Want to Stream PC Audio to Sonos Network via Software

[rastamanx]

(Note: There is a post similar to this one in the General Discussion Section (thread started by a different user), but I thought this topic/question was more appropriate for the Unsupported Area section)

Does anyone know of a way to wirelessly stream the audio from my PC (laptop) from my laptop to my Sonos network?

Basically I'd like to use my computer to play a movie (with video hooked up to a projector), and wirelessly stream the audio from my computer to sonos (using the sonos software and/or other software) so that the sound plays over my home stereo system.

Obviously, one solution would be to use a 3rd party hardware device (such as the Linksys Wireless Music Bridge) to stream the audio from my PC to the wireless hardware receiver (which is then connected to the line-in ports of the ZonePlayer)...but it seems as though Sonos's wireless mesh should be capable of doing this (e.g., via software solution w/out using 3rd party wireless audio bridges/hardware).

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Thx!!

-rx

[jgatie]

You can use Windows Media Player to stream audio to an internet address, which you would then tune as a radio station on Sonos. However, I'm afraid you will experience a delay in audio that will cause it to be out of sync a with your video. Anything streamed in this way has to be digitized first, and depending on your processor, it will take time to digitize. This will cause the audio to lag behind the video.

[ratty]

Using Windows Media Encoder at 135kbps on a pretty beefy XP box, I see a delay of 7-8 seconds in the stream between Wave Out on the PC and what comes out of Sonos. Unusable for anything requiring sync with video I'm afraid.

If the sound has to be wirelessly streamed from the PC, how about the Audioengine W1?

[rastamanx]

Good point about the audio delay.
Fortunately, software DVD/video players such as VLC media player include user configurable features/options for adjusting (increasing/decreasing) the amount of audio delay.

I would guess that the audio delay for a given system would be relatively consistent, and would not change significantly each time a different video was played...so, with luck, you'd only have to configure and save the audio delay settings once (and not have to do it each time you play a movie).


Haven't checked out audioengine yet...but will do so. Thx!

-rx