be used, it is not available in India. And even if it was, it would not show album art, so I would not use it anyway.

PS: Using a third party application hosted on a Raspberry, I am also able to listen to my ripped music files in all formats, with album art, via the Echo Shows, and the solution would have to address this as well. Ideally...

Do you mean you want to play Sonos content on the Shows? 

If so, then I'm afraid there's no way. 

K

Do you mean you want to play Sonos content on the Shows? 

 

No; presently the Show content plays on Sonos just fine via line level wired connections. How do I get this to work when I need to get the currently featured Shows ( which I will do only if my present Show hardware fails) that do not have audio out jacks, to play on Sonos, is an anticipated problem. 

K

And why Google from the beginning, and the latest generation of Show hardware, denies users a way to get better sound quality from them via wired downstream third party speakers, is an irritating mystery… as irritating as the absence of line in jacks on Sonos Play 1 units.

C
Userlevel 6
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Do you mean you want to play Sonos content on the Shows? 

 

No; presently the Show content plays on Sonos just fine via line level wired connections. How do I get this to work when I need to get the currently featured Shows ( which I will do only if my present Show hardware fails) that do not have audio out jacks, to play on Sonos, is an anticipated problem. 

I can only think of one way to maybe achieve this.   You'd need to attach a Bluetooth receiver to the Sonos device - then switch Echo to use the bluetooth 'speaker' (receiver).   Would that work.?

K

I can only think of one way to maybe achieve this.   You'd need to attach a Bluetooth receiver to the Sonos device - then switch Echo to use the bluetooth 'speaker' (receiver).   Would that work.?

Yes, I suppose that should work if and when the time comes. It may not be as stable as the wired to line in connection, but seeing that the two devices will be with a few feet of each other, that should not be a problem.

106rallye
Userlevel 7
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This topic takes me back a decade! I used to own a Squeezebox Duet that fed into my Marantz receiver and a Radio in the kitchen. The Radio was very good, but the Duet was a disaster. Always losing connecting between the base and the remote. Final straw was the inability of the system to get both devices (Duet in the living and Radio in the kitchen) to sync properly.

Big advantage of the system (when it worked) was that I could play my mp3-collection without being limited by to 65k max. When Logitech abandoned Squeezebox and I got a new internet capable Marantz I sold my Squeezebox devices, only to succeed in syncing music in the living and and the kitchen when I replaced the Marantz with Sonos.

C
Userlevel 6
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I appreciate that synching is important to many.  

Yes, synching wasn't brilliant but now there's grouping plugin which works well. 

In my case, sync is pointless given the time it takes to move between rooms.  Just as easy to stream same content on different players with a minimal gap between them. 

The biggest plus for me in the latest incarnations of LMS hosted on a raspberry pi is the on board Bluetooth transmission to headphones. 

K

. 

In my case, sync is pointless given the time it takes to move between rooms

I too haven't seen the value of sync in different rooms. Where I do see and get tremendous value from it though is in my open plan central space in an apartment, that serves for living/dining/kitchen and adjacent patio, where one set of speakers won’t suffice, when at times the entire space is to be filled with the same music which can only be done via zones in perfect sync. But Echo does this just as well as Sonos does, I have found, with Show units also showing the same album art in each served zone in this space. 

C
Userlevel 6
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. 

In my case, sync is pointless given the time it takes to move between rooms

I too haven't seen the value of sync in different rooms. Where I do see and get tremendous value from it though is in my open plan central space in an apartment, that serves for living/dining/kitchen and adjacent patio, where one set of speakers won’t suffice, when at times the entire space is to be filled with the same music which can only be done via zones in perfect sync. But Echo does this just as well as Sonos does, I have found, with Show units also showing the same album art in each served zone in this space. 

That's useful info.  The one thing which really irritates me about the Show is that volume can only change in whole units.  5 is too low and 6 too lound!  

K

The one thing which really irritates me about the Show is that volume can only change in whole units.  5 is too low and 6 too lound!  

That is true, but if the on unit buttons are used to change the volume, the changes are much more gradual than via voice command to select a volume level or to change the existing one.

H
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Happy New Year all, hope all is good in your respective lands…

So this article has effectively kicked Google products for my needs into touch?  Pity, they looked a cheaper solution to my needs.

https://www.thurrott.com/google/261035/with-defeat-to-sonos-google-to-remove-smart-speaker-functionality

So I’m back to the Sonos Beam Gen 2 for the conservatory and Roams for everywhere else and a cheap alarm clock as the Roams don’t have a display of the time and alarm settings?

chicks

My cat serves as my alarm clock, but I do use a first gen Lenovo Smart Clock on my nightstand.  As it supports ChromeCast, can be played to from LMS (using the ChromeCast plugin) via the Material Skin (or any other LMS client), the Google Home app, any streaming app that supports ChromeCast (pretty much all of them), or via voice command.  Touchscreen, voice control, display.  $50.  Does the job.

 

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-smart-clock-2-heather-grey/6485800.p?skuId=6485800

 

 

 

H
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Wish the $ Price translated at the standard rate to £ 😢

Still not too bad a price in the UK compared to Sonos.

So this too can look like a player to LMS and I can set LMS alarms that fade in a random track from music on my server?

 

Do I get to see both current time and the alarm time like the SB classic?

 

Assume I turn off alarm using the touchscreen of the Lenovo?

chicks

I don’t use alarms, but it looks like you can use it with Routines in the Google Home app for much more than just alarms, and the simpler LMS alarms also appear to be available for it.

 

 

chicks

BTW, if you want full SB functionality, it’s pretty simple to build with piCorePlayer and a touchscreen.  Lots of examples in the DIY section of the slimdevices forum, including my own.

https://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?114625-piTouch

 

H
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Wow, that looks cool!

I'll need to re-read this tomorrow, bottle of red down already. 🤪

H
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Doesn't get any clearer does it???

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2022/01/08/us_itc_google_sonos/

 

Can't help but feel that the technology since Squeezebox's day has got smarter,  but functionality has been cast aside. 😢

C
Userlevel 6
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A 'win' for the company whose own app can't even indicate volume level other than a clumsy slider with no notation. 

 

ratty

A 'win' for the company whose own app can't even indicate volume level other than a clumsy slider with no notation. 

Are you still stuck in the past? 

Or simply waiting for Android to catch up with iOS?

C
Userlevel 6
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All these using Android:

 

 

I'm not inclined to invest even more cash for another overpriced proprietary product. 

ratty

I'm not inclined to invest even more cash for another overpriced proprietary product. 

Then you can just wait until the Sonos app on Android offers the same features. 

C
Userlevel 6
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Or use a system which is light years ahead of Sonos already... 

ratty

Or use a system which is light years ahead of Sonos already... 

I don’t know about ‘light years ahead’ nor the ‘AMC Gremlin’ [sic] bit, but if you enjoy using a hybrid system then go right ahead.

I dabbled with SBs and SqueezeCenter alongside -- and as cheap alternatives to -- my first Sonos units 12+ years ago. They were sufficiently infuriatingly unreliable that I was delighted to see the back of them when I duly replaced them with additional ZP80s.

C
Userlevel 6
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We've had 2 portable SB radios and a Touch for years - proved very reliable.  All the other units we use are third-party devices. 

You can even use Echos as voice-controlled players (not my taste I admit). 

The breakthrough for Logitech Media Server came with the Raspberry Pi's and especially the Picoreplayer software.  The range of add-on Plugins is impressive.

Control options are also well-served compared to Sonos.

I will admit that the sound quality of our Sonos devices is pretty good, and we haven't had any major connection issues which seem to plague many contributors to this forum! 

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