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davidhunternyc
Avid Contributor I
May 20, 2018

Looking for CD player for Sonos?

Thank you everyone for your input so far. Here are a few options I was thinking about. Currently I only use Sync Cloud Storage to backup my files. Theoretically, I could rip all of my music and put it there but do need a stand-a-lone NAS? I have already had two standard hard drives fail in the past so if I back up any music I want to use SSD's. Here are a few ideas that I had. Please, I need you experts to tell me what you think:

1) Get a Brennan B2. It's a CD player and a ripper that stores up to 2 TB of music. Storage is not SSD but it seems very convenient. I would also be able to continue to play obscure CD's that are not offered for streaming without having to rip them first. It also has a built-in amplifier and the sound quality should be better than using a non-audio NAS device. Check it out here: https://www.brennan.co.uk

2) Get a QNAP TS-453BT3. It has two thunderbolt ports so read/write times should be very fast for ripping CD's and I can get up to 2 TB's of SSD storage. I also need an NAS anyway. My computer is running out of storage space. My photo library is huge.
https://www.qnap.com/en-us/product/ts-453bt3

3) Get a Samsung T3 1TB Portable SSD. Only rip music on the SSD. Connect it to Sonos and call it a day.
https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-T3-Portable-SSD-MU-PT1T0B/dp/B01AVF6UO8/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1526790852&sr=1-4&keywords=samsung+1tb+ssd

4) Get a Microjukebox with a 1 TB SSD. It's over $1,100 and you can not use it as a regular CD player like the Brennan B2 but the SSD is a huge advantage. It will rip my CD's and, perhaps, store them in a more archival place than the QNAP? Perhaps the Microjukebox has better sound quality? https://www.smallgreencomputer.com/collections/audio-server/products/micro-jukebox?variant=14709249348

5) There is one more piece to this puzzle. What about purchasing the Roon Music App instead of the Sonos App? Roon is already integrated into QNAP's NAS devices. I could also use Roon with these other solutions, I think...
https://roonlabs.com

In the end, do you all see why I am so bloody confused? Now back to my music with my 15 year old Bose Wave Radio. It may be antiquated but it is simple to understand.
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      23 replies

      davidhunternycAuthor
      Avid Contributor I
      May 19, 2018
      Hello. I have 500 CD's and many of my favorite recordings have not been converted for streaming (mostly classical). I would like a nice, compact CD player that I can easily play my music into a Sonos system. Does anyone have a recommendation for a CD player that works well with Sonos? Should I get a CD player that also has a FM tuner? It would be nice and convenient to play music through Sonos without using my iPhone or iPad all of the time too. Thank you.
      John B
      May 19, 2018
      Hi. I think you have missed the point of Sonos! Buy a NAS drive and rip your CD collection in a losslless, CD quality format such as FLAC.
        Kumar
        May 19, 2018
        As an interim measure, if you can find a DVD player with audio out jacks, that will suit. Provided you have Sonos kit that can accept the wires from these jacks. The last I check, good DVD players were very cheap.
          Stanley_4
          Stanley_4
          Grand Maestro
          May 20, 2018
          Pretty much any CD player will work, picking one is more a matter of taste than tech so I won't suggest one. Maybe whatever you can grab cheap from a local pawn shop, Goodwill or thrift store?

          I personally would do as suggested and get a NAS, a WD Live drive is probably easiest. rip your collection, clean up the music tags and let your Sonos play the ripped CD copies. We haven't had our CD storage cabinet open for several years since it is so much aggravation compared to letting Sonos play the ripped ones.
            Chris
            Chris
            Lead Maestro
            May 20, 2018
            #1 Rip your CDs and forget the CD player

            #2 if absolutely must use CD player then make sure you have Sonos with an input. Then I would just get a cheap DVD player.
            Respect the Queue (2)Move (3)Beam (1) Era100 (2)ARC (1)SonosOne (1)Playbar (4)Play5 (4)Play1 (3)Play3 (1)Port (2)Connect (1) Roam (2) Ace (1)Connect:Amp (4)Sonos Amp (1)Sub + (9) Echo + Smartthings; (2)Play)
            Chris
            Chris
            Lead Maestro
            May 20, 2018
            Why would you need an FM Tuner - almost every known FM station is already in the TuneIn app.

            Seriously …. rip those CDs and store them away.
            Respect the Queue (2)Move (3)Beam (1) Era100 (2)ARC (1)SonosOne (1)Playbar (4)Play5 (4)Play1 (3)Play3 (1)Port (2)Connect (1) Roam (2) Ace (1)Connect:Amp (4)Sonos Amp (1)Sub + (9) Echo + Smartthings; (2)Play)
            Thesil
            Avid Contributor II
            May 20, 2018
            If you have a Sonos connect use the line in to connect a CD or even a turntable. But why would you buy a cd when you can stream your music? Rip your cd’s to your pc or Mac and play from there. Seems counterproductive to to use a cd
            Kumar
            May 20, 2018
            It does take some time and effort to rip the CDs to a local NAS. Another alternative therefore is streaming services such as Apple Music. Once you check and see that it offers all your music, you can make playlists and effectively do without both a CDP and ripping+NAS.

            The downside is the monthly costs, the upside is access to a music library which for even just classical may be far in excess of your 500 CDs.
              davidhunternycAuthor
              Avid Contributor I
              May 20, 2018
              If you have a Sonos connect use the line in to connect a CD or even a turntable. But why would you buy a cd when you can stream your music? Rip your cd’s to your pc or Mac and play from there. Seems counterproductive to to use a cd

              I already ripped my CD's to my Mac in the past and then my external hard drive failed and then the hard drive on my Mac failed. Could not recover my music. I also don't want to be tied to iTunes. Right now I use Sync cloud server for my regular files but the thought of having to rip my CD's once again is daunting. I have a 2010 MacBook Pro and it takes forever to burn CD's with the Mac CD driver. Is there a faster and more accurate CD ripper?
                davidhunternycAuthor
                Avid Contributor I
                May 20, 2018
                It does take some time and effort to rip the CDs to a local NAS. Another alternative therefore is streaming services such as Apple Music. Once you check and see that it offers all your music, you can make playlists and effectively do without both a CDP and ripping+NAS.

                The downside is the monthly costs, the upside is access to a music library which for even just classical may be far in excess of your 500 CDs.

                Thanks for your input. I mostly listen to Classical and World Music. I randomly chose several of my favorite CD's just to see if they are offered anywhere in a streaming format and they are not. Yes, I get why people no longer listen to CD's but there is a lot of great music that will be lost forever. For instance, try finding John Corigliano Symphony No.1, Daniel Barenboim, Chicago Symphony Orchestra? Amazing music! At the Sonos store we found one recording but it was not this recording.

                I really love the music I've collected over the years. I don't want to have to give it up.
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