Introducing The Sonos Multi-Room Music System
In the olden days you had a CD player. You stuck it in your stereo cabinet, ran a cable from it into your receiver, and voila! CD sounds came out of your speakers!
Sonos is just like that. Only instead of your having to shove a CD inside it, it plays your music directly from whatever big ol' hard drive you ripped your CDs to (preferably in lossless format... more on that later).
Even better, because it rides directly on your network (fancy tech speak for "it plugs into your wireless router"), it can also play music directly from various internet sources such as Pandora, Rhapsody, Last FM, and many more.
This lens focuses on how you may be missing out on much of the richness of your own music library and how Sonos can help you enjoy it fully. But there are so many ways that Sonos is able to improve your relationship with your music that it may require a dozen more lenses to cover the topic fully!
Sonos is just like that. Only instead of your having to shove a CD inside it, it plays your music directly from whatever big ol' hard drive you ripped your CDs to (preferably in lossless format... more on that later).
Even better, because it rides directly on your network (fancy tech speak for "it plugs into your wireless router"), it can also play music directly from various internet sources such as Pandora, Rhapsody, Last FM, and many more.
This lens focuses on how you may be missing out on much of the richness of your own music library and how Sonos can help you enjoy it fully. But there are so many ways that Sonos is able to improve your relationship with your music that it may require a dozen more lenses to cover the topic fully!
New Table of Contents
- First, an Overview
- Music: Not So Long Ago
- Music: The Past 5 Years
- Actually... wrong
- Dude, Are You Saying iPod Sucks?
- mp3 Versus Original CD-Quality Sound
- But I Don't WANT Less Sound
- Lossless Audio
- But Wait, Will My iPod Play Lossless Files?
- Size Really Does Matter
- What's Your Preference?
- You Can Have Your Cake and Eat it Too.
- You Don't Have to Listen to Lossy mp3 Files!
- A Place for Everything, and Everything in its Place
- First, Find a Lot of Storage
- What if I Don't Want a Mini-Server in My Home?
- OK, I Have a Bunch of Storage.
- Introducing The Sonos Multi-Room Digital Music System
- You Have Not Yet Experienced Digital Music
- What's Your Take?
First, an Overview
Before we get to how Sonos will improve your relationship with your digital music, let's get a clear picture of where that relationship may have gone wrong...
Music: Not So Long Ago
Here is how it used to be:
There was music, stored on physical media (CD's, Tapes, Vinyl), sitting in your house.
When you wanted to listen to your music outside your house, you recorded some to a cassette and popped it into your car tapedeck, or into your Walkman.
But when you wanted to hear your music. Really HEAR it, you played the original physical media on your nice stereo in your home.
There was music, stored on physical media (CD's, Tapes, Vinyl), sitting in your house.
When you wanted to listen to your music outside your house, you recorded some to a cassette and popped it into your car tapedeck, or into your Walkman.
But when you wanted to hear your music. Really HEAR it, you played the original physical media on your nice stereo in your home.
Music: The Past 5 Years
Here is how it is today:
There is music, stored digitally on a hard drive, and also stored digitally on your iPod. The two are synched.
When you want to listen to music outside your house, now you have your iPod.
But when you want to hear your music at home, really HEAR it, you... err... still have your iPod.
After all, your entire library is right there.
...Right?
There is music, stored digitally on a hard drive, and also stored digitally on your iPod. The two are synched.
When you want to listen to music outside your house, now you have your iPod.
But when you want to hear your music at home, really HEAR it, you... err... still have your iPod.
After all, your entire library is right there.
...Right?
Actually... wrong
so, so wrong...
Dude, Are You Saying iPod Sucks?
I am emphatically NOT dissing the iPod. I love my iPod when I am on the go.
But, an iPod is not a full-on sound system; its main benefit is its portability. An iPod is essentially a Walkman with a spiffy interface and a 300-cassette capacity.
Yes, I said "cassette," not "CD."
I say "cassette," because the mp3 files that 99% of us use as our main iPod content have roughly the same sound quality as one of those old Memorex cassette tapes.
Try this: plug your iPod into your stereo system and play a track that you also own on physical CD. Then, queue up that track on the original CD and play it through the same system. Flip back and forth a couple times between the iPod and the CD.
Did you try it? Is that amazing?
When you hear the CD, it's like someone just turned on the music.
But, an iPod is not a full-on sound system; its main benefit is its portability. An iPod is essentially a Walkman with a spiffy interface and a 300-cassette capacity.
Yes, I said "cassette," not "CD."
I say "cassette," because the mp3 files that 99% of us use as our main iPod content have roughly the same sound quality as one of those old Memorex cassette tapes.
Try this: plug your iPod into your stereo system and play a track that you also own on physical CD. Then, queue up that track on the original CD and play it through the same system. Flip back and forth a couple times between the iPod and the CD.
Did you try it? Is that amazing?
When you hear the CD, it's like someone just turned on the music.
mp3 Versus Original CD-Quality Sound
There is no comparison
In order to cram thousands of tunes onto our iPods, we've reduced the quality of the original recordings to "compress" the files into one tenth their original sizes.
That means, not all the "digital information" that is on the CD version of a song is actually on your mp3 version of that same song. The mp3 will sound a little off. Sharp sounds are a bit fuzzy. Voices a little bit dull. Different instruments are harder to pick apart. You know, kind of like listening to a cassette dub of your favorite Duran Duran album back in the day.
This shouldn't be a surprise: In order to reduce the original CD file size by 90%, the iPod mp3 version actually has to have LESS SOUND.
That means, not all the "digital information" that is on the CD version of a song is actually on your mp3 version of that same song. The mp3 will sound a little off. Sharp sounds are a bit fuzzy. Voices a little bit dull. Different instruments are harder to pick apart. You know, kind of like listening to a cassette dub of your favorite Duran Duran album back in the day.
This shouldn't be a surprise: In order to reduce the original CD file size by 90%, the iPod mp3 version actually has to have LESS SOUND.
But I Don't WANT Less Sound
When I sit down to listen to my music, I want MORE sound. The progress of recording technology has moved steadily over the years from the "Less Sound" end of the continuum to the "More Sound" end of the continuum.
Every recording made today has MORE sound than was possible 10 years ago.
Stereo vinyl recordings had had MORE sound than mono vinyl recordings. CDs had MORE sound than stereo vinyl.
So why would I intentionally destroy some of the sound that the last 50 years of Western Civilization has struggled so hard to deliver to me on today's recordings? Why would I want to store all my music in a format that purposely THROWS AWAY SOUND?
Every recording made today has MORE sound than was possible 10 years ago.
Stereo vinyl recordings had had MORE sound than mono vinyl recordings. CDs had MORE sound than stereo vinyl.
So why would I intentionally destroy some of the sound that the last 50 years of Western Civilization has struggled so hard to deliver to me on today's recordings? Why would I want to store all my music in a format that purposely THROWS AWAY SOUND?
Lossless Audio
It's way easier than you think
As it turns out, you can very easily overcome the problem of throwing away sound in your music collection simply by ripping or downloading your master copies in "lossless" format.
All "lossless" means is that no sound is thrown away in the digital file. For those of you going for the Digital Music Geek Merit Badge, the opposite of "lossless" is "lossy." No, really.
There are several different lossless formats to choose from, but they all have one thing in common: The digital file you end up with has ALL the sound from the original CD. Files in lossy formats such as mp3, on the other hand, do not.
All "lossless" means is that no sound is thrown away in the digital file. For those of you going for the Digital Music Geek Merit Badge, the opposite of "lossless" is "lossy." No, really.
There are several different lossless formats to choose from, but they all have one thing in common: The digital file you end up with has ALL the sound from the original CD. Files in lossy formats such as mp3, on the other hand, do not.
But Wait, Will My iPod Play Lossless Files?
Hint: There is a Lossless Format Called "Apple Lossless"
Yes!
Your iPod will play CD-quality music coded in "Apple Lossless" format. You can actually set iTunes to rip to Apple Lossless using the Options menu, and you can download from the iTunes Store in Apple Lossless as well.
If you use a ripper other than iTunes, no worries. Most will also rip to Apple Lossless as well as to other standard lossless file formats.
But ripping to lossless in order to play lossless music on your iPod is not the point, because there is a catch...
Your iPod will play CD-quality music coded in "Apple Lossless" format. You can actually set iTunes to rip to Apple Lossless using the Options menu, and you can download from the iTunes Store in Apple Lossless as well.
If you use a ripper other than iTunes, no worries. Most will also rip to Apple Lossless as well as to other standard lossless file formats.
But ripping to lossless in order to play lossless music on your iPod is not the point, because there is a catch...
Size Really Does Matter
Remember all that stuff about compressing files to make them smaller? Well the good thing about small file size is that you can fit way more files onto a tiny device like an iPod. About 10 times the number of files. And remember, when I say "files," I mean SONGS.
Another way to say that is that if you load up your iPod with CD-quality Apple Lossless files, you'll only be able to have about 10% as many songs as you were able to have with those lossy old mp3s.
Now you can see why the smart folk at Apple have embraced mp3s as the default file format for the iPod.
Another way to say that is that if you load up your iPod with CD-quality Apple Lossless files, you'll only be able to have about 10% as many songs as you were able to have with those lossy old mp3s.
Now you can see why the smart folk at Apple have embraced mp3s as the default file format for the iPod.
What's Your Preference?
Do you lean towards quality or quantity?
Loading poll. Please Wait...
You Can Have Your Cake and Eat it Too.
Remember way up at the top when I talked about how music used to be? Well the iPod is analagous to the Walkman in that scenario. If you are just using your iPod to bring your music with you to places where it could not otherwise go, does it really matter if you don't have perfect sound quality?
Think about it. Are you really hearing your music to full effect when you're out jogging, or at the gym, or in your car, or in a 737 with the Fasten Seatbelt sign going BING! BING!? These are the situations when your iPod really earns its obscene-ish Steve Jobs premium.
The problem comes when the ONLY music library you have is on your iPod (or the synched version of same on your hard drive), and to listen to music at home, you're plugging your iPod or computer into your stereo and listening to the lossy music.
Stop doing that.
Think about it. Are you really hearing your music to full effect when you're out jogging, or at the gym, or in your car, or in a 737 with the Fasten Seatbelt sign going BING! BING!? These are the situations when your iPod really earns its obscene-ish Steve Jobs premium.
The problem comes when the ONLY music library you have is on your iPod (or the synched version of same on your hard drive), and to listen to music at home, you're plugging your iPod or computer into your stereo and listening to the lossy music.
Stop doing that.
You Don't Have to Listen to Lossy mp3 Files!
Save the lossy music for when you're at the gym or cruising at 35,000 feet. Rip lossless and listen lossless. Your ears will thank you.
A Place for Everything, and Everything in its Place
Just as in days gone by there was a place for your CD and vinyl collection (at home, taking up an enormous amount of physical shelf space), and a place for your mix tapes and Walkman (in your backpack or gym bag), today there is a place for your lossless music files (at home, taking up an enormous amount of hard drive space) and a place for your lossy mp3 files and iPod (in your briefcase or gym bag).
Your lossless files are your ORIGINALS, your GOLD STANDARD.
Your lossy files are cheap and portable.
Both are useful. Necessary even.
But here is the thing, while you probably already have your mp3s squirreled away in iTunes somewhere on your hard drive, you now need to find a large amount of hard drive space for your lossless music files.
And then you need a way to get at those lossless files so you can play them in all their CD-quality splendor on your home stereo.
Now we are starting to get closer to the answer. On the horizon, I see your digital music future slowly coming into focus...
Your lossless files are your ORIGINALS, your GOLD STANDARD.
Your lossy files are cheap and portable.
Both are useful. Necessary even.
But here is the thing, while you probably already have your mp3s squirreled away in iTunes somewhere on your hard drive, you now need to find a large amount of hard drive space for your lossless music files.
And then you need a way to get at those lossless files so you can play them in all their CD-quality splendor on your home stereo.
Now we are starting to get closer to the answer. On the horizon, I see your digital music future slowly coming into focus...
First, Find a Lot of Storage
What you want when you are looking for large-scale digital storage is a class of device called "Network Attached Storage," or "NAS."
Basically, NAS is just a bunch of hard drives in one enclosure that -- and this is the important part -- PLUGS DIRECTLY INTO YOUR ROUTER (your router is the little doodad that your wireless signal comes out of).
Don't get a drive that can only plug into another computer with a USB cable. These are useful for many things, but not for storing a lot of data that will flow really fast through your house. And to play music, you need to flow a lot of data, really fast.
Check out some of the NAS options below.
Basically, NAS is just a bunch of hard drives in one enclosure that -- and this is the important part -- PLUGS DIRECTLY INTO YOUR ROUTER (your router is the little doodad that your wireless signal comes out of).
Don't get a drive that can only plug into another computer with a USB cable. These are useful for many things, but not for storing a lot of data that will flow really fast through your house. And to play music, you need to flow a lot of data, really fast.
Check out some of the NAS options below.
HP Media Vault 500 GB Network Attached Storage mv2120
Big...
This HP Storage device ships with 500GB of hard drive space, PLUS has another hard drive bay for you to put in more storage. For example, you could buy an individual hard drive that has 2TB and simply insert it into the empty slot, giving you a total of 2.5TB in this one little box. It also has great software that makes it virtually plug-n-play once you plug it in and attach a cable from it into your router.
Amazon Price: $299.99 (as of 12/26/2009) 
List Price: $349.99
HP EX470 MediaSmart Home Server (AMD Live, Windows Home Server, 500 GB Hard Drive)
Bigger...
This is the full-grown version of the Media Vault. It also ships with 500GB, but it has THREE more hard drive bays. You could get 6.5TB onto this baby. You better have some huge video files to go along with all that music, because you aren't going to fill it up with just CDs.
Amazon Price: (as of 12/26/2009)
List Price: $549.99
Western Digital WDA4NC80000N ShareSpace 8 TB 4-bay Network Attached Storage Gigabit Ethernet (RAID 0/1/5)
Biggest...!
This Western Digital device is designed to handle backup duties for 50 PCs. It ships with 8TB of storage. Probably overkill, but if you're feelin' it, go for it!
Amazon Price: $999.00 (as of 12/26/2009)
List Price: $1,299.99
What if I Don't Want a Mini-Server in My Home?
Don't panic! You have options.
First off, let me say that the devices above are quiet, small, and generally unobtrusive. But, they do come with a price tag, plus some amount of unpacking and plugging in. Maybe you just aren't psychologically ready for Network Attached Storage.
Here's a secret: You can store a lot of lossless music right on your PC's hard drive too. (shhhhhh)
Even laptops these days are shipping with 500GB drives. A respectable desktop sports a Terabyte. Allocating just 100GB of that space to lossless music files will still get you 300 or so CDs on your hard drive: a good start while you gather your nerve to buy a big bad NAS device sometime in the future.
Plus, if you wait a bit, you may be able to get a lot more storage for the same money. That's the nature of technology!
But if you have anything north of 500 CDs sitting there ready to rip, I say take the plunge and get yourself some grownup Network Attached Storage!
Here's a secret: You can store a lot of lossless music right on your PC's hard drive too. (shhhhhh)
Even laptops these days are shipping with 500GB drives. A respectable desktop sports a Terabyte. Allocating just 100GB of that space to lossless music files will still get you 300 or so CDs on your hard drive: a good start while you gather your nerve to buy a big bad NAS device sometime in the future.
Plus, if you wait a bit, you may be able to get a lot more storage for the same money. That's the nature of technology!
But if you have anything north of 500 CDs sitting there ready to rip, I say take the plunge and get yourself some grownup Network Attached Storage!
OK, I Have a Bunch of Storage.
Now what?
Now is the part that makes this all worthwhile. Having a buch of lossless digital music files sitting on your hard drive or NAS is all well and good, but the point is to be able to PLAY those files. Because remember: when you back away from all the gigabytes and terabytes and routers and NAS and lossless/lossy format mumbo-jumbo, all those "files" are really SONGS.
SONGS are meant to be listened to -- and I don't mean through a pair of cheesy earbuds!
What I do mean is, now that you've gone to the trouble of actually PRESERVING all that CD-quality sound, you want to be able to play your music through the nicest amps and speakers that you have on hand.
SONGS are meant to be listened to -- and I don't mean through a pair of cheesy earbuds!
What I do mean is, now that you've gone to the trouble of actually PRESERVING all that CD-quality sound, you want to be able to play your music through the nicest amps and speakers that you have on hand.
Introducing The Sonos Multi-Room Digital Music System
Now it's time to really give your music a ride!
In the olden days you had a CD player. You stuck it in your stereo cabinet, ran a cable from it into your receiver, and voila! CD sounds came out of your speakers!
Sonos is just like that. Only instead of your having to shove a CD inside it, it plays your music directly from that big ol' hard drive you ripped your CDs to in lossless format.
How does it do that? Basically, your Sonos plugs into your router (or any ethernet connection into your network) so it's on the same network as your NAS or PC hard drive. You just point your sonos system to the directory with all your lossless music files, and it's smart enough to figure out the rest.
And you can put Sonos players (called "zones") in every room of your house if you want. Only one has to be physically plugged into your router. After that, the zones set up their own wireless "net" connection to each other, so music from your hard drive library can go everywhere you have a set of speakers to play it.
And here is the best part: every one of those different zone players in all those different rooms can be controlled independently. If you have 10 zones, you can play music on just one of them, or you can play 10 different tunes, one on each separate zone, all at the same time. Or you can link zones together so that they play in unison. With a single click, you can link all 10 together and have all your zone players blasting the same track or playlist in every room of your house. Sonos calls that "Party Mode." You see the possibilities...?
All this zone-independent goodness is controlled with either the Sonos software you put on your PC, or with the paddle-style controller you buy with the system. Either one controls ALL zones in your house. In fact, in terms of pure bling factor, the controller might be the coolest part of Sonos' whole product. It is probably worth the entry cost all by itself, and the scrollwheel interface will feel familiar to iPod users.
Check out some Sonos products below:
Sonos is just like that. Only instead of your having to shove a CD inside it, it plays your music directly from that big ol' hard drive you ripped your CDs to in lossless format.
How does it do that? Basically, your Sonos plugs into your router (or any ethernet connection into your network) so it's on the same network as your NAS or PC hard drive. You just point your sonos system to the directory with all your lossless music files, and it's smart enough to figure out the rest.
And you can put Sonos players (called "zones") in every room of your house if you want. Only one has to be physically plugged into your router. After that, the zones set up their own wireless "net" connection to each other, so music from your hard drive library can go everywhere you have a set of speakers to play it.
And here is the best part: every one of those different zone players in all those different rooms can be controlled independently. If you have 10 zones, you can play music on just one of them, or you can play 10 different tunes, one on each separate zone, all at the same time. Or you can link zones together so that they play in unison. With a single click, you can link all 10 together and have all your zone players blasting the same track or playlist in every room of your house. Sonos calls that "Party Mode." You see the possibilities...?
All this zone-independent goodness is controlled with either the Sonos software you put on your PC, or with the paddle-style controller you buy with the system. Either one controls ALL zones in your house. In fact, in terms of pure bling factor, the controller might be the coolest part of Sonos' whole product. It is probably worth the entry cost all by itself, and the scrollwheel interface will feel familiar to iPod users.
Check out some Sonos products below:
Sonos ZP120/CR100 Bundle (SZ120)
This bundle is probably the easiest to start out with. The ZP120 ("ZP" stands for "Zone Player") is the most intuitive Sonos player. It comes with its own built-in amp, so all you have to do is plug it into the wall, connect it to your router, and plug speakers into it with standard copper speaker cables. Along with the ZP120 comes a controller paddle (wireless -- it ships with an A/C charger cable to recharge it). This bundle is all you need to begin your Sonos journey.
List Price: $699.00
Sonos ZP90/CR100 Bundle (SZ90)
This bundle is what you need if you already have a kick-ass stereo system (or even a not-so-kick-ass one). The ZP90 does not have its own amp. It's more like a regular stereo component like a CD player or tape deck that has to plug into your receiver for amplification (but way smaller!) Just plug it into the wall and jack it into your existing stereo setup using any of a variety of input cables, and you're in business. I have one of these with my main stereo system, and one plugged into a Bose clock radio in my master bedroom. Both work great!
List Price: $599.00
Sonos BU150 Multiroom Music System
The BU150 Bundle has one of each Zone Player types, plus a controller. Buy this if you want more than one zone in your house. Remember, only one has to plug into your router. The other will operate wirelessly! It doesn't matter which one is remote. In fact you can go out and buy a dozen more zone players and put them in various parts of your house, and your Sonos network will recognize them and welcome them to the family with just about no technical hoo-haw on your part at all.
List Price: $999.00
You Have Not Yet Experienced Digital Music
So get started already! Come back and write in the guestbook to let me know how it goes.
by cruzwriter
Jon Auman can't decide if he likes novels or spreadsheets better. Or food. Someday he will learn to play tabla. (more)
Explore related pages
Getting music from the internet- You are new to loading music from the internet? You only heard about Peer-to-pee...
Pandora Radio- I just discovered an online radio service called Pandora Radio. This...
The Music Matrix - Your Daily Music Discovery Mashboard- A music discovery mashboard you can use to explore social music sites, news, pho...
Who sings the song in that commercial?
- Commercials, love them or hate them are part of our everyday lives. Fortunately,...
How To Remove DRM- The first step in removing DRM from media is to have media with DRM protection.&...
- Lossless Audio vs MP3 CODEC
- Lossless Audio vs MP3 CODEC If you archive audio, stream music from a central j...
