Trending Lyricist I

Sonos 5 line Only ( no delay )

35 replies
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Hello Everyone,

Below is a simple trick to use your Sonos 5 playback as a normal AMP speaker with Line-In without any delay.

1-Reset Sonos, walkthrough initial product setup using wired network connection.

2-set delay to 75-ms and disable compression

3-connect audio jack from both ends, make sure you can hear the sound of the device connected and playing ( you will notice the delay )

4-disconnect or unplug the ethernet, no more delay, and Sonos can now be used as generic speaker.

Tip: if you have a managed or smart network switch, you can remotely control the network interface connected to Sonos, so you can switch between Sonos mode and Speaker only mode!

Hope this will help someone in the feature.

Best

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K

Kumar

Are you saying that now you cannot reach the 5 via the app? Again, I can’t see a reason for this - have you also disable WiFi on the unit?

M

mikefnasrAuthor

Trending Lyricist I

No i was explaining my use case

And it is normal that once network cable is unplugged, 5 cannot be reachable, so using this method will disable network for the Sonos ( assuming Wifi is disabled )

In my setup, i have a Sonos connected via Line-in to my mac, and ethernet to my switch ( no WIFI )

When i want Sonos mode, i access the switch and turn on the port connected to Sonos, this will make Sonos app fully operational.

When i want Speaker Only mode ( 0 delay Line-in ), i access the switch and turn off the port connected to Sonos, this will make the 5 unreachable via the app, and only usable as Line-In.

K

Kumar

No i was explaining my use case

And it is normal that once network cable is unplugged, 5 cannot be reachable, so using this method will disable network for the Sonos ( assuming Wifi is disabled )

In my setup, i have a Sonos connected via Line-in to my mac, and ethernet to my switch ( no WIFI )

When i want Sonos mode, i access the switch and turn on the port connected to Sonos, this will make Sonos app fully operational.

When i want Speaker Only mode ( 0 delay Line-in ), i access the switch and turn off the port connected to Sonos, this will make the 5 unreachable via the app, and only usable as Line-In.

From the above it seem that you may have missed a step in your four steps - should step 4 be disable WiFI, followed by your step 4?

For someone who want to test this solution by actually running it.

K

Keithmac

Virtuoso

Makes sense as "offline" it doesn't have to buffer the input.

ratty

It would be simple to verify. Split a 3.5mm feed from whatever source is available. Send one to the P:5, and one to a conventional speaker or headphones. See if they sound in sync.

Speech is better than music for this test; even better if you have a series of clicks/transients such as exists on some YouTube sync tests.

75ms would be obvious. When adjusting TV delay I can tell if headphones and speaker are out by as little as 10ms. All things being equal the one in front sounds fractionally louder.

M

mikefnasrAuthor

Trending Lyricist I

No i was explaining my use case

And it is normal that once network cable is unplugged, 5 cannot be reachable, so using this method will disable network for the Sonos ( assuming Wifi is disabled )

In my setup, i have a Sonos connected via Line-in to my mac, and ethernet to my switch ( no WIFI )

When i want Sonos mode, i access the switch and turn on the port connected to Sonos, this will make Sonos app fully operational.

When i want Speaker Only mode ( 0 delay Line-in ), i access the switch and turn off the port connected to Sonos, this will make the 5 unreachable via the app, and only usable as Line-In.

From the above it seem that you may have missed a step in your four steps - should step 4 be disable WiFI, followed by your step 4?

For someone who want to test this solution by actually running it.

not sure about other products, but the 5 needs an additional step to setup wireless connection, and since i mentioned to reset the product in step one, the above steps should be enough. i guess

As per splitting the jack, i just tried it with passive splitter, first connected to Sonos the second connected to a generic speaker,

they are totally in sync, i have used a piano simulator on a mac, and music app for the test.

K

Kumar

75ms would be obvious. When adjusting TV delay I can tell if headphones and speaker are out by as little as 10ms. All things being equal the one in front sounds fractionally louder.

I think it would take very little for the delay to be intrusive when it came to the sound from two speakers, the echo would be obvious very soon. Things may be less sensitive when just watching the TV with that delay with no other speaker in the frame; I have not found any issue with careful watching and now of course, I don't bother to do that.

M

mikefnasrAuthor

Trending Lyricist I

if someone has a P 5 , please test it to confirm its not a glitch at my end.

thank you

S

sjw

Local Superstar

I assume that since the WiFi credentials haven’t been input and the device isn’t on Sonosnet, the status of the unit’s WiFi is irrelevant - there’s nothing for it to ‘talk’ to?

The test with the P5 and a generic speaker connected to a piano simulator is about as good a test as I can think of.

One thing though - do you need to activate line-in mode in advance?

M

mikefnasrAuthor

Trending Lyricist I

i think that could be a missing step activating line in prior to disconnecting, i do not remember for sure but i do remember i was in the line in settings and enabled auto play and set the volume level.

i will test it with and without and let you know

anyway, seems even if line in is enabled, when network is disconnected Sonos sound processing on line-in seems to be turned off or at least at minimum

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