Sieghard, thanks for the comprehensive Sonos guide. :) It sounds like a great line of products.
Teresa "We can see with the eyes, but we see with the brain as well, and seeing with the brain is often called imagination."--Oliver Sacks > On Feb 15, 2015, at 12:52 PM, Sieghard Weitzel <siegh...@live.ca> wrote: > > HiTeresa, > > To add to Jim’s message, yes, you do need Sonos hardware in order to use the > app. Jim provided the link to their website and if you search the archive for > “Sonos” you will find a lot of threads about their offering. I bought my > first Sonos players right after I bought my first iPod Touch third Gen in > September 2009 and have posted quite a lot about it. For the first few years > the Sonos app was useable, but it had some unlabeled buttons and was not > nearly as nice as it is now. Neil Barnfather from England, myself and some > others buged Sonos a lot in those years about their apparentl lack of > commitment towards accessibility. It seemed strange since otherwise Sonos is > an awesome company with fantastic customer service, very much Apple like with > respect to service and the quality and design of their products. I can’t > remember exactly when I was contacted by Sonos to beta test their app with > new accessibility features, but it’s been at least a year or maybe close to 2 > now and by now the Sonos app is fantastic. I just received a new beta with > specific Voiceover improvements and was asked to test it and provide feedback > and Sonos definitely seems to have a firm commitement to the accessibility of > their app. I can’t, of course, speak for the Android app, but on iOS it’s > awesome and the PC desktop app is also very accessibile with Jaws although > you have to use it by tabbing around and using enter or the right arrow to > open menus and so on, the Jaws cursor reads nothing. Anyhow, I don’t find > myself using the desktop app hardly ever simply because the iOS app is > working so well. > > As for the hardware, it consists of a number of different “zone players” > which you can place throughout your house. Initially one of these players had > to be connected to your router with a cable or you could buy a “Bridge” which > you would connect to your router and which would transmit the wireless > signal/network. By now you can set up the entire system wirelessly by > connecting it to your WiFi unless you have their soundbar in which case you > still have to wire at least one player or get a Bridge and then Sonos creates > its own Zigby network which allows all the players to talk to each other.. > The Sonos product offering is pretty comprehensive and consists of the > following: > > 1. Connect: This player is about the size of an Apple TV, but maybe > twice as thick/tall. It is meant to give you access to Sonos on an existing > music system like an amplifier or receiver connected to speakers. The Connect > has 1 set of RCA inputs (red and white) which allows you to connect a source > like a CD player or anything with RCA or 3.5mm output. You then have 3 > different outputs which allow you to connect it to your amplifier or > receiver: RCA (analogue), Optical Digital or Coax Digital. If you connect it > via one of the digital outputs, you could also still use the RCA outputs to > hook up a set of powered computer speakers and it would send the signal to > both the receiver and the speakers simultaneously. I, for example, have a > Connect hooked up to my high-end tube amplifier downstairs via the Coax > digital, but I am also running a 20 foot RCA cable into the laundry room > where I have a set of computer speakers so if I am just doing stuff around > the house and want to have an audio book or music playing throughout all > rooms, I can do that. The Connect is $399. > > 2. The Connect Amp: This is similar to the Connect, but it’s a bit > larger and it has a built-in 110 Watt (55 Watts per channel) Class D digital > amplifier. It has also a set of RCA inputs to hook up a source, but instead > of the RCA and digital outputs, it has a set of regular speaker terminals so > you can connect a set of standard bookshelf, tower or built-in wall or > ceiling speakers. In my case I have 3 of these units in my house, in the > bedroom, the bathroom and the kitchen. In all rooms they are connected to > either in-ceiling or in-wall speakers. Price for the Connect Amp is $599. > > 3. The Play 5: This is a stand-alone boombox type speaker. You can > place it anywhere as long as you have a power outlet nearby as it does need > power (it cannot run on batteries). It has 5 separate speakers each of which > is driven by it’s own Class D amplifier (2 tweeters, 2 mid range drivers and > a base. The Play 5 has a 3.5mm input and a 3.5mm output/headphone jack and > costs $399.. > > 4. The Play 3: Similar to the Play 5, but smaller with a tweeter, mid > range driver and base, once again each driven by its own Class D amplifier. > This player has neither an input nor a headphone jack and goes for $299. > > 5. The Play 1: The smallest speaker with a single driver, once again no > input or headphone jack. Cost is $199 and it still sounds amazing. Any of the > portable players, Play 5, Play 3 or Play 1 can be set up as a stereo pair, > but they have to be the same, e.g. two Play 1 or two Play 3, you can’t set up > one Play 1 and one Play 3 as a stereo pair. > > 6. The Playbar: This is a soundbar with 9 individually driven speakers. > It’s about 3 feet long and won all awards in 2014 for the best soundbar. It > has one single optical digital input and you hook it up to the optical > digital output of you TV. Of course you can still play all the internet > content on it wirelessly same as with all other Sonos players and if you > have, for example, a CD player hooked up to another Sonos player, you can > play music from your CD’s, any source that is hooked up to one Sonos player > is available on all players and you can play it just in one room or you can > group your players together. I can group bedroom and bathroom and listen to > Deezer wheras my wife could group kitchen and livignr oom and listen to > something else or you can put all your Sonos players in “Party Mode” so > whatever you play is synchronized across all players in your house. The > Playbar is $699. > > 7. Lastly, the Sonos Sub: This is a wireless subwover which is about > the size of a traditional PC desktop tower except that it weighs almost 40 > pounds and it sets you back another $699. You can set up a Sonos Sub with all > other Sonos players except for the Connect which is the non-amplified player > that connects to an existing stereo system. A set of Play 1 and the Sonos Sub > sound amazing and that setup would cost you two times $200 + $700, so a total > of $1,100. Of course a set of Play 3 or Play 5 with the Sub sound even better > especially if it were a large room. > You can also set up the Playbar with the Sub and a set of Play 1 or Play 3 as > rear channels for a full 5.1 surround setup. > > As for content, you can point the Sonos app to a folder or external drive > connected to your computer where you have all your music and play all that > music on your Sonos system. You can also play any music on your iPhone to > your Sonos system and while Sonos currently doesn’t support Airplay natively, > you can hook up an Airport Express to a Sonos players and it basically > becomes just a source so you Airplay to the Airport Express and it’s > available on your entire Sonos system. > As for music services, Sonos supports just about anything there is from Tune > In stations, Slacker and Songsa to Sirius XM, Deezer, Spotify, Tidal and so > on. I think all in all they support over 30 music subscription services and > most of them are also very easy to use via the Sonos app, essentially each > music service is an app that lives inside Sonos just like Netflix or Youtube > are apps that live inside the Apple TV. > > OK, I think that about describes what Sonos is, I think anybody who owns one > or more Sonos components love it. I am really hoping that they are going to > release a headset or a small battery powered headphone amplifier which you > could clip to your belt and plug in a headset you already own so that you > have access to all your Sonos content on a headset. > > I also have my laptop connected to my Sonos Connect in my office, so I can > take my Logitech wireless keyboard anywhere in the house and all I have to do > is set the Sonos player in the room I am in to play that source and I get > Jaws anywhere I go. Currently I have my Play 5 sitting in the bedroom as well > with a headset connected so that way I can use the computer in the evening if > my wife is already asleep. > > > Regards, > Sieghard > > From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of > Jim Ruby > Sent: Sunday, February 15, 2015 11:02 AM > To: viphone@googlegroups.com > Subject: RE: Sonos and Deezer with new features - now my top choice for music > services > > It is software for its line of speakers. http://sonos.com I love it. > > > From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of > Teresa Cochran > Sent: Sunday, February 15, 2015 11:03 AM > To: viphone@googlegroups.com > Subject: Re: Sonos and Deezer with new features - now my top choice for music > services > > Does one need Sonos hardware to get these features? I'm not familiar with > Sonos. Is it companion software for a device, or does it work by itself? > > Teresa > > "We can see with the eyes, but we see with the brain as well, and seeing with > the brain is often called imagination."--Oliver Sacks > > On Feb 15, 2015, at 8:58 AM, Sieghard Weitzel <siegh...@live.ca> wrote: > > Hello Craig and others, > > I just received an email from Deezer this morning with the following: > > The Sonos app has been updated! > You can now use these Deezer features directly on your Sonos device: > • Discover a better navigation experience and an easy-to-use interface. > • Listen to your Flow, your 100% personalised radio. > • Find recommendations, search and create playlists. > · Add songs to your Favourite tracks. > > Go to your Sonos app to try it now. Don't have the app? Download it from the > App Store or the Google Play Store. > > Of course I tried it immediately to see if these updates may have fixed the > problem I had with my songs constantly skipping half way through and going on > to the next song. Sure enough, I played the entire Greatest Hits album from > Journey with not a single skip or hiccup. > > The implementation of all the Deezer features is absolutely outstanding and I > bet Sonos fans with Spotify subscriptions will leave them behind very quickly > if they realize how much more Deezer offers. Of course with Deezer Elite > which offers lossless streaming similar to Tidal, Deezer also wins over that > service since they have way more tracks, I believe they claim 35 million > tracks. > > I know Deezer as a stand-along service is not available right now in the > States, but it is available via Sonos and now that they have basically put > the full functionality of the website and the Deezer app into Sonos it is to > me a total no-brainer. I had already cancelled my Spotify subscription a > while back, but still have the Tidal trial subscription which was offered at > 40% off for the first 3 months, but now I am going to cancel that and simply > upgrade my Deezer account to Deezer Elite. > > > Regards, > Sieghard > > -- > The following information is important for all members of the viphone list. > All new members to the this list are moderated by default. If you have any > questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a > member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators > directly rather than posting on the list itself. 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