Tuesday, August 21, 2018

What new hell hath sonos brought me?

Chapter two in torture by Sonos.
Sonos: What's Wrong in this Photo?
What's Wrong in this Photo?


So my house was redone and my systems dismantled. Now I have Sonos speakers all over the house.

1. How does sonos talk to my computer for routine audio like Youtube or sites like www.spellingcity.com.  I believe that there is some special software to install on my PC. Anyone? I'm currently running a second set of speakers for listening to my computer. (Which is the two little speakers pictured on the right).

2. How does Sonos become a front end for my Alexa? Right now, they sit right next to each other on my desk.  I've heard some sonos speakers have mics in them but are they Alexa-compatible and what do I have to install where to make this happen? This is why Alexa sits next to the Sonos speaker. Maybe they'll become friends and start working together.

3. How to play my computer library of music through sonos? For my music on my computer, I use to use iTunes and my speakers.  Now I gather that I point sonos owards my music on my computer. The problem is that sonos doesn't recognize the music folder. Each album (and speaker and playlist) needs to be independently listed into sonos. Shit!

4. Podcasts from my phone.  While I have figured out how to play my phone music across Sonos (use the Sonos app!) from my phone, I'm still turning my phone volume all the way up to listen to podcasts while I listen to podcasts from my phone.  Any ideas?

Want to read about Chapter one in my tortured move to Sonos and this next gen of technology?

BTW, I have checked the sonos website which apparently written by a marketing agency or other people removed from reality and who believe in hype and lots of adjectives: "easy-to-use...Alexa built right in (editor:  huh? Built right into what? I've yelled alexa at several different types of Alexa speakers and none of them have glowed colors and talked back)....looks good, it sounds big, and it's more flexible than any other smart....etc"

Of course, I'm just being sardonic since I haven't taken enough days to read all the how-tos which are surely hidden somewhere on their website.  T  But, the fact is, I'm probably about 10 hours into trying to get this stuff all connected.

8/22 - Week three of these speakers. I've figured out that there are for my purposes two types of sonos speakers. Ones and others (beams, play ones, play fives, and playbars). Only the Ones have built-in Alexa.  I just found one, flipped it over, and photographed it (which allows me to see the bottom and what it is!). It's a Sonos one. Why doesn't it do act like an Alexa? How do I activate it?

4 comments:

Johne said...


QUESTION
Can I get Sonos to play whatever my computer is playing?

From the Sonos forum:
https://en.community.sonos.com/music-services-and-sources-228994/can-i-get-sonos-to-play-whatever-my-computer-is-playing-6796651


8 months ago Music services and sources 4 replies 694 Views
ojoasia7
ojoasia7 Novice 1 reply
Hi, Can I get the sonos to play whatever the computer is playing? or am i restricted to the sonos app and radio stations there? I want to quite simply use this to play whatever my PC plays but this doesnt seem to work....... I just want to use i as a computer speaker is all.
Please help.


4 replies

jgatie 17280 replies 8 months ago
No. It is not a computer speaker.
Like (0) Quote
Keith N

Keith N Sonos Staff 3569 replies 8 months ago
You may wanna check out this thread, where we talked about how to bring computer audio to Sonos. A little more advanced of a setup but, it can be done.
https://en.community.sonos.com/advanced-setups-229000/please-make-sonos-work-with-the-computer-6796268#postid/16179010


mwiseman Enthusiast 219 replies 8 months ago
jgatie wrote:
No. It is not a computer speaker.

Actually, you can; but it's not cheap. I have two of my computers hooked to Sonos Connects and if works fine. I also have Echo Dots connected and they take advantage of the nice Klipsch speakers I have attached to the computers.

Keith N wrote:
You may wanna check out this thread, where we talked about how to bring computer audio to Sonos. A little more advanced of a setup but, it can be done.



Kumar 8861 replies 8 months ago
Another way of doing this for Sonos kit that has line in is by wiring a Dot to it, and then using the bluetooth option on the computer to feed the Dot; this is useful if the speakers are not being placed flanking the computer, with voice control as an added bonus. But a line in somewhere is a must.

Johne said...

It seems to matter whether the sonos set up has a boost architecture or not. I wonder how I find out?

Also, do we have any BEAM sonos speakers?

Johne said...

Does only the One have Alexa built-in?

Johne said...

I tweeted to the good people at Sonos who gave me a detailed response. Which needs unpacking. In any case, here it is. Now I'm feeling bad about venting my frustrations with Sonos so publicly. Maybe I should be venting at the installers who put them all over, put all my speakers away, and said that everything was set up.

Hello John, thanks for reaching out. We appreciate the opportunity to fill your home with music and we're happy to help.

1. In general, Sonos products are designed to work with the services listed on our website here: https://www.sonos.com/streaming-music . In addition, you can also play music from your music library (more details in answer 3 below). Some products have the ability to connect to external hardware, like your computer, for YouTube or other websites. Take a look here for more: https://support.sonos.com/s/article/1080

2. The Sonos One and Beam both have microphones built-in. They work with Alexa and Siri (via AirPlay 2), and will work with Google Assistant in 2018. You can also use your existing Alexa hardware to control your Sonos system. More details here: https://www.sonos.com/support/voice-control ….

3. You can find instructions for playing music from your computer's music library on our website. Here's the link: https://support.sonos.com/s/article/257

4. Mind telling us a bit more about what's going on? For example, is this true for only some podcasts, or are all podcasts behaving the same way? Mind submitting a diagnostic while this is happening? Send us the confirmation number when you get a chance:

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/141