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Features
The Sonos Digital Music System can stream a wide range of file formats: MP3, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, Apple Lossless, WAV, and AIFF files are compatible, as are Audible audio books. Sonos will also stream compressed (but not lossless) WMA files and non-copy-protected AAC files. The latter caveat means--like most non-Apple products--the Sonos can't stream copy-protected, DRM-encoded AAC files purchased from Apple's iTunes Store. However, the new "iTunes Plus" DRM-free AAC files now available via iTunes will work just fine.
As for other online stores and services, Sonos has nearly all the major bases covered. Recent firmware upgrades have added compatibility with the Rhapsody, Pandora, and Sirius premium services--each charges a monthly fee, but (after the initial setup) they can be accessed from the Sonos Controller without the need to have the PC powered up. The same is true for free Internet radio services--you need only a URL to add any WMA or MP3-based station. From a Windows PC, the Sonos system can also stream music files purchased from the Zune Marketplace, as well as those from a wide selection of PlaysForSure-compatible online stores: AOL Music Now, Napster, Urge, Wal-Mart, and Yahoo Music Unlimited.
As if all those digital music options weren't enough, the Sonos can also tap into any audio source. The input on each ZonePlayer can accept any analog audio source--a CD changer, a satellite radio, an iPod, or anything else--and stream it to any or all of the other ZonePlayers on the system. The only drawback is that these external sources can only be toggled active or inactive by the Sonos remote--additional control will require using the device's own remote or front-panel controls.
Recent firmware upgrades have also added a few other niceties to the Sonos system, most notably an alarm clock that lets you wake up to music; you can also set a timer to automatically shut down the system as you fall asleep. Additionally, the system now supports as many as 50,000 tracks in your local library (for those of you who have massive music collections) and the automatic indexing of podcasts, Audible content (audio books), and new music that's been added to your library.
Using the Sonos Music System
The most impressive aspect of the Sonos system is the fact that you have your entire music collection--and the ability to distribute it throughout your house--at your fingertips. The advantage of the Sonos CR100 controller is a big one: instead of having to squint at a small LCD on an audio receiver or use your TV to navigate tracks and settings, the screen is in your hand--and it's in color. Yeah, Crestron makes some pretty nifty remotes, but those are usually part of expensive high-end systems that have been put together by a home installer who runs cables behind walls and builds speakers into them--expensive, custom jobs that make Sonos's price tag seem like a serious bargain. All of the ZonePlayers in a system can also be controlled with the Sonos Desktop Controller computer software interface--Windows and Mac versions are available as a free download from the Sonos Web site--and you can always purchase additional CR100 wireless controllers.
For our tests, we set up the ZonePlayer ZP80 in our living room (connected to an Onkyo AV receiver) and the ZonePlayer ZP100 in our master bedroom, with just a set of speakers. Once everything is connected, you can choose to stream the same music in each zone (the music is synchronized) or stream different tunes in different rooms. To toggle between rooms, you simply hit the Zones button on the remote and select the room you want; Sonos offers dozens of room labels from which to choose.
You can opt for standard playback modes such as Shuffle, Repeat One, and Repeat All; fire up playlists created by other applications such as iTunes and Windows Media Player; or listen to playlists you've created by using either the Sonos software or the remote to save a song queue. Obviously, the more meticulously you've organized your music, with the correct ID3 tag information and the like, the better the user experience you'll have. And if you have album art in your database, it will be displayed on the remote when the song plays. That's also true when playing music from the Rhapsody, Pandora or Sirius streaming services. All three are pay services, of course, but free trials of each are available through Sonos, so you can try before you buy.
Don't want to pay for your music? The Sonos system comes preconfigured to play nearly 300 free Internet radio stations and can be configured to play additional stations broadcast in both the MP3 and WMA streaming formats. It also bears mentioning that the Sonos can stream from any networked, attached storage device that supports the CIFS (common Internet file system) protocol, such as the Buffalo LinkStation or Maxtor Shared Storage drives. In fact, this setup is ideal, because your computer doesn't have to be powered up for you to access to your music collection.
Performance
In general, the Sonos music system is zippy, with little or no lag time when accessing music and switching from room to room. Click the Enter button at the center of the touch wheel, and a selected song typically plays within a fraction of a second. In fact, thanks to the circular ribbon controller that scrolls through track lists, the experience of using the Sonos remote is very similar to using an iPod to navigate and play your music, except that the Sonos's color screen is bigger and easier to read. To help navigate through large music libraries, Sonos added a quick-scroll function that allows users to jump through lists alphabetically. As with any networked system, you'll eventually run into some problems with your network going down, but all in all, we rarely lost the wireless connection to SonosNet--Sonos says you can roam as far as 150 feet from any ZonePlayer before a connection is lost--and the times that happened, it restored itself quickly.
Sound quality was also impressive. With the first ZonePlayer connected to our AV receiver's coaxial digital input, tracks such as Placebo's "Follow the Cops Back Home" and "Because I Want You" sounded multidimensional and clear. The sound difference between the analog and digital connections will really be noticeable only to audiophiles, especially if you're dealing with compressed MP3 files, but any time you can preserve an all-digital connection, it's preferable. Basic bass and treble tweaks were easy enough to make with the remote.
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Where to buy
Sonos Digital Music System (Bundle 130):
$858.06
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Amazon.com
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$858.06 | Yes |
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$858.06 | Yes |
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