aapl owner
macrumors regular
Can these be configured as a pair of stereo speakers?
Sonos Rivals HomePod With New Assistant Speaker, Adding AirPlay 2 Support to Speakers Next Year
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npmacuser5
macrumors 68000
Excellent, now my entire music system under one controller, Alexa. When I ask Alexa to play everywhere, Sonos part of the group. Yes!
Hasn't Sonos been doing this for years with Trueplay? It makes a giant difference on my Playbar and Play:1's. Yes, I have to re-run it when I move the speakers...but that's basically never. When I do, it takes 2-3 minutes tops.
Yeah let's put our trust in a company that has laid off a lot of its workers. Sonos is on very shaky ground and will go under if this pivot towards voice control flops.
KRG
macrumors 6502
This thing isn't comparable to the HomePod. I have a Sonos Play:3 and I've heard the Play:1...it'll sound comparable to other $199 speakers. It's a $199 speaker with decent sound quality (for a small room) and voice assistance built in.
Apple is competing at a different price point. The Sonos Play:3 is $299. The Play:5 is $499. If the HomePod can match the Play:3 sound quality, it will do fine at $349.
The HomePod is clearly being marketed as a premium wifi speaker with Siri as a secondary feature. This is a reversal of the Amazon/Google approach of marketing their products primarily as digital assistants with the ability to play music. This new Sonos One will be a good balance between value and sound quality for a lot of people. Apple clearly only wants to play at the top of the market....lets hope the HomePod sounds fantastic. I have no reason to suspect it won't.
You get what you pay for. It's not always true....but it usually is.
Apple is competing at a different price point. The Sonos Play:3 is $299. The Play:5 is $499. If the HomePod can match the Play:3 sound quality, it will do fine at $349.
The HomePod is clearly being marketed as a premium wifi speaker with Siri as a secondary feature. This is a reversal of the Amazon/Google approach of marketing their products primarily as digital assistants with the ability to play music. This new Sonos One will be a good balance between value and sound quality for a lot of people. Apple clearly only wants to play at the top of the market....lets hope the HomePod sounds fantastic. I have no reason to suspect it won't.
You get what you pay for. It's not always true....but it usually is.
Yes, they can. Source: I have two Play:1's.
Hello guys, I'm wondering if Apple will release in 2018 something close the Sonos PLAYBASE? I have already a Sonos PLAY 1 and I want to create the perfect 5.1 home cinema eco-system. The new HomePod sounds interesting to me but I cannot connect it to my tv and create the home cinema experience. Do you think it is worth to wait on Apple future plans or just go all in on Sonos? Thank you.
Sonos today introduced the Sonos One, an all-new smart speaker with six far-field microphones that allow it to work with digital assistants.
Sonos One can be controlled entirely with voice. At launch, it will support Amazon Alexa in the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom, including full voice support for Prime Music, iHeartRadio, Pandora, SiriusXM, and TuneIn. Alexa voice control for Spotify will be coming soon after launch.
Google Assistant support will be added in 2018, making the Sonos One the first smart speaker with support for multiple major assistants.
Sonos One can play music from more than 80 streaming services, including popular ones like Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play Music, Tidal, and Pandora. In addition, it supports other traditional Alexa capabilities related to the weather, timers, news and traffic reports, the latest sports scores, and more.
Sonos is releasing a free software update today that will enable many of its existing speakers to be controlled with Alexa as well. In the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom, Sonos owners can use any Alexa-enabled device like the Echo or Echo Dot to control the speaker with voice commands.
Sonos also announced that it will begin supporting Apple's AirPlay 2 in 2018, making it possible to play any sound from an iOS device on Sonos speakers. Apple users will also be able to control music on Sonos speakers with any Siri-enabled device, such as an iPhone, iPad, and the HomePod once it launches.
Sonos One comes in black or white, weighs four pounds, and has an illuminated LED indicator light to ensure you are always aware when the speaker's microphone is active. The speaker connects to a home's Wi-Fi network, and it also has one 10/100 Mbps Ethernet port for those who prefer a wired connection.
The speaker features premium audio quality, with two Class-D digital amplifiers tuned to match the speaker drivers and acoustic architecture, one tweeter, one mid-woofer, adjustable bass and treble controls, and a six far-field microphone array used for advanced beamforming and echo cancellation.
Sonos One will be available starting Tuesday, October 24 for $199 in the United States. Pre-orders start today.
Article Link: Sonos Rivals HomePod With New Assistant Speaker, Adding AirPlay 2 Support to Speakers Next Year
Soooo... what do I SAY to Alexa to get my Sonos playing? and what do I say to choose certain music? I mean, I already have to dive down like 5 sub folders to get to my Apple Music playlists... Hey Alexa play my Living Room Sonos with Apple Music My LIbrary Playlist Jazz Greats?
Like, what do I say here?
Like, what do I say here?
I use iTunes SmartPlaylists based on PlayCount to play my music. The Sonos apps do not update the iTunes library, so Sonos doesn't participate in my playlist management at all. Also, I have a mix of speakers around the house and only one is Sonos, so it cannot natively participate in multi-room iTunes playback.
There'd a MacOS based application called SonosAir that lets any AirPlay device play to the Sonos, but there's a much longer delay in the music (creating that echo effect) and the Mac has to be running whenever you want to AirPlay to the Sonos.
Native Sonos AirPlay support allows it to be a equal participant with other AirPlay devices.
Mark Booth
macrumors 68000
Dear Apple,
At the announced price of $349 each, your Home Pod speaker is now SEVERELY overpriced.
You might have luck at $249. Maybe.
Mark
At the announced price of $349 each, your Home Pod speaker is now SEVERELY overpriced.
You might have luck at $249. Maybe.
Mark
vipergts2207
Suspended
Home theater “system”
The solution for this is already out there. Buy an Apple TV 4K, a receiver and some speakers and you’ve got your Apple home theater.
deanthedev
Suspended
Lots of people listened to the HomePod demos and commented on their sound quality. Unless you think Apple cheated with their demos to make them appear better than they are (which would be really stupid as it would comeback on them when it’s rekeased).
Further, I’ve worked in audio engineering for 30 years. When I saw the demo the terminology and explanations Apple gave line up with technology I’m familiar with. Especially the modeling.
Mark Booth
macrumors 68000
Release
macrumors regular
I don't know, but SONOS sounds pretty damn good.
I started out with a single speaker and was disappointed in the quality. I bough into the whole "room filling sound" promise... and it honestly sounded like a halfway decent speaker sitting on a shelf.
But then I added a second, and it was like the skies opened up. Now I've got 'em in pairs all over the house.
So while they might not be quite up to par with dedicated wired speakers, they're certainly in the upper tier in terms of sound quality.... and especially since they're wireless. I'm a HUGE music fan and I really don't feel I've sacrificed anything with these. I highly recommend SONOS.
Sadly, I have to say that I hope Sonos never sells to Apple. I used to think Apple and Sonos shared the same ethos because both companies made rock solid products that were a joy to use. Over the last few years, though, while I've certainly contemplated adding additional Sonos speakers to my home (and likely will once our family has more disposable income), it's becoming less and less likely that I will spend that disposable income on an Apple product.
Apple is simply not making products right now that I have a burning desire to buy. I have a three year old MacBook Pro that I have no desire to upgrade and my wife and I have an iPhone 7 and an iPhone SE and we have no desire to upgrade to iPhone 8 or iPhone X. HomePod? I'm not interested in it primarily because I don't need another device with which to interact with Siri. I already have an iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, and Apple TV that can access Siri. The problems I have with Siri would not be solved by adding another Siri-capable product to my home. The problems I have with Siri can only be solved by Apple. Siri needs to be more intelligent and Apple is the only entity that can make that happen.
KRG
macrumors 6502
It's not overpriced. At all.
https://www.theverge.com/circuitbre...t-stereo-speaker-announced-price-release-date
There you go...freshly announced at $399, the Google Home Max. That is a true HomePod competitor. Must be even more overpriced.
The sub $200 speakers popping up everywhere do not sound great. Adding voice assistance to any speaker doesn't immediately make it a high end speaker.
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page3
macrumors 6502a
Actually it sort of can. You ever heard Anthem Room Correction in operation?
e-coli
macrumors 68000
Not sure what this means. Sonos makes traditional home theater systems look idiotic. It sounds amazing, there's no need at all for a receiver, and it's simple to use.
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The Sonos system sounds incredible. I have a soundbar, sub and two Play 1's for surround and it sounds better than anything i've ever heard in a private residence. I get compliments all the time.
page3
macrumors 6502a
Sorry but that’s just laughable that Sonos can hold a candle to a proper AV receiver/amp.
e-coli
macrumors 68000
symphony
macrumors 68020
How do you know Sonos will support older devices?
mw360
macrumors 68020
Won't work with Apple Music (yet) - its Amazon Music for now, or Pandora, or TuneIn and a few others. I think Apple have been late opening up to 3rd parties.
To start Amazon Music playback
Alexa, play music in the (room name) (Alexa will select music)
Alexa, play (artist) in the (room name)
Alexa, play (song name) by (artist) in the (room name)
Alexa, play (artist) on Pandora in the (room name)
Alexa, play the album (album name) by (artist) in the (room name)
Alexa, play (activity) music in the (room name)
KRG
macrumors 6502
No one knows yet..but hopefully it will.. I'm very happy with my Sonos, but very much want airplay support.