Floppyhead – Digital Media and Streaming

By all accounts, the Sonos Zone Player is a great piece of hardware for digital audio. Why is it not more popular? I recently came across a review of the Sonos whole house audio system done by the Wall Street Journal. From the article:

Both Sonos and Rhapsody were originally designed to work with PCs. Sonos is the most polished consumer hardware system on the market for taking the music that resides on a computer and streaming it to multiple other rooms of your home. It consists of a series of small music-playback boxes that connect to each other over their own wireless network. It normally relies on software you install on the computer. The system is controlled by a gorgeous hand-held remote with an iPod-like wheel and a large, bright color screen that show menus and song information.

One of the features that I like is that you can stream audio from network storage (you do not need a computer turned on to play music). So why is the Sonos system not more popular? I have certainly heard of Sonos before. It seems like a great product. I have always felt that if Apple had developed the same system, it would be a huge success. The reason I have not purchased a Sonos system is that I do not have the money to spend $800. I think that is the reason many people have not purchased it. Right now it seems like a niche product though it does seem to be penetrating the large retail stores. The other major factor is that Sonos does not support the iTunes digital rights management, meaning any songs from iTunes cannot be used with the system. I cant imagine Apple changing that anytime soon either.

The new Zone Player 80 unit is a step in the right direction. The unit is cheaper than the Zone Player 100 and allows you to hook into a receiver via an optical line. The other major update is the ability to stream music from Rhapsody music subscription service, which appeals to me though it does require you to purchase an extra base unit to connect directly to a router. That’s another $300. It does seem like a great idea, espcially since the controller allows you to browse Rhpasody music. An unlimited jukebox for $10 a month is pretty cool. I am not a fan of subscription services but if I had a Sonos system, I would be tempted.

Instead of buying a Sonos system, I attempted to build my own. Read about it here. The Sonos still tempts me for three reasons:

1. Integration with Rhapsody
2. The ability to stream music from network area storage, which allows me to turn off my computer
3. My wife is having a hard time with NetRemote.