Re: Sonos, Bose or Philips!

[Mark McCall <lists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Just setup one of these Philips units for my sister the other day -
http://autoho.me/SMB9eX
She wanted to play music from her iPad and didn't want to spend a lot.

You'll not be disappointed by Sonos if you decide to go that way too.
Been in our house for over 7 years now and one of the best things we
ever got.

http://www.automatedhome.co.uk/reviews/sonos-long-term-review.html

M.


On Wed, Dec 5, 2012 at 11:48 AM, Neil Ball <neilball@xxxxxxx> wrote:
> +1 for Sonos from me too J
>
>
>
> Just one thing to watch, the Play:3 does not have the headphone or
line-in
> sockets so is the only zone player in the range not to support line-in
> connections (although you can play the line-in source from any other
player
> in your system).
>
>
>
> The line-in function is quite useful as it is digitised and made
available
> to any zone in the house and you don't have to play the line-in source
on
> the connected zone to listen to it somewhere else either. For example
I have
> my Sky audio connected to the line-in on one of my zone players and
can then
> listen to this anywhere else in the house.
>
>
>
> As Paul mentioned, the latest software update has added the ability to
play
> music direct from your IOS6 device over wifi rather than needing a
physical
> dock or the Airplay/line-in method. For those familiar with Sonos, it
allows
> you to add tracks from your IOS device to the Sonos queue, so you can
now
> mix and match tracks from your IOS device, or any of the other
track-based
> music sources (local library, Spotify, Napster etc) into a mixed queue
or
> save as a playlist. However you can only add music from the IOS device
using
> the Sonos App on that device, you cannot use a separate controller
(existing
> Sonos CR100, CR200, Desktop Controller, or a different IOS device/App)
to
> add music from another device.
>
>
>
> Neil B.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
> Mark Gardner
> Sent: 05 December 2012 10:50
> To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [ukha_d] Sonos, Bose or Philips!
>
>
>
>
>
> +1 for SONOS from me.
>
> Nothing else compares.
>
> Cheers
> Mark
>
> On 5 Dec 2012, at 11:45, "Paul Gordon"
<paul_gordon@xxxxxxx
> <mailto:paul_gordon%40hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> I can't comment on any of the Bose or Philips stuff, but I can
certainly
>> chime in on the Sonos questions...
>>
>> Firstly, Sonos is very definitely 100% self-contained... there is
no
>> "server" app required anywhere for it to run.. All you
need is your
> internet
>> connection and you have functional internet radio. Then all you
need is
>> network access to your music library... Sonos integrates with
iTunes, and
>> supports your iTunes library as a source.
>> In my case, my music library is 100% MP3 format sitting on a NAS
share
> which
>> I point iTunes to, but I do NOT allow iTunes to manage it... thus
I just
>> point my Sonos to the same NAS share...
>>
>> I guess you may not need to access a local music library at all if
you use
>> any of the popular online music services, as Sonos directly
supports all
> of
>> the popular ones such as Napster/Rhapsody, Deezer, Spotify, Last
FM and so
>> on. There's also a new software update just out which adds your
local
>> iDevice as a music source.. as you probably know Sonos have
discontinued
>> their own dedicated hardware controllers in favour of apps for
>> PC/MAC/Android/iDevice... now with the controller app installed on
an
>> iDevice, that local iDevice appears as a source which you can play
on any
>> Sonos zone.
>>
>> AFAIK (I don't have any of the PLAY devices), all of the Sonos
players
> have
>> a line-in to which an external device can be connected... once
connected
> to
>> any Sonos device in your network that is available as a source on
ALL
> other
>> devices. That much is certainly true of all of the ZP (now called
> "connect")
>> devices. - I have used this feature to pipe text-to-speech
announcements
>> from a PC running HA software all over the house.
>>
>> The zone synchronisation is unparalleled in my opinion... I have 4
zones
> in
>> a house in which I can usually hear music from more than one zone
at a
> time,
>> and any drift in synchronisation would be very obvious... when the
zones
> are
>> linked up that are absolutely rock-solid 100% in sync.
>>
>> You do NOT need the bridge in order to use the iDevices as
controllers...
>> you don't need a bridge AT ALL if you can make sure at least one
of your
>> Sonos devices has a wired connection to your home LAN.. - that is
the
> basic
>> rule for a Sonos network... there *must* be a wired point of
contact
> between
>> the Sonos network and your network... - if you only had the
portable PLAY
>> devices and didn't want to plug them into a wired Ethernet cable
(to keep
>> them portable), then you can use a bridge to fulfil that
requirement... I
>> believe there's plenty of offers around that bundle a PLAY device
with a
>> "free" bridge... - you connect the bridge to a wired
connection, then hide
>> it away and forget it... then all of your zone players can be
completely
>> wireless...
>>
>> One other point which may be worthy of mention is that the Sonos
control
>> system is based on UPnP and as such is pretty standard...
therefore there
>> are numerous 3rd party controllers that can be implemented to give
you the
>> ability to control Sonos functions from other home automation
systems... I
>> have a CBUS wall switch in the bathroom that starts/stops the
player in
> that
>> room...
>>
>> I would not hesitate to wholeheartedly recommend the Sonos
system... it is
>> one of those all too rare treasures that "just works"
and as such has
>> extremely high WAF
>>
>> HTH
>>
>> Paul G.
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx <mailto:ukha_d%40yahoogroups.com>
> [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx <mailto:ukha_d%40yahoogroups.com>
] On Behalf
> Of
>> Wayne Harrison
>> Sent: 04 December 2012 22:47
>> To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx <mailto:ukha_d%40yahoogroups.com>
>> Subject: [ukha_d] Sonos, Bose or Philips!
>>
>> Hi All,
>>
>> I am looking to replace a mini hifi in the kitchen and would like
to take
>> the plunge with WiFi streaming. In-house is starting the move to
Apple (i
>> tunes / pads / pods / macs etc) so the library that was PC based
is going
> to
>> be moving into iTunes at some point.
>>
>> All was going to be simple until a recent visit to John Lewes and
the
>> discovery of the new Bose AirPlay speakers ( http://bit.ly/ViRiHz ). The
>> plot thickens when I also popped into a Currys Mega store to find
now that
>> Philips ( http://bit.ly/UEoe0K ) has got in on the
act. (and yes - the
>> assistants in there wouldn't know a Kettle could boil water
without
> reading
>> it off the little price tags in front of them!!)
>>
>>
>> Ideally I would like the ability for the solution to be able to
still play
>> 'radio' (BBC, Heart, etc...) either as it has a tuner (looking
slim) or be
>> able to get a stream from the net. Airplay (or wired ethernet)
> compatibility
>> would also be good - as mentioned, most of the media will be in
iTunes.
> Also
>> the ability to not be tethered to a single computer would be a
bonus
>> although at some point the 'server' side of my mac's itunes
library will
> be
>> moved to a permanently 'on' box.
>>
>> The only downside with Bose / airplay in general would appear to
be that
> you
>> have to have something pushing out airplay - there is no
intelligence in
>> them to go it on there own so to speak. Oh - and the biggie, there
are no
>> multi streams to different zones from the same central library (as
yet
>> anyways).
>>
>> Anyways, a few questions.
>> Has anyone had any experience with the Philips kit at all, as I
said -
>> Currys were a waste of space... the chap in there just ranted
about wifi
> and
>> routers - and I dont think he even knew what they were! The
'stickers'
>> suggested internet radio but no idea if it does this off its own
back or
> you
>> need an 'app on a server'?
>>
>> With Sonos - looking at the video's there seems to be internet
radio built
>> in, again, does this need an 'app on a server' or do these things
operate
>> independently of a server for radio access? Same for iTunes access
- is it
> a
>> case of setting it up with said 'app' to connect to itunes or do
the boxes
>> connect directly with itunes HomeShareing?
>>
>> There seems to be a workaround to get airplay to work with Sonos
by using
> an
>> airport express as a 'feed' into a line in on a 'Play 5' to which
you can
>> use that as a source. Can this then be routed to any sonos or will
it only
>> play on the box its plugged into?
>>
>> Controls for these will be via iphone or ipad so I would imaging
for Sonos
>> needing the 'bridge' to get it plugged to the lan?
>>
>>
>> I suppose most importantly - this is mainly (at this point) going
to be
> used
>> by the Wife - so big brownie points for ease of use!
>>
>> If anyone has any ideas or thoughts that would be a big help.
>> Hopefully this makes sense!
>> Wayne.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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