I also would love it if amazons multiroom music just worked and at least for me it does not at all.
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Sonos vs Amazon Echo multi-room music
I have a number of Amazon Echos, Dots and Echo Inputs that I've been using in a group to play multi-room music. The voice control works as seamlessly as expected with Amazon's native devices handling everything, but I've found the the playback to be quite buggy. Music sometimes skips, speakers in one or more rooms randomly stop playing, and asking Alexa to change the volume usually results in a bunch of dropouts. It's pretty rough.
So I've been trying out Sonos which has been more graceful at playing music, but the Alexa integration has some unfortunate deficiencies. I'm also not thrilled with the Spotify and TuneIn interfaces within the Sonos app. Plus Sonos is expensive, and you can't play multi-room music with a combination of Sonos and Echo speakers, it has to be one or the other. That means I would still need to buy more Sonos speakers for rooms that already have perfectly good Echos in them.
Sound quality isn't a home run for Sonos either. The Sonos One speaker sounds excellent in one of my rooms, but kind of 'meh' in another. On the other hand, the inexpensive Echo Input sounds great connected to either a set of powered speakers or a conventional amp driving decent stereo speakers, and that can actually be a cheaper solution than buying a stereo pair of Sonos Ones just for their sound quality.
So now I'm undecided on whether to keep the Sonos gear or return it and hope that Amazon works the bugs out of its multi-room music playback. Honestly, both Amazon and Sonos have work to do and I'm sure both are committed to making improvements, but it's hard to predict how long it will take or which solution will end up being more satisfying. The problem of dropouts with the Echos is really frustrating, but if Amazon can smooth that out then I think I'd like it better than Sonos because I'd prefer to keep everything in one ecosystem.
I'm curious to hear other thoughts and experiences on this subject.
So I've been trying out Sonos which has been more graceful at playing music, but the Alexa integration has some unfortunate deficiencies. I'm also not thrilled with the Spotify and TuneIn interfaces within the Sonos app. Plus Sonos is expensive, and you can't play multi-room music with a combination of Sonos and Echo speakers, it has to be one or the other. That means I would still need to buy more Sonos speakers for rooms that already have perfectly good Echos in them.
Sound quality isn't a home run for Sonos either. The Sonos One speaker sounds excellent in one of my rooms, but kind of 'meh' in another. On the other hand, the inexpensive Echo Input sounds great connected to either a set of powered speakers or a conventional amp driving decent stereo speakers, and that can actually be a cheaper solution than buying a stereo pair of Sonos Ones just for their sound quality.
So now I'm undecided on whether to keep the Sonos gear or return it and hope that Amazon works the bugs out of its multi-room music playback. Honestly, both Amazon and Sonos have work to do and I'm sure both are committed to making improvements, but it's hard to predict how long it will take or which solution will end up being more satisfying. The problem of dropouts with the Echos is really frustrating, but if Amazon can smooth that out then I think I'd like it better than Sonos because I'd prefer to keep everything in one ecosystem.
I'm curious to hear other thoughts and experiences on this subject.
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I use Echo’s and Sonos in almost every room, especially given the $99 IkeaSonos Symfonisk is out.
What problems are you encountering in using Alexa to control Sonos?
Have you Sonos-tuned the “meh” speakers yet?
What problems are you encountering in using Alexa to control Sonos?
Have you Sonos-tuned the “meh” speakers yet?
It can't hear me say (or yell), "Stop," very well. The music often keeps playing and I have to stop it with the app.What problems are you encountering in using Alexa to control Sonos?
I can't disable the request sound. It pings every time I say "Alexa.".
And certain features aren't supported. Drop-in for one. Calling and messaging too, I think. I don't use these features a lot but it troubles me that the integration is not fully supported.
Yes. It's probably a matter of placement. But my point was that the Sonos gear is pricey and they sell it based on sound quality, but it doesn't automatically guarantee amazing sound. An Echo Dot or Input connected to a pair of Edifier powered speakers will produce darn good sound, in stereo, for about the same price as a single, mono Sonos One.Have you Sonos-tuned the “meh” speakers yet?
EDIT: Sonos tuned? Actually, no. I adjusted bass and treble but then I looked up tuning. I see the feature only works with iOS. So these developers are Apple snobs and don't support Android?? Barf. I guess that makes the decision easier.
Consider Google's implementation of multi-room audio? Their system is a lot more mature than Amazon's. The assistant is also better. It's a shame about the discontinuation of Chromecast Audios, but their other solutions work as a substitute, and maybe their next-gen Google Homes will have a 3.5mm output? If you want high-quality audio, there are receivers with Chromecast built-in.I have a number of Amazon Echos, Dots and Echo Inputs that I've been using in a group to play multi-room music. The voice control works as seamlessly as expected with Amazon's native devices handling everything, but I've found the the playback to be quite buggy. Music sometimes skips, speakers in one or more rooms randomly stop playing, and asking Alexa to change the volume usually results in a bunch of dropouts. It's pretty rough.
So I've been trying out Sonos which has been more graceful at playing music, but the Alexa integration has some unfortunate deficiencies. I'm also not thrilled with the Spotify and TuneIn interfaces within the Sonos app. Plus Sonos is expensive, and you can't play multi-room music with a combination of Sonos and Echo speakers, it has to be one or the other. That means I would still need to buy more Sonos speakers for rooms that already have perfectly good Echos in them.
Sound quality isn't a home run for Sonos either. The Sonos One speaker sounds excellent in one of my rooms, but kind of 'meh' in another. On the other hand, the inexpensive Echo Input sounds great connected to either a set of powered speakers or a conventional amp driving decent stereo speakers, and that can actually be a cheaper solution than buying a stereo pair of Sonos Ones just for their sound quality.
So now I'm undecided on whether to keep the Sonos gear or return it and hope that Amazon works the bugs out of its multi-room music playback. Honestly, both Amazon and Sonos have work to do and I'm sure both are committed to making improvements, but it's hard to predict how long it will take or which solution will end up being more satisfying. The problem of dropouts with the Echos is really frustrating, but if Amazon can smooth that out then I think I'd like it better than Sonos because I'd prefer to keep everything in one ecosystem.
I'm curious to hear other thoughts and experiences on this subject.
I don't have Sonos, but I've heard Google Homes can control a Sonos system via voice just as well as Chromecasts?
Interesting.
I have a home full of Echo Devices (4 dots, a show, a spot, and an original echo) and I find the multiroom audio solution Amazon has to be actually quite reliable. I've experienced none of the issues that you have cited: no music skipping, no stopped playback in random rooms, or problems with volume changes (other than if the music is really loud in my living room I have to scream for Alexa to hear me).
It is definitely workable in my modest home right now. And of course I have a dot connected to my boomin 5.1 system so I can listen to music not just on the relatively crappy Echo device speakers.
With that being said, I don't know anyone who has gone the Sonos route and been disappointed. Everything in their ecosystem seems to work well and the control is intuitive. But as you know, you will pay a pretty penny for it.
I'm about a year away from starting a new house build and I'll be wiring the whole home for distributed audio so I can "do it right". That is going to probably more like a $4-5k expense but for me will be worth it!
One reason I will be going away from Amazon as a whole home audio solution is because I am at their mercy when it comes to control. I am unable to simply playback my thousands of local files from my computer which is the source I would most like to use as they push me towards their own music subscription service. There is no guarantee they won't eliminate partnerships with Spotify, Tidal, Pandora, or whoever else in the future if they feel it would be better for their business.
No thanks. I like to decide what music I own I can play on what speakers.
I have a home full of Echo Devices (4 dots, a show, a spot, and an original echo) and I find the multiroom audio solution Amazon has to be actually quite reliable. I've experienced none of the issues that you have cited: no music skipping, no stopped playback in random rooms, or problems with volume changes (other than if the music is really loud in my living room I have to scream for Alexa to hear me).
It is definitely workable in my modest home right now. And of course I have a dot connected to my boomin 5.1 system so I can listen to music not just on the relatively crappy Echo device speakers.
With that being said, I don't know anyone who has gone the Sonos route and been disappointed. Everything in their ecosystem seems to work well and the control is intuitive. But as you know, you will pay a pretty penny for it.
I'm about a year away from starting a new house build and I'll be wiring the whole home for distributed audio so I can "do it right". That is going to probably more like a $4-5k expense but for me will be worth it!
One reason I will be going away from Amazon as a whole home audio solution is because I am at their mercy when it comes to control. I am unable to simply playback my thousands of local files from my computer which is the source I would most like to use as they push me towards their own music subscription service. There is no guarantee they won't eliminate partnerships with Spotify, Tidal, Pandora, or whoever else in the future if they feel it would be better for their business.
No thanks. I like to decide what music I own I can play on what speakers.
I have a third-generation Dot and it plays (FLAC) music via my Plex Media Server (running on an under $100 ODROID) great. I disabled (most of) the other music services and it simply works. I tried setting it up with a first or second generation Dot and it was a pain in the neck... not sure who/what matured however it only took about 5 minutes to setup the Dot.One reason I will be going away from Amazon as a whole home audio solution is because I am at their mercy when it comes to control. I am unable to simply playback my thousands of local files from my computer which is the source I would most like to use as they push me towards their own music subscription service.
What are best practices for connecting echo dot speakers to WiFi? I am routinely having really bad problems with all my third gen dots.
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I have a low-end router and even though the distance isn't very far on occasion I would lose connection with 5 GHz so I switched to 2.4 GHz and haven't lost connection yet.What are best practices for connecting echo dot speakers to WiFi?
I have a low-end router and even though the distance isn't very far on occasion I would lose connection with 5 GHz so I switched to 2.4 GHz and haven't lost connection yet.
I have an archer a7 in WAP mode which is supposed to the best low cost wireless router. I have gigabit Ethernet service from at&t and I am having a ton of issues (Spotify) especially in my basement office which is directly under the location of the wireless router.
I only use 5ghz for my fire sticks. Everything else is 2.4.
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Hmmm. I have a Plex server (and DLNA, and all the music on USB drives, external hard drives, etc... lots of options) but I've just never been able to elegantly command Alexa to do as told. I tried a couple skills that people made but "Alexa, tell Plex to " is an unacceptable solution, and a lot of times even then, Alexa would play the wrong music.I have a third-generation Dot and it plays (FLAC) music via my Plex Media Server (running on an under $100 ODROID) great. I disabled (most of) the other music services and it simply works. I tried setting it up with a first or second generation Dot and it was a pain in the neck... not sure who/what matured however it only took about 5 minutes to setup the Dot.
The request "ding" can be disabled in the Sonos app.It can't hear me say (or yell), "Stop," very well. The music often keeps playing and I have to stop it with the app.
I can't disable the request sound. It pings every time I say "Alexa.".
And certain features aren't supported. Drop-in for one. Calling and messaging too, I think. I don't use these features a lot but it troubles me that the integration is not fully supported.
Yes. It's probably a matter of placement. But my point was that the Sonos gear is pricey and they sell it based on sound quality, but it doesn't automatically guarantee amazing sound. An Echo Dot or Input connected to a pair of Edifier powered speakers will produce darn good sound, in stereo, for about the same price as a single, mono Sonos One.
EDIT: Sonos tuned? Actually, no. I adjusted bass and treble but then I looked up tuning. I see the feature only works with iOS. So these developers are Apple snobs and don't support Android?? Barf. I guess that makes the decision easier.
Truplay, the Sonos tuning, is iOS only because there is too much variation in Android device microphones. If you can get your hands on an iOS device to do it, it makes a big difference.
Sonos isn't cheap, nor is it flawless. But I have no regrets about investing heavily in Sonos devices. I have two Echo dots that are unused now.
Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I used my wife's iOS device to do the tuning and yes, despite my annoyance at the exclusion of Android support for that function the Sonos One speakers sound much better once tuned, although one of them sounds like the woofer is bottoming out at even moderately low volume. Defective?
I can see why people like Sonos, though. It offers better granular control of the individual speakers than an Amazon echo. It supports more music services for multiroom playback than Amazon. The on-speaker controls are nice. And the Sonos Ones sound better than any current Amazon speaker. So yes I'm finding it an improvement over Amazon Echo groups.
I can see why people like Sonos, though. It offers better granular control of the individual speakers than an Amazon echo. It supports more music services for multiroom playback than Amazon. The on-speaker controls are nice. And the Sonos Ones sound better than any current Amazon speaker. So yes I'm finding it an improvement over Amazon Echo groups.
I think you may be right but we're used to the Amazon ecosystem and I didn't have much appetite for changing to Google Home ecosystem even though I use an Android phone. So I'm playing with the Sonos now but I'm still within the return window and haven't ruled anything out. Or actually maybe I've ruled out Amazon Echo groups because they weren't working very well for me.Consider Google's implementation of multi-room audio? Their system is a lot more mature than Amazon's. The assistant is also better. It's a shame about the discontinuation of Chromecast Audios, but their other solutions work as a substitute, and maybe their next-gen Google Homes will have a 3.5mm output? If you want high-quality audio, there are receivers with Chromecast built-in.
The one MAJOR benefit that Google Home and Chromecast have over Sonos is high-quality surround sound.I think you may be right but we're used to the Amazon ecosystem and I didn't have much appetite for changing to Google Home ecosystem even though I use an Android phone. So I'm playing with the Sonos now but I'm still within the return window and haven't ruled anything out. Or actually maybe I've ruled out Amazon Echo groups because they weren't working very well for me.
If you want high-quality surround sound, all you need is a receiver with Chromecast built-in: the system can easily switch between playing background music over your surround speaker system as a set of mono speakers, and, when watching movies or playing games, the surround speaker system will act like a normal surround speaker system.
Sonos doesn't have a solution for this. If you want to use your own high-quality speakers for movies and games, their only solution is stereo (Sonos Amp).
That said, I have heard that Sonos is more reliable than Chromecast, so perhaps you'd be willing to give up high-quality surround sound for that additional bit of reliability. Or maybe you wouldn't... I do think Chromecast is very reliable, at least in my experience with it.
Note: You could use a regular Chromecast connected to a receiver instead of a receiver with Chromecast built-in, but then your TV would turn on when casting audio and would display artist and song information. Some people want this, others do not. You could just turn your TV back off, but it's an extra step.
I'm using a Sonos Connect box on my Yamaha HT receiver right now. When connected to the receiver with an optical cable it plays back with a delay. This inaccurate syncing causes an echo effect wherever you can hear both the Sonos speakers and the HT playback together. However, using a stereo RCA cable between the Sonos Connect and an analog audio input on the HT receiver has eliminated the delay, so that solution works. I can play the Sonos stream through the main HT speakers and/or the surround speakers too. So assuming that's what you meant then yes, Sonos does have a solution for it. It just costs 10x the price of a Chromecast Audio device when they were still available (and which I also own).The one MAJOR benefit that Google Home and Chromecast have over Sonos is high-quality surround sound.
If you want high-quality surround sound, all you need is a receiver with Chromecast built-in: the system can easily switch between playing background music over your surround speaker system as a set of mono speakers, and, when watching movies or playing games, the surround speaker system will act like a normal surround speaker system.
Sonos doesn't have a solution for this. If you want to use your own high-quality speakers for movies and games, their only solution is stereo (Sonos Amp).
I'm using a Sonos Connect box on my Yamaha HT receiver right now. When connected to the receiver with an optical cable it plays back with a delay. This inaccurate syncing causes an echo effect wherever you can hear both the Sonos speakers and the HT playback together. However, using a stereo RCA cable between the Sonos Connect and an analog audio input on the HT receiver has eliminated the delay, so that solution works. I can play the Sonos stream through the main HT speakers and/or the surround speakers too. So assuming that's what you meant then yes, Sonos does have a solution for it. It just costs 10x the price of a Chromecast Audio device when they were still available (and which I also own).
Your receiver doesn't automatically turn on when Sonos turns on. You have to find your receiver's remote control and press a button to start playing audio through your receiver.
With Chromecast and Chromecast built-in, you don't have to do this. So no, I don't consider Sonos to have a working solution. If you have to use a remote control, it removes the entire advantage of using voice control ('hey google, place some music'), or using your phone to control the system from another part of the house.
My reply to the OP:
My guess is the wifi connection is the problem. Until we upgraded to a wifi mesh system (using Google wifi) - whole home sound system (using Google) wouldn't work in an acceptable fashion. Using Amazon or Google for whole home sound is a fraction of what Sonos would cost.
We have 7 speakers in our main home group.
My guess is the wifi connection is the problem. Until we upgraded to a wifi mesh system (using Google wifi) - whole home sound system (using Google) wouldn't work in an acceptable fashion. Using Amazon or Google for whole home sound is a fraction of what Sonos would cost.
We have 7 speakers in our main home group.
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