Hello,
Ex sound engineer here who is desperately trying to get a Sonos configuration to work and stay in sync. I am very sensitive to things being out of sync, especially after working in mastering.
I have an ASUS 11000xt Pro router connected to a 10gbe switch which is connected to a 2.5gbe switch that has all Sonos equipment attached to it. All components are connected through Ethernet (cat6). Initially I used airplay 2 to stream to each speaker individually through iTunes on Windows 11 Pro. I used to have the Ones and they seemed to say in sync reasonably well to my Sonos enabled receiver, the Onkyo TX-RZ50. I remember some issues, but nothing like what happened when I decided to upgrade to the Era 100s. These speakers always stay in sync with each other but would often get out of sync with the receiver when on WiFi. So I connected them all to the same switch using Ethernet after buying the USB-c accessory for the Era 100s. They still would get out of sync.
So I decided to see if I using a Sonos “receiver” and plugging it into my AVR would sync better than using the Sonos ability of my receiver. I decided to buy a Connect gen2 because I had heard bad reviews of the sound quality of the port and I had read here that the gen2 would work with the S2 app (which it does). I then realized that the Connect gen2 was not airplay2 enabled, but I read here that I could cast of an airplay2 enabled Sonos product and then group all the products together in the Sonos app. I thought that this incompatibility “problem” presented a solution that would provide even a better chance at achieving full synchronization. For using the Sonos app to synchronize and stream the music it was receiving from airplay2 to all the speakers would surely ensure that things would stay in sync. This worked for a few days and I thought I finally had a solution but, unfortunately, the Eras and the Connect still get out of sync. Granted, they are synced much closer than any other solutions I have tried, but there still was a discernible asynchronicity that probably exceeds 30ms, because it comes across as heavy reverb, almost reaching a echo delay. In addition, every once in a while, there will be a pause in the music that lasts 1-2 seconds. I don’t know why that happens, but it does seem that about 30-50% of the time, the Eras and Connect will stop being in sync after the pause. But even without the pause they will get out of sync. Eventually they will sync back up, but I am looking for something rock solid and I thought Sonos had the reputation of being the best at this. Reading this forum has increased the doubts I have about this. I do have stereo XLR runs to all the zones of my house and I am very close to just going old school and hard wiring everything, though that would be a lot of work and I would have to buy amps that I can control remotely. So I am hoping there is a wireless solution. I am also considering using Yamaha’s Music Cast, which I read may perform better as far as syncing.
Another separate issue I have is that the volume level of the connect connected to the CD input of my receiver is much lower than the Era 100s and lower than the level I got when just using the Sonos capability of the receiver. Would it be better to use the optical output?
I would greatly appreciate any help.