Bose Wave vs Sonos
Discussion
Ok... wondering if the expansive knowledge of the PH collective could give me some advice / experience on a one box music solution for my new house when we move in September.
I've looked at Sonos (and simlar) briefly but think what I want is something like these that still has an CD player in it. Even with all the flexibility and mobility of MP3 type stuff I still prefer to play a CD if I can, but stupidly I've been without a CD player in the house for a few years now (due to space). Somehow I just don't think the likes of Sonos offers the best solution as it's all electronically stored and playing the radio over the net continually causes me buffering issues even when the speed is super fast, so I think I want to go back to basics - CD, DAB and some sort of dock / Bluetooth capability to connect to iPhones etc.
What I'm after is something for the kitchen, which is going to be a pretty large room where we spend a fair bit of time. Sound quality isn't the primary driver - functionality / ease of use is, but I want it to sound good too. I love the Bose Wave DAB and reckon that's probably the best solution. If I was to add the Bluetooth module then I guess I can play anything I own - CDs, DAB, stream from the laptop, iPad, iPhone. Surely this is the one stop unit for all my needs? But it's £700...
I know the Bose kit is first class for the price point so am happy it's not overpriced, but is there anything else out there that would let me do all this in such a compact package for notably less outlay?
Who has Sonos? Is it comparable to the likes of a Wave system? Is the Bose as good as it appears?
Any experiences would be great.
Thanks,
Andy
I've looked at Sonos (and simlar) briefly but think what I want is something like these that still has an CD player in it. Even with all the flexibility and mobility of MP3 type stuff I still prefer to play a CD if I can, but stupidly I've been without a CD player in the house for a few years now (due to space). Somehow I just don't think the likes of Sonos offers the best solution as it's all electronically stored and playing the radio over the net continually causes me buffering issues even when the speed is super fast, so I think I want to go back to basics - CD, DAB and some sort of dock / Bluetooth capability to connect to iPhones etc.
What I'm after is something for the kitchen, which is going to be a pretty large room where we spend a fair bit of time. Sound quality isn't the primary driver - functionality / ease of use is, but I want it to sound good too. I love the Bose Wave DAB and reckon that's probably the best solution. If I was to add the Bluetooth module then I guess I can play anything I own - CDs, DAB, stream from the laptop, iPad, iPhone. Surely this is the one stop unit for all my needs? But it's £700...
I know the Bose kit is first class for the price point so am happy it's not overpriced, but is there anything else out there that would let me do all this in such a compact package for notably less outlay?
Who has Sonos? Is it comparable to the likes of a Wave system? Is the Bose as good as it appears?
Any experiences would be great.
Thanks,
Andy
Well that's worth knowing about too. If I can get better for the money, or similar for a chunk less than that's even better to hear about. I'd like to stay under £500 if possible I guess.
I've seen a few comments on the web saying the Bose stuff is overpriced and not very good, but so far I've been pretty happy with my headphones and docking station that I've had. The docker is no use any more though as it's the old style 30 pin connector and it wouldn't work with any of the lightning adaptors I tried. This is partly why I'm looking for something else and don't want another docker only idea as they're pretty limited.
I think I might need to go old school and go into a few shops to see what's out there as I'm not turning up much online at the moment that appears to be a comparable system. I'm after something similar to the likes of the Wave, without it being a full on old fashioned style micro hi-fi system with all the cables and bulk that go with it.
Andy
I've seen a few comments on the web saying the Bose stuff is overpriced and not very good, but so far I've been pretty happy with my headphones and docking station that I've had. The docker is no use any more though as it's the old style 30 pin connector and it wouldn't work with any of the lightning adaptors I tried. This is partly why I'm looking for something else and don't want another docker only idea as they're pretty limited.
I think I might need to go old school and go into a few shops to see what's out there as I'm not turning up much online at the moment that appears to be a comparable system. I'm after something similar to the likes of the Wave, without it being a full on old fashioned style micro hi-fi system with all the cables and bulk that go with it.
Andy
Without trying to answer your Sonos / Bose dilemma - because I have neither - I'm interested in your buffering issue.
I have a Naim set up at home and stream music stored on a NAS around the house, and listen to internet radio, without any buffering issues at all. I do have a fast broadband connection (>50mbps), and stream around the house using fast Homeplugs.
Have you any idea where your buffering issues are coming from? If it is related to the speed of your internet connection, it isn't going to make a blind bit of difference what make of stuff you buy, the dropouts will still happen and will drive you spare.
Just as an aside, ripping all my CD's on to a hard disk was one of the smarter things I ever did.
I have a Naim set up at home and stream music stored on a NAS around the house, and listen to internet radio, without any buffering issues at all. I do have a fast broadband connection (>50mbps), and stream around the house using fast Homeplugs.
Have you any idea where your buffering issues are coming from? If it is related to the speed of your internet connection, it isn't going to make a blind bit of difference what make of stuff you buy, the dropouts will still happen and will drive you spare.
Just as an aside, ripping all my CD's on to a hard disk was one of the smarter things I ever did.
I use TuneIn Radio on the iPhone and the internet connection is pretty good. I'm 99% sure it's not related to that, it's more just down to the fact it's live streaming compared to playing DAB "properly" I think.
The buffering thing happens on that when the laptop etc. are working away no problem so it's something related to the App or the WiFi to the phone I think rather than the connection itself. I'm not sure though, I just know it's less reliable than DAB is in my house.
The buffering thing happens on that when the laptop etc. are working away no problem so it's something related to the App or the WiFi to the phone I think rather than the connection itself. I'm not sure though, I just know it's less reliable than DAB is in my house.
andyp79 said:
Forgot to add...
All my CDs are on my laptop already so I guess Sonos makes sense from that point of view but it means having the laptop on and hooked up just to listen to some music. Really not sure that's as good as a DAB and CD setup... Hmmmm.
There's a couple of issues there. First, you could store your music somewhere else than on your laptop. In my case I have a dedicated music server, which is backed up on to a NAS. Second, you really need to have your music stored in a decent format, otherwise I think you've wasted your time ripping it. My music is stored as WAV on the server (in the case of CD's) and FLAC (in the case of higher than CD resolution downloads). WAV wouldn't have been my choice, but was one dictated by the manufacturer of the music server. FLAC seems to be a good all round choice.All my CDs are on my laptop already so I guess Sonos makes sense from that point of view but it means having the laptop on and hooked up just to listen to some music. Really not sure that's as good as a DAB and CD setup... Hmmmm.
The people who make my music server reckon that listening to a ripped CD ought to sound a bit better than listening to the CD itself, because the server isn't having to do any of the read, check for errors, read again stuff.
I can't say I can hear a difference myself, but the fact I've got the library application sitting on my iPad and can select and play music and build playlists from the comfort of my armchair is a big bonus. I don't have to go into another room only to find that my wife has put stuff back into the racks at random, so you can't find what you want. Which with more than a couple of thousand CD's is an issue. Then, when you do find what you are looking for, discover that the CD in the case isn't what it should be.........
This has given me a bit to think about then!
I've got a 1TB USB hard drive with a copy of my iTunes library on it but I've never been able to make it work so I could possibly delete that backup and re-rip all my CDs onto it to use on a server setup like yours. A pain but of be happy doing it. I have always used iTunes as its easy, but it also annoys the hell out of me at times.
How do I do this sort of setup? What do I need and how much does it all cost (roughly)?
I think now I'd rather use a Sonos setup if the sound quality and accessibilty is there and I can make playlists etc using an iPad or phone as a controller. I might be coming round to this! It's the setting up that's worrying me.
CD free would delight Mrs. P. I'd keep them in the loft though in case I need them but no CDs, access to my entire collection plus Spotify, Internet radio etc. would do everything I could ever want.
I've got a 1TB USB hard drive with a copy of my iTunes library on it but I've never been able to make it work so I could possibly delete that backup and re-rip all my CDs onto it to use on a server setup like yours. A pain but of be happy doing it. I have always used iTunes as its easy, but it also annoys the hell out of me at times.
How do I do this sort of setup? What do I need and how much does it all cost (roughly)?
I think now I'd rather use a Sonos setup if the sound quality and accessibilty is there and I can make playlists etc using an iPad or phone as a controller. I might be coming round to this! It's the setting up that's worrying me.
CD free would delight Mrs. P. I'd keep them in the loft though in case I need them but no CDs, access to my entire collection plus Spotify, Internet radio etc. would do everything I could ever want.
I'm no expert on this. My Music Server is a plug and play solution made by Naim. But, it is enormously expensive for what it is.
The Naim is backed up on to a NAS, which is where I'd start if I were you. I have a QNAP NAS which came with a UPnP server installed on it (Twonky).
All the media players in the house just 'see' the Twonky Server, and are controlled by any appropriate app. I use the Naim ones, because my media players are Naim, but I suppose you'd use the Sonos one if you used a Sonos player.
Cost wise, you don't need to spend a huge amount on a NAS. One with two drives as a minimum is a good idea, so you can set up a RAID array for a bit of redundancy. That bit sounds complex, but isn't really, as the NAS came pre-configured, so it was just a case of switching on and letting the NAS build the array.
Mine has four drives, but is probably overkill for home use. Still, it has more space than I'll ever need.
The Naim is backed up on to a NAS, which is where I'd start if I were you. I have a QNAP NAS which came with a UPnP server installed on it (Twonky).
All the media players in the house just 'see' the Twonky Server, and are controlled by any appropriate app. I use the Naim ones, because my media players are Naim, but I suppose you'd use the Sonos one if you used a Sonos player.
Cost wise, you don't need to spend a huge amount on a NAS. One with two drives as a minimum is a good idea, so you can set up a RAID array for a bit of redundancy. That bit sounds complex, but isn't really, as the NAS came pre-configured, so it was just a case of switching on and letting the NAS build the array.
Mine has four drives, but is probably overkill for home use. Still, it has more space than I'll ever need.
Hmmm.
I did a bit of reading this afternoon (but not much) as I had some time to check out the Sonos a bit more. It's given me as many questions as answers. I checked out the Naim kit too, I can't see any prices, but it looks expensive!
I think I've decided today that what I want is a simple hard disk with a CD slot to rip the CDs as easily as possible and hook it up to a Sonos network. I could get all my CDs on there in a couple of weeks and then when I buy a new CD (I still use them in the car and prefer that) I can just rip it onto the server as I go along. Easy!
I guess it's maybe more of a longer term thing. I could get a Sonos up and running and use the existing iTunes / Laptop setup until I can set aside the cash to invest in a dedicated hard drive / server and then switch to that. I do think this is the better long term solution than a Bose Wave (or something like it) now I've looked at it a bit more.
I did a bit of reading this afternoon (but not much) as I had some time to check out the Sonos a bit more. It's given me as many questions as answers. I checked out the Naim kit too, I can't see any prices, but it looks expensive!
I think I've decided today that what I want is a simple hard disk with a CD slot to rip the CDs as easily as possible and hook it up to a Sonos network. I could get all my CDs on there in a couple of weeks and then when I buy a new CD (I still use them in the car and prefer that) I can just rip it onto the server as I go along. Easy!
I guess it's maybe more of a longer term thing. I could get a Sonos up and running and use the existing iTunes / Laptop setup until I can set aside the cash to invest in a dedicated hard drive / server and then switch to that. I do think this is the better long term solution than a Bose Wave (or something like it) now I've looked at it a bit more.
If I was to hook my existing external usb drive up to the router and get the Sonos Bridge, is this it effectively running as a NAS? Can the drive run away on it's own without a computer present? I have a 1TB external USB drive with its own power so I guess it would work. USB it to the Sonos and off I go. Right?
I looked up what seem to be dedicated music hard drives but they seem to do the same job with a bigger price tag...
It appears I've not been paying attention whine this whole thing was developing in the marketplace!
I looked up what seem to be dedicated music hard drives but they seem to do the same job with a bigger price tag...
It appears I've not been paying attention whine this whole thing was developing in the marketplace!
Cheers.
I Facebooked a guy I know this evening and he's done this option. He said he had to setup the USB drive as a network drive but after that it worked perfectly.
Think that's the decision made. Sonos and USB drive - for the shorter term at least. If I feel fancy later on I might get a music server thing to make ripping new CDs easier and quicker.
Thanks guys!
Andy
I Facebooked a guy I know this evening and he's done this option. He said he had to setup the USB drive as a network drive but after that it worked perfectly.
Think that's the decision made. Sonos and USB drive - for the shorter term at least. If I feel fancy later on I might get a music server thing to make ripping new CDs easier and quicker.
Thanks guys!
Andy
A few years back I went down the route of ripping all my CDs to my NAS (lossless) - took bloody ages, but I figured it was worth the investment in time as I was already a Sonos user.
Wish I'd never bothered. I haven't touched my own ripped music since becoming a Spotify user. And besides, the vast majority of my own music is already on Spotify. And it works through Sonos. Job jobbed.
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