4 ms·

So what are people using instead of Sonos AMP for home sound control?

by davidu 2y ago

schnable 2y ago
Wiim for one option.
DudeOpotomus 2y ago
Apple airplay works flawlessly. Or you can buy an old Amazon fire and connect them to your own hardware. Both of these solutions allow you to use any speaker/amp setup you choose. And if you truly care about sound quality, this is the only path.
- Maxion 2y ago
  AirPlay and multiroom is still a struggle though
  - DudeOpotomus 2y ago
    Agreed but it has better sync tech than most others that I have tried. Yamaha's is buggy, Denon's buggy, but Apple TVs sync well in my multi level, multi system set up.
- ashtonbaker 2y ago
  What’s a good way to Airplay to your own speakers?
  - DudeOpotomus 2y ago
    Buy an older Apple TV, or an Amazon Fire. Connect them to your receiver and you're good to go. Or buy a newer Yamaha or Denon receiver and they'll be ready to go out of the box.
- cosmic_cheese 2y ago
  AirPlay is as about as good as it gets I think. It’s been thoroughly reverse engineered so there’s lots of open source tools for it and it’s cheap to add speakers since used AirPort Expresses are still supported AirPlay targets.
  - bhandziuk 2y ago
    Do you need an Apple product to use AirPlay?
    - cosmic_cheese 2y ago
      That makes it easier, but no. Many implementations of both servers and clients (both closed and FOSS) exist, for example AirMusic adds AirPlay casting support to Android and I’ve heard of people using rPi’s as receivers. The protocol is entirely local, there’s no remote server component at all.
- kristjansson 2y ago
  Sonos Amp / Port act as airplay receiver to analog out (with amplifier in the case of Amp). They're meant to act as an input for existing ‘dumb’ speakers/amplifiers/home audio systems, and is extraordinarily fit for that purpose. How do else could one Airplay to a ‘dumb’ stereo without something to act as an airplay receiver?
- wilsonnb3 2y ago
  In my experience AirPlay 2 isn’t flawless, pretty much every time I try to use it there are stutters. This is using an iPhone 16 Pro to AirPlay to a stereo pair of Sonos Five’s that are connected using Ethernet. AirPlay isn’t a great choice if you are concerned about audio quality anyways - if you’re using AirPlay 2 you’re using 256kbps AAC, so it should sound the same as Bluetooth (or worse if you are comparing something like LDAC). See here for more information. https://darko.audio/2023/10/apple-airplay-isnt-always-lossless-sometimes-its-lossy/ https://darko.audio/2023/10/apple-airplay-isnt-always-lossle...
  - DudeOpotomus 2y ago
    I'd wager it's the Sonos that is the problem. I have 0 issues with my Yamaha receivers and AirPlay, or my various branded soundbars. Sonos never wanted to work with Apple, so I can understand why they'd never make it work.
cloudking 2y ago
Chromecasts + HDMI stereos + Speaker Groups: https://support.google.com/chromecast/answer/7174267?hl=en https://support.google.com/chromecast/answer/7174267?hl=en Works from Apple and Google mobile devices with Spotify

So what are people using instead of Sonos AMP for home sound control?

by davidu 2y ago

So what are people using instead of Sonos AMP for home sound control?

schnable 2y ago

Wiim for one option.

DudeOpotomus 2y ago

Apple airplay works flawlessly. Or you can buy an old Amazon fire and connect them to your own hardware. Both of these solutions allow you to use any speaker/amp setup you choose. And if you truly care about sound quality, this is the only path.

Maxion 2y ago
AirPlay and multiroom is still a struggle though
- DudeOpotomus 2y ago
  Agreed but it has better sync tech than most others that I have tried. Yamaha's is buggy, Denon's buggy, but Apple TVs sync well in my multi level, multi system set up.
ashtonbaker 2y ago
What’s a good way to Airplay to your own speakers?
- DudeOpotomus 2y ago
  Buy an older Apple TV, or an Amazon Fire. Connect them to your receiver and you're good to go. Or buy a newer Yamaha or Denon receiver and they'll be ready to go out of the box.
cosmic_cheese 2y ago
AirPlay is as about as good as it gets I think. It’s been thoroughly reverse engineered so there’s lots of open source tools for it and it’s cheap to add speakers since used AirPort Expresses are still supported AirPlay targets.
- bhandziuk 2y ago
  Do you need an Apple product to use AirPlay?
  - cosmic_cheese 2y ago
    That makes it easier, but no. Many implementations of both servers and clients (both closed and FOSS) exist, for example AirMusic adds AirPlay casting support to Android and I’ve heard of people using rPi’s as receivers. The protocol is entirely local, there’s no remote server component at all.
kristjansson 2y ago
Sonos Amp / Port act as airplay receiver to analog out (with amplifier in the case of Amp). They're meant to act as an input for existing ‘dumb’ speakers/amplifiers/home audio systems, and is extraordinarily fit for that purpose. How do else could one Airplay to a ‘dumb’ stereo without something to act as an airplay receiver?
wilsonnb3 2y ago
In my experience AirPlay 2 isn’t flawless, pretty much every time I try to use it there are stutters. This is using an iPhone 16 Pro to AirPlay to a stereo pair of Sonos Five’s that are connected using Ethernet. AirPlay isn’t a great choice if you are concerned about audio quality anyways - if you’re using AirPlay 2 you’re using 256kbps AAC, so it should sound the same as Bluetooth (or worse if you are comparing something like LDAC). See here for more information. https://darko.audio/2023/10/apple-airplay-isnt-always-lossless-sometimes-its-lossy/ https://darko.audio/2023/10/apple-airplay-isnt-always-lossle...
- DudeOpotomus 2y ago
  I'd wager it's the Sonos that is the problem. I have 0 issues with my Yamaha receivers and AirPlay, or my various branded soundbars. Sonos never wanted to work with Apple, so I can understand why they'd never make it work.

cloudking 2y ago

Chromecasts + HDMI stereos + Speaker Groups: https://support.google.com/chromecast/answer/7174267?hl=en https://support.google.com/chromecast/answer/7174267?hl=en Works from Apple and Google mobile devices with Spotify