PC or Mac Based Software Zone Player

[Majik]

Originally Posted by buzz

Most of the posts are replies to those who will not accept or cannot understand the underlying technical reason why this cannot be done.

..or who raise the same old questions or arguments that have been covered time and time again because they can't be bothered to read any of the thread.



Keith

[MThorhauge]

I really would like to see the software function as a zone as well. An not only the desktop software, but also on the phone/tablet software... In that way you'll be able to stream music from your NAS directly to your phone/tablet. i.e. if you're at home.

[buzz]

MThorhauge,

I'm not familiar enough with the underlying hardware on the phones to make a feasibility statement for them, but for the current PC and Mac hardware, developing a well functioning software zone is not possible.

Please read through the early part of this thread for more details.

[Digital Man]

Originally Posted by aeon_g

I too would love this kind of support, but i think it will never arrive. If sonos would make some kind of software-zoneplayer, nobody would buy their hardware anymore (or just one Play:5). Some companys would build cheap "ZP`s" with this software on it, and sell them for a penny. Then sonos would lose their control and their money

But hey, dream on, sometimes dreams come true ... !

Seems to me the firmware in the existing hardware ZPs & bridges could be modified to recognize non-genuine GUI ZPs and instruct the controller not to play unauthorized GUI ZPs..

[Digital Man]

Originally Posted by jgatie

You don't understand? Really? Have you read the thread? Better yet, have you read the last post before yours, where the reasons why it is not possible were summarized?

Sorry man, I'm not buying this can't be done because of timing/networking issues. Not in 2012.

[Digital Man]

Originally Posted by captainfog

They seem like daft reasons to me. Who in reality is going to by a laptop for every room to avoid buying proper zones. You'd be mental to do that.

As for support? why would you need support for it? The likes of Media Monkey and Foobar get by just fine without support for it. It's not complicated anyway, hit play and it err plays.....

It doesn't even need to be part of the multi room experience. I'd be happy if it worked as a standalone media player (this would solve the laptop in every room problem too)

Has Sonos given an official response to this request?

And no I'm not going to read all 50 pages of this thread.

Well said!!

[jgatie]

Originally Posted by Digital Man

Sorry man, I'm not buying this can't be done because of timing/networking issues. Not in 2012.

You would be wrong. The internal timing of the PC/Mac architecture was not made for accuracy, which is why you have to sync the PC/Mac clock to the internet. If you do not "buy" this fact, state some reasoning (besides dates) why you feel this is so. Please include specific answers as to how you can overcome the timing issues inherent on PC/Macs, timing issues which are well documented facts.

By the way, if you do not believe these facts, feel free to test them out yourself (you would be one step ahead of captainfog if you did). As buzz says:

(Y)ou can experiment with your own home grown work around scheme by generating a playlist using Media Monkey or whatever program then exporting that playlist to SONOS. Thereafter you can listen to that playlist from your computer and/or SONOS. If you want to synchronize the playback, start playing on both systems simultaneously.

Let us know how you make out.

Yes, please let us know how you make out.

[Buegie]

Originally Posted by Digital Man

Seems to me the firmware in the existing hardware ZPs & bridges could be modified to recognize non-genuine GUI ZPs and instruct the controller not to play unauthorized GUI ZPs..

Out of the many requests in the global "PC/Mac/SmartPhone as a ZonePlayer" debate, yours above is most possible.

But then again: So What? It still leaves the issue of syncing between many variations of devices with near impossible to know/control/adjust audio timing issues.

If one does not care about perfect audio sync across players, then we're stepping outside of the initial (and primary) attribute of Sonos (at least for most of us).

As for your initial desire of "I want to be able to have my entire library at my fingertips as I'm working in the yard and listening to my iPhone with ear buds." (see: http://forums.sonos.com/showthread.php?t=30727 ), you can do that now without the help of Sonos.

If you are Streaming audio from the Internet, basically everything (and more) you can get via Sonos is available on any decent SmartPhone with the right App(s).

On the other hand if you want instant access to your Local Library of digital audio:
A) It is either small enough to be contained within a SmartPhone, or
B) You can sign up for Apple's iCloud/iTunes Match feature or Amazon's similar Cloud product and stream it to your SmartPhone.

Problem Solved.

If you are not using Sonos as a multi-room, sync'd audio product, you are missing what I feel is the primary attribute of the system. That's fine, but Sonos is a fairly expensive "single-room music player". It is, however, a dirt-cheap whole-house perfectly-sync'd music system when compared to the alternatives.

If you want a standalone music player in one or more rooms, then you have many option outside of the Sonos product. Any computer or other device (Smart TV, blu-ray, game console, etc.) that can connect to a NAS or the Internet will suffice.

The request for a PC/Mac or SmartPhone ZonePlayer is a natural extension of the Sonos Device continuum, but one that is impractical both technically and from a business-case standpoint.

This Thread contains some very cogent arguments on why the current technical hurdles are more extensive than the conceptual ones and why one may not expect a "silver bullet" solution any time soon.

If you feel otherwise, and that this is an easy design issue to overcome, then our standard answer is: "Please let us know when you have developed it...and keep the price low".

Best of Luck

[BenFDavis]

Might we be able to have a software zone player that is only roughly synched? I'd be happy enough to be able to roam between my computer workstation area and the rest of the house and have a song playing in roughly the same place, if not totally synched.

[ratty]

Originally Posted by BenFDavis

Might we be able to have a software zone player that is only roughly synched? I'd be happy enough to be able to roam between my computer workstation area and the rest of the house and have a song playing in roughly the same place, if not totally synched.

-1.

A major part of Sonos' USP is synched multi-room music. To have 'roughly synched' play could significantly dilute that market position.

You can just as well use any convenient media player in order to have non-synced music from a PC/Mac.