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Sonos Questions

I've been using a Roku Soundbridge for several years but have never been able to get it to successfully play lossless files without constantly rebuffering.I have spent endless hours on the Roku forum site and unsucessfully confering with their alleged support staff and have finally had enough.

The Sonos looks like a good alternative, but I have a few concerns. Other related threads indicate some sonic issues due to jitter problems. I currently use a Proceed DAC with an optical connection to the Soundbridge, and that change from the stock Soundbridge was a big improvement. The Sqeezebox looks like an alternative, but the Sonos interface seems much better (ie something the rest of the family might actually use).

So what's the consensus on sound, assuming that a decent DAC is used?

Second, I have about 2000 CD's so I want to have a commecial ripping service store them for me. Since my computer system is Apple based, I thought ALAC is the way to go. I've also seen threads here that the Buffalo NAS devices can be problematic for Apple users. I need to choose an appropriate NAS device to get this project up and running.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks and Happy New Year!
bbopman

Showing 1 response by hotsauce

hotsauce
108 posts
 
I have 4 Sonos ZP80 and a zonebridge.

I also have a GNSC modded Wadia 20.

Running both into my Audionote 3.1X Signature DAC, the transport is noticably better. It has more air, and much better soundstage.

I find myself listening to the Sonos more though.

It just makes the music more accessable. I have over 4,000 CD ripped to the server in FLAC format.

I'm not noticing any jitter problems, but the Sonos is slightly dark sounding using the internal DAC.

If I had to rerip my collection again I'd still do it myself. You can easily rip 10-20 cd in a sitting, and except for swapping CD's, it can run in the background.

If you paid a service to rip them, its about $1/CD, plus shipping and insurance both ways. 2,000CD @ lets say $15 average value gets you a shipment insured for $30,000! UPS charges 50 cents per $100 value for insurance, or $300 insurance each way.

So, to pay to get them ripped will cost $2,600 or so, and you still have to take every CD out of its jewel box, ship them on spindles, and get each one back in the correct box afterwards.

Regardless of how your music gets ripped, or to what format, you don't want to have to do it all over again. Make sure you have a RAID drive, or other way of preventing loss of data.

Cedar:

VERY interested in the mod you have. Any chance of posting pictures?

John C.
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