Should I give my excellent Sonos for Airport Express ?

[richardw42]

I've never felt any inclination to get rid of my Sonos zones.

As I use Sonos exclusively now I thought I'd best get a NAS than keeping my PC on almost permanently. Somebody questioned whether iTunes Match might serve me better than a NAS.

I did some googling and you can set up your Sonos to use ITunes Match but using AirPlay through an Aex. Now it seems to me, if I'm doing that what part is the Sonos playing ? Apart from grouping, you can't stream diff music to diff zones which is understandable.

So I could just get an A ex in place of the Sonos and using my iPad I would AirPlay to it, I have the Spotify app so would do that too.

I already have an ATV in the TV room which I guess would function in the same way.

The S5 in the kitchen is on its way out as I never use it.

But what to do about the Play 3 in the gym / spare room, that gets a lot of use.

Anyway I guess all of this could be just fantasy but has anybody got any positive (or negative) experiences with any part of it.

I know I'll be giving up the wonderful functionality of the Sonos but Match seems better for me than a NAS.

 

[daveh75]

. Somebody questioned whether iTunes Match might serve me better than a NAS..

And what are you going to listen to if you b/band should go down/have no data connection?

Why anyone would waste download limits/data allowances streaming their own media from the cloud (when in the comfort of their own home, and the media could be streamed from local storage) is beyond me...

 

[Andrew17321]

No. Well, not in my opinion. But buy a NAS - it is useful for backing up your computer as well as being the source for Sonos.

I have an ATV but use it only for mirroring my iPad. As far as I can gather from these forums Airport Express is subject to interference (while my Sonos never is) and I gather the ATV's audio frequency range may be restricted to about 15 khz, which is not the case with Sonos.

Please note, I am not prejudiced for, or against, Apple. I use PC, iMac, iPad, iPod and Linux - whichever I find best for the job on hand. For music about my house, I have not found anything more convenient and reliable than Sonos.

Andrew

 

[richardw42]

As Match is a back up of your own library. If bb goes down you could then do a last resort of switching on PC temporarily. Couldn't you ?

You're right I would worry about download limit. I'll look in that one

 

[richardw42]

Agreed. I have no particular affinity with Apple products. I do have iPhone and iPad but only because they're best in market. I'd quite happily go elsewhere if the was better.

 

[daveh75]

My point being you have an excellent product with Sonos and adding a NAS seems the logical solution to me, rather than replacing it with one where you're at the mercy of a broadband connection.

 

[richardw42]

Think I have some grass is greener syndrome. I'd have to be very sure of my theory matching my expectations before I'd give up Sonos. It is the bast component in my house. By far.

I really do love it.

Sometimes it's good to have people remind you that what you've got is already as good as it gets.

Perhaps in a few years tech will catch up with my imagination.

 

[bigboss]

If anything, get rid of the Zeppelin & use the S5 in the bedroom instead!

 

[richardw42]

I have thought about it and it still might happen. I do like it when I put phone on Zeppelin at night it's all charged by the morning, but iPod docks are very 2011.

Still waiting for positive experiences but without them I'll stick with what I have.

 

[Andy Clough]

I've recently replaced my AirPlay system with a Sonos set-up and couldn't be happier. No more dropouts, lost connections or interference. I'd stick with what you've got.

 

[Overdose]

There are, to my mind, only two benefits for iTunes Match and they are the ability to access your music library away from your home and the other is to upgrade all pre-existing mp3s in your library to 256Kbps. The last reason is worthwhile if you have a lot of music < 256Kbps.

The first reason is not a large enough draw to me, as with a properly networked and internet accessible NAS, you effectively have the same function and that is only valid if you have internet signal wherever you may be. I have my entire library of well over 1000 Discs, on my 160GB iPod classic, stored at 256/260 Kbps VBR. The sound quality is excellent and I can see no better means of portability, portable 1.8" and 2.5" HDDs are relatively cheap for when you are on the go.

 

[bigboss]

iTunes match is a subscription service. What would happen if you decide to stop your subscription in the future? I would trust my music in my hard drive to playback from.

 

[Overdose]

iTunes match is a subscription service. What would happen if you decide to stop your subscription in the future? I would trust my music in my hard drive to playback from.

I believe that you would lose the lot. Good innit?

 

[Diamond Joe]

I'd stick with what you've got.

... what he said + get a NAS.

 

[robjcooper]

iTunes match is a subscription service. What would happen if you decide to stop your subscription in the future? I would trust my music in my hard drive to playback from.

I believe that you would lose the lot. Good innit?

And wrong.

All you lose would be the ability to stream your matched music from iCloud to all your iDevices. All iTunes Match does is scan your iTunes library and then cross checks and matches what is already available on the apple iTunes servers - it doesn't upload your stored music. If however it finds songs which aren't on the servers then they will be uploaded from your computer. If you cancel your subscription, it doesn't then wipe your original drive of all its music, it just means you lose your mobile iCloud access to your music library.

from Apple's iTunes Match FAQ section

What happens if I don’t resubscribe after the first year? Will I lose any upgraded songs?No. Any songs you’ve upgraded or downloaded again are completely safe. The only thing you lose is the central storage — iCloud will no longer stream or download matched or uploaded songs to your devices.And I'd +1 sticking with your sonos.Rob

 

[professorhat]

I agree to stick with your Sonos system - it's undoubtedly superior to the Apple Airport Express units. The main argument against Sonos for a new starter is the price when they compare it with an AEX, but you've already made the investment.

A new NAS probably isn't that much - how much storage do you need? I've just literally purchased a new Synology NAS - it's going to become the backbone of a number of different functions (media sharing, iTunes library, iPhoto storage, backups, virtual server farm etc. to start with) and I know there are plenty of other things I might also be able to use it for later on if I ever decide to get round to it (hosting webmail + web sites, in-house surveillance, VPN functionality etc.). So I've spent quite a lot on it for all that potential functionality.

But if you literally just need some storage on the network to store your iTunes library, you can get a 2 TB Western Digital or Buffalo NAS for just over £100 that will do all you need. This is only barely more than one Airport Express unit + iTunes Match subscription for one year.

 

[Overdose]

iTunes match is a subscription service. What would happen if you decide to stop your subscription in the future? I would trust my music in my hard drive to playback from.

I believe that you would lose the lot. Good innit?

And wrong.

All you lose would be the ability to stream your matched music from iCloud to all your iDevices.

What happens if I don’t resubscribe after the first year? Will I lose any upgraded songs?
No. Any songs you’ve upgraded or downloaded again are completely safe. The only thing you lose is the central storage — iCloud will no longer stream or download matched or uploaded songs to your devices.

So how do you retreive your music should you have lost your library for some reason, if you cannot download or stream?

It seems to me that you'd be better off with a couple of HDDs with your library stored on and backed up, no reliance on a third party and no reliance upon an internet connection.

If you want to stream music from the net, it might as well be something like Spotify.

Amazons model seems better, with the ability to access any of your Amazon digital media purchases any time for free. No paid subscriptions.

 

[professorhat]

So how do you retreive your music should you have lost your library for some reason, if you cannot download or stream?

The same way you would if you didn't have an iTunes Match subscription i.e. by restoring from a backup. iTunes Match is not designed to be a backup of your music collection, it's designed to allow you to access your entire iTunes music collection from any device which is connected to the internet, for as long a time as you pay for the priviledge to do so.

It seems to me that you'd be better off with a couple of HDDs with your library stored on and backed up, no reliance on a third party and no reliance upon an internet connection.

If your purpose is to backup your music collection, then yes, this is absolutely the way to go (and Apple would agree with you). For the OP, a NAS is the way to go really, and I think everyone who has posted on this thread has also agreed with that.

If you want to stream music from the net, it might as well be something like Spotify.

Amazons model seems better, with the ability to access any of your Amazon digital media purchases any time for free. No paid subscriptions.

Possibly, so long as your entire music collection is available on Spotify / purchased from Amazon. If it isn't, the iMatch service might be better for you. There are many options available and iMatch is just one which will fit certain people's needs. If it doesn't, then look at the other options available.

 

[richardw42]

Thank you all. Seems pretty unanimous that NAS is the way to go. Sonos is fantastic so I'm not disappointed (too much)

From looking around. Synology seems the one for me. The 212(?). There are different versions of it for sale on Amazon at the mo. I'm guessing the one at £160 will be fine. Then I need a couple of HDs. Are there any strong recommendations for one make in particular.

 

[professorhat]

Always tricky this one as, although some are considered better than others, any brand of HDD is at risk of failing. I've personally opted for Western Digital drives (these ones in fact). You can get cheaper 3 TB drives (like this Seagate), but I've gone for ones designed to be used 24x7 since I intend to run my NAS that way.

2 TB drives are quite a bit cheaper if you don't need that much storage. However, if you're going for the Synology 212, I'd advise setting the drives up in a RAID 1 (or mirror) - this will protect your data if one of the hard disks were to fail allowing you to continue to use the NAS and simply replace it with a new one asap.

EDIT - oh, make sure you check the compatability list on Synology's website (link) to ensure any disk you buy has been tested and approved to work in the device you're looking to buy.

 

[richardw42]

Thanks prof. Your posts have been really helpful. I now know what need to do.

Thanks again.

 

[professorhat]

Welcome - my Synology has just turned up today so I'm configuring it as we speak. So far so good, but not got anything up and running yet (it's building my RAID config at the mo).

But give us a shout with any questions as likely I'll have been through it already!

 

[Dan Turner]

I can only echo, from my own painful experience, what others have said - Sonos is far more stable, you will probably seriously regret moving to an AE based system.

 

[robjcooper]

So how do you retreive your music should you have lost your library for some reason, if you cannot download or stream?

The same way you would if you didn't have an iTunes Match subscription i.e. by restoring from a backup. iTunes Match is not designed to be a backup of your music collection, it's designed to allow you to access your entire iTunes music collection from any device which is connected to the internet, for as long a time as you pay for the priviledge to do so.

It seems to me that you'd be better off with a couple of HDDs with your library stored on and backed up, no reliance on a third party and no reliance upon an internet connection.

If your purpose is to backup your music collection, then yes, this is absolutely the way to go (and Apple would agree with you). For the OP, a NAS is the way to go really, and I think everyone who has posted on this thread has also agreed with that.

If you want to stream music from the net, it might as well be something like Spotify.

Amazons model seems better, with the ability to access any of your Amazon digital media purchases any time for free. No paid subscriptions.

Possibly, so long as your entire music collection is available on Spotify / purchased from Amazon. If it isn't, the iMatch service might be better for you. There are many options available and iMatch is just one which will fit certain people's needs. If it doesn't, then look at the other options available.

Thanks Prof,

Couldn't have answered it better myself !!

Rob

 

[Overdose]

My point was that iTunes Match is more of a roaming service and offers little to the home user, over existing equipment (presumably at least one computer and some sort of music playback system. A NAS is the ideal solution, being accessible over the internet as well as home network.