Sonos uses wifi and has for years, but they trap you into their system. I can cast youtube video to my TV but incredibly cant do the same with audio!

Can you be more specific about what you can't do with the Sonos? I'll try it with mine. I know I've streamed audio to it from my iPhone, in fact that's all I've used it for.

 

Can you be more specific about what you can't do with the Sonos? I'll try it with mine. I know I've streamed audio to it from my iPhone, in fact that's all I've used it for.

Using WIFI or Bluetooth? From the Sonos website.

Easily play all your audio content using WiFi and Bluetooth

 

Right, I'm struggling to understand the TS's problem.

 

Right, I'm struggling to understand the TS's problem.

My question was whether you stream from your phone using WIFI or Bluetooth since the Sonos seem to do both.

Edited: I would not know how to stream from my phone using WIFI.

 

My question was whether you stream from your phone using WIFI or Bluetooth since the Sonos seem to do both.

Ah, I didn't catch that. Just wifi. I'm not sure the Sonos speakers I have support BT

 

Right, I'm struggling to understand the TS's problem.

Sonos has become notorious for confusion.

They have two windows apps (or is it three?) the S and S2 controller app.

Frequently when I launch the controller it insists I install an update but that update can be incompatible with what they call "legacy" devices.

If I do install an update it must reset the system, that often ends in a failure.

To "fix" that one needs to go to the player device that's cabled into their router and press switches while using their phone app to perform various setup steps, that too often fails inexplicably.

I have the app on my desktop, the older "S1" app and that will run but some features are greyed out unless you update, but if I try it will attempt to update to S2 which is incompatible and on we go.

All I want is some speakers that my PC can see over WiFi so I can play music on the PC and hear it on the remote speakers.

Here, this is this mornings fun and games, I did get it to update after being patient, but when I try to use a basic standard feature (add a folder to the app so I can play music from that folder) I am met with:



Sonos was excellent when it first came out, I spent a lot on like five 400 dollar speakers and it was slick. But over the years it has become a rats nest of bewilderment, insisting on updates when all I want the system to do is what it did yesterday, installing updates then telling you that update is not compatible with your system and making it a nightmare to resolve.

 

Trying hard to be patient and fiddling with folder sharing options only leads to:



Reading up:



This is frankly ridiculous and I therefore I just want simple speakers that I can access over wifi from anywhere in my home.

 

On my Windows 10 tablet I was able to select a shared folder and add it to the sonos system. When I try this in my Win 11 desktop it insists on a username/password being handed to it and then refuses to accept those credentials.

Enough said, I want WiFi speakers.

It's not just me, feel the pain:

https://en.community.sonos.com/cont...dd-shared-folder-to-music-library-913-6896824

e.g.

 

My question was whether you stream from your phone using WIFI or Bluetooth since the Sonos seem to do both.

Edited: I would not know how to stream from my phone using WIFI.

The Sonos system has a lot of functionality inside the player devices (I reverse engineered it once and wrote my own API) the players have a "head" device and that is able to access sources (like networked folders on various PCs) so all interaction is done via the app, it talks to the system for you.

No streaming from the phone app or desktop app

 

And folks wonder why I tend to prefer older technology! Wat too many organizations do not care at all about anything else, except what they are currently selling. That is why I only keep music on non-volatile media.

And understand that MS is not able to deliver bug free anything. That was never part of their business plan. Hence the weekly updates of patches and bug fixes.

Really, a non-software, non-computer, analog link might be a simpler choice.

 

How about a WiFi streamer (example).

 

How about a WiFi streamer (example).

Thanks but that seems to expect an amp to be plugged into it and the speakers of course must be wired to that amp.

I pretty stunned that this idea isn't already a product, I mean Sonos is a wifi connected speaker (with amp inside) but they burden with buckets of crap. Having said that I did one stream direct to a Sonos but it was a hack and pretty clumsy.

 

Hmm, seems there are WiFi USB hubs, my desktop PC speakers are USB, so in theory...

 

Thanks but that seems to expect an amp to be plugged into it and the speakers of course must be wired to that amp.

I was thinking it would use powered speakers which only need a low-level audio signal from the streamer.

 

I've long given up expecting common sense these days, absurdity is the new normal like having to pull a cord out of the wall to "reset" some appliances, an actual on/off switch is now asking too much.

 

This

This

This

And there are more….

All say WIFI and Bluetooth.

Thanks, those, each one, is a variant of Sonos, they rely on some app, and stream from services etc.

I want speakers that appear to as just ordinary PC speakers with no intelligence, I have them direct wired connect to PC audio out and I have some that are USB, in each case they appear as a standard windows audio device, that's what I am seeking (and have explained this several times now).

There are plenty that use Bluetooth but I'm seeking some that use WiFi, mainly because Bluetooth get real glitchy once your reaching between rooms.

 

 

Of course they rely on an app! How else would you stream the audio?

 

Of course they rely on an app! How else would you stream the audio?

That's because of the difference between Bluetooth and WiFi. Bluetooth is an interconnect between devices. WIfi is an interconnect between network nodes.

 

I want speakers that appear to as just ordinary PC speakers with no intelligence, I have them direct wired connect to PC audio out and I have some that are USB, in each case they appear as a standard windows audio device, that's what I am seeking (and have explained this several times now).

You're going to need some software that maps the audio stream to the I/P address and presents it as an audio device to Windows, no escaping that.