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Sonos Rocks (continued)
About six months ago, I put a Sonos system in my house. I blogged about the experience here.
Most people put a Sonos system in their house so they can play their music library throughout their home and control the play with a wireless console. But I already have that ability via my Request system so the thing I wanted from Sonos was Rhapsody and Internet radio throughout my house. I got Internet radio working well on Sonos this spring and we love it (listening to WEHM's acoustic sunday morning right now). But the Rhapsody integration wasn't all that great and we didn't use Sonos for Rhapsody very much.
But Sonos has released version 2.0 of their controller software (a free download if you already have a Sonos) and they have vastly improved the Rhapsody integration. Now you can browse the Rhapsody service directly from the wireless controller. It would be great if you could also search the Rhapsody service directly from the controller, but that's not in the new release. Nevertheless, Rhapsody on Sonos is now a very usable feature, maybe even the killer app for Sonos.
Here are a few pictures to show how it works.
This is the first screen of the Rhapsody Music Guide. You can browse by genre, charts (most popular), new releases, and rhapsody recommendations.
This is what it looks like to browse artists by Genre. It's like scrolling through your iPod. The problem is that Rhapsody has thousands of bands and it can be a pain to do it this way. There is a "power scroll" feature that makes this a bit easier.
Once you've found your artist, you can scroll through all of their albums to find the one you want.
And then you can add the artist or album to your favorites so you don't have to scroll to find them again. Or just play the record.
Sonos with Rhapsody is like having an iPod in your hand with almost all of the music you've ever wanted to listen to on it that plays throughout your home or apartment. And that is pretty much nirvana in my opinion.
Sonos isn't cheap. The wireless controller costs $400 and the zone box (you'll need at least one) is $350. If you need a zone player with an integrated amp, then that's $500.
And Rhapsody costs $9.99 per month on top of that.
But if you've got a home stereo system already, for $750 plus $10/month, you can listen to whatever you want throughout your home using a wireless controller to make your music selections.
And that rocks.
Comments (7) | Posted September 24, 2006 in My Music , Venture Capital and Technology
Comments
Fred - Does Request work over a wireless network or do you need cat5 in the house? - Thanks
Posted by: GG | Sep 24, 2006 10:31:24 AM
They should be gobbled up quite shortly
Posted by: howard Lindzon | Sep 24, 2006 10:36:28 AM
I don't know about the service, but the Sonos speakers I have are awesome.
Posted by: jackson | Sep 24, 2006 11:13:55 AM
I think this looks like a fantastic system if I were designing my house or sound system from scratch. The Rhapsody integration is truly a wonderful aspect but all the other features are widely available on other devices people MAY already have. For example, a TiVo does all of this but Rhapsody. If you want wireless, then you can go with Apple's outstanding Airport Express. As for me, I do both, depending upon which room I am in. If I am in the family room, where I typically listen to music, I merely have my PowerBook that I am typing on be the "remote" for the Airport Express.
One other, slightly off topic comment is that I wish all of these remote solutions would integrate into Last.Fm as there is so much music it does not capture. It will capture it when I am using Airport Express as I am using iTunes, but the TiVo playback does not and I suspect the Sonus does not as well.
Again, I think that if one does not have multiple TiVos as I do nor an Airport Express, this is probably the best and most widely integrated system I have seen. I certainly spent more than the $750 to acquire all of my TiVos and my Airport Express. When they can get last.fm integration, that will be a major decision time for me!
...technology is a beautiful thing!
Sounds like you had a blast at ACL! So jealous. One day, I will have to take my kids there.
Posted by: Ted | Sep 24, 2006 11:23:23 AM
Hi Fred
Do you realize that with Sonos 2.0, you can access your current Rhapsody library directly via the Sonos Controller?
Also, going forward, any music you add to your Rhapsody library from either the Rhapsody client or the Sonos Controller will be "in" the Sonos Controller.
To do that you want upgrade to the Sonos 2.0 Windows or Mac Desktop Controller and follow the instructions on this FAQ:
https://sonos.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/sonos.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=447
This will tell the Sonos to ask the Rhapsody service for your library of songs, playlists and custom radio stations.
This "direct to service" concept is the first step toward making consumer electronics able to access all content directly from its source on the net.
The business implication for the CE industry is that the traditional Audio Video folks are going to need to develop some software skills.
Or there is going to be room for a new set of players...Classic race to adapt before the new generation has time to bulk up.
Posted by: Tom - Sonos | Sep 24, 2006 1:04:05 PM
Sonos sure does rock, we have a 4-unit system in the house (its on at full volume now in party mode playing Tool :))
A must-have for audiophiles
Posted by: Nik Cubrilovic | Sep 24, 2006 7:19:08 PM
I like the "Clouds Taste Metallic" featured picture. It's my personal favorite Flaming Lips album.
Posted by: Andrew | Sep 25, 2006 8:34:40 AM
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