New house, new music tech?
Discussion
Have had an offer accepted on our new house today, and am thinking of how to have have whole house tunes, without spending a fortune...
Have heard of Sonos, but not researched it, but also looking for whole house internet.....
May also be time to ditch Itunes and start rental on Music ?
Have heard of Sonos, but not researched it, but also looking for whole house internet.....
May also be time to ditch Itunes and start rental on Music ?
Edited by Turn7 on Tuesday 10th November 20:33
Turn7 said:
Would just be looking to replicate our current Itunes/Appe tv setup but over more rooms.....
Homepod Minis are out soon.I've got a standard Homepod in my home office, which is a small, funny shaped room, and it does sound pretty good. I use Apple Music.
I've got an older airplay 1 speaker in my kitchen that I use quite a lot, both for music and with an ipad for netflix, it doesn't sound anywhere near as dynamic as the Homepod. I might replace it with a Homepod Mini so I can do multiroom (my TV does airplay 2) and not have to fiddle around starting music on the phone and then connecting it to the speaker.
frisbee said:
Homepod Minis are out soon.
I've got a standard Homepod in my home office, which is a small, funny shaped room, and it does sound pretty good. I use Apple Music.
I've got an older airplay 1 speaker in my kitchen that I use quite a lot, both for music and with an ipad for netflix, it doesn't sound anywhere near as dynamic as the Homepod. I might replace it with a Homepod Mini so I can do multiroom (my TV does airplay 2) and not have to fiddle around starting music on the phone and then connecting it to the speaker.
I really wanted a Homepod Mini. I prefer Apple's approach to security, and I really wanted it to work. But you can't say to a Home Pod "play Radio 4" unless you have an iThing to stream from. This was going to be for my mum, who is 90, hates tech, but the idea of being able to yell at it pleases her. I've got a standard Homepod in my home office, which is a small, funny shaped room, and it does sound pretty good. I use Apple Music.
I've got an older airplay 1 speaker in my kitchen that I use quite a lot, both for music and with an ipad for netflix, it doesn't sound anywhere near as dynamic as the Homepod. I might replace it with a Homepod Mini so I can do multiroom (my TV does airplay 2) and not have to fiddle around starting music on the phone and then connecting it to the speaker.
In the end I got her an Alexa Echo thing because it will probably work better. The home pod would be great for me, as I have plenty of iThings, but I can't work within earshot of one (or any voice assistant).
On speakers - well most of them sound s
t really. If you like the "Bose processed sound" effect, then they're fine, but streaming to a half decent amp and speakers is far, far better. IMO it depends if you're the sort of person who really values the "whole house" thing. I've never really seen the point. A radio (streaming or old fashioned) that you can pick up on this rare occasions where you're desperate for a dump, but equally desperate to hear how something ends is the only real use case that I can think of.
Apart from that, it is "where do I get the music from?" In my case it is a NAS in the attic with about 30K FLAC tracks on it. I stream that to devices plugged into whatever amplifcation is available using the ancient Squeezesever. If you stream from (say) Apple music, then getting Homepods makes sense, particularly as you can use them as stereo pairs. The nice thing about most of these services is that you can play them through pretty much any device - I'd be looking to avoid being locked into a "system".
Apart from that, it is "where do I get the music from?" In my case it is a NAS in the attic with about 30K FLAC tracks on it. I stream that to devices plugged into whatever amplifcation is available using the ancient Squeezesever. If you stream from (say) Apple music, then getting Homepods makes sense, particularly as you can use them as stereo pairs. The nice thing about most of these services is that you can play them through pretty much any device - I'd be looking to avoid being locked into a "system".
I'm in the same boat as the OP, but with some (old) sonos kit.
I was a die hard sonos fan for years, but feel it's close to having had it's day now - most smart speakers talk to spotify directly, so the whole multi room advantage of sonos seems less 'special' now.
I'm considering an audio lab streamer and some nice speakers for my new lounge.
I'll keep my sonos kit for the kitchen and convservatory as its probably a better solution where there is food/drink around.
I was a die hard sonos fan for years, but feel it's close to having had it's day now - most smart speakers talk to spotify directly, so the whole multi room advantage of sonos seems less 'special' now.
I'm considering an audio lab streamer and some nice speakers for my new lounge.
I'll keep my sonos kit for the kitchen and convservatory as its probably a better solution where there is food/drink around.
Same here - I was a sonos early adopter with plenty of zones. Its USP at the time was the controller and whole home audio
Times have moved on and I’ve supplemented my install with Yamaha kit- it does hi-res which sonos doesn’t do.
I’d be looking at a Yamaha system if I was to start afresh as it has all bases covered with speakers and amps/receivers.
Times have moved on and I’ve supplemented my install with Yamaha kit- it does hi-res which sonos doesn’t do.
I’d be looking at a Yamaha system if I was to start afresh as it has all bases covered with speakers and amps/receivers.
Lots of different options to this.
To name a few...
Bluetooth in-ceiling speakers power by the lighting circuit
Active / powered bookshelf speakers with phono, usb, bluetooth and some with wifi too.
Sonos / Denon Heo / Yamaha MusicCast / BlueOS
Little bluetooth speakers.
Really depends on use case and budget.
Hapoy to help more
V.
To name a few...
Bluetooth in-ceiling speakers power by the lighting circuit
Active / powered bookshelf speakers with phono, usb, bluetooth and some with wifi too.
Sonos / Denon Heo / Yamaha MusicCast / BlueOS
Little bluetooth speakers.
Really depends on use case and budget.
Hapoy to help more
V.
I put £20 a pair eBay speakers in my ceilings, they're hooked up to some old Cambridge Audio Amps that I hoover up on Gumtree or eBay whenever someone lists them for £50-60. They're Azur340a ones that will do two pairs of speakers. Think I have 6 of them now.
Each one has a ChromeCast Audio, they were all either £15 or £20. So total cost is basically the same as one Sonos amp. I don't find the speakers problematic, even though they're cheap rubbish, but I will upgrade them eventually.
I dug out an old ChromeCast Audio last week to use with some headphones, so I can set them up behind my headboard for listening in bed witohut having to untangle and plug them in. Discovered it doesn't work and looked for a new one, they're all £50+ now because Google discontinued them and everyone wants them because they're ace. But they are brilliant for setting up groups etc.
Most rooms have Nest Mini in them which is setup to default to that Rooms Chromecast, so I have voice control of the music too. They were all either £20 or free.
Lots of people say they don't see the point, but I use them all the time, cast whatever to a single room if others are in the house, or if I'm DIYing I jsut cast eveyrwhere and get on with my work.
Each one has a ChromeCast Audio, they were all either £15 or £20. So total cost is basically the same as one Sonos amp. I don't find the speakers problematic, even though they're cheap rubbish, but I will upgrade them eventually.
I dug out an old ChromeCast Audio last week to use with some headphones, so I can set them up behind my headboard for listening in bed witohut having to untangle and plug them in. Discovered it doesn't work and looked for a new one, they're all £50+ now because Google discontinued them and everyone wants them because they're ace. But they are brilliant for setting up groups etc.
Most rooms have Nest Mini in them which is setup to default to that Rooms Chromecast, so I have voice control of the music too. They were all either £20 or free.
Lots of people say they don't see the point, but I use them all the time, cast whatever to a single room if others are in the house, or if I'm DIYing I jsut cast eveyrwhere and get on with my work.
Hi Vex, I know this is your area, so....
Bluetooth - Ive never really got on with other BT devices, only its good for is in car IME.....
Id like to modernise our Music setup, as said previously, buying ever larger external HDD;s for Music is becoming tiresome.
However, I DONT want a surround setup, as I tried a Denon in the past and it was rubbish for Music.
We have a nice NAD amp and some B&W's that sound fine for our use, and verything from TV to Tunes is run through the amp.
Lounge needs good stuff, evrywhere else, the sound wont be concentrated on to the same degree.
We havent had an "upstairs" for many years, so this will be a new thing to work out requirement wise.
On the face of it, the Homepod Minis "MAY" work , IDK.....
Im also at a loss as to which Music platform to buy into.
Currentyl invested in Itunes, with iPhones, Apple TV working pretty across phones and PC......
Bluetooth - Ive never really got on with other BT devices, only its good for is in car IME.....
Id like to modernise our Music setup, as said previously, buying ever larger external HDD;s for Music is becoming tiresome.
However, I DONT want a surround setup, as I tried a Denon in the past and it was rubbish for Music.
We have a nice NAD amp and some B&W's that sound fine for our use, and verything from TV to Tunes is run through the amp.
Lounge needs good stuff, evrywhere else, the sound wont be concentrated on to the same degree.
We havent had an "upstairs" for many years, so this will be a new thing to work out requirement wise.
On the face of it, the Homepod Minis "MAY" work , IDK.....
Im also at a loss as to which Music platform to buy into.
Currentyl invested in Itunes, with iPhones, Apple TV working pretty across phones and PC......
Moving into a new house next week.
Plan is to have 2 Sonos 1s in the living room either side of the couch, a Sonos Arc smart sound bar under the TV, a Five in the kitchen and possible another One upstairs in bedroom 4 which will be a study for a while.
The shed/pub will have my old Logitech Z5500 5.1 system with a Chromecast audio plugged into it, purely to repurpose old but working kit.
Plan is to have 2 Sonos 1s in the living room either side of the couch, a Sonos Arc smart sound bar under the TV, a Five in the kitchen and possible another One upstairs in bedroom 4 which will be a study for a while.
The shed/pub will have my old Logitech Z5500 5.1 system with a Chromecast audio plugged into it, purely to repurpose old but working kit.
phatmanace said:
I'm in the same boat as the OP, but with some (old) sonos kit.
I was a die hard sonos fan for years, but feel it's close to having had it's day now - most smart speakers talk to spotify directly, so the whole multi room advantage of sonos seems less 'special' now.
I'm considering an audio lab streamer and some nice speakers for my new lounge.
I'll keep my sonos kit for the kitchen and convservatory as its probably a better solution where there is food/drink around.
Yep. That's about my situation too.... Sonos have shown that they have the ability to brick their products once they're a few years old. The PR disaster that unfolded stopped them doing it, but they showed their hand. Not good.I was a die hard sonos fan for years, but feel it's close to having had it's day now - most smart speakers talk to spotify directly, so the whole multi room advantage of sonos seems less 'special' now.
I'm considering an audio lab streamer and some nice speakers for my new lounge.
I'll keep my sonos kit for the kitchen and convservatory as its probably a better solution where there is food/drink around.
I have also moved away from Sonos. I have a pair of KEF LSX's that are hooked up (optically) to a BlueSound Node 2i - all very minimalist - and this is also connected to the TV. Works well and sounds good. Dining room is a pair of Sonos Play 5's and kitchen is a 3. That's it... If I add more 'zones' in the future, it won't be Sonos. There are better sounding and more flexible options out there - I'm pretty impressed with the KEF's, I may add another pair.
paulrockliffe said:
I put £20 a pair eBay speakers in my ceilings, they're hooked up to some old Cambridge Audio Amps that I hoover up on Gumtree or eBay whenever someone lists them for £50-60. They're Azur340a ones that will do two pairs of speakers. Think I have 6 of them now.
Each one has a ChromeCast Audio, they were all either £15 or £20. So total cost is basically the same as one Sonos amp. I don't find the speakers problematic, even though they're cheap rubbish, but I will upgrade them eventually.
I dug out an old ChromeCast Audio last week to use with some headphones, so I can set them up behind my headboard for listening in bed witohut having to untangle and plug them in. Discovered it doesn't work and looked for a new one, they're all £50+ now because Google discontinued them and everyone wants them because they're ace. But they are brilliant for setting up groups etc.
Most rooms have Nest Mini in them which is setup to default to that Rooms Chromecast, so I have voice control of the music too. They were all either £20 or free.
Lots of people say they don't see the point, but I use them all the time, cast whatever to a single room if others are in the house, or if I'm DIYing I jsut cast eveyrwhere and get on with my work.
Interesting, especially as our Sonos system is a bit aged now and starting to get bricked by various 'you must update the firmware' requests...Each one has a ChromeCast Audio, they were all either £15 or £20. So total cost is basically the same as one Sonos amp. I don't find the speakers problematic, even though they're cheap rubbish, but I will upgrade them eventually.
I dug out an old ChromeCast Audio last week to use with some headphones, so I can set them up behind my headboard for listening in bed witohut having to untangle and plug them in. Discovered it doesn't work and looked for a new one, they're all £50+ now because Google discontinued them and everyone wants them because they're ace. But they are brilliant for setting up groups etc.
Most rooms have Nest Mini in them which is setup to default to that Rooms Chromecast, so I have voice control of the music too. They were all either £20 or free.
Lots of people say they don't see the point, but I use them all the time, cast whatever to a single room if others are in the house, or if I'm DIYing I jsut cast eveyrwhere and get on with my work.
So basically instead of a Sonos Amp I 'just' get a Azur340a and then hook up a ChromeCast Audio to feed the music to it... Can then keep the speakers - which are all hard wired in to the house we're in. I guesss you can 'sync' the music across the ChromeCasts? At the moment we've got 3 Sonos devices - so would ideally want to replace those.
eps said:
paulrockliffe said:
I put £20 a pair eBay speakers in my ceilings, they're hooked up to some old Cambridge Audio Amps that I hoover up on Gumtree or eBay whenever someone lists them for £50-60. They're Azur340a ones that will do two pairs of speakers. Think I have 6 of them now.
Each one has a ChromeCast Audio, they were all either £15 or £20. So total cost is basically the same as one Sonos amp. I don't find the speakers problematic, even though they're cheap rubbish, but I will upgrade them eventually.
I dug out an old ChromeCast Audio last week to use with some headphones, so I can set them up behind my headboard for listening in bed witohut having to untangle and plug them in. Discovered it doesn't work and looked for a new one, they're all £50+ now because Google discontinued them and everyone wants them because they're ace. But they are brilliant for setting up groups etc.
Most rooms have Nest Mini in them which is setup to default to that Rooms Chromecast, so I have voice control of the music too. They were all either £20 or free.
Lots of people say they don't see the point, but I use them all the time, cast whatever to a single room if others are in the house, or if I'm DIYing I jsut cast eveyrwhere and get on with my work.
Interesting, especially as our Sonos system is a bit aged now and starting to get bricked by various 'you must update the firmware' requests...Each one has a ChromeCast Audio, they were all either £15 or £20. So total cost is basically the same as one Sonos amp. I don't find the speakers problematic, even though they're cheap rubbish, but I will upgrade them eventually.
I dug out an old ChromeCast Audio last week to use with some headphones, so I can set them up behind my headboard for listening in bed witohut having to untangle and plug them in. Discovered it doesn't work and looked for a new one, they're all £50+ now because Google discontinued them and everyone wants them because they're ace. But they are brilliant for setting up groups etc.
Most rooms have Nest Mini in them which is setup to default to that Rooms Chromecast, so I have voice control of the music too. They were all either £20 or free.
Lots of people say they don't see the point, but I use them all the time, cast whatever to a single room if others are in the house, or if I'm DIYing I jsut cast eveyrwhere and get on with my work.
So basically instead of a Sonos Amp I 'just' get a Azur340a and then hook up a ChromeCast Audio to feed the music to it... Can then keep the speakers - which are all hard wired in to the house we're in. I guesss you can 'sync' the music across the ChromeCasts? At the moment we've got 3 Sonos devices - so would ideally want to replace those.
On the flip side though, you can now include the new Chromecast for your TV (Which is brilliant) and include your TV in your sound Group too, which means you don't have to spend anything at all in some rooms if you're happy using the TV soundbar or surround sound, or just the TV speakers.
You can use any amplifier you want, I originally set it up with some 12v Lepai amps that are about a tenner on eBay. They worked fine, but were prone to picking up static when there was nothing coming form the Chromecasts. I use the Azurs because they're cheap but decent and they will run two sets of speakers, so I could add two rooms per amplifier while I was collecting them and they'll happily run 4 ceiling speakers in the future. Because they're sat in a cupboard you don't need any features other than an input and a volume control to set the maximum volume.
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