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What's really frustrating about this situation for me is that Google has given up on audio (discontinued Chromecast Audio, no replacement for Home Max) but as a

by s17n 5y ago

What's really frustrating about this situation for me is that Google has given up on audio (discontinued Chromecast Audio, no replacement for Home Max) but as a result of this bullshit, I also can't use my Google products with Sonos, the one 21st century company that is actually doing audio well. Instead, Google's strategy is to partner with a bunch of legacy audio companies (https://www.google.com/chromecast/built-in/audio/ https://www.google.com/chromecast/built-in/audio/) where you just know that the firmware is going to be jank and the products will all eventually be discontinued, and in the long run these companies are dinosaurs and they are all going to die. I just clicked through to the NAD chromecast amp and instead of giving me a price and a "buy now" button, there is a "find a dealer" button. You have got to be fucking kidding me.

saiya-jin 5y ago
> the one 21st century company that is actually doing audio well I strongly disagree with this. You don't own your speakers which are completely dependent on manufacturer which can brick them permanently on a whim. Fuck that and fuck Sonos. That is not a definition of 'doing audio well in 21st century' in any meaningful sense. As for audio quality, there are companies making better sounding products that allow you to do whatever you want with their products and usually for much/at least a bit less.
- s17n 5y ago
  > You don't own your speakers which are completely dependent on manufacturer which can brick them permanently on a whim. Like I said, a 21st century company, with bad things that implies as well as the good things.
neoromantique 5y ago
I'd take a NAD amp over anything that Sonos sells any day of the week, thanks.
- PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
  and you can have my NAD amp over my dead body, though when I am dead, you can get it with a Slim Devices/Logitech Duet Receiver (Burr/Brown 24 bit DAC), which I'll also take over the current Sonos offerings.
  - s17n 5y ago
    NAD already basically dropped Chromecast support, confirming the suspicion that buying their products would have been a bad idea for me. And any company whose business strategy is to sell to users of the Logitech Duet is going to go bankrupt.
    - PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
      NAD & Chromecast? My NAD amplifier is about 22 years old. It doesn't know anything about networking, streaming or chrome. It's an amplifier.
- s17n 5y ago
  Traditional hifi gear is a niche market. In the past this was fine, but the reality is that niche markets won't support the development and maintenance of high quality software that interoperates well with the ever-evolving ecosystem of streaming services and protocols. Sonos is the one company that is playing by the rules of today's market, has actual software developers working for them, and cares about audio quality.
  - acomjean 5y ago
    We have a sony SRS-88 wireless home speaker. It's solid. But you can connect all sorts of ways. Airplay worked for a month, now it always sputters. My partner's Spotify seems to start and then send the stream straight to the device, so you can't control it from the original device anymore. We've found the best way is straight bluetooth, or through the mini stereo plug that we have wired to the back. https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/speakers-wireless-speakers/srs-x88 https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/speakers-wireless-s...
throwaway2331 5y ago
I'm surprised anyone still uses Chromecast. Too many panicked monkey-beating sessions, where I accidentally clicked the "cast" button on a video has lead me to throw mine out (a gift). I'd rather just run a HDMI/VGA cable into a TV.
recursive 5y ago
Last time I looked, I can't play my audio on a Sonos system. It's a complete non-starter.
- timcosta 5y ago
  Play 5s have an aux in on the back, and if you have your music in spotify on your PC you can use the sonos speakers/groups as an output from the desktop app (and maybe with other services too, i just use spotify so i know this one)
jacquesm 5y ago
Sonos is a great implementation of a brilliant concept and a crappy company at the same time.
jimkri 5y ago
One of the products on that page is already discontinued: Google Music. I was so bummed when that happened, I loved being able to upload my own music and have Google music update the metadata and allow me to bring it everywhere. Kind of a data hoarder
- celtain 5y ago
  You can upload your own music to YouTube music, and the music I had previously uploaded to Google music was migrated over at some point (but I think there were manual steps involved, which may no longer be available).

by s17n 5y ago

saiya-jin 5y ago

> the one 21st century company that is actually doing audio well I strongly disagree with this. You don't own your speakers which are completely dependent on manufacturer which can brick them permanently on a whim. Fuck that and fuck Sonos. That is not a definition of 'doing audio well in 21st century' in any meaningful sense. As for audio quality, there are companies making better sounding products that allow you to do whatever you want with their products and usually for much/at least a bit less.

s17n 5y ago
> You don't own your speakers which are completely dependent on manufacturer which can brick them permanently on a whim. Like I said, a 21st century company, with bad things that implies as well as the good things.

neoromantique 5y ago

I'd take a NAD amp over anything that Sonos sells any day of the week, thanks.

PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
and you can have my NAD amp over my dead body, though when I am dead, you can get it with a Slim Devices/Logitech Duet Receiver (Burr/Brown 24 bit DAC), which I'll also take over the current Sonos offerings.
- s17n 5y ago
  NAD already basically dropped Chromecast support, confirming the suspicion that buying their products would have been a bad idea for me. And any company whose business strategy is to sell to users of the Logitech Duet is going to go bankrupt.
  - PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
    NAD & Chromecast? My NAD amplifier is about 22 years old. It doesn't know anything about networking, streaming or chrome. It's an amplifier.
s17n 5y ago
Traditional hifi gear is a niche market. In the past this was fine, but the reality is that niche markets won't support the development and maintenance of high quality software that interoperates well with the ever-evolving ecosystem of streaming services and protocols. Sonos is the one company that is playing by the rules of today's market, has actual software developers working for them, and cares about audio quality.
- acomjean 5y ago
  We have a sony SRS-88 wireless home speaker. It's solid. But you can connect all sorts of ways. Airplay worked for a month, now it always sputters. My partner's Spotify seems to start and then send the stream straight to the device, so you can't control it from the original device anymore. We've found the best way is straight bluetooth, or through the mini stereo plug that we have wired to the back. https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/speakers-wireless-speakers/srs-x88 https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/speakers-wireless-s...

throwaway2331 5y ago

I'm surprised anyone still uses Chromecast. Too many panicked monkey-beating sessions, where I accidentally clicked the "cast" button on a video has lead me to throw mine out (a gift). I'd rather just run a HDMI/VGA cable into a TV.

recursive 5y ago

Last time I looked, I can't play my audio on a Sonos system. It's a complete non-starter.

timcosta 5y ago
Play 5s have an aux in on the back, and if you have your music in spotify on your PC you can use the sonos speakers/groups as an output from the desktop app (and maybe with other services too, i just use spotify so i know this one)

jacquesm 5y ago

Sonos is a great implementation of a brilliant concept and a crappy company at the same time.

jimkri 5y ago

One of the products on that page is already discontinued: Google Music. I was so bummed when that happened, I loved being able to upload my own music and have Google music update the metadata and allow me to bring it everywhere. Kind of a data hoarder

celtain 5y ago
You can upload your own music to YouTube music, and the music I had previously uploaded to Google music was migrated over at some point (but I think there were manual steps involved, which may no longer be available).