Articles and whitepapers

Product Article - The Sonos Multiroom System (1/4/2006)

By Simon Lever, SimplySonos

Until recently, installing multiroom audio meant two things: cabling complexity and big money. With the advent of wireless digital music however, multiroom audio is now affordable to buy, even more affordable to install and is the ultimate in convenience to use. Crucially, it is no longer the exclusive domain of the custom installer to fit - although installers can still provide a valuable service.

Multiroom audio was often only feasible if a house was under construction or was undergoing major refurbishment. This was because the cabling requirements meant it was all too often impossible to install without chasing into walls and the associated redecoration necessary afterwards. Retrofit was rare - until now.

The Sonos digital multiroom audio system was developed in the US, and launched in the UK in June 2005. Its key benefits are its wireless capability for both music streaming and control, the full-feedback colour screen controller, and the ability to synchronise music perfectly, 100% of the time.

Music synchronisation

Most people are under the impression that to play the same music in multiple zones is the easiest feature to deliver in a multizone system. This is not true, particularly when doing so wirelessly with digital signals. Failure to synchronise perfectly, even by a fraction of a millisecond, creates echoes and will guarantee to disappoint, no matter how good the remaining features may be.

Therefore, when putting a multiroom system through its paces, do not forget to listen hard when playing the same music in multiple zones. Some systems drift after several tracks. Thanks to patented software technology however, the Sonos system does not.

Sonos allows you to decide not only what is playing, but where it is playing. You can operate the system from wherever it is convenient - not from where the infra red receiver dictates you must be - and you get to see what is going on via a colour screen.

Screen shot of the Sonos Zone Controller showing the current track being played, including cover art, and the zones in which it is playing

How it works

There are two key components to the system, namely the Zone Player and the Zone Controller. You can have up to 32 of each in any combination.

The Zone Player, as the name suggests, plays the music, but it also sends and receives digital music streams and decodes them before passing them to the in-built amplifier for playing. The Zone Player's other function is to receive control signals from the Zone Controllers and dynamically feed status information back to the Zone Controllers so that any controller has a real-time view of the system on its screen.

A Sonos system comprising a Zone Controller and a Zone Player connected to loudspeakers

The Zone Players create a 'mesh' network. This means that they bridge to each other, thus extending the reach of the network the more of them you have. The Zone Controller is not tied to a Zone Player, so wherever the Zone Controller is, the 'mesh' ensures its ability to send commands and receive feedback from any of the Zone Players.

At a stroke, Zone Players can be grouped together in any combination. The volume of the linked zones can then be balanced. This is useful, for example, when you wish to have a loud zone for dancing and a quiet zone for conversation.

Adjusting the volume on the Zone Controller

There are two models of the Zone Player, the ZP100 and the ZP80. The ZP100 has a 50W RMS Class D amplifier built in, meaning that all you need do is attach a pair of speakers. The ZP80 is designed to integrate with existing hi-fi systems and thus does not have the in-built amplifier. Both have analogue line-outputs. The ZP80 also has both coax and optical digital outputs.

The music source

The music source is from any network-addressable hard disk drive, such as your computer or a network-attached storage drive. The benefit of this is flexibility and expansion capability - you choose where your music is stored, what type of sound quality you require and thus determine the capacity of your storage needs. Sonos will play lossless formats such as Apple AAC lossless, FLAC and WAV, as well as compressed formats such as AAC, MP3, WMA, and Ogg Vorbis.

As a Sonos dealer in the UK, SimplySonos is regularly asked about the different file formats, and has set up a demonstration to audition the differences between lossless, 320kb/s and 128kb/s compressions. The difference between 128kb/s and 320kb/s is noticeably different.

Ideally, the Sonos system should be connected via a router, but will work equally well if the first Zone Player, which needs a physical connection, is connected directly to an Ethernet card in the PC. However, sharing your Internet connection with Sonos to play Internet radio stations is much better handled via a router than using Windows Internet connection sharing. The system has 180 built-in Internet radio stations, and also allows you to add your own.

If the music store is a PC or Mac, then it must be on. Many customers opt for NAS (Network Attached Storage) to avoid this. The use of NAS underlines the fact that Sonos does not put any load on your PC - the work is done within the Sonos devices. This is in contrast to cheap digital music streamers which use the PC processor to decode music and do not have synchronisation capabilities.

Another extremely useful feature of the system is the ability to connect other audio sources as line-inputs to the Zone Player. These inputs can then be played in other zones as well as the zone to which they are attached, thus multizoning an existing audio system.

Installing the system

The setup of Sonos is easy for even the most inexperienced user. Even 'custom installing' Zone Players and in-ceiling speakers is often a simple DIY job. This is because the Zone Player can be located conveniently for the speaker connections.

For example, we have helped customers locate Zone Players in attics connected to ceiling speakers; in basements connected to floorstanding speakers; and in fitted wardrobes connected to in-wall speakers in the adjacent room. The point is that because the system is wireless, there is no infra-red line-of-sight requirement. This means that you can site it to suit the power and speaker cabling which, in turn, you can select to minimise the cost of redecorating.

Zone Controller and Zone Player on bedside table, with speaker cables from Zone Player hidden behind

Summary

Thanks to the use of wireless streaming and control, the key benefits of the Sonos system are low cost of installation and integration, aesthetic appeal due to concealment of devices, and convenient operation. Since it is not hard-wired to the house, it can also be easily transported when moving. It can use any disk storage, requires little or no training to use, and does not depend on your PC's processor. Being modular, it can be expanded over time and also updated automatically via software download.

With your CD collection moved to the attic to relieve shelf space, and perfectly synchronised music, your house parties should be a breeze!

Simon Lever is MD for SimplySonos Ð specialist in Sonos and related products and services. SimplySonos work with end-users and a number of installing partners around the United Kingdom.

www.simplysonos.co.uk