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SONOS CEO gets the boot

nice to see there's consequences for him, but this is the sort of thing that can happen if your hardware is dependent on an app to function. You're relying on the company to keep the app updated, and not remove your favourite feature(s).

People still happily run hi-fi setups from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Who is still going to be running their Sonos gear ten years from now?

The heavy software dependency has made audio gear as disposable as our cell phones.
 
It seems anachronistic to say this, considering that the whole world is going in this direction, but I also have no confidence in spending money on a system that depends entirely on an app that can be devastated by an update or crippled by a lack of update.
I still tend to prefer tools that can work standalone.
 
sanmateo said:
nice to see there's consequences for him, but this is the sort of thing that can happen if your hardware is dependent on an app to function. You're relying on the company to keep the app updated, and not remove your favourite feature(s).

People still happily run hi-fi setups from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Who is still going to be running their Sonos gear ten years from now?

The heavy software dependency has made audio gear as disposable as our cell phones.
Click to expand...
Liked and bookmarked. Couldn’t have said it better.
 
sanmateo said:
nice to see there's consequences for him, but this is the sort of thing that can happen if your hardware is dependent on an app to function. You're relying on the company to keep the app updated, and not remove your favourite feature(s).

People still happily run hi-fi setups from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Who is still going to be running their Sonos gear ten years from now?

The heavy software dependency has made audio gear as disposable as our cell phones.
Click to expand...

A hi-fi setup from the 70s can only use vinyl and play stereo. If you want to listen to other audio formats you need to invest in a player, if you want to listen to multi channel audio you have to get a new system. You can probably get better sound quality from a JBL bluetooth speaker nowadays than a mediocre 70s or 80s sound hi-fi setup anyway.

Sonos Five Gen 1 still works fine 16 years after its first introduction, that's hardly "as disposable as our cell phones".

Most Sonos products have a physical input and newer ones have bluetooth. Airplay and Spotify connet. So even if Sonos closes you can still use them with other software and hardware.
 
To have modern streaming technology at your disposal, all you need is a 100 euro wiim mini connected to an analog input of the usual 70s system.
Buy several and you can configure the multi-room audio by connecting to any system you want. You don't need Sonos, you don't need expensive lifestyle speakers.
If wiim fails, you would have lost 300 or 400 euros in the worst case scenario and your systems would be working as they were before.
 
Talisman said:
To have modern streaming technology at your disposal, all you need is a 100 euro wiim mini connected to an analog input of the usual 70s system.
Buy several and you can configure the multi-room audio by connecting to any system you want. You don't need Sonos, you don't need expensive lifestyle speakers.
If wiim fails, you would have lost 300 or 400 euros in the worst case scenario and your systems would be working as they were before.
Click to expand...

Lifestyle Speakers are not expensive. A Sonos 'Era 100, which is pretty decent if you want multi-room audio costs $279 and you can find it often at a discound. A Kali LP6 with a wiim costs the same. And sonically the Era is probably better for the use case (a speaker at a corner in a room filling it with sound)

As I wrote, you can still use a Sonos Five for example as a normal speaker if you're so inclined if Sonos Inc closes down. A Sonos can break down of course, but so can a Kali.
 
Talisman said:
It seems anachronistic to say this, considering that the whole world is going in this direction, but I also have no confidence in spending money on a system that depends entirely on an app that can be devastated by an update or crippled by a lack of update.
I still tend to prefer tools that can work standalone.
Click to expand...
Yep. There is a better approach to have software control without an app, as shown by Soundcraft's UI series rack mixers. Those are controlled by a webbrowser, which in my view is much more future proof.
 
Can I ask please, my sonos port and boost, are connected to the hifi. Then it is predominantly Qobuz playing, via the Sonos app. on the smartphone. For some reason, Sonos has stopped seeing the My Book World collection of all my c.d.s. Aside from that however, what are the actual alternatives to Sonos?
 
DavidEdwinAston said:
Can I ask please, my sonos port and boost, are connected to the hifi. Then it is predominantly Qobuz playing, via the Sonos app. on the smartphone. For some reason, Sonos has stopped seeing the My Book World collection of all my c.d.s. Aside from that however, what are the actual alternatives to Sonos?
Click to expand...
I don’t understand what is you are having trouble with. Are you not seeing your local library?
 
The Sonos app. stopped showing my local library a couple of months ago Petrushka.
 
LTig, can I ask how the Soundcraft products you mention, work, with regards to a home hifi. You know pre amp, amp. Etc.?
 
Several things need to be said so that this forum doesn’t degenerate to the level of Reddit.

First, Sonos has a published API, that allows third parties to develop apps. And the third party apps, such as SonoPad and Sonophone never stopped working. I used them for six months, until the Sonos app had enough fixes.

The only function that has not been fixed is the ability to edit playlists. Existing playlists continue to work. Playlists developed on services like Spotify have always worked.

What makes Sonos unique and worthwhile is

1. support for nearly all streaming services and radio stations.

2. When playlist editing works, it allows developing lists that mix sources.

3. Cross service searching.

4. A local library that rivals Roon.

5. Support for losssless formats, both local and streaming.

6. Painless room sync. (Still works)

What is troublesome is the demands Sonos puts on WIFI. The new app and firmware are not compatible with cheap, IP provided routers. Or older routers.

Sonos used to have its own WiFi protocol and its own mesh networking. Mixing that with newer equipment causes trouble.
 
DavidEdwinAston said:
The Sonos app. stopped showing my local library a couple of months ago Petrushka.
Click to expand...
That’s fixable. I had trouble the first couple of days. It requires a configuration change. The file server must be accessible as a shared folder on the network.

To make your library accessible, you have to enter its address in the Sonos app as //computername/foldername.

If it’s on a Windows computer, you have to grant read permission to Sonos on the parent folder.
 
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DavidEdwinAston said:
LTig, can I ask how the Soundcraft products you mention, work, with regards to a home hifi. You know pre amp, amp. Etc.?
Click to expand...
Those are rack mixers with 12/16/24 input channels. In principle you can use it as a preamp, but that is probably a rather clumsy approach. You can download the user's manual and see for yourself.

Ui Series | Soundcraft - Professional Audio Mixers | English (US)

www.soundcraft.com www.soundcraft.com

Edit: on the webpage you can also try the demo "app" for smartphone or tablet.
 
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LTig said:
which in my view is much more future proof.
Click to expand...

Future proof? LOL.

The only 'future proof' system is one you own the rights to play the content you purchased, forever.
 
gippas said:
A hi-fi setup from the 70s can only use vinyl and play stereo.
Click to expand...
A "hi-fi setup from the 70s" can use any line level (analog) source, including, of course, the output of a DAC. :)
I'll give you stereo -- although there were multichannel options in those days, too, as you surely know.

Scan_Pic0048 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
scan above from the redoubtable ;) 1975 LRE catalog. You can peruse a copy of that catalog yourself, if so inclined, at https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Catalogs/Lafayette-Catalogs/Lafayette-1975-750.pdf
 
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