Been running a Squeezebox network for home audio for close to 20 years now. Logitech abandoned the product line long ago, but the server software is open source with a small but dedicated community. It runs seamlessly in a Docker container on my NAS.
The protocol is well documented and there are clients for almost everything. Rather than buy a “smart” speaker, you can just get an r-pi and plug into anything with an aux in.
It’s more work to set up, but I love that there’s no greedy corporation between me and my music collection.
Master_Engineering_9 on
Welp I was debating going with Sonos for a nice simple WiFi setup but guess not
Resident-Variation21 on
I’m annoyed with Sonos and how frustrating it’s been, but I don’t believe they’re going under
box-art on
Stuff like this is why I bought a dumb speaker from Ikea. Can’t cripple it when it only has basic software and can’t connect to the internet. And it actually sounds good to boot.
Ornithologist_MD on
Firstly, author appears to be the developer for an open-source wireless audio setup, so of course they’re going to shit on Sonos.
Secondly, makes sense that sales of a smart speaker system would drop after 2020. People bought them to make their quarantine less shitty. Surround sound speakers aren’t going to erode away in your living room, so why would you buy another set after?
Third, I don’t know how many employees Sonos has, but… tech lays off ALL THE TIME. Hire, hire, hire!!! Look at all this growth! Oh shit we didn’t continue to exponentially grow, and not making the numbers bigger annually is a sin, so lay everyone off and outsource customer service to another continent.
kaipee on
Snapcast works great
serious_cheese on
I like my Sonos system
RS50 on
That title…reports of Sonos’ death are being greatly exaggerated.
jacabri on
Fuck Sonos! My beam soundbar bricked itself after failing the update, CS: the best we can do is a 30% off a new one after you send us your brick, now I’m stuck with 3 Sonos 1 that I can’t connect to my TV, I used to be a big fan of them
edcline on
What a terribly biased article, calling 100 employee layoff worth sending a shockwave? It was 6% of staff well below the 15%+ many other tech companies are trending. It’s just a thinly veiled elevator pitch and for something he created called audiopile I’m guessing he has the pile part right if he has to go this far to sell it. Also says a lot about zdnets integrity that they don’t require a disclaimer at the top of the article.
Philosipho on
Socialism is always the solution to capitalism. Funny how difficult it is to get people to understand that though.
11 Comments
Been running a Squeezebox network for home audio for close to 20 years now. Logitech abandoned the product line long ago, but the server software is open source with a small but dedicated community. It runs seamlessly in a Docker container on my NAS.
The protocol is well documented and there are clients for almost everything. Rather than buy a “smart” speaker, you can just get an r-pi and plug into anything with an aux in.
It’s more work to set up, but I love that there’s no greedy corporation between me and my music collection.
Welp I was debating going with Sonos for a nice simple WiFi setup but guess not
I’m annoyed with Sonos and how frustrating it’s been, but I don’t believe they’re going under
Stuff like this is why I bought a dumb speaker from Ikea. Can’t cripple it when it only has basic software and can’t connect to the internet. And it actually sounds good to boot.
Firstly, author appears to be the developer for an open-source wireless audio setup, so of course they’re going to shit on Sonos.
Secondly, makes sense that sales of a smart speaker system would drop after 2020. People bought them to make their quarantine less shitty. Surround sound speakers aren’t going to erode away in your living room, so why would you buy another set after?
Third, I don’t know how many employees Sonos has, but… tech lays off ALL THE TIME. Hire, hire, hire!!! Look at all this growth! Oh shit we didn’t continue to exponentially grow, and not making the numbers bigger annually is a sin, so lay everyone off and outsource customer service to another continent.
Snapcast works great
I like my Sonos system
That title…reports of Sonos’ death are being greatly exaggerated.
Fuck Sonos! My beam soundbar bricked itself after failing the update, CS: the best we can do is a 30% off a new one after you send us your brick, now I’m stuck with 3 Sonos 1 that I can’t connect to my TV, I used to be a big fan of them
What a terribly biased article, calling 100 employee layoff worth sending a shockwave? It was 6% of staff well below the 15%+ many other tech companies are trending. It’s just a thinly veiled elevator pitch and for something he created called audiopile I’m guessing he has the pile part right if he has to go this far to sell it. Also says a lot about zdnets integrity that they don’t require a disclaimer at the top of the article.
Socialism is always the solution to capitalism. Funny how difficult it is to get people to understand that though.