Post Reply 
 
Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Sonos connect or DAC?
05-10-2014, 15:59
Post: #1
Sonos connect or DAC?
Yes, I know they're very different products! I'm still experimenting with streamed listening and have a very limited budget. In one living room at the moment I can only play streamed music (from a NAS with MinimServer) through the (modest but not rubbish, and hopefully to be upgraded one day) hi-fi system via a Sony BD player (connected by ethernet, not wi-fi) and an old Panasonic plasma tv. The Sony only has a digital (co-axial) audio-out and the amplifier only analogue in. It's annoying for various obvious reasons to involve the tv, so a solution, presumably, would be to have a DAC box linking the SonyBD output straight to the sound system. (A further advantage of course would be that we could use the sound system when watching Bluray movies etc.) But we've already got a Sonos Play 5 and a bridge serving an outlying studio room and I'd always imagined expanding the Sonos system, using Sonos Connect units attached to the separate hi-fi sytems in each of our two living rooms. I suppose I hope eventually to have both (Sonos and DAC), but I'm unsure which to prioritise and would appreciate advice re the likely relative sound quality in each case, viz. a) From NAS via Sonos wi-fi (with excellent signal due to good proximity) to Sonos Connect attached to the amplifier; or b) ethernet wired Sony BD player (BDP-S5200) connected by cables to the amplifier, via an under £300 DAC. Specifically, in terms of the different components, is there much to choose between the Sonos and the Sony boxes as renderers, for example? And what would the DAC bring to the set-up? What sort of DAC can you get for under £300? Any recommendations?
Find all posts by this user
Quote this message in a reply
05-10-2014, 18:31
Post: #2
RE: Sonos connect or DAC?
(05-10-2014 15:59)nickc Wrote:  Yes, I know they're very different products! I'm still experimenting with streamed listening and have a very limited budget. In one living room at the moment I can only play streamed music (from a NAS with MinimServer) through the (modest but not rubbish, and hopefully to be upgraded one day) hi-fi system via a Sony BD player (connected by ethernet, not wi-fi) and an old Panasonic plasma tv. The Sony only has a digital (co-axial) audio-out and the amplifier only analogue in. It's annoying for various obvious reasons to involve the tv, so a solution, presumably, would be to have a DAC box linking the SonyBD output straight to the sound system. (A further advantage of course would be that we could use the sound system when watching Bluray movies etc.) But we've already got a Sonos Play 5 and a bridge serving an outlying studio room and I'd always imagined expanding the Sonos system, using Sonos Connect units attached to the separate hi-fi sytems in each of our two living rooms. I suppose I hope eventually to have both (Sonos and DAC), but I'm unsure which to prioritise and would appreciate advice re the likely relative sound quality in each case, viz. a) From NAS via Sonos wi-fi (with excellent signal due to good proximity) to Sonos Connect attached to the amplifier; or b) ethernet wired Sony BD player (BDP-S5200) connected by cables to the amplifier, via an under £300 DAC. Specifically, in terms of the different components, is there much to choose between the Sonos and the Sony boxes as renderers, for example? And what would the DAC bring to the set-up? What sort of DAC can you get for under £300? Any recommendations?

Sonos isn't fully compliant with UPnP and there are some interoperablity issues with MinimServer. If I recall correctly, you can use a Sonos player as a UPnP renderer but it isn't possible to see the MinimServer library in the Sonos control point.
Find all posts by this user
Quote this message in a reply
06-10-2014, 10:11
Post: #3
RE: Sonos connect or DAC?
Thanks. Yes, I've read some of the discussion about Sonos and I can confirm that you can use their player as a UPnP renderer, though not, as you say, using a Sonos controller. But I can get the Sony BD player to play from MinimServer to our Sonos player, or I can use something like Skifta or BubbleUPnP on my Android devices to do the same. My post was really more in search of information and opinion regarding the relative quality of the various components I mentioned, and what might be the best route towards a streaming set-up, where once I've switched on the amp I can play music for the rest of the day without having to go anywhere near it or plug anything into it. If the Sony BD player had an analogue audio-out, I'd have that wired direct to the amplifier and then I'd just have to switch on the two of them. Is it crazy to think of buying a DAC just to do that? Would I be better investing in Sonos Connect, and do it that way? Which set-up is likey to produce the better feed to the amplifier? Those are the sorts of issues I've really not got a clue about.
Find all posts by this user
Quote this message in a reply
15-10-2014, 04:28
Post: #4
RE: Sonos connect or DAC?
A Raspberry PI with a decent DAC board (e.g. http://www.hifiberry.com), and a bit of appropriate software (e.g. Volumio http://volumio.org/ or Pete Manchester's MediaPlayer http://petemanchester.github.io/MediaPlayer/) may fit your purpose for a very limited budget and with no need to fidget with devices which may not be well adapted to what you want to do.
Find all posts by this user
Quote this message in a reply
16-10-2014, 08:57
Post: #5
RE: Sonos connect or DAC?
Thanks medoc92 for that suggestion and the links. Certainly worth thinking about and could save me quite a bit of cash. Hmm!
Find all posts by this user
Quote this message in a reply
17-10-2014, 12:28
Post: #6
RE: Sonos connect or DAC?
Why bother with a Pi? All you need is a DAC and you can get one these days for next to nothing - no idea what your budget maybe.

Personally I am not a fan of the Sonos, the one I heard was an all-in jobby, speaker, amp etc and did not sound very good. It also (currently) will not play 24bit files, not sure if it ignores them or renders them down to 16bit. But that settled it for me.

Go and buy one of the NAIM Unitis!
Find all posts by this user
Quote this message in a reply
23-10-2014, 18:56
Post: #7
RE: Sonos connect or DAC?
I'd love to buy a NAIM Uniti, but it's way beyond my budget! Thanks for pitching in though. The idea of a Pi is actually growing on me: a fun project and a much cheaper way of achieving the sort of quality I'm aiming for, given my limited budget.
Find all posts by this user
Quote this message in a reply
14-11-2014, 14:56
Post: #8
RE: Sonos connect or DAC?
(23-10-2014 18:56)nickc Wrote:  I'd love to buy a NAIM Uniti, but it's way beyond my budget! Thanks for pitching in though. The idea of a Pi is actually growing on me: a fun project and a much cheaper way of achieving the sort of quality I'm aiming for, given my limited budget.

Yup agreed, that is why I am messing with one. But I have yet to find any decent software to make it function as a streamer. Volumio/mpd just about works but it is a bit of fudge and you end up re-scanning all the time. The only reasonable option is to go to folder mode and forget upnp.
Find all posts by this user
Quote this message in a reply
26-11-2014, 22:36
Post: #9
RE: Sonos connect or DAC?
(14-11-2014 14:56)mccormw Wrote:  
(23-10-2014 18:56)nickc Wrote:  I'd love to buy a NAIM Uniti, but it's way beyond my budget! Thanks for pitching in though. The idea of a Pi is actually growing on me: a fun project and a much cheaper way of achieving the sort of quality I'm aiming for, given my limited budget.

Yup agreed, that is why I am messing with one. But I have yet to find any decent software to make it function as a streamer. Volumio/mpd just about works but it is a bit of fudge and you end up re-scanning all the time. The only reasonable option is to go to folder mode and forget upnp.

Well it's early days so far but I'm pleased with Volumio on the RpiB+. I'm puzzled by your reference to scanning, and wonder if in setting up Volumio you pointed it at your music library. I was confused about this for a while until I discovered Volumio doesn't need a library if it's simply acting as a renderer for MinimServer (and MinimServer is brilliantly fast in scanning). Your setup may be completely different to mine, and I have a relatively small music collection, still with a lot of tagging to sort out, but with the music on an NAS running MinimServer and the Rpi running Volumio attached to my amplifier, I can control it using BubbleUPnP on my (Android) tablet and/or phone and it all works very smoothly. I'm so pleased with it I'm about to buy another RpiB+ to service another living room.
Find all posts by this user
Quote this message in a reply
Post Reply 


Forum Jump:


User(s) browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)