Sonos
Encyclopedia
Sonos is a consumer electronics company based in Santa Barbara
, California
. It was founded in 2002 by John MacFarlane
, who previously founded Software.com. The company’s main product is the Sonos Multi-Room Music System.
The Sonos Multi-Room Music System creates multi-room audio hi-fi in which different zones may play the same or different songs simultaneously throughout the house. The company tagline is "All the music you want. All over your house. All from the palm of your hand."
There are two main appliances in the Sonos Multi-Room Music System: ZonePlayers and Controllers. ZonePlayers may connect directly to speakers, or to an amplifier, and take the place of a traditional hifi setup. There is also an all-in-one ZonePlayer with integrated speakers. The system is controlled by the Sonos Controller, a wireless handheld remote equipped with a color LCD screen that controls music streaming and zone selection. Software is also available for Android, iPhone
, iPad
and iPod touch
, Mac, Windows computers to control the system.
RMS amplifier
, speaker posts for direct hookups to speakers, RCA
Line-Out, sub-woofer out (which included an 80 Hz LFE crossover), as well as a built-in four-port 10/100 Ethernet switch. The ZP120, successor to ZP100, had a reduced footprint, a 2x55 watt RMS amplifier (now Class D rather than analog), deleted analog and digital audio out ports, 2 instead of 4 Ethernet switch ports, as well as the upgrade to SonosNet 2.0. Like the ZP100, the ZP120 has speaker posts for direct hookups to speakers and a sub-woofer out.
The Play:3 is a Zoneplayer with three integrated speakers and three dedicated digital amplifiers. It features a built-in Ethernet port.
The Play:5, formerly known as the S5, is a Zoneplayer with integrated five driver speaker system. It features a built-in two-port Ethernet switch. Also includes 3.5 mm headphone connection and a 3.5 mm line in.
The ZP80 is an amp-less ZonePlayer that includes optical out, coaxial
digital out, as well as analog RCA inputs and outputs. It has a built-in two-port Ethernet switch. The ZP90 is the successor to the ZonePlayer 80, upgraded to SonosNet 2.0.
Audio inputs with digital encoding on ZonePlayers (except Play:3) allow for connection to external audio sources including MP3 players, mobile phones, CD players, TVs, DVD player
s, VCRs, and radios. The ZonePlayers with multiple Ethernet ports can be used as virtual Ethernet connections for normal network traffic: network traffic is bridged silently between all the ZonePlayers in a single system. This means you can stream external sources all over the house.
or browse to music files on devices itself.
The ZoneBridge 100, later merely called the Bridge, acts as both a first wire connection and a wireless repeater for SonosNet. It has a built-in two-port Ethernet switch but no audio output. It uses SonosNet 1.0 mesh network.
equipped with a color 3.5” LCD screen, scroll wheel and buttons to control music streaming and zone selection, volume, play/pause, track up, track down, and back. It has been succeeded by the CR200 which is equipped with a color 3.5" VGA LCD touch screen. It has four buttons including volume up/down, mute, and home screen, the rest of the control is via the touch screen. Unlike the CR100 is it not water resistant, but it includes a removable (and thus replaceable) lithium ion battery.
The system also comes with the Desktop Controller which runs on both Mac and Windows, and under Wine
on Linux
.
The Controller for iOS is a free app that allows an iOS
device to become a controller for Sonos via an existing home wireless network. The app supports all generations of iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. An Android version is also available.
synchronous mesh network using AES
encryption. This network, known as SonosNet, allows music to be played simultaneously in separate zones. A single ZonePlayer or ZoneBridge must be wired to a network for access to music sources.
SonosNet 2.0 integrates MIMO
on 802.11n hardware, providing a more robust connection.
The downside of this technology is that every Sonos player or bridge has to constantly keep up a wireless connection, even when in standby mode or connected by cable. All devices consume between 5 and 8 Watts in standby and don't have a power button.
share (such as a Microsoft Windows
or Macintosh
file share or a NAS
drive that supports CIFS/SMB protocol) to your stereo. NAS support also includes Apple Inc. Time Capsule
. A NAS solution provides a computer-free solution to accessing music. It can also stream multi-room audio in many formats including MP3
, AAC
, Ogg Vorbis , FLAC
, Apple Lossless
, WAV
, AIFF
and WMA
. While Sonos is able to stream Plays For Sure protected WMA files it does not support DRM FairPlay
protected AAC files from the Apple iTunes Music Store. WMA lossless and RealPlayer
Audio are also not supported.
With a broadband connection, the system includes access to a variety of audio content completely independent of a computer. The system ships with thousands of radio stations and shows from the Internet via RadioTime. The system includes free access to Last.fm
and Pandora. The system also features 30-day trials for Napster
, Rhapsody
and Pandora as well as a 14-day trial of MOG
. The Pandora, SIRIUS, MOG and Rhapsody services are restricted primarily to customers based in the United States. Last.FM and Napster is also available in Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom. Stitcher Radio
is also available on the system. Last.FM scrobbling is available worldwide. On September 29, 2010 the Spotify
music service announced support for Sonos in all countries supported by Spotify.
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. It was founded in 2002 by John MacFarlane
John MacFarlane
John MacFarlane is an American businessman who founded www.software.com and is currently the CEO of the company Sonos.- Sources :*http://www.sonos.com*http://www.software.com...
, who previously founded Software.com. The company’s main product is the Sonos Multi-Room Music System.
History
- January 2005. Sonos Launches ZonePlayer 100 and CR100
- April 2006. Sonos introduces the ZP80
- Sept. 2006. Sonos adds Rhapsody
- May 2007. Sonos adds Pandora
- Aug. 2007. Sonos adds SIRIUS
- Oct. 2007. Sonos adds Napster
- Oct. 2007. Sonos introduces Sonos ZoneBridge
- Aug. 2008. Sonos introduces ZP120 and ZP90
- Oct. 2008. Sonos releases Sonos Controller for iPhone adds Last.FM and RadioTime
- April 2009. Sonos adds DeezerDeezerDeezer is a free music streaming service based in Paris, France. Deezer was launched on August 24, 2007. Deezer has negotiated rights to make 165,000 songs available for streaming legally via an agreement with Sony, as well as some of Universal's catalog...
- July 2009. Sonos Introduces CR200
- November 2009. Sonos introduces the S5
- May 2010. Sonos adds iheartradioIheartradioiHeartRadio is a Clear Channel Radio network to aggregate local radio brands, personalities and on-demand content. It is best known as a mobile application...
and ability to pair S5s - September 2010. Sonos adds Spotify
- September 2010. Sonos releases Sonos Controller for iPadIPadThe iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...
- April 2011. Sonos releases Sonos Controller for Android
- May 2011. Sonos adds MOG
- July 2011. Sonos introduces the Play:3
Multi-Room Music System
The Sonos Multi-Room Music System is a modular set of digital appliances that works with end-user supplied or built-in speakers to form a zoned audio system in which different zones may play the same or different audio.The Sonos Multi-Room Music System creates multi-room audio hi-fi in which different zones may play the same or different songs simultaneously throughout the house. The company tagline is "All the music you want. All over your house. All from the palm of your hand."
There are two main appliances in the Sonos Multi-Room Music System: ZonePlayers and Controllers. ZonePlayers may connect directly to speakers, or to an amplifier, and take the place of a traditional hifi setup. There is also an all-in-one ZonePlayer with integrated speakers. The system is controlled by the Sonos Controller, a wireless handheld remote equipped with a color LCD screen that controls music streaming and zone selection. Software is also available for Android, iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
, iPad
IPad
The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...
and iPod touch
IPod touch
The iPod Touch is a portable media player, personal digital assistant, handheld game console, and Wi-Fi mobile device designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The iPod Touch adds the multi-touch graphical user interface to the iPod line...
, Mac, Windows computers to control the system.
ZonePlayers
The ZP100 included a 2x50 wattWatt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
RMS amplifier
Amplifier
Generally, an amplifier or simply amp, is a device for increasing the power of a signal.In popular use, the term usually describes an electronic amplifier, in which the input "signal" is usually a voltage or a current. In audio applications, amplifiers drive the loudspeakers used in PA systems to...
, speaker posts for direct hookups to speakers, RCA
RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
Line-Out, sub-woofer out (which included an 80 Hz LFE crossover), as well as a built-in four-port 10/100 Ethernet switch. The ZP120, successor to ZP100, had a reduced footprint, a 2x55 watt RMS amplifier (now Class D rather than analog), deleted analog and digital audio out ports, 2 instead of 4 Ethernet switch ports, as well as the upgrade to SonosNet 2.0. Like the ZP100, the ZP120 has speaker posts for direct hookups to speakers and a sub-woofer out.
The Play:3 is a Zoneplayer with three integrated speakers and three dedicated digital amplifiers. It features a built-in Ethernet port.
The Play:5, formerly known as the S5, is a Zoneplayer with integrated five driver speaker system. It features a built-in two-port Ethernet switch. Also includes 3.5 mm headphone connection and a 3.5 mm line in.
The ZP80 is an amp-less ZonePlayer that includes optical out, coaxial
Coaxial
In geometry, coaxial means that two or more forms share a common axis; it is the three-dimensional linear analogue of concentric.Coaxial cable, as a common example, has a wire conductor in the centre a circumferential outer conductor and an insulating medium called the dielectric separating...
digital out, as well as analog RCA inputs and outputs. It has a built-in two-port Ethernet switch. The ZP90 is the successor to the ZonePlayer 80, upgraded to SonosNet 2.0.
Audio inputs with digital encoding on ZonePlayers (except Play:3) allow for connection to external audio sources including MP3 players, mobile phones, CD players, TVs, DVD player
DVD player
A DVD player is a device that plays discs produced under both the DVD-Video and DVD-Audio technical standards, two different and incompatible standards. These devices were invented in 1997 and continue to thrive...
s, VCRs, and radios. The ZonePlayers with multiple Ethernet ports can be used as virtual Ethernet connections for normal network traffic: network traffic is bridged silently between all the ZonePlayers in a single system. This means you can stream external sources all over the house.
Accessories
The WD100 is a wireless iPod dock using SonosNet 2.0. The dock is compatible with the iPod touch (1st, 2nd, 3rd, & 4th generation), iPod Classic (iPod 6th generation), iPod nano (3rd, 4th, and 5th generation), iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G and iPhone. Allows audio that streaming from an appAPP
App commonly refers to:* Mobile apps, software made for mobile devices*Application software, also called an App, software for specific purposesApp or APP may also refer to:-Computers:...
or browse to music files on devices itself.
The ZoneBridge 100, later merely called the Bridge, acts as both a first wire connection and a wireless repeater for SonosNet. It has a built-in two-port Ethernet switch but no audio output. It uses SonosNet 1.0 mesh network.
Controllers
The CR100 is a wireless handheld remote controlRemote control
A remote control is a component of an electronics device, most commonly a television set, used for operating the television device wirelessly from a short line-of-sight distance.The remote control is usually contracted to remote...
equipped with a color 3.5” LCD screen, scroll wheel and buttons to control music streaming and zone selection, volume, play/pause, track up, track down, and back. It has been succeeded by the CR200 which is equipped with a color 3.5" VGA LCD touch screen. It has four buttons including volume up/down, mute, and home screen, the rest of the control is via the touch screen. Unlike the CR100 is it not water resistant, but it includes a removable (and thus replaceable) lithium ion battery.
The system also comes with the Desktop Controller which runs on both Mac and Windows, and under Wine
Wine (software)
Wine is a free software application that aims to allow computer programs written for Microsoft Windows to run on Unix-like operating systems. Wine also provides a software library, known as Winelib, against which developers can compile Windows applications to help port them to Unix-like...
on Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
.
The Controller for iOS is a free app that allows an iOS
IOS
iOS is an operating system for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and Apple TV.IOS may also refer to:-Companies and organisations:* Illinois Ornithological Society, American state-based bird club...
device to become a controller for Sonos via an existing home wireless network. The app supports all generations of iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. An Android version is also available.
Wireless mesh network
Multiple ZonePlayers in a single household will connect to each other on a proprietary peer-to-peerPeer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads among peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application...
synchronous mesh network using AES
Advanced Encryption Standard
Advanced Encryption Standard is a specification for the encryption of electronic data. It has been adopted by the U.S. government and is now used worldwide. It supersedes DES...
encryption. This network, known as SonosNet, allows music to be played simultaneously in separate zones. A single ZonePlayer or ZoneBridge must be wired to a network for access to music sources.
SonosNet 2.0 integrates MIMO
MIMO
In radio, multiple-input and multiple-output, or MIMO , is the use of multiple antennas at both the transmitter and receiver to improve communication performance. It is one of several forms of smart antenna technology...
on 802.11n hardware, providing a more robust connection.
The downside of this technology is that every Sonos player or bridge has to constantly keep up a wireless connection, even when in standby mode or connected by cable. All devices consume between 5 and 8 Watts in standby and don't have a power button.
Music sources
The system can stream music from most SMBServer Message Block
In computer networking, Server Message Block , also known as Common Internet File System operates as an application-layer network protocol mainly used to provide shared access to files, printers, serial ports, and miscellaneous communications between nodes on a network. It also provides an...
share (such as a Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
or Macintosh
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
file share or a NAS
Network-attached storage
Network-attached storage is file-level computer data storage connected to a computer network providing data access to heterogeneous clients. NAS not only operates as a file server, but is specialized for this task either by its hardware, software, or configuration of those elements...
drive that supports CIFS/SMB protocol) to your stereo. NAS support also includes Apple Inc. Time Capsule
Time Capsule (Apple)
The Time Capsule is a wireless network-attached storage device combined with a wireless residential gateway router made by Apple Inc. It is described as a "Backup Appliance", designed to work in tandem with the Time Machine backup utility, introduced in Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard".The device includes a...
. A NAS solution provides a computer-free solution to accessing music. It can also stream multi-room audio in many formats including MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
, AAC
Advanced Audio Coding
Advanced Audio Coding is a standardized, lossy compression and encoding scheme for digital audio. Designed to be the successor of the MP3 format, AAC generally achieves better sound quality than MP3 at similar bit rates....
, Ogg Vorbis , FLAC
FLAC
FLAC is a codec which allows digital audio to be losslessly compressed such that file size is reduced without any information being lost...
, Apple Lossless
Apple Lossless
Apple Lossless Apple Lossless Apple Lossless (also known as ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec), or ALE (Apple Lossless Encoder) is an audio codec developed by Apple Inc. for lossless data compression of digital music. After initially being proprietary for many years, in late 2011 Apple open sourced...
, WAV
WAV
Waveform Audio File Format , is a Microsoft and IBM audio file format standard for storing an audio bitstream on PCs...
, AIFF
AIFF
Audio Interchange File Format is an audio file format standard used for storing sound data for personal computers and other electronic audio devices...
and WMA
Windows Media Audio
Windows Media Audio is an audio data compression technology developed by Microsoft. The name can be used to refer to its audio file format or its audio codecs. It is a proprietary technology that forms part of the Windows Media framework. WMA consists of four distinct codecs...
. While Sonos is able to stream Plays For Sure protected WMA files it does not support DRM FairPlay
FairPlay
FairPlay is a digital rights management technology created by Apple Inc., based on technology created by the company Veridisc. FairPlay is built into the QuickTime multimedia software and used by the iPhone, iPod, iPad, Apple TV, iTunes, and iTunes Store and the App Store. Formerly, all songs in...
protected AAC files from the Apple iTunes Music Store. WMA lossless and RealPlayer
RealPlayer
RealPlayer is a cross-platform media player by RealNetworks that plays a number of multimedia formats including MP3, MPEG-4, QuickTime, Windows Media, and multiple versions of proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo formats.-History:...
Audio are also not supported.
With a broadband connection, the system includes access to a variety of audio content completely independent of a computer. The system ships with thousands of radio stations and shows from the Internet via RadioTime. The system includes free access to Last.fm
Last.fm
Last.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It has claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for UK£140m ....
and Pandora. The system also features 30-day trials for Napster
Napster
Napster is an online music store and a Best Buy company. It was originally founded as a pioneering peer-to-peer file sharing Internet service that emphasized sharing audio files that were typically digitally encoded music as MP3 format files...
, Rhapsody
Rhapsody (online music service)
Rhapsody is an online music store subscription service, launched in December 2001, and available in the United States only. On April 6, 2010, Rhapsody officially declared its independence from RealNetworks. Downloaded files come with restrictions on their use, enforced by Helix, Rhapsody's version...
and Pandora as well as a 14-day trial of MOG
MOG (online music)
MOG is a paid subscription online music service and blog network, where users can listen to, read about, and discover music. Users can play any song in MOG's catalog on their computer through their web browser; on their mobile device through MOG's applications for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and...
. The Pandora, SIRIUS, MOG and Rhapsody services are restricted primarily to customers based in the United States. Last.FM and Napster is also available in Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom. Stitcher Radio
Stitcher Radio
Stitcher is an on-demand internet radio service that focuses on news and information radio and podcasts. It provides free online streaming through the website and also using native mobile applications such as the iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Palm webOS...
is also available on the system. Last.FM scrobbling is available worldwide. On September 29, 2010 the Spotify
Spotify
Spotify is a Swedish-founded, UK-headquartered DRM-based music streaming service offering streaming of selected music from a range of major and independent record labels, including Sony, EMI, Warner Music Group, and Universal. Launched in October 2008 by Swedish startup Spotify AB, the service had...
music service announced support for Sonos in all countries supported by Spotify.
Third party development
- Power consumption testing For ZP80
- Web based Controller
- ZoneMaster application for iPhone
- Zones application for iPhone
See also
- Roku SoundBridgeSoundBridgeSoundBridge is a remote hardware device from Roku designed to play internet radio or digital audio streamed to it across a home network, either WiFi or Ethernet. SoundBridge devices directly browse the Radio Roku Internet Radio Guide....
- Slim Devices Squeezebox