Sonos V Bluesound?
Why should I get Sonos over Bluesound? Never heard of them before now whilst searching the web.
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The bluesound streamer sounds better than the sonos connect to my ears.
You really should donate your remarkable ears to science, then, as they have achieved the impossible.
Thank you but I don't deserve the compliment 😉. I don't think it is remarkable to have a preference on a sound 'flavour'.
Cheers
The bluesound streamer sounds better than the sonos connect to my ears.
You really should donate your remarkable ears to science, then, as they have achieved the impossible.
Cheers
The bluesound streamer sounds better than the sonos connect to my ears.
You really should donate your remarkable ears to science, then, as they have achieved the impossible.
Actually you do perhaps deserve it:-). Speakers come in different flavours of sound where subjective preferences attach to these; streamers that merely pass on a bitstream for amplification do not, unless they also have a tone control either built into them, or as a controllable feature.
If the Bluesound streamer is without a built in permanent tone control and if those on both it and Connect are set to zero, any differences you hear are either psychological, or because apples to apples for EVERY other variable is missing. Or if you have the said special ears of course. And of course one can prefer the BS streamer for features that are missing on the Connect.
And someone else needs to verify the claim that in fixed mode, Connect tone controls cannot be used.
Emile that is a great choice indeed. I will send you a PM as I would love to hear your experience regarding SQ difference with the Sonos Connect.
I understand you had the ZP90 so most likely it is the bit perfect version which does not suffer from the soft knee compression that has been introduced in the more recent connect. Best if I PM you so as to not derail this thread.
Best
However I am acquiring a Bluesound Node 2 to use for more critical listening at my main HiFi.
Yiannis I am in more or less the same boat as you are. I too switched to Roon and let it run my Sonos speakers. However, I gave up on the Sonos Connect (actually the ZP90) and replaced it with a very cheap Raspberry Pi which has been running Roon (Bridge) flawlessly now for over a month and which I use to send my music to the DAC (in both standard and hi-res). I am very happy with the results.
I understand you had the ZP90 so most likely it is the bit perfect version which does not suffer from the soft knee compression that has been introduced in the more recent connect. Best if I PM you so as to not derail this thread.
Best
Yiannis I am in more or less the same boat as you are. I too switched to Roon and let it run my Sonos speakers. However, I gave up on the Sonos Connect (actually the ZP90) and replaced it with a very cheap Raspberry Pi which has been running Roon (Bridge) flawlessly now for over a month and which I use to send my music to the DAC (in both standard and hi-res). I am very happy with the results.
For other readers of this thread: No one till now has demonstrated any ability to pick out any audible effect of anything done to the Connect by Sonos in a well controlled double blind listening test.
Hi Kumar,
Do you have a link to these double-blind tests. I would like to read up on them.
Do you have a link to these double-blind tests. I would like to read up on them.
Perhaps I did not write clearly enough - there have been no double blind tests reported. It isn't that they have been conducted but no one picked out a difference.
How many of us have both a ZP90 and a Connect to test with? Moreover, once something is not it perfect any longer all sorts of tinkering might take place: it is what distinguishes one jpeg produced by camera X from the one produced by camera Y, which is why many prefer to work with raw files (yes, I know the analogy isn't perfect but it is the best I could come up with).
Userlevel 7
+22
One not on the Digital Trends article. The much maligned (for obvious reasons in prior software update) feature of the red room (quick menu to add/subtract rooms from current playing) .... the reviewer didn't know about and listed as a win feature for BS (as their arrow menu)
I agree; and doing a good test is even more than just having available the two units you refer to. But that does not mean that one should start believing subjective statements claiming differences; to arise in reality, audible differences need more than what is visible on test instruments, and even more so when what one hears is after the involvement of speakers and room acoustics that can cover a multitude of sins and variables. Something might take place if there is tinkering, and it is at least equally likely that nothing will. And Sonos is the one that has done any tinkering - they also will not be reckless with the sound quality their products deliver; so what is the more likely from the two alternatives?
Then there are the psychological factors that every human brain is very vulnerable to. When someone discovered and reported here that Connect isn't bit perfect as measured on an instrument, he heard sound differences. Others who read this, who had not heard any differences till then, also started hearing them. Expectation bias is universal and very powerful as is Confirmation Bias, so this isn't a surprise. It is human nature and the human brain as it is wired to work.
Finally and most important to me: my personal experiences do not tally with these subjective reports; I don't hear any differences in two Connects. So for me to agree that there is something wrong with my Connect or my ears, I need more than subjective claims that no scientist will accept as valid.
Finally, even if there is some very small difference that only an "audiophile ear" can hear, it can be easily corrected downstream of the Connect in the rest of the chain that sends the sounds into the room. So even in this case, this is an irrelevant distraction.
YMMV.
The jpeg analogy is faulty because each camera's jpeg program contains the camera designer's view point of what a good image should look like that is baked into the jpeg, and also comes with a restriction on how much this can be changed in post processing compared to raw files. In this case of the Connect, the image is still raw, but some bits are missing. What remains is still raw. And the image that will be made by processing the two raw files by the same program may well be the same as far as the eye can make out.
Let me also point out that I am not a "Sonos cannot do any wrong" fan; I believe that the USD 35 Chromecast Audio can serve just as well as Connect in many cases. The reason I don't use it is because it does not do NAS music as slickly as Sonos does and it does not have the control buttons that Connect carries that allow it to be easily accessed without first locating the phone/controller. But from purely a sound quality point of view, the Chromecast is brilliant, and as good as Connect for 10% of the Connect price. I pay more for the Connect for its features. As someone may well decide to in the case of Bluesound, for features that Connect does not offer. As I would, if I needed those features.
It will be interesting to see how Sonos prices any new Connect, if one does appear. The problem they must have is how to prevent cannibalising of play unit sales: with a cheap USD 100 Connect, one could use one of the very many active speakers that are available that are better value for money than the 5, IMO. And still get all the Sonos front end benefits.
Userlevel 7
+22
I don't know how cheap a Connect ever will be. I personally would expect a Connect with some additional features (like digital input and bit perfect) but at same price point. I just don't think they sell enough of them to drop the price further. But I think the features you get vs. the price is what is currently out of line.
Chromecasts - I mean they probably sell 10,000 to 1 vs. the Sonos Connect so of course that cost to manufacture goes down significantly (and Connect does have in its defense much more capability even in todays form).
Chromecasts - I mean they probably sell 10,000 to 1 vs. the Sonos Connect so of course that cost to manufacture goes down significantly (and Connect does have in its defense much more capability even in todays form).
So let's say a new Connect at the same price: who would be the target buyers that cannot use today's Connect for their needs? What of their needs that cannot be met today would this new Connect fulfil?
Userlevel 7
+22
Well you certainly have the bit perfect crowd.
A digital input would allow tv input (I have always wanted a superconnect that would decode multichannel audio and send out to multiple play speakers).
uSB input that would be nice or and hdmi pass thru?
A digital input would allow tv input (I have always wanted a superconnect that would decode multichannel audio and send out to multiple play speakers).
uSB input that would be nice or and hdmi pass thru?
Userlevel 7
+20
I have no immediate needs that the CONNECT does not already meet, apart from IR control so that it works with my home theatre setup and Logitech Harmony remote. (I've now solved this with a Raspberry Pi, a FLIRC, and a bit of coding.)
In general, though, I'd look for more CONNECTivity, along the lines Chris mentions. I also wouldn't mind some visual indication that the CONNECT is streaming versus stopped/paused.
Userlevel 3
+4
I would highly recommend Sonos.
One big requirement for me is longevity. Investing thousands into a sound system is not something I want to regret. Sonos has been around for much longer than Bluesound, and is very responsive to its community, constantly adding new features/fixing bugs.
Bluesound might go this path, I'm not sure: there isn't much data to go from. I feel like at this point, Sonos' track record speaks for itself.
One big requirement for me is longevity. Investing thousands into a sound system is not something I want to regret. Sonos has been around for much longer than Bluesound, and is very responsive to its community, constantly adding new features/fixing bugs.
Bluesound might go this path, I'm not sure: there isn't much data to go from. I feel like at this point, Sonos' track record speaks for itself.
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