New Sonos Endorsed Drive is out!

[msgreenf]

Here's the issue - before 2.8 getting pandora into the system wasn't great. Airport express/music bridge was functional but suffered from roaming issues/phone calls/etc. and EVERYONE WANTED pandora. Now, it's native great, but more people are requesting Spotify and Sirius. 

 

So whether or not sonos was a selling point of the system is moot. It was almost a necessity. And now that there are countless systems out there running some version of the EV driver that's just gonna stop working one day is going to cause issues. Half the people probably don't even know they have sonos  all they know is pandora and Spotify work

 

If if you can get your customers to pay because integration broke, fantastic for you. If I were an end user I wouldn't pay for any reprogramming. 

 

Time me will tell. Should be fun

But it's not a necessity for everyone. That is what you perceive. It's a necessity for you

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[knowitall]

No, it's not for everyone. Rhapsody wasn't for everyone when c4 forced that one everybody and who uses that now??

 

I dont care care I'll happily use both apps.

 

Since 2012/13 I would put $$ on 70%+ multi zone audio system with c4 included a connect or two 

[knowitall]

Or a connect amp to add zones that were not wired

[SMHarman]

But it's not a necessity for everyone. That is what you perceive. It's a necessity for you

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Indeed.

I sold my Sonos Connect. It's in another posters system now.

Once Pandora went native my primary reason for Sonos went away.

Steaming, I'm trialing TIDAL, paying for Napster. Not sure what I am missing in Spotify. Local music despite an extensive collection is rarely used.

So the real question is what services are customers using on SONOS. When / if Sonos breaks the old driver it may well be that the dealer is not selling a heos, but an upgrade to a traded in hc800 at the bargain end, or to an ea3 and the services used just become native.

[wappinghigh]

https://www.cnet.com/news/spotify-connect-now-available-on-sonos-in-beta/

 It's official.

This is MASSIVE... 

And yes. I am going to give myself a pat on the back on this... I called this out (re Sonos's rather arrogant attitude towards Spotify like months ago. What...with what appeared to be them playing silly games with Spotify Log in, and not supporting full Spotify account settings within the Sonos Spotify app.. something that's been going on for well over a year now and that has really been peaving off Spotify customers.. )....  

I told ya'll the industry was going to move to Spotify connect embedded... and that Sonos was on a hiding to nothing trying to fight this (as it was Spotify who "owned" the customer... )

Anyway.. Who is willing to try this beta?

[wappinghigh]

^ This is a massive backdown on Sonos's behalf IMHO. This makes the C4>Sonos rollover look like a pleasant Sunday Church picnic in comparison....

ROCK ON Control4! ..... > YES! There is light at the end of the tunnel.. you can live without Sonos! 

 

[wappinghigh]

7 hours ago, SMHarman said:

So the real question is what services are customers using on SONOS. 

You mean in general? Like worldwide? The answer to that is clearly in that Spotify Connect CNet announcement I linked two post above  

[wappinghigh]

It works!!!!

("Rack" is one of my Sonos Zone Players)

[SMHarman]

You mean in general? Like worldwide? The answer to that is clearly in that Spotify Connect CNet announcement I linked two post above  

No I meant Control4 customers.

What SONOS services do control4 customers use?

[cdepaola]

No I meant Control4 customers.

What SONOS services do control4 customers use?

Spotify, Pandora, Deezer, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Sound Cloud, Fit Radio, Concert Vault

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[SMHarman]

Spotify, Pandora, Deezer, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Sound Cloud, Fit Radio, Concert Vault

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So you are a sample of one.

I believe that C4 can datamine and know what drivers are on what systems. So they know.

1. The installed base of the ev driver.

2. The installed base of the other components to provide access to streaming service.

My gut feeling is most customers has sonos for Pandora and not much else.

C4 know.

I don't think most customers has sonos for 8 services.

[cdepaola]

1 hour ago, SMHarman said:

So you are a sample of one.

I believe that C4 can datamine and know what drivers are on what systems. So they know.

1. The installed base of the ev driver.

2. The installed base of the other components to provide access to streaming service.

My gut feeling is most customers has sonos for Pandora and not much else.

C4 know.

I don't think most customers has sonos for 8 services.

I know a lot of people with Sonos, in the greater chicago area, many with Control4.  None use 8 services however none use just pandora.  3-4 seems fairly average from conversations I've had.  I also left off tunein which was awesome for the Cubs World Series Win!!!!

Here's the thing.  Sonos and Heos for that mater can integrate new channels far faster then C4 can, and while you could airplay or bluetooth stream all of those channels that has inherent issues.  Sonos/Heos are the superior choice when it comes to options.  If C4 could integrate new services just as fast I'd look at upgrading to an EA5 right now. If C4 could integrate Spotify connect I'd consider selling off two of my sonos and using an ea5 as my primary streamer.  I think spotify connect on the C4 platform would be a huge bonus.  

[Vahn]

I'm in that category of "need Sonos" because it has the best support for the Music Services I use which is Spotify most of the time. But I also like it for Amazon Prime, Pandora, and even Apple Music. 

My allegiance isn't specifically to Sonos. It's to Spotify. I'm a subscriber and have invested a lot of time organizing and setting up my Spotify. I use the Discover Weekly playlist every single week, multiple days of the week.

I love that I can use Spotify everywhere. At work. At home. In the car. So, Spotify on Sonos is pretty critical to my C4 installation.

I am still using the old connection method and I once again had to re-authenticate last night to get on it. No, I'm not ready to try the new driver and lose the transport controls I use almost every day at home. 

I have C4 so I don't have to have "folder of home automation apps" but I have it anyhow. Operating the pool/spa (Jandy) from C4 is really poor, especially the Jandy color changers. Operating the HVAC (Nest) isn't horrible, but it's as good as the Nest app, just to name a few.

As a "pro-sumer" what I want is choices. I want the best C4 integration I can get, but I'm not so naive as to think the native phone aps won't be better in many or most cases than the C4 driver/integration for complex devices. My C4 app and C4 remote works just fine for Apple and Fire TV. Don't need or want their apps or remotes, thank you.

Transport controls and searching are key to music services. The Sonos app is not better than the Spotify app for my use and isn't better than the simple controls on C4 for my usage. I haven't installed the new driver and I am holding out until this shakes itself out better despite how annoying it is to re-auth what feels like every 4 days or so.

[msgreenf]

If Spotify is your service of choice, have you considered a Chromecast Audio right into a C4 Matrix? 

https://support.spotify.com/us/using_spotify/play_on_stereo_tv_car/chromecast-steps-and-setup/ 

[cdepaola]

29 minutes ago, msgreenf said:

If Spotify is your service of choice, have you considered a Chromecast Audio right into a C4 Matrix? 

https://support.spotify.com/us/using_spotify/play_on_stereo_tv_car/chromecast-steps-and-setup/ 

Doesn't this result in the issue of, if the phone rings you here it over the speakers your casting to?  I have one of these and if I remember correctly that is what occurs.

 

[msgreenf]

Just now, cdepaola said:

Doesn't this result in the issue of, if the phone rings you here it over the speakers your casting to?  I have one of these and if I remember correctly that is what occurs.

 

my understanding is that with the Chromecast Audio and spotify connect, that shouldn't happen.  My understanding is that the Music is playing via the Chromecast audio and your phone is just controlling it

[SMHarman]

I know a lot of people with Sonos, in the greater chicago area, many with Control4.  None use 8 services however none use just pandora.  3-4 seems fairly average from conversations I've had.  I also left off tunein which was awesome for the Cubs World Series Win!!!!

Here's the thing.  Sonos and Heos for that mater can integrate new channels far faster then C4 can, and while you could airplay or bluetooth stream all of those channels that has inherent issues.  Sonos/Heos are the superior choice when it comes to options.  If C4 could integrate new services just as fast I'd look at upgrading to an EA5 right now. If C4 could integrate Spotify connect I'd consider selling off two of my sonos and using an ea5 as my primary streamer.  I think spotify connect on the C4 platform would be a huge bonus.  

But which ones. The point about speed to develop a service is valid but with multiple native services now, more often than not the service is native. Pandora and tune In for example.

[cdepaola]

Most popular being Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, MLB Radio, TuneIn. 

Pandora is native in C4.  Can't use Deezer via C4 but you can on Sonos.  Tidal, well they are hurting and its anyones guess how long they will survive.  Wallstreet doesn't think for very long. 

[Cyknight]

6 minutes ago, cdepaola said:

Can't use Deezer via C4 but you can on Sonos.

Actually yes you can. Trick is getting a Deezer Elite account outside of Sonos.

As for what are likely the most appropriate service to come in next (disregarding possibility/cooperation level) I'd say Spotify, Soundcloud and iHeart Radio and SiriusXM. Simply put - those are the largest ones out there at this time. SoundCloud being the biggest in terms of registered users.

Problem is Spotify and iHeart are seemingly a pain to get to cooperate, and SoundCloud I'm told is virtually impossible to work with - while iHeart and Sirius are limited markets on a global scale.

Apple and Amazon, while relative growers in the market, still lag behind Slacker and Guvera, and aren't as big and globally available as people seem to think. Google Music is hard to gauge as they release so few numbers, but I'm tempted to think their numbers are at least a match for Apple and Amazon, with a largere range of availability than Amazon, though somewhat less than Apple.

Simply put, while I couldn't care less on a personal level for it - Spotify would make the most sense to add at this time in terms of users and range of distribution, if only because SoundCloud seems out of the question. That said, it's hard to gauge how realistic Spotify is too...

 

Hey if it were just me, get me SiriusXM and be done with it

[wappinghigh]

I know a lot of people with Sonos, in the greater chicago area, many with Control4.  None use 8 services however none use just pandora.  3-4 seems fairly average from conversations I've had.  I also left off tunein which was awesome for the Cubs World Series Win!!!!

Here's the thing.  Sonos and Heos for that mater can integrate new channels far faster then C4 can, and while you could airplay or bluetooth stream all of those channels that has inherent issues.  Sonos/Heos are the superior choice when it comes to options.  If C4 could integrate new services just as fast I'd look at upgrading to an EA5 right now. If C4 could integrate Spotify connect I'd consider selling off two of my sonos and using an ea5 as my primary streamer.  I think spotify connect on the C4 platform would be a huge bonus.  

100% spot on!!!! On ALL your comments ol sport... "I think Spotify Connect on the C4 platform would be a huge bonus"......KBOOM.

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[wappinghigh]

To be honest though guys. Aren't you all a bit tired (like me) of the constant change in all this? I mean it's starting to wear me out ! This service works (then it doesn't) this one now isn't in Sonos. Then it's in Control4. Then search doesn't work. Then Sonos starts a spat with Control4...then has to eat humble pie with a 100pound gorilla hahaa....Then get a Heos. Then Spotify isn't seen in Heos either. Then..... And on and on it goes. LMFAO. Just PLAY ME SOME MUSIC!!!!

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[wappinghigh]

I think it's back to the Crosley..... hahahahaa

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[SMHarman]

To be honest though guys. Aren't you all a bit tired (like me) of the constant change in all this? I mean it's starting to wear me out ! This service works (then it doesn't) this one now isn't in Sonos. Then it's in Control4. Then search doesn't work. Then Sonos starts a spat with Control4...then has to eat humble pie with a 100pound gorilla hahaa....Then get a Heos. Then Spotify isn't seen in Heos either. Then..... And on and on it goes. LMFAO. Just PLAY ME SOME MUSIC!!!!

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"Can't the world stay saved for 5 minutes"

- Bob Parr

[msgreenf]

To be honest though guys. Aren't you all a bit tired (like me) of the constant change in all this? I mean it's starting to wear me out ! This service works (then it doesn't) this one now isn't in Sonos. Then it's in Control4. Then search doesn't work. Then Sonos starts a spat with Control4...then has to eat humble pie with a 100pound gorilla hahaa....Then get a Heos. Then Spotify isn't seen in Heos either. Then..... And on and on it goes. LMFAO. Just PLAY ME SOME MUSIC!!!!

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Isn't this the world of technology? Isn't this why we all love technology? The constant change?

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[wappinghigh]

2 hours ago, msgreenf said:

Isn't this the world of technology? Isn't this why we all love technology? The constant change?

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Sure. Just don't go "back to the future" that's all.. (AKA Sonos withdrawing from the EV style Sonos driver. ) Sonos could have played ball and worked nice with Control4 into the future. Tell me. Why didn't that happen? Have we got all this wrong ? Instead it seems we are told we have to wind back the clock.. Just remember something here dealer folks.... alot of us... yours  truly as well...have ploughed considerable time and effort (And there is a cost to that)..not to mention hundreds of dollars over the years into driver liscence fees and dealer install time to reach C4/Sonos audio distribution Nirvana....Now Sonos thought it was OK to upset all their co-Control4 customers as well.?? Well where was their concern for *us* in All the negotiations? Nope. Seems they were prepared to burn all that.....Excuse me? Did I do something wrong here? Wait wasn't it me who paid for all this legitimately? Did the negotiation lawyers forget that little piece of info? Are we talking cheating or bittorents here? Anyway Sonos is the one with the real problem now.. Now they lose out to the 100 pound Gorilla. They will be the one with the ongoing headache after the hangover....Dumb Sonos boxes here we come.. Rock on Control4