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Sonos Beam as desktop solution for 2 sources?

  • July 9, 2021
  • 5 replies
  • 142 views
D

I’m thinking of buying a Beam to use in my home office. 

I have the following requirements:

  • Able to take sound from Macbook, without lag (used for Teams calls etc)
  • Able to take sound from gaming pc
  • Easy to switch between sources

A few questions:

  • Has anyone got a similar setup? If so, how do you find it?
  • Does the Beam cope will with being sat <1m away? I was a bit concerned at the soundstage not being ideal.

I was on the verge of buying some Audioengine a2 speakers but would rather a Sonos product to integrate with the rest of the kit at home. 

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5 replies

G

Does your MacBook or gaming PC have an optical port?

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
D
  • dvdrlf
  • Author
  • Contributor I
  • July 9, 2021

Yes, the pc has optical. 
 

The MacBook only has usb, 3.5mm, Bluetooth or airplay. 
 

My thinking was that I can use optical for the pc and then Airplay for the MacBook?

G

Connecting the Beam via optical to the PC should work just fine. Using AirPlay to connect to the MacBook will work too but you may experience a delay. Can you test AirPlay on your Mac with your other Sonos speakers?

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
D
  • dvdrlf
  • Author
  • Contributor I
  • July 9, 2021

Unfortunately they are all Pre airplay versions!

How bad is the lag?

G

You shouldn’t experience any lag at all. But some users have experienced up to two seconds of delay primarily because of a home network issue. You can always get the Beam, test it out, and if it doesn’t work with your setup, you can return it.

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
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