TuneIn: Choosing from different stream qualities.
Userlevel 1
I'm using the TuneInApp for several years now on my smartphone, tablet, Mac and - of course - on my Sonos devices. iTunes offers hearers the possibility to choose from different stream qualities a radio station provides. It would be great if I also may choose them from within the Sonos controller apps. This may also practical when a user is on holidays: when the user takes his Sonos Play: loudspeaker with him 😉 and connects it to a mobile 3G/LTE router this could help saving bandwidth.
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Userlevel 3
+2
It's pretty easy to add the url for the high bitrate stream as a custom radio station
Is it really so difficult for the client-side ( Sonos ) to get the list of available bit-rates and sort it in the order that makes sense? Then use that ordered list to connect at the best available rate.
As far as I know it' s possible to google a station' s highest bitrate stream and enter that url manually, using the pc gui, and connect to that stream. elllroy
This is really ridiculous! No change in two years!
Even my cars satnav (Merc C-Class) displays the bitrate and I can choose, which stream I'd like to listen.
Come on Sonos, make this finally happen! We want to see the bitrate of radio stations and mp3 files somewhere in the controller app and we also want to be able to choose from the different stream qualities provided by the radio stations (like in the TuneIn Radio App).
Even my cars satnav (Merc C-Class) displays the bitrate and I can choose, which stream I'd like to listen.
Come on Sonos, make this finally happen! We want to see the bitrate of radio stations and mp3 files somewhere in the controller app and we also want to be able to choose from the different stream qualities provided by the radio stations (like in the TuneIn Radio App).
@reneallard IMO it isn't that it is difficult to implement, I think for sure they could. But that they make design decisions to keep the user facing software simple as possible. Development is slow and usually only include a few new items. This is why they are successful.
If the missing features are important you can plug a Squeezebox to a Sonos line in or use the squeeze2sonos/upnp LMS plugin.
If the missing features are important you can plug a Squeezebox to a Sonos line in or use the squeeze2sonos/upnp LMS plugin.
Having recently bought a SONOS Connect after having spent years with still functioning Logitech Squeezeboxes, I am quite surprised that the Squeezeboxes, not having been officially supported for 3 years, still manage to easily select bit rate for radio stations via the context menu of stations within their TuneIn app. This is just one example of many where the SONOS system lacks functionality that many other systems possess. And unlike some years ago when their only real competition was Slimdevices/Logitech, today there are new companies/products becoming available at a rapid pace. SONOS simply cannot afford to respond so slowly to requests to add simple functions that their increasing competition readily provides. Please add this function, I cannot believe it is that difficult to implement!
+a million for this. i listen to quite a bit of radio and streaming internet radio has the most noticeable poor quality when set to the lower bit rate. everything else i listen to on sonos sounds great. PLEASE allow us to choose the bit rate for radio!
Userlevel 2
+2 for this. Come on SONOS!!
I remember being able to search for stations on sonos by bit-rate, meaning I could choose to listen to some stations streaming as high as 320kbs. Why is this not the case anymore? I too made the mistake of thinking sonos was a high end product but Between this and their refusal to step-up and release a high res compatible version of their streamer I now find myself questioning where sonos sit in the market. For me it's time to invest in a high quality (hi-if) audio streamer. Good bye sonos
How is this even a problem Sonos? Fixing it could hardly be more than a days programming.
+1 for this problem, if Sonos are interested in providing the best sound then they need to support the ability to deliver the highest bit rate available. The whole BBC incident just shows how fragile these platforms are. While video/Tv moves to ever higher resolution picture video sound/radio is going backwards with lower bit rates.
Another point: BBC are stopping all their WMA radio streams from February, and replacing them with aac and SHOUTcast streams. These WMA streams are the ones I currently use on Sonos (via custom radio station URLs), giving eg Radio 1 & 6 Music at 128kbps.
I keep my fingers crossed that when the BBC implement this change, they will change their station URL lists to put the highest bit rate streams at the top, so that Sonos picks these in preference. But we shouldn't have to leave it to chance - an option to choose highest/lowest bit-rate stream would give us control.
I keep my fingers crossed that when the BBC implement this change, they will change their station URL lists to put the highest bit rate streams at the top, so that Sonos picks these in preference. But we shouldn't have to leave it to chance - an option to choose highest/lowest bit-rate stream would give us control.
A big +1 for this suggestion. The current arrangement leaves sound quality of most radio stations to chance for the great majority of users (who will never venture into researching and storing their own custom radio station URL's). This does nothing for Sonos's otherwise well-earned reputation for quality music reproduction.
I was reminded of this today when I mistakenly played BBC Radio 1 via the TuneIn button - it was pretty much unlistenable at 56kbps.
I was reminded of this today when I mistakenly played BBC Radio 1 via the TuneIn button - it was pretty much unlistenable at 56kbps.
Yes, I find the whole thing astonishing. Still, their new controller has lovely pictures and menus... But no bitrate option/info.
It does seem odd and unacceptable that Sonos, which is high end kit, does not give an option for TuneIn such as "always choose highest bitrate". Listening at sub optimal bitrates is not consistent with the Sonos brand and needs to be addressed. From a programming point of view this must be possible.
If it's true that the first stream in the list gets selected that is just poor programming. Shame on you Sonos, if that's true. What they should do is look at the all stream info for a station and sort them according to bitrate pick the best one.
I've not got access to Windows. Luckily when I did I added the 6 music stream. It didn't appear again after moving house until I added my Connect. So I have 6 music streaming now at decent quality
Userlevel 1
Have a look at this forum post, this is the method that I use:
http://forums.sonos.com/showthread.php?t=39657
sorry, i meant how does one see the audio quality (bitrate) currently. How do I know what bitrate my radio stations, even manually added ones are currently using?
Just the audio quality. It's very noticeable.
How do people know what bitrate the radio station is being played at? Sonos doesn't tell you, so are you going by the perceived audio quality or is there a tool ?
Thanks for your comments, Felicity. That's actually what we're asking for, user selectable bitrates, so that users can choose their preferred speed/quality.
Sounds like a good idea, except for those of us stuck on prehistoric rural broadband where defaulting to the highest bitrate would probably cause problems. User selected bitrate and being able to hear the radio at all would be preferable to unattainable high quality.
I hope that this can be implemented. I listen to BBC 6 music and Sonos selects their lower bit rate, but i don't have a Windows or Mac PC, so can't add the url for the higher bit rate.
Userlevel 1
After emailing the BBC to ask them to re-order their streams, I got the following response:
If anyone else listens to BBC stations on their Sonos, it might be worth you also emailing them - the more people that ask more likely it is that they will do something. I used the following URL to contact them (I selected "Make a suggestion"):
https://iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk/tv/forms
Thanks for contacting the BBC iPlayer Support Team.There's obviously no guarantee that they will do anything, but I suppose it's good that they appear to be at least looking into it.
I understand you would like us to re-order our streams used for BBC Radio 1-3 to allow the higher quality stream to come first.
We're aware that a non-BBC station has made a similar change along these lines previously.
Your suggestion has been used to inform a report which is sent to the BBC iPlayer radio team, including the head of BBC iPlayer Radio
If anyone else listens to BBC stations on their Sonos, it might be worth you also emailing them - the more people that ask more likely it is that they will do something. I used the following URL to contact them (I selected "Make a suggestion"):
https://iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk/tv/forms
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