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Did you really think they would add the on-demand streaming service to match for $25 a year?


Did I say for $25 a year? They could it least give some sort of discount for iTunes Match customers and do not tell me because the Labels are at loss when they make enough from concerts. Maybe if they stopped promoting crappy music like David Guetta they would make more money.
 
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I have to say ... I think Apple totally wasted their money on this acquisition. I have a pair of Beats headphones for workouts and I think they're awful. Not worth what I paid. I also couldn't care less about their music app.

Apple would have done better to acquire Nest, Rachio and some other companies if they really want to make their HomeKit succeed.


Apple acquired them for their streaming service first along with the staff to run it. Streaming is the future so they got a service that already had a solid infrastructure, an approach they liked, and some of the most relatively competent, well connected and knowledgeable people in the business running it.

The electronics (headphones) sector of the company was just a plus and it's very hard to see this as a whole being a waste of money when the company was bringing in 1.5 billion in revenue annually when they bought them out.

Hopefully they do very smart and successful things with homekit but Music/Itunes/Streaming is definitely the bigger thing at the moment to capitalize on.
 
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I have to say ... I think Apple totally wasted their money on this acquisition. I have a pair of Beats headphones for workouts and I think they're awful. Not worth what I paid. I also couldn't care less about their music app.

Apple would have done better to acquire Nest, Rachio and some other companies if they really want to make their HomeKit succeed.

Agreed. I have both Rachio, Nest and about 25 Sonos components and love them all. Most tech disappoints, but these items have really met and exceeded my expectations.
 
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Sonos and Beats both suck balls.

Get some Audioengine A5s ;) That's hi-fidelity at a decent price.

You're regurgitating audiophile BS. Sonos has great sound. Get their amps and pair them with your speakers of choice if you are more discerning. If that's not good enough for you, then you don't represent 99.99% of the people who are reading your comment, so why are you wasting your effort?
 
Perhaps Apple should focus on refining/fixing AirPlay on the latest AirPort Express before trying to go head-to-head with Sonos. Apple had something good with AirPlay on the second generation AirPort Express, the occasional dropout but worked well with any DACs. All they had to do was fix it up a bit with the third-generation but they totally went the opposite direction and screwed it up and making it pretty much useless with almost all DAC's that use the ESS Sabre chip and some Burr Brown chips.

Sonos isn't Hi-Fi/audiophile quality, but the sound is more than decent for wireless speakers and they do it extremely well. If I had to wire my house with speakers, I wouldn't even think twice setting up a Connect/Connect:Amp farm for the whole house.
 
You're regurgitating audiophile BS. Sonos has great sound. Get their amps and pair them with your speakers of choice if you are more discerning. If that's not good enough for you, then you don't represent 99.99% of the people who are reading your comment, so why are you wasting your effort?
Claiming overpriced speakers are the answer to solve what you think an audiophile is....well, that's just funny.
 
I've got AudioEngine A5s, with an Airport Express plugged in to the back of em' in the lounge for probably 5 years now. An old Mac Mini with AirServer connected to the hifi downstairs (great for audio from iTunes, iOS, or video mirror from an iPad), and a pair of THX speakers hooked up to another AE upstairs. I can control all sound from any program on my computer with AirFoil. I'm pretty happy with what I have... no drop outs, and the A5s kick butt. I don't know..., the Sonos doesn't seem to be looking any easier to set up 5.1 from an every day 5.1 speaker set and amp, and a bit on the pricey side. If they sound decent, great. Ideally other apps can talk to the speakers without relying on the Sonos App?
 
Beats products were never purchased for their quality. Apple just saw a chance to buy out a growing alternative to their EarPods. Why not have all the revenue go to them? And that's exactly what is happening.

Yup, can't blame Apple for buying a company that sells what is basically a $15 pair of headphones for $300.
 
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I have never had any good experience with any bluetooth audio device. I have an Airplay device in my car and I love it. If I am to get a wireless speaker right now it will be Sonos or similar product.

I suggest you buy the JBL Charge II, works perfectly for me. And the bass is amazing.
 
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Idk, most people I talk to rave about Sonos. Most of them not very computer literate

What?

I have SONOS at home and love it. The ease of use, sound, and multi room capabilities is amazing. I just pick a station and it'll stream from it. I can leave my house and come back and it's still playing. No need to pair my phone every time.
 
Blame incompatibility all you want. This was not making money and it was not the spawn of Ive. It was doomed as soon as the shadow of Cupertino encroached.
 
I don't really understand this whole WiFi speaker trend thing, which causes mediocre speakers to be super expensive just because they have WiFi. Just take your computer or phone, plug it into any speaker using the headphone jack, and voila! It's a lot cheaper, there are far more options, and there's no risk of it becoming obsolete, slow, incompatible, or whatever in the future. And now that you can just swipe up to get music controls on the iPhone from the lock screen, there's not much need for playback control buttons on the speaker itself.
 
Sonos and Beats both suck balls.

Get some Audioengine A5s ;) That's hi-fidelity at a decent price.

Loved my white A5+'s both with my retina iMac and also earlier with my pic gaming rig. Pity my desk is too small to do justice to either the r iMac or to the speakers themselves. Just became a cluttered mess.

However, along with the asus xonar essence stx, I never had or heard, better sound.

They now reside in the home theatre room, instead.
 
I don't really understand this whole WiFi speaker trend thing, which causes mediocre speakers to be super expensive just because they have WiFi. Just take your computer or phone, plug it into any speaker using the headphone jack, and voila! It's a lot cheaper, there are far more options, and there's no risk of it becoming obsolete, slow, incompatible, or whatever in the future. And now that you can just swipe up to get music controls on the iPhone from the lock screen, there's not much need for playback control buttons on the speaker itself.

I think a major plus with these sorts of speakers are the lesser amount of cords (apart from recharging cords!!).

I'm thinking of going the wifi speaker route, myself. I hate the preponderance of cords that accompany computers. But I have no experience with wifi speakers in terms of audio output quality.
 
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I could actually see Apple maybe looking at taking over Sonos at some point (Maybe), that way they have the beats headphones, there own music service and also would have the Sonos brand for the speakers :) Would be a good acquisition for Apple I think.
 
I have a pair of PowerBeats2 wireless headphones which I use during my daily commute. I have to admit they are the best headphones I have ever owned. The sound quality is great and they're pretty discrete.

However outside of my commute, music is for sharing. I'm an avid Spotify user and when we have guests round (which is quite often) we love the ease of using AirPlay to throw a new playlist onto the TV for everyone to hear. Our apartment is reasonably small and until recently I've not really considered a better sound system.

Sonos was the main system I've been looking at, and I'm considering an Apple Music family plan as a replacement for our current Spotify Premium. I'm not sure if this news puts me of Sonos, or Apple Music. Time will tell.
 
Do you know what you're talking about here? I think those 2 don't belong in the same sentence. IMO Beats fits in there but Sonos is pretty much GREAT except for the Apple-like pricing. And, Sonos isn't just speakers. Look into it, they offer some pretty terrific capabilities.
No I have no idea what I'm talking about, that's why I posted.
 
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The most amazing speaker I have, Amazon Echo with Alexia. I am a Huge Apple Fan, however they missed the boat on this one. Echo is totally amazing and it is still in early development. Apple, pay attention, speakers are the way into home automation and driving music play.
Apple has not missed the boat. AirPlay is by far the best way to stream music wirelessly. There are tons of receivers and devices that have AirPlay support.
 
The moment Apple announces a multi-room wireless speaker system is the moment Sonos dies. So I'd say the team over at Sonos will be mightily relived that Apple has apparently abandoned any plans to kill them in the marketplace.
 
Airplay or GTFO. Let me cast to my speakers from any app that produces audio. Do this and you have my money.
 
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