What's the best set up for streaming music in our house?
November 12, 2015 11:15 AM Subscribe
We want to stream music to our living room. Maybe throughout the house later. What set up should we look at?
I have an iPhone 6. We have an iPad, two PC laptops, and a PC desktop. We also have an apple laptop, but it currently has no music on it. We use Spotify quite a bit and have hundreds of CDs (although most of the music we currently listen to is available on spotify and is also on an external hard drive).
For christmas, my husband asked for some kind of device that we can put in our living room that will play music. (Actually he asked for a CD player and I told him no, it needed to play digital music). The living room is too far from our cable router to be hooked to things with wire, but our wireless network is pretty good.
I guess ideally I would like a thing that will connect to the PC desktop and my iPhone and play music. Would like it to play spotify, either on it's own or I guess through my phone. Sound quality matters, but I'd prefer to keep it relatively small on the form factor. Would be great if we can expand to other rooms at some point. Willing to spend up to $1000 if necessary, and willing to buy multiple components if that helps.
What should I be looking at?
I have an iPhone 6. We have an iPad, two PC laptops, and a PC desktop. We also have an apple laptop, but it currently has no music on it. We use Spotify quite a bit and have hundreds of CDs (although most of the music we currently listen to is available on spotify and is also on an external hard drive).
For christmas, my husband asked for some kind of device that we can put in our living room that will play music. (Actually he asked for a CD player and I told him no, it needed to play digital music). The living room is too far from our cable router to be hooked to things with wire, but our wireless network is pretty good.
I guess ideally I would like a thing that will connect to the PC desktop and my iPhone and play music. Would like it to play spotify, either on it's own or I guess through my phone. Sound quality matters, but I'd prefer to keep it relatively small on the form factor. Would be great if we can expand to other rooms at some point. Willing to spend up to $1000 if necessary, and willing to buy multiple components if that helps.
What should I be looking at?
Sonos is the leader in this. Everyone I know who has one loves it, and it works well for multi-room. (I have a built-in whole home audio system, because my house came with speakers throoughout. It's awesome, but that's a big project if you don't already have the speakers).
posted by primethyme at 11:30 AM on November 12, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by primethyme at 11:30 AM on November 12, 2015 [6 favorites]
The cheap option that would probably make your hubby happy is to get a CD player system with an aux input. You can then use a basic 3.5mm audio cable to hook up any of the devices you already have to play streaming music through the system.
If you have a TV with decent receiver and surround sound system in your living room, perhaps it already has an aux input?
posted by phreckles at 11:31 AM on November 12, 2015
If you have a TV with decent receiver and surround sound system in your living room, perhaps it already has an aux input?
posted by phreckles at 11:31 AM on November 12, 2015
Yep, Sonos is a great answer for that price range. There's a big expense up front if you want to connect to existing equipment (in our case, a $50 Bridge to extend our wi-fi signal & directly plug in to the hard drive where we store all our digital music, a $350 Connect to hook up to our existing record player & preamp, and a $300 Play3 speaker). Otherwise the whole system is modular.
We had an old Bose before we went wireless, and the Play3 speaker sounds equivalent if not better. We've had this set-up for about a year and a half and absolutely love it. It's super easy to use--even my technophobe partner uses it without problems--and Spotify's integrated into it (so is Soundcloud and a bunch of other stuff, like a bunch of radio stations). We'll be adding more speakers over time (shhh but for Christmas I got us a small $200 Play1 speaker to put in the bathroom).
On edit: as mentioned above, you can synchronize playback across all speakers, but you can also play different htings on different speakers at the same time.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 12:00 PM on November 12, 2015
We had an old Bose before we went wireless, and the Play3 speaker sounds equivalent if not better. We've had this set-up for about a year and a half and absolutely love it. It's super easy to use--even my technophobe partner uses it without problems--and Spotify's integrated into it (so is Soundcloud and a bunch of other stuff, like a bunch of radio stations). We'll be adding more speakers over time (shhh but for Christmas I got us a small $200 Play1 speaker to put in the bathroom).
On edit: as mentioned above, you can synchronize playback across all speakers, but you can also play different htings on different speakers at the same time.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 12:00 PM on November 12, 2015
A while back I invested in a Slimserver / Squeezebox system. Over the years I added a few more Squeezeboxes and Logitech radios. I bought a Vortexbox server once I got tired of dealing with my homebuilt server. All this equipment cost a lot of money and requires occasional maintenance and is prone to all the issues any network faces.
I can play music from my large library of MP3s and I can streams stuff from Pandora and other services like it. I can play different music in different areas of the house or I can sync them and play the same thing everywhere. It's nice. Logitech has since discontinued sales of these devices though I think there might be other compatible options out there.
If I were to start from scratch today, I would buy a bluetooth speaker for any room in the house where I wanted music and then use my iPhone, or a re-purposed older iPhone, to play music on them. There is nothing that my expensive and clunky server setup can do that an iPhone + speaker can't. I'm pretty sure some Bluetooth speakers will even let you sync up multiple speakers to do the whole house audio thing.
So my suggestion is to download all the necessary apps to a smart phone and buy some Bluetooth speakers.
posted by bondcliff at 12:08 PM on November 12, 2015
I can play music from my large library of MP3s and I can streams stuff from Pandora and other services like it. I can play different music in different areas of the house or I can sync them and play the same thing everywhere. It's nice. Logitech has since discontinued sales of these devices though I think there might be other compatible options out there.
If I were to start from scratch today, I would buy a bluetooth speaker for any room in the house where I wanted music and then use my iPhone, or a re-purposed older iPhone, to play music on them. There is nothing that my expensive and clunky server setup can do that an iPhone + speaker can't. I'm pretty sure some Bluetooth speakers will even let you sync up multiple speakers to do the whole house audio thing.
So my suggestion is to download all the necessary apps to a smart phone and buy some Bluetooth speakers.
posted by bondcliff at 12:08 PM on November 12, 2015
My initial thought was Sonos as well. This is the exact use case it was designed for. Also, I haven't tried it yet, but a Chromecast Audio for each room might also work if you have (or want to buy) speakers already.
posted by cgg at 12:24 PM on November 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by cgg at 12:24 PM on November 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Keith Talent at 12:24 PM on November 12, 2015
These will be on the market soon, and they look really cool. I don't know what the sound quality will be like, but they might be an option. No special wiring necessary.
posted by ATX Peanut at 12:34 PM on November 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by ATX Peanut at 12:34 PM on November 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
Another vote for Sonos. They are a very very clear leader in this space, and do everything you asked for (especially the multi-room expansion) better than anything else on the market. We've got four zones in our house (2 connected to external amplifiers/receivers, and 2 with built-in amplifiers connected to external speakers -- all of these sound better than the Sonos branded all-in-one speakers).
I primarily use it for streaming radio in MP3 or AAC format, Spotify, and FLAC files served from a Windows/SMB shared folder on a consumer-grade NAS device. It is perfect for this.
The only thing that Sonos doesn't do well is deal with iTunes DRM. Unless you've got a fair amount of purchased iTunes tracks, this doesn't matter.
You can even hook an old CD player (or new bluetooth receiver) to line-level inputs on any of the zones, and have it output music to any other zone (or multiples simultaneously). No other digital music system that I've seen does this well.
It's worth buying the $50 bridge to connect to your wired network -- the Sonos system will then establish a mesh network between itself on another channel instead of using your existing WiFi. This makes both your existing wifi and the sonos network more reliable.
posted by toxic at 12:34 PM on November 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
I primarily use it for streaming radio in MP3 or AAC format, Spotify, and FLAC files served from a Windows/SMB shared folder on a consumer-grade NAS device. It is perfect for this.
The only thing that Sonos doesn't do well is deal with iTunes DRM. Unless you've got a fair amount of purchased iTunes tracks, this doesn't matter.
You can even hook an old CD player (or new bluetooth receiver) to line-level inputs on any of the zones, and have it output music to any other zone (or multiples simultaneously). No other digital music system that I've seen does this well.
It's worth buying the $50 bridge to connect to your wired network -- the Sonos system will then establish a mesh network between itself on another channel instead of using your existing WiFi. This makes both your existing wifi and the sonos network more reliable.
posted by toxic at 12:34 PM on November 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
Super-cheap option that may be worth considering: I'm currently using an old phone (HTC One) and an Aux audio input jack on my stereo to stream amazon music, songza, and pandora. It works well, has a tiny footprint, and had an effective price of free.
posted by craven_morhead at 12:37 PM on November 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by craven_morhead at 12:37 PM on November 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
Given your budget, go with a Sonos. At the end of the day what you're paying for with the Sonos is an extensible way to play music in your house from any device to any (or more) speaker with minimal friction. Good quality sound, too.
I tried the Bluetooth speaker in each room idea, but it just plain sucks in the long run. It especially sucks when you have multiple people in the house who aren't super tech savvy who also just want to play music, because they'll give up in frustration and never use those speakers. I don't want to deal with the multiple variables involved with having multiple bluetooth speakers around the house: Is it on (or do I have to walk over to it and turn it on)? Is it paired with my device or some other device? If it's not paired, I have to walk over and put it in pairing mode and re-pair it. If I'm playing music from my phone but switch to use my laptop in the kitchen I need to transfer control from the phone. And make sure you don't accidentally walk out of range of the speaker! These little bits of friction really add up when all you want to do is something simple like play that song that was just in your dream through the bedroom speaker. Get a Sonos.
posted by homesickness at 12:46 PM on November 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
I tried the Bluetooth speaker in each room idea, but it just plain sucks in the long run. It especially sucks when you have multiple people in the house who aren't super tech savvy who also just want to play music, because they'll give up in frustration and never use those speakers. I don't want to deal with the multiple variables involved with having multiple bluetooth speakers around the house: Is it on (or do I have to walk over to it and turn it on)? Is it paired with my device or some other device? If it's not paired, I have to walk over and put it in pairing mode and re-pair it. If I'm playing music from my phone but switch to use my laptop in the kitchen I need to transfer control from the phone. And make sure you don't accidentally walk out of range of the speaker! These little bits of friction really add up when all you want to do is something simple like play that song that was just in your dream through the bedroom speaker. Get a Sonos.
posted by homesickness at 12:46 PM on November 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
Sonos
posted by matildaben at 1:08 PM on November 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by matildaben at 1:08 PM on November 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
Nthing Sonos.
posted by WalkerWestridge at 1:58 PM on November 12, 2015
posted by WalkerWestridge at 1:58 PM on November 12, 2015
tiny warning about sonos - i believe they still have a limit of about 65,000 tracks. that may not matter if your music is in the cloud, or if you have less tracks than that (as most will), but for some it's a nuisance.
posted by andrewcooke at 3:01 PM on November 12, 2015
posted by andrewcooke at 3:01 PM on November 12, 2015
Perhaps a bit of a tangent, but here's a negative on Sonos (and possibly for any wireless solution?): don't expect especially high audio quality. I bought one of the larger Sonus speakers, and did a side by side comparison with an ancient bookshelf Advent speaker connected to an equally ancient Luxman receiver. Although the dried out Advent would occassionally rattle, it was clearly superior. Instruments in classical pieces could be distinguished whereas the Sonos sounded muddy. We returned the Sonos. Maybe others can report a different experience, or maybe fidelity at that level doesn't matter vs the other trade-offs.
posted by Kevin S at 5:03 PM on November 12, 2015
posted by Kevin S at 5:03 PM on November 12, 2015
If you buy a sonos, keep in mind you want the biggest sonos. The little ones are just... disappointing. I was thoroughly unimpressed with them(and still think they're overpriced) until i got to demo the largest "5" model.
However, i still think for the same price this is MUCH more impressive. Everyone loves to dump on bose, but their integrated digital speakers and portable stuff has been really impressive in the past few years. It has a much clearer high end and can, if you want, more clearly push way higher volumes while retaining more headroom at low volumes than the big sonos. Which isn't to say the big sonos sounds bad, it just sounds bad in comparison.
I've personally had better experiences with explicitly airplay devices than i've had with anything else, but it doesn't play super nice with windows unless you're specifically using itunes for everything. You'd need to use spotify with your phone if you went that route.(unless you want to buy third party apps and spend time fooling around). The flipside, though, is that the bose is it's own autonomous unit that can handle spotify and pandora and such with its own internal software, screen, and remote a lot like a traditional radio.
$500 is enough money to buy something like these and a chromecast audio, or even a receiver that has airplay(AND bluetooth, and probably integrated spotify pandora) and some decent quality lower-midrange speakers that would kick the crap out of either of those boomboxes. But then you're getting in to picking out a receiver and speakers, and assembling the whole setup. Is that something you're willing to play around with? I usually steer people that way, and could write another post on that. But i'm beginning to understand the market and ease of setup/use of an integrated unit that sounds Pretty Good and requires no real setup besides punching in your wifi password.
posted by emptythought at 5:49 PM on November 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
However, i still think for the same price this is MUCH more impressive. Everyone loves to dump on bose, but their integrated digital speakers and portable stuff has been really impressive in the past few years. It has a much clearer high end and can, if you want, more clearly push way higher volumes while retaining more headroom at low volumes than the big sonos. Which isn't to say the big sonos sounds bad, it just sounds bad in comparison.
I've personally had better experiences with explicitly airplay devices than i've had with anything else, but it doesn't play super nice with windows unless you're specifically using itunes for everything. You'd need to use spotify with your phone if you went that route.(unless you want to buy third party apps and spend time fooling around). The flipside, though, is that the bose is it's own autonomous unit that can handle spotify and pandora and such with its own internal software, screen, and remote a lot like a traditional radio.
$500 is enough money to buy something like these and a chromecast audio, or even a receiver that has airplay(AND bluetooth, and probably integrated spotify pandora) and some decent quality lower-midrange speakers that would kick the crap out of either of those boomboxes. But then you're getting in to picking out a receiver and speakers, and assembling the whole setup. Is that something you're willing to play around with? I usually steer people that way, and could write another post on that. But i'm beginning to understand the market and ease of setup/use of an integrated unit that sounds Pretty Good and requires no real setup besides punching in your wifi password.
posted by emptythought at 5:49 PM on November 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
N-thing Sonos. We really like it. It's great for parties, movies, or just relaxing. I can listen to music in the bedroom that's different from what he wants to listen to in the livingroom. My husband somehow rigged it so that our little turntable can play through them as well.
The only minor annoying thing (and this is minor) is the Spotify integration is a leetle bit annoying for multiple accounts. It's perfectly adequate for my needs and they are constantly improving it (we originally had to use a non approved hack) but just so you go with both eyes open because this is the main way you say you listen to music, same as us. But even with its minor annoyances I really like it and I'm happy the husband convinced me of the investment.
posted by like_neon at 1:20 AM on November 13, 2015
The only minor annoying thing (and this is minor) is the Spotify integration is a leetle bit annoying for multiple accounts. It's perfectly adequate for my needs and they are constantly improving it (we originally had to use a non approved hack) but just so you go with both eyes open because this is the main way you say you listen to music, same as us. But even with its minor annoyances I really like it and I'm happy the husband convinced me of the investment.
posted by like_neon at 1:20 AM on November 13, 2015
Oh and our set up is somewhat similar to yours - 1 android, 1 iPhone, network hard drive (my husband spent one summer transferring all his CD music onto it), PC, and TV, all of which play through the Sonos system fine.
posted by like_neon at 1:23 AM on November 13, 2015
posted by like_neon at 1:23 AM on November 13, 2015
after reading some comments about sound quality, can i add - sonos are famous for making the network bit. not for speakers or amplifiers, particularly. personally, i would buy from their "component" line and then use speakers (and maybe amplifiers too) from other companies. speakers vary hugely and depend on personal taste - you should go to a decent shop and try listening to a bunch.
(disclaimer - i guess i spend too much money on audio equipment).
posted by andrewcooke at 4:02 AM on November 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
(disclaimer - i guess i spend too much money on audio equipment).
posted by andrewcooke at 4:02 AM on November 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
I listen to a lot of music in my living room by using the Airplay feature on my iPhone or iPad with an Apple TV connected to a nice TV sound system. Probably three or four hours a day on the weekends, and about an hour or so per night on weekdays. I've been doing this for about five years now, and I have used Spotify and a little bit of iTunes (via iTunes Match, only for stuff that's not available on Spotify). I also have a speaker in my kitchen connected to an Airport Express. With this setup, I can listen to music in my kitchen while I make a cocktail, and then transfer the music to my living room when I'm ready to drink said cocktail. (I think there's a way to have the music play through both speakers at once, but I've never done that.)
The downside to this is you can't use Spotify on your PC with the Airplay (unless there's someway to do this that I'm not aware of). You can still use iTunes through the PC, and you can use Spotify through any Apple device. But I almost always use my iPad or iPhone anyway, since I want to be able to change the music while sitting on my couch or standing in my kitchen.
I have noticed no problems with the sound quality, but I am by no means an audiophile.
posted by crLLC at 7:43 AM on November 13, 2015
The downside to this is you can't use Spotify on your PC with the Airplay (unless there's someway to do this that I'm not aware of). You can still use iTunes through the PC, and you can use Spotify through any Apple device. But I almost always use my iPad or iPhone anyway, since I want to be able to change the music while sitting on my couch or standing in my kitchen.
I have noticed no problems with the sound quality, but I am by no means an audiophile.
posted by crLLC at 7:43 AM on November 13, 2015
Response by poster: We went with a Sonos Play5 and a bridge. I bought him an iPod touch (he's been using an old school iPod since forever and has a flip phone). Assuming I can get iTunes family and match to play nicely I think we are good to go! Thanks everyone.
posted by dpx.mfx at 10:52 AM on December 1, 2015
posted by dpx.mfx at 10:52 AM on December 1, 2015
Response by poster: (Turns out you don't need a bridge anymore. We returned that. We now have a sonos in almost every room and it is amazing. I use spotify to organize my music. My husband uses an old computer we had laying around to hold his many, many gigs of music. It's spectacular!)
posted by dpx.mfx at 2:29 PM on May 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by dpx.mfx at 2:29 PM on May 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
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posted by General Malaise at 11:29 AM on November 12, 2015 [1 favorite]