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Era 100 with Mac Mini 2


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Hello,

I have a Mac Mini 2 Pro and was thinking of ordering 2 Era 100’s to use as speakers.

Can use 2 Era 100’s as Stereo pair and connect use Line-in Adapter? or When it only work connecting with Bluetooth?

 

Thank You! 

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Best answer by Corry P 13 March 2023, 13:48

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Userlevel 7
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As a  Stereo pair they can be linked via the line in to your Mac, but there will be an audio delay of a few milliseconds.

You may need the Line in adapter, or maybe not if they can take Audio from a usb c to usb c connection.

Userlevel 6
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Minimum audio lag on current Sonos speakers is 75ms. In my opinion, that makes them unusable as computer speakers.

I would like to use Sonos for my computer (Flexibility to use the speakers for something multi-room down the line. Always nice to have everything on the same system.), and it is possible that Era will implement a USB audio device mode where you can disconnect them from multi-room and choose no lag, but unfortunately it is unlikely that Sonos will give us that feature.

Probably best to just pick up some dedicated computer speakers. Or have a look at the Apple Studio Display. For built-ins, the speakers are surprisingly good.

You can also connect via airplay.

It would surprise me if Sonos were to enter the already crowded computer speaker market. Lots of competition, difficult to carve a profitable niche. I’d love this too, but I feel it wouldn’t make financial sense for Sonos to do so. It’s counter to everything they’ve done so far in the marketplace. 

It would surprise me if Sonos were to enter the already crowded computer speaker market. Lots of competition, difficult to carve a profitable niche. I’d love this too, but I feel it wouldn’t make financial sense for Sonos to do so. It’s counter to everything they’ve done so far in the marketplace. 

Disagree.  I think it would be great for them to do this.  The size and flexibility not to mention looks would make for great computer speakers.  Other streaming speakers have worked around the digital delay issue.  Why not Sonos?

Minimum audio lag on current Sonos speakers is 75ms. In my opinion, that makes them unusable as computer speakers.

I would like to use Sonos for my computer (Flexibility to use the speakers for something multi-room down the line. Always nice to have everything on the same system.), and it is possible that Era will implement a USB audio device mode where you can disconnect them from multi-room and choose no lag, but unfortunately it is unlikely that Sonos will give us that feature.

Probably best to just pick up some dedicated computer speakers. Or have a look at the Apple Studio Display. For built-ins, the speakers are surprisingly good.

 

Yeah I use the built ins and they are good enough to avoid the clutter of speakers on my desk.  

 Other streaming speakers have worked around the digital delay issue.  Why not Sonos?

This added latency is what allows SONOS to support up to 32 speakers, all synchronized while playing the same music. There will inevitably be some small network snags while sending audio to a large collection of players. The latency gives the system some time to work through these snags without audible consequences. Other manufacturers have struggled in their attempt to support such large systems without delays or infringing on SONOS patents.

It’s not so hard to send Bluetooth audio to a single pair of nearby speakers. If SONOS did not use a uniform delay for all speakers, nearby speakers might be out of sync with more distant speakers. It seems so easy to keep speakers synchronized until you get dragged into the design details and the problems multiply as the system becomes larger and larger. It also seems unimportant to keep things synchronized until you walk into the chaos of an unsynchronized system. Our local cable company might actually send separate streams to each TV. This gets very uncomfortable after a while because two TV’s tuned to the same channel, in the same room, each with its own cable box, can eventually drift out of sync -- by several seconds. Similarly, in the days of CD players, I’d start two players, each playing a copy of the same CD. At outset they’d be synchronized within a very small fraction of a second. By the end of the first track they would be noticeably out of sync.

I’m well aware of how this works and there are other speakers that are also digital that do work as line in to computers and they don’t infringe any patents.  Sonos isn't the only one by far that can do this.Just because Google and Amazon were lazy doesn’t mean Sonos isn’t the only one to figure this out.

I’ll never use bluetooth.  Airplay is far superior plus I like Sonos’ app.

Userlevel 7
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Hi @SimonCW18 

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

Can use 2 Era 100’s as Stereo pair and connect use Line-in Adapter? or When it only work connecting with Bluetooth?

In case it isn’t yet clear, yes.

There will be a delay of at least 75ms, however.

You could use either Line-In with the adaptor, or Bluetooth without.

I hope this helps.

 

I want to connect a Single ERA 100 to my new Mac Mini via line in to use as the Primary speaker.

Is there any way i can set this up and and avoid the 75ms delay ? ( Direct line in ? ) Etc

Thanks for your guidance.

No, there is no way to avoid the 75ms delay on an analog line in. It’s built in to the Sonos software, and is the basis for Sonos’ whole home feature. The only way to reduce a line in is to use a digital input, such as on the Ray, the Amp, or the Arc. Additional information here: