Question

Adding CD player to sonos system

  • 31 October 2015
  • 15 replies
  • 38534 views

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Hi all, I recently bought myself a couple of play 1's to get me started. The plan is to expand over time. I'm happy to listen to streamed music these days but the wife is insisting that we must have a CD player as we already own hundrends of cd's. I'd like to get a sonos set up in the lounge and the choice comes down to 1x play 5 or a pair of play 1's. I know that the play 5 has a line in (to connect existing CD player) but is there any advantage of using a connect over the line in on the play 5? If not I'll just listen to the play 5 and compare with stereo play 1's. Also if I use the line in on a play 5 is there a time delay between the music in different rooms?
Thanks

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15 replies

No, there's no advantage to a Connect if you don't already have an existing stereo setup.

It might be worth investigating a NAS to store the CDs on, yes there's an initial amount of work to rip them to the storage but then you can play any CD on the Sonos at any time. I have hundreds of CDs myself, I've never owned a CD player in the house.
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Thanks for the quick response, the stupid thing is we pay for a premium spotify account which I'm confident has every single cd we own on anyhow!
Userlevel 7
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I think once your wife see's how easy it is to access the music on Sonos she will never use the CD player again. But understand you have to do it for now.

You really do need to buy an NAS and rip every CD to the NAS so that she can see them right there easily and always accessible.

I would get a Play:5. First, the input is the same as with the Connect. Secondly the Play:5 is the new latest and greatest Sonos unit (actually doesn't release until end of month), and also you can make it very easy for her by setting it to autoplay so that when she puts in a CD it automatically plays to the Play:5 unit (so gives you the satisfaction of what she is used to with a CD player and not having to use phone/controller). .... you can actually set the connect to do similar and play immediately to the Play:1s.

But get that NAS too and rip those CD's.
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Chris - Why spend the money on a NAS and invest the not inconsiderable time to rip them all if his Spotify Premium account has all those CDs available?
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I personally like having the music I own available. Music services change my purchases albums stay the same.
YMMV. I do have a four disk NAS and a CD-player connected to a nearby Play5 Line-in and I still use it regularly. Why? Because I feel like it, that's why.
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My situation is not dissimilar.

1. I subscribe to Google Play Music (GPM) Unlimited, so have access to everything without needing to play a CD (bar a few obscure things that streaming service libraries don't have...).

2. I'm in the process of ripping all my CDs and uploading them to my GPM library. This fills in any gaps in the GPM streaming library.

3. The ripped files are copied to a portable hard drive as backup to park in the attic along with all the CDs.

4. I'm doing the same for all my partner's CDs, ripping and uploading them all to her GPM account, with backups of the ripped files taken. She doesn't have a GPM Unlimited subscription, just the freebie, so this will let her play all her own old albums via the GPM app (or the Sonos app) without recourse to physical CDs. She's just getting acclimatized to using the apps instead of a CD player.

5. Once all ripping/uploading completed, and my partner's happy using the apps, the last remaining CD player gets junked.

NB no NAS required with this approach; if GPM ever moved the goalposts and dropped the facility for freely storing all your own library on the GPM servers, all the CDs and their ripped files are available, and backed up. In practice, I expect the CDs and backups to be just belt & braces, for everything to simply be streamed, and all the dusty physical media to eventually find its way to landfill. It's the future, innit. Works for me.
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Cheers for the help folks, has anyone heard the new play 5? I think over the past few years (using a reasonable bluetooth speaker) it's the stereo sound I have missed. Maybe the play 1's are the way to go.........?
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All reviews and comment from those at listening parties Sonos is holding are saying the new play5 is amazing.
I connected my cd player to the televion. The SAMSUNG sound setting indicates internal mute is on. The volume key on my comcast remote works but I get a blue indicator on the screen " i Not Available". This indicates the TV sound is off. The line in on the back of the TV does not have access to the sound bar.

I am enjoying my Sonos sytem. I am challenged with fine tuning the sonos system. Suggestions?
Hi @Mazda1957. Could you elaborate a bit more on exactly what you want to achieve and what equipment you have?

But if you want to listen to your CD collection through your Playbar then by far the best solution is to rip your CD collection in a lossless (CD quality) format, store the files on a Network Attached Storage drive, then sell your CD player.

Even if you have a large CD collection, this can be done gradually over a few weeks or months. It's just so much easier to pick your music using the Sonos app.
I will say that some artists (e.g. Robert Fripp) still don't allow their music to be streamed. There are also a lot of jazz and classical (especially newer releases) that aren't on Spotify yet. So the CD collection still has to be maintained. A Sonos 1 with a built in CD player a la the Bose Wave Soundtouch would be a dream come true. I guess next best option is an external drive.
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You spend a weekend ripping all your cds to digital and your done forever. CDs to a shoebox like mine have been last 10 years. That is what I would mean by cds are not needed anymore. Takes a little time but worth the time to have them all at your fingertips.
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Why rip and store on a NAS? Well simply some us of don't have rock steady super broadband. 4MB from copper and 10MB via a local radio based system but this can be shared up to 40 people on site. So reducing the peak load on broadband is one, reducing the MBs hauled is another. Plus if the broadband is down we still have music. Same with Radio. I still have a full time tuner with proper FM aerial connected to connect - guess what it never ever pauses or stutters. Streaming isn't always better.

I can see similar with a CD library and the desire to finger the covers. Its what has kept vinyl going. Selecting the physical media is probably more touchy feely than scrolling through lists.

If a physical CD player is what the user wants then as service provider you should provide it (I often think of myself as a service provider with internal customers - although I haven't yet instigated a ticket based support system). If streaming is better for the user the user will switch themselves later, if it isn't they won't.
Line in to Play 5 or a Connect:Amp if you want proper speakers.
What are you guys ripping your CD's to? 320 Mbps mp3's or FLAC or ??? I've never done FLAC rips, how long does that take per rip?