Connecting devices to speakers via 3mm jack/audio cable.

  • 20 April 2019
  • 3 replies
  • 643 views

Hello, Sonos community

Until I can afford a smart TV and a beam to go with it, I'm hoping for a possibility of connecting devices that have a 3mm input (smart phone/tablet/laptop etc.) to my stereo pair of Play:1s. It seems a waste to use the tinny speakers of whatever handheld device I'm viewing on when two brilliant speakers are sitting there at my disposal.
Am I right in thinking that either the Connect, Connect:Amp, or Amp, could be used to plug the tablet/phone into, in order to play the audio through my stereo pair of Play:1s? I may have misunderstood their purpose entirely, but if there may be a temporary solution in there I'd appreciate any help you guys have to offer.

Thanks

Joe

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3 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +20
The Amp, Connect:Amp, Connect, and Play:5 are the current Sonos devices with analog Line-In connections, which will accept input from mobile device outputs. The Line-In input can be sent to any or all Sonos players. If you’re technically handy, you can also find instructions implementing Line-In using something like a Raspberry Pi, a sound input, and IceCast.

Bear in mind that there will be playback delays, making this non-ideal for use cases with video. The minimum delay is 75ms.
Userlevel 7
Badge +22
I'd consider a Connect, if the price is too steep and you want to risk used a ZP-80 will be cheaper.

Using a Raspberry Pi is a possibility, if the built in audio isn't good enough they make a variety of HAT audio devices with better sound. I haven't looked at streaming an audio source from the PI to Sonos but I do seem to recall some posts about that here.

I love my Pi an M.2 SSD HAT for a Sonos / SMB v1 NAS or as a non-SMB v1 NAS to SMB v1 gateway.
Userlevel 7
Badge +20
Using a Raspberry Pi is a possibility, if the built in audio isn't good enough they make a variety of HAT audio devices with better sound.
Since this is a sound input to the Pi, not output, additional hardware is definitely required as the Pi has no built-in sound inputs. There's an example of how to do this at [1]. Incidentally, you can also turn the Pi into a Bluetooth receiver for Sonos, using its built in BT radio [2].

[1] https://www.instructables.com/id/Add-Aux-to-Sonos-Using-Raspberry-Pi/
[2] https://www.instructables.com/id/Play-Bluetooth-on-Sonos-Using-Raspberry-Pi/