Comment by lh7777 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by lh7777 | Hacker News Reader

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I've had a Sonos system for maybe 5 years and just started dismantling it a week ago. The hardware is great, but the apps have always been terrible -- they add just enough friction that I've been subconsciously avoiding using the system for some time now. If you're into voice control, it's probably OK, but I'm not interested in that. The Spotify app (via Spotify Connect) is probably the best interface for Sonos, but I'm not a big Spotify fan and want to be able to easily play from other sources.

I also looked into DIY options and came to the same conclusions about reliability and time spent fiddling with it.

We have mostly Apple devices, so I decided to just give Airplay 2 a shot. I bought a used Airport Express for our living room hi-fi system and a portable Libratone Zipp speaker to use elsewhere (it's in the kitchen right now). If the system continues to work as well as it has over the past week, I'll probably get a couple more Zipps. But because it has its own battery power, it's easy to just unplug and carry it to where I need it, so I don't think we'll need one for every room like we did for Sonos.

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but isn’t Sonos also AirPlay 2 compatible? Or is it locking you into its own walled garden?

Edit: in other words what’s the trade-off between Sonos and Zips in this case?

Definitely not a dumb question. The newest Sonos speakers are Airplay 2 compatible, but mine are older and don't support it. You're right that I could've bought one new Sonos speaker to enable Airplay 2 for my whole system, but I'd always have to group that new speaker with older speaker(s) to use Airplay.

I could replace all my old Sonos gear with the new versions to solve that problem, but that's a pretty expensive proposition. The Sonos One and Zipp aren't that different in price ($200 vs $190), but the Zipp really competes with the $400 Sonos Move portable. And the Sonos Port (connects Sonos directly to a traditional amp) is ridiculously priced at $450, although I suppose I could just use the Airport Express if I'm not going to use the Sonos software.

The real reason, though, is that I don't want voice control and you can't get Sonos speakers that support Airplay 2 but don't have voice control. The Zipp also supports Bluetooth and line-in, so they're more flexible.

Edit: forgot that the Sonos Move also support Bluetooth (but that's their only device that does).

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