Follow Up on 2.6 upgrade, new touch panels and Sonos Integration

[pinkoos]

So, my new dealer spent the whole day (longer than he was expecting I believe) to change out one touch panel, install a completely new one in a different location, relocate a 6 button keypad, upgrade me to 2.6 and try and tie in my Sonos Play speakers into Control4 along with installing a Sonos Connect into the system.

 

Anyway, he hit some snafus along the way, but got most of it done.  There are some issues, though, that he will be coming back for tomorrow (Thursday).  Our study lost the ability for audio to switch from one source to another.  He can switch it via his computer when he pulls up my project, but when I try to switch from say, one Tivo to another or to Apple TV, the audio doesn't change.  The audio from the previous input stays on even though the video changes to the new input.  He spent quite awhile trying to figure out what was going on and basically decided that I may need some new/updated drivers for the matrix or something like that.  Also, our gameroom lost all audio completely.  The video works and changes from one input to another, but there is no audio at all.  He thinks this is also related to drivers or something like that and is going to try and get it all figured out when he returns tomorrow.

 

The other issue seems to be with the Sonos.  From my previous threads, I have 3 freestanding Sonos speakers and a Sonos Bridge connected directly to the router to create the mesh network.  I bought a Sonos Connect for him to install today as I understood from him and you guys that a Connect is needed to be able to play Sonos through my ceiling speakers via the amp.

 

Now, I'm trying to play around with the Sonos within the Control4 app and have found some strange things.

 

1.  Via the Sonos app, the Connect is present (I've named it Control4 Connect) and it works fine (again, via the Sonos dedicated app).  That is, if I go to the Control4 app and turn on Sonos in say, the study, and then jump back to the Sonos app itself and play some music to the Control4 Connect, it plays through the ceiling speakers as would be expected.

 

However, if I try and play Sonos through the Control4 app (i.e., Study, Listen, Sonos), first I had to authorize my streaming accounts again (i.e., Spotify, Amazon Music, etc.) which I thought was weird since it's just really like adding another speaker to my pre-existing Sonos network, right?  Then, when trying to play the music, it is playing through the Sonos Play speaker that I have in the study, rather than through the study's ceiling speakers.  Almost like some wire is crossed or something like that.

 

Again, when playing through Sonos app, music comes out correctly through study ceiling speakers.

When playing through Control4 app, music comes out through study Sonos free standing speaker.

 

My dealer is coming tomorrow, so I'm hoping he can sort it out.  However, one thing I thought of right off the bat is that I have *both* a Bridge and a Connect in my system.  The Bridge is hardwired to my router and it looks like my dealer hardwired the Connect today to an ethernet switch that I'm sure leads back to my router.

 

Could that be the problem?  The Bridge and the Connect are, I'm guessing, redundant.  Could they be somehow confusing the system as to where the music is supposed to be coming from?

 

Before unhooking the Bridge and possibly messing something up, I was going to just wait for my dealer to come back and see what he thinks could be the issue.

 

What do you guys think, however?

 

Thanks.

[Cyknight]

First: Some services require you to reauthorize through the C4 interface, regardless of Sonos status.

Second: It sounds like the Sonos driver isn't quite set right yet, ie your Sonos connect is set as one of the 'play' units - this can cause some of the behaviour you're seeing.

Third - the lack of audio/audio switching sounds mainly like a mix-up in bindings. Sonos drivers ask for or are auto-updates - there are no 'new' drivers for any Control4 matrix switches (any updates there are auto-loaded on an update anyway).

[pinkoos]

So what should my dealer have set the Connect as?  I'll suggest that as a possible fix if I know what to have him try.

 

The audio issues are not Sonos related.  I guess I wasn't that clear in my OP.  The audio issues have to do with video sources (i.e., Tivos, Apple TV, etc.).  Basically unrelated to the Sonos stuff and seems very related to my receiver somehow as the study and gameroom audio is controlled by the receiver whereas the audio in my other rooms (master, master bath, family room, etc.) go through the amp.

 

He mentioned that he checked and double checked the "bindings" (I didn't know what that meant when he was telling me this) and it seems that it is all correct in that regard.

 

One other thing he mentioned is that my previous dealer (the one who did the install 4 or so years ago) didn't do things very conventionally and so he's having to take a lot of time kinda retracing what was done to setup my system in the first place.

[pinkoos]

Also, how do I get the individual streaming services icons on the Listen screen?  I notice that those drivers are "optional" according to EV's page on v8.

[Cyknight]

Isn't the PLAY the endpoint FOR that audio? If so - it's Sonos driver related.

 

Induvidual services are drivers the dealer adds.

[AK1]

Also, how do I get the individual streaming services icons on the Listen screen?  I notice that those drivers are "optional" according to EV's page on v8.

Dealer just needs to copy some "mini" drivers into the project where required for these icons to appear under Listen. Should only take a minute or two.

[pinkoos]

Thanks.  Let me see if I can get him to do that.

[pinkoos]

So my dealer came the next day and pretty much took care of everything with one little catch (will mention at the end).

 

Audio in our study and gameroom is working again and as expected.  He mentioned something about a "patch" but didn't go into much detail, which is good b/c I probably wouldn't have understood what he was talking about anyway.

 

For the Sonos, according to him, the Bridge was probably the problem.  Having the Bridge and the Connect hardwired into the system seemed to cause problems as to what the Control4 app was picking to output the music.  He said that once he disconnected the Bridge, everything started playing nicely again and as expected.  My Sonos app shows my 3 free-standing speakers (Play:1, 3 and 5 as well as the Connect).  When my kids use the Sonos app, they can theoretically output to the Connect (or Group the Connect with other speakers), but it won't have any effect as the wall/ceiling speakers would still need to be activated via the Control4 app.  So, in effect, my kids have access to the Play:1, 3 and 5, but not the Connect and, hence, not the Control4 speakers.

 

If I, on the other hand, play music via the Control4 app, I can output through my wall/ceiling speakers *and*, by jumping back to the Sonos app, group the Play speakers with the Connect to output to them as well.  Very cool.

 

So, although I didn't end up with two separate Sonos networks, I did:  A kids network that excludes Control4 and a network for me/my wife to use that uses Control4 and Sonos apps in conjunction.

 

Okay, here's the one catch mentioned at the beginning of this post:

 

In our study, we have 5.1 surround with left front, center, right front, left rear, right rear and a sub.  This is all controlled by a Denon receiver that's in the study itself (b/c the whole Control4 rack is in the study closet).  All this is tied into Control4.  My wife and I noticed last night that it seems that only the left speakers are functioning with the center channel also possibly working.  The right front and right rear are definitely not on.  I forgot to check the sub specifically, but will do so tonite.  On the receiver's display, it shows indicators for all the speakers though.

 

Now, we're not sure if this is a new thing since the 2.6 upgrade on Wednesday and subsequent fixing of the audio issue yesterday or if this has been like this for a long time and we're only now, coincidentally, noticing it.  I checked the audio via seveal inputs (two Tivos and an AppleTV) and it's definitely not coming through the right speakers when using any of those inputs.

 

At this point, it doesn't affect our listening except that we can tell that the sound is coming from the left and, possibly center, only.  But only b/c we are focusing on it.  I actually didn't notice it...it was my wife who did, which is surprising in and of itself!

 

Anyway, obviously no one here knows how our whole system was hooked up, but does this sound like a binding problem, a wiring problem, a simple connection problem, a speaker problem or something else?

 

Thanks!

[Cyknight]

If the play units are part of C4 you wouldn't need to jusmp to the sonos app at all - the 'zone' page in C4 can handle that.

 

As for the speakers - that's likely just a connection issue with the wires. Could be the speaker wires, but being one whole side I've a feeling he's just feeding you analogue stereo and a wire is loose...

[pinkoos]

How do I/dealer make the Play units part of Control4?  What would I need to ask him to do and can he do it remotely?

 

For the speakers, should I just check for loose connections on the back of the receiver or somewhere else?

 

Thanks!

[Cyknight]

As your Sonos app controlls all of them already, it's just a matter of adding in zoneplayer drivers and binding them to the correct unit - this can be done remotely.

 

Id check the back of the receiver - chances are you'll see only one stereo wire pair that you can then trace to the Matrix switch you likely have.

[pinkoos]

Thanks!

[RAV]

Run the speaker level adjustment in the receiver.

If the speakers sound there but not from a connected source, it's a source input issue.

if they don't sound on the level adjustment it's a speaker wire issue or bad amplifier.

[pinkoos]

Okay, I'll have to look up how to do that but that sounds like a good idea as well.