People aren't buying Sonos/Homepod/etc for the fidelity. They are buying for the ease of use and the software ecosystem.
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Sonos Working on New 'Era' High-End Speakers
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Audio streaming doesn't take a lot of bandwidth. Even 24-bit/192 kHz is less than 10 Mbit/sec. They also have Ethernet so I don't know why I'd use Wi-Fi?
That's the inherent danger of any "smart" product. This is why products like Sonos Amp/Port, Bluesound Node/Powernode, etc are appealing. You can keep the expensive passive speakers that you already have and change out the brains that power them.
Agreed!!! Started with a couple of Echos when there was nothing else. Have been switching to Sonos and love it.
If Sonos handled my lights, I could dump Alexa completely. And if Sonos would include direct support for Hue Sync, I would be if audio/visual heaven.
I just have to decide if I want to update my speakers for built in TruePlay tuning. Anyone looking for a bunch of used Sonos Ones?
Ive got Plume pods through the house, four sonos speakers. No issues.... but all plumes tend to show excellent signal strength.
Good point.
But I’ve got stacks of the Sonos Amps nee Sonos Connects. Them brains ain’t cheap.
Now they’re tied to Sonos’ legacy software now. As they die, I’m simply not replacing them, not with Sonos anyways. If I did, I’d actually have to run two distinct Sonos setups as some of Sonos’ devices aren’t compatible with the Sonos app. Yay.
It can see Apple Music services. Using voice assistant, your choice is Alexa or Google... what I did was use the Alexa plug-in to connect to Apple Music. The downside? About once a month if I ask 'Alexa, play music' it will play my Apple Music station, but occasionally gets in a loop playing a song through twice before going to the next song. I want to blame Amazon, but not entirely sure. If/when Sonos has a voice assistant, hopefully it resolves that issue.
My only other complaint is we have a family plan for Apple Music, and 'Alexa, play music' plays my station, not anyone else's. Generally means most others go to their phone or computer to use Airplay with the speakers.
Sonos 5 is an absolute beast. Will be interesting to see if they can top it. Atmos music has always sounded a bit thin to me (so far). Looking forward to what Sonos brings out either way.
I don't own a Sonos but I've never bothered with their app when I meet one at a holiday location. Once connected I just use Apple Music. I've never bought a smart speaker as I just use the good old Airport Express units with much better active speakers and also a legacy system. I really don't want the features of any of the smart speakers (or not so smart in the case of HomePod!) - I just want great sound.
I can see not wanting to invest all of that money again. Sonos is significantly cheaper than competitive products, however. You can easily spend 5-10x as much on a Cambridge Audio streamer and likely still have the same obsolescence issues in the future. I didn't get into Sonos until 2020 so I started out with S2 gear (Arc, Sub Gen 3, Move, and some refurbed Play:1s).
Sonos does have a voice assistant and it supports Sonos Radio, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, and Pandora. It started rolling out last June to compatible models.
Sonos made it so that you can run all products off the Sonos S1 app. You no longer have to have a split system. You are able to "downgrade" your S2 products to be compatible with S1. I have about 30 Sonos products (mostly Amps, Connect Amps and Connect) in two separate locations. They all run on the S1 software now. It takes about 5-10 minutes per component to downgrade, so its a pain if you have a lot, but its nice to be able to group the components how you like and schedule things how you want. I was pretty disappointed and apprehensive when they originally split their systems, but they continue to support legacy hardware and have actually made improvements, so I can't complain.
They do. And Gus Fring will make sure your music gets played, or else.
I've got two of the original Homepods in a workout room, but they don't get a ton of use outside of that. I went with a Sonos soundbar and sub for TV/Livingroom audio and have been pleased with it. The Homepod is in such a weird niche, more expensive and better sound than basic smart speakers, but less feature-rich than more dedicated home audio stuff. Not to mention the fact that one might want to be able to keep using the speaker with line-out long after it can no longer receive software updates ie Apple Hifi Speakers are still in use because of this.
I suspect that Apple never meant to cancel the first one and had to due to "legacy nodes" or something, and they just brought a lightly updated newer model when they were able because it was kind of weird having a "Homepod Mini" with no standard Homepod. That said, it's also kind of weird that they released something of a 1.5 version that really only addressed the issue of being able to take the cable out. Nice sounding speakers that work well with Apple stuff, but still, kind of weird.
Yep. The whole 'Sonos left its users in the cold" thing was/is so overblown. Tech companies will always want to do things that old hardware can't do. As if Apple has never said nope, no upgrade for you. Sonos has bent over backwards making their legacy equipment work.
I am glad someone else has had the same experience I’ve had. I struggle because I love the speakers but don’t like the company. Had my Five **** the bed at just over a year old, and Sonos said it’d be nearly $400 to fix it. Luckily Maine has a 4 year consumer protection law that ensured I got a replacement. The Sonos rep wasn’t happy. I just have a hard time trusting them to treat me well after spending that much money.
Sure, I could rely on the Maine consumer protection law, but that doesn’t make me feel any better about the company.
I don't follow that logic at all. You invent a hypothetical situation where someone doesn't like his speaker and instead of returning it, is "forced" to buy a sub? And then is "forced" to buy a surround setup because he...decides he wants it? What does the HomePod buyer "get" to do if he doesn't like his speakers or decides he want's surround? Well, he switches to Sonos, I guess.
FYI, both the Sonos amp and Port have line ins, as well as the five. It's been a while since I've had my HomePod, so you'll have to remind me where you plug in your phono.
Works even better in some ways. You can turn off explicit lyrics in the Sonos app for Apple Music content (great if you have little ones), and radio stations work (not just playlists like Spotify).
While I still have some Sonos gear in my house, I have slowly sold off most of it. The whole "forced obsolete" of their first generation of speakers was a disaster and the blow back was pretty swift. I won't be buying in to anything right now that can make my speakers obsolete on a whim. If you don't know what I am referring to, go to their forum around 2020 and take a look a the posts. They have since backed down, but that doesn't mean it won't come about again.
Good luck to those that buy into their or anyone's speaker system. The gear was great... no complaints until I found out I wouldn't be able to use them! I won't be nor have I bought anything from Sonos since this.
Good luck to those that buy into their or anyone's speaker system. The gear was great... no complaints until I found out I wouldn't be able to use them! I won't be nor have I bought anything from Sonos since this.
This is the risk when using closed systems and why I don’t think these systems are ideal for high end unless you are wiling to roll the dice on future capabilities. I prefer having my main system with unconnected speakers that work with any amp/DAC/steamer. Easier to update a Wiim Mini ( for example) or AppleTV than every single speaker and sub.
That being said, for the price of a HomePod or Homepod mini, I will take that risk for convenience. I am sure many feel the same way with speakers like the Play1 but when the $$ of investment grow, so does the risk.
Well considering my oldest Sonos speakers, a pair of Play:1s are now 7 years old and are still working perfectly as surrounds for my now 5 year old Beam I’m going to challenge your claim that they’ll be in the landfill in 5 years. Considering Apple’s terrible track record for supporting 1st gen devices, and the OG HomePod coming up on 4 years old I suspect Apple will be dropping support any day now.
Sonos are just fine without apple messing them up thank you. I for one don’t want apple to rule the world.