Sonos Compatible Stereo Equipment

Not sure I really ‘understand’. Any NAS should do. As long as it uses SMB (I’ve never seen one that doesn’t), the Sonos will read the library without issue, with zero need to resort to use anything beyond the normal WiFi. For years, I’ve been using a (now unsupported) Western Digital NAS, before that, I used an Apple Timecapsule. My ripping software of choice was iTunes (now called Apple Music), but any software that can create readable ‘rips’ is fine. One of these days soon, I need to set up the newish Synology NAS, and move my library there. 

Thanks Bruce, your response is very helpful.  If I remember correctly, Sonos will not (???) play ALAC.  Do you know if this is true?  I ask because when I buy my NAS, and rip the music.

My understanding is that ALAC and FLAC are both excellent, high-quality lossless audio formats with no difference in sound quality. The primary distinction is compatibility: ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) is optimized for Apple devices, while FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) is an open-source standard with broader platform support.

I have approximately 200Gb of music (my estimation) so I know it is going to take some time to rip the music.  My biggest concern is that my old iMac (15-20 years) old must be close to dying and I don’t want to lose what I have.  My Time Capsule no longer works which is where my music was previously backed up.

Thanks again.

Jerry

You can check for the current data in the supported audio formats FAQ, and others. There’s a wealth of information if you spend some time reading there. 

I use a cheap Raspberry Pi 3b with a USB/SATA SSD to store my music library, makes the "any SMB. NAS" pretty clear. Even on an old, obsolete Pi Zero streaming four lossless streams was such a minimal load it wasn't obvious.

You might want to do a track count, Sonos has a hard maximum limit of around 65,000 tracks, that can be less if you have a lot of meta-data that exceeds the allotted internal storage space.

I use FLAC but the beauty of lossless formats is that you can migrate between them with no loss of music quality. There may be some meta-data transfer issues but I've not run into any. I also keep an MP3 copy of my music library for use in my car and on my laptop or tablet when traveling, much less space needed.

I saw some discussion here of a Brenon (spelling?) device for use with Sonos. You can also use Plex and it may bypass the track/data limits of the Sonos library.

For me ripping was tiresome, used multiple machines and drives on each ro speed the process. Once done I stuck the CDs under a bed and got rid of the CD player. Haven't regretted it.

Thanks Stanley.  That link and the other information that you provided is very helpful.  I appreciate it.

Jerry

I think the device ​@Stanley_4 is referring to is a Brennan . If you’re in the US, there’s a different link for the UK. Not a huge fan, although I’ve never owned one. Too many duplicated functions with devices I already own. YMMV.