[ctviggen]

Well, I thought I'd give something else a try other than my aging Squeezebox.  So, I installed a Sonos player.  I was hoping to get my wife to like it enough to wire the house for music. However, the Sonos is not as good as the Squeezebox in my opinion.  Mainly, this is because I cannot simply hit "random play" of songs.  With the Squeezebox, I can just unselect certain genres, like Christmas and Audiobook.  Assuming your tags are correct (and I've had to correct a lot of them), then you hear only the genres you want when you random play songs or albums.  Otherwise, you have to find the control and skip the many audiobooks and Christmas songs we have as they come up randomly. 

For Sonos (and iTunes), there's no easy way to random play songs or albums.  Unless you set up a playlist with everything in it you want and nothing you don't, you get audiobooks, Christmas, and anything else you don't want.  And setting up a playlist when you have 600+ albums is time-consuming, so I've never done it.  In fact, I've tried to add all albums to a playlist in iTunes (figuring it'd be easier to put everything in and delete the 50 or so albums rather than add everything one by one), but that causes iTunes to crash.  Every.  Freaking. Time.  And even if you set up a playlist like this, every time you add a new album, you have to remember to add the new album to the playlist.  I'm already keeping track of two databases, one for FLAC and one for iTunes (converted from FLAC) and multiple playlists (Christmas on both Squeezebox and iTunes, for instance).  Adding yet another playlist would be tough.

So, I'm back to my Squeezebox and listening to something older than my daughter (almost 9 now).  I miss the SB and can't believe that Logitech was so stupid as to get rid of it.

Also, my wife now listens to music over our Amazon Echo and Prime account.  So, she doesn't even listen to all (that is, any) of the music we own, anyway. 

[martinr]

The other option that will work with Sonos is to download the "stream what you hear" app and run it as a radio station in sonos.  That will play the songs through sonos that are streaming on any computer.  That is one way to play all of the "free music" in amazon prime over a networked system.  With that said music played over stream what you hear is not the same quality of output from other sonos playlists or pandora through sonos IMO.  Of course this may be due to my cheap soundcard in my latptop, not sure. 

http://www.streamwhatyouhear.com/forums/topic/sonos-is-supported/page/2/

[mresseguie]

Hello, ctviggen.

Have you tried a TIDAL subscription - even a temporary one?

I began my subscription about nine months ago and it has had a huge impact on my listening habits. I've been able to explore genres and artists that I had never known even existed. Ready made playlists exist (though you must know their names to find them) and you can create your own. I happily spend the $19.99 every month for this service.

I have one SBT, but it seems to get less use now that I have Tidal. In fact, I didn't bring it with me for our travels this summer. I've got my Mac Mini hooked up to my IDA-8 via USB (or Bluetooth when circumstances dictate).

Best of luck.

Michael

[srb]

Yes, it's difficult if you use static playlists.  But most music software has the ability to create smart playlists which auto-populate based on conditions you set up.  In JRiver Media Center they're called Smartlists and in iTunes they're called Smart Playlists.

I have several different ones based on Genre with exclusions.  Here's an example of my "All Genres" Smart Playlist, which plays all valid musical genres I want to hear with other "genres" excluded that I don't want to hear, very similar to what you want.

 

Steve

[sts9fan]

It's pretty amazing no one had filled the void of the SB. There are plenty of new one but all lack something. I am going all Roon but it's gonna cost me plus the Internet radio seems janky.

[Phil A]

It's pretty amazing no one had filled the void of the SB. There are plenty of new one but all lack something. I am going all Roon but it's gonna cost me plus the Internet radio seems janky.

I agree. I sold mine about a year and a half back (and bought another HAL music sever) and an upgraded PS. I paid $180 for it new (with a 40% off coupon) from Logitech and used it for many years. A bargain for sure.

[richidoo]

Well what ya know? You're right there's no easy way to shuffle play a playlist in Sonos. Huh! Never noticed that before (in 7 years! haha)  Thanks for the headsup.

I've noticed over the years a lot of useful features in Sonos have been removed from the UI, like tone controls, etc. Maybe the onboard memory is limited and the OS keeps growing.

I generally like the features of Sonos for use as a whole house music system, but it's not ideal for use in audiophile system because the analog outputs SQ is not great and the digital coax output is horrendously bad. Reclocking required.

I cracked mine open once (ZP80) to have look inside. Let's just say it's not as pretty on the inside as on the outside. JRC opamps, SMPS with no shielding right close to clocks. Everything jammed into one small space. I agree that my old SB3 does sound better analog and digital.

Funny, I switched from Logitech to Sonos back when Duet came out. They couldn't get it to work so I dumped it and went to trouble free Sonos. Ahhhh. But the SQ suffered.

[Nick B]

My squeezebox 2 and I have always had a love/hate relationship. I just bought an Aries Mini and maybe that will replace my temperamental SB 2
Nick

[dwk]

I think there are a lot of alternatives to the SB system for single-system playback, but like ctviggen I haven't seen anything yet that can easily replace it for multi-room whole-house audio. We frequently 'random play' our collection across 2 or 3 sync'd SBs and I'd need this functionality in any system that replaced it, but like him 'need' the ability to filter by genre. My wife is NOT happy when a Laurie Anderson spoken-word piece shows up in the middle of things. I would have though Sonos would be the obvious alternative, but it doesn't sound like it has enough flexibility.

[martinr]

You can now build playlists using Amazon Prime music and play through the Amazon app in Sonos.  Doesn't matter if you've purchased the music through Amazon or not if you are a prime member.  You can also add in all of the prime discs or downloads you have purchased that are not prime.  This is the best playlist building solution I have come across using Sonos (so far) - but you must be an Amazon Prime member.

[BobC]

No love for Bluesound?

[martinr]

The OP was discussing creating song lists on sonos....

[Charles Calkins]

 I have two SB3's  One I use 97% of the time listening to music. itunes is my music file. The other is in storage for future use.
 Seems that I got into computer music about ten years ago. I've read a lot of about music servers and programs.
 BUTT!!!!  I'm such a DUMDUM!! when it comes to computers I dare not make a change. If I did it would
 probably be three years later when I get it right.

                                                                         Cheers
                                                                      Charlie

[Rusty Jefferson]

Love my SB.  Use it from a central location for the "around the house" system, but not the "main" system.  A buddy just bought into the Denon Heos system.  I don't know if it will allow the playlist functionality the OP is looking for, but the UI is very good.  It integrates Tidal beautifully as well. He added a "preamp" module to his main system and uses the digital out, and the SQ is quite good.  I'm thinking about moving to that system as I know the SB lifespan (or it's remote) may be coming to an end, and I can add the main system to the mix.  Anybody else using Heos?

[mcgsxr]

Not giving up my Touch anytime soon.  Or my hacked Pogoplug that thinks it is a Squeezeplayer.

I did have a recent PC issue that forced me to uninstall and reinstall LMS, but still a great solution for me.

[jk@home]

I have two SB3's  One I use 97% of the time listening to music. itunes is my music file. The other is in storage for future use.
 Seems that I got into computer music about ten years ago. I've read a lot of about music servers and programs.
 BUTT!!!!  I'm such a DUMDUM!! when it comes to computers I dare not make a change. If I did it would
 probably be three years later when I get it right.

                                                                         Cheers
                                                                      Charlie

I just recently retired my SB3 from the main 2 channel rig (now have three in storage) replaced with a Raspberry PI plus HiFIBerry hat running Picoreplayer and my existing LMS. Using Orange Squeeze on a Samsung S7 as a "display/remote". There was a definite improvement in sound quality. Highly recommend you check it out, the setup was not difficult or expensive, even for a fellow computer dumdum (me)   

[Charles Calkins]

I just recently retired my SB3 from the main 2 channel rig (now have three in storage) replaced with a Raspberry PI plus HiFIBerry hat running Picoreplayer and my existing LMS. Using Orange Squeeze on a Samsung S7 as a "display/remote". There was a definite improvement in sound quality. Highly recommend you check it out, the setup was not difficult or expensive, even for a fellow computer dumdum (me) 

Haven't the foggiest notion as to what you are trying to tell me. If I were to look into your suggestions it would open a great big can of worms.
 Don't want that. I'm okay with I've got now.

                                                              Cheers
                                                            Charlie

[ctviggen]

Yes, it's difficult if you use static playlists.  But most music software has the ability to create smart playlists which auto-populate based on conditions you set up.  In JRiver Media Center they're called Smartlists and in iTunes they're called Smart Playlists.

I have several different ones based on Genre with exclusions.  Here's an example of my "All Genres" Smart Playlist, which plays all valid musical genres I want to hear with other "genres" excluded that I don't want to hear, very similar to what you want.

 

Steve

Interesting.  I may have to look into JRiver.  Personally, I can't stand iTunes.  It won't even let me change the main view so I can look at a detailed view (instead of seeing Icons, which I hate).  And whenever I use iTunes, I find it indescribably hard to figure out.  For instance, I was trying to download a movie onto our iPad, and I could use the iPad to download the movie via wireless, but I could not connect the iPad to the computer and do the same thing. Why?  I couldn't figure it out, and I have an electrical engineering degree and many years of computer usage.  I want to have an interface where I can take the movie/song/whatever and simply copy it to the iPad, but that interface does not exist in iTunes.

[srb]

The iTunes interface seems to change a bit with each new version, and you're left to figure out what the changes are (and likely won't be able to figure out why).

I use both JRiver and iTunes.  JRiver for main system listening (hardwired from computer to DAC) and iTunes for 3 remote locations with wireless Airport Express and syncing to iPod Touch.

Although you can use third party Airfoil software (which I do have) to play JRiver to the Airport Express, the remote zone volume controls are on the computer, not on the Android or iOS device.  With iTunes, all remote Airplay zones volume controls are easily accessible within the Apple Remote (for iTunes) app, so it's just easier to use iTunes for that.

Because songs must be added to iTunes (Drag & Drop, File > Add File or File > Add Folder), I use iTunes to organize the library, then JRiver automatically adds it because it is monitoring the iTunes folder.

Personally, I can't stand iTunes.  It won't even let me change the main view so I can look at a detailed view (instead of seeing Icons, which I hate).

The only view in iTunes without any icons is the Song View.  If you're not displaying the Sidebar (View > Show/Hide Sidebar), you will only be looking at the last selected view (Artists, Albums, Songs, Genres).

In Song (detail) view you can then click on any of the column headers to sort.

 

For instance, I was trying to download a movie onto our iPad, and I could use the iPad to download the movie via wireless, but I could not connect the iPad to the computer and do the same thing. Why?

When you download a movie from the Apple Store into the iPad, one way to also get it on the computer is to Sync the device (and vice versa if you downloaded it from the Apple Store on the computer).  There is no copy function per se.

When you connect the iPad to your computer, you can select what content gets synced for each type of content (Apps, Music, Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts, etc.)  -  All, Selected items or Selected Playlists.

 


If all you need to do is get iPad movie purchase downloads onto the computer, you can also just go into the Store within iTunes, click on Movies > Purchased > Not in My Library and download them.

Steve