18
Jul
2011
What Hi-fi: Ooops, it looks as if Amazon in the US has accidentally let slip details of Sonos’s new smaller Play:3 multiroom speaker system. (more…)
Tag: Sonos
20
Apr
2011
Engadget: For months we’ve been wondering aloud how Sonos would respond to Apple’s September AirPlay announcement. After all, Apple’s promise to “stream music throughout your entire house” steps all over Sonos’ reason to exist. Would Sonos start building its systems with BridgeCo chips? As it turns out: no. Instead, Sonos is opting for a rather ingenious solution, at a cost of $99. Rather than licensing BridgeCo technology at additional expense atop Sonos’ already costly components, the company has instead devised an approach that links Apple’s own AirPlay-compliant AirPort Express into Sonos’ proprietary wireless mesh network. The solution (illustrated after the break) works by first shutting off the WiFi on the AirPort Express base station and then stringing a cable between its audio-out and the line-in jack on any Sonos ZonePlayer, including the S5 all-in-one speaker. You then run an ethernet patch cable between the two and you’ve just enabled your iOS devices to play AirPlay audio to any (or all) Sonos device in the home from any compatible AirPlay app. Naturally, the Sonos solution does not integrate with AirPlay speakers like those from iHome, JBL, B&W, Klipsch, or Philips and the AirPlay audio won’t be synced with video; but it’s a start. The new functionality requires a software update to your system in the form of Sonos System Software version 3.4 — available now — which also adds iOS multitasking amongst a few other goodies.
Today also marks the official release of the free Sonos Controller for Android app in the Android Market making it a pretty good day to be a Sonos owner.
15
Oct
2010
Crave: The world of the audiophile is different to the one us regular folk tread. That’s not a bad thing, because it means that someone, somewhere, is making sure we don’t get stuck with low-quality MP3s and rubbish-sounding DAB. Audiophiles want music to be as close to the original as possible, and so does Naim, which is where the UnitiQute comes in.
Think of this as the Rolls Royce of streaming audio, where Sonos is the Jaguar. Both do similar things, but one is aimed at people who like cars, while the other is aimed at people who like cars so much they spend more than the price of a house on one. The Naim UnitiQute promises the best possible build quality — it’s designed and built in the UK — and a wealth of features, although, unlike the Rolls, it has no walnut trim.
What it does have, though, is a Rolls Royce price tag. At around £1,350, the Naim isn’t cheap. But as with the car, it’s the highest quality piece of equipment you’re likely to find. There is a DAB radio, but the UnitiQute can happily tune in high-quality FM stations and access Internet radio, too. If you can’t find anything on this wireless worth listening to, you really aren’t trying hard enough.
Digtial inputs mean you can connect a CD transport and get the best possible sound from your discs. Apple Lossless and FLAC support round off the high-end audio support, but should mean that music lovers never have to suffer through a compressed song again.
Crucially, in addition to streaming things like 320kbps MP3s, the Naim can also take audio with sampling rates of up to 24bit/96kHz. That means it’s capable of doing justice to everything you own, not just those Britney Spears MP3s you nicked off Napster ten years ago.
The Naim UnitiQute might be pricey, but it’s a lovely piece of kit. Well built and well specified, it will appeal to those who want music moved from their computer to their Hi-Fi, but need better quality than you could ever get from other, cheaper devices.
24
Sep
2010
TechRadar: Sonos has announced that it plans to launch a wireless iPod and iPhone dock next month, making it even easier to stream your tunes from anywhere in your house.
Sonos’ new WD100 Wireless Dock will set you back £99 although, of course, you will have to have a Sonos multi-room music system already installed in your crib to begin with.
Multi-room music streaming
“The leading developer of wireless multi-room music systems for the home, today introduced the Sonos Wireless Dock (WD100), an accessory for the award-winning Sonos Multi-Room Music System,” reads Sonos’ press release just in.
“With the Sonos Wireless Dock you can now play all of the music stored on an iPod or iPhone in every room of the house.
Phil Abram, President, Sonos, Inc. adds: “The Sonos Wireless Dock is the perfect accessory for our music loving customers who own an iPod or iPhone and want to enjoy the music stored on them in any or every room of the home.
“This new dock reinforces our mission to provide our customers with access to all of the music on the planet, including everything available on an iPod and iPhone in the home.”
The dock sends your iPod/iPhone tunes to Sonos ZonePlayers dotted around your home before converting the music to analogue “guaranteeing the best possible audio quality.”
For more check out www.sonos.com.
09
Jul
2010
03
Jun
2010
Electronista: Sonos today refreshed the ZonePlayer S5 to add a black color. The new model adds to the existing white and mostly helps for those whose home theater systems or living rooms wouldn’t match the original. Functionally, the system is the same as before and includes both an Ethernet connection and an internal Sonos wireless receiver with a high-powered 2.1-channel speaker system.
The system still costs $399 and should be available today. To use it wirelessly needs a $99 ZoneBridge to share the connection from a home router. Most input requires a computer, iPhone, iPod touch or Sonos Controller, though the desktop and iPhone apps are free.
09
Aug
2008
Wired: Sitting somewhere in between plugging your laptop into a stereo system and installing multi-room audio into the walls of your house sites Sonos, which makes digital audio systems that I’ve likened to the “iPod Home” product Apple never made.
Sonos has upgraded its Digital Music System with the help of a Cal Tech professor, increasing the wireless range of its devices while shrinking their footprint. The amplified Sonos ZonePlayer 120 (pictured, speakers not included) is about half the size of its predecessor. And all the new units have about double the range, thanks to a third antenna and a new processor.
But of course, this product does not exist in a vacuum. Apple recently released a remote control application for the iPhone and iPod Touch that can control iTunes from anywhere in the house. Combined with an inexpensive Airport Express, Apple’s solution offers far cheaper sound system playback of digital music files than a typical Sonos system (amplified ZonePlayer, unamplified ZonePlayer, and color Wi-Fi remote).
But Sonos co-founder Tom Cullen told us he’s not too worried about competition from Apple, because its system can’t handle multi-room audio.