Sonos Player For Mac
Editor's Note: Since this review was published, Sonos has renamed the product the Play:5. I’ve made no secret of my love for the ( ), a system designed to let you.
It’s the musical gadget I use most often in my home. But it’s not cheap. To get started you need at least a $349 ZonePlayer 90 and a pair of powered speakers. And if you want a way to control the system apart from your computer, you require either an iPhone or iPod touch with the free or a $349 ( ). Sonos is attempting to bring down this cost of entry with its just-released $399, a totable, table-top unit that's the first ZonePlayer to offer integrated speakers.
Whether it tempts you to join the Sonos family will depend, in large part, on how you like its sound. Parts and ports The S5 carries five speakers—a 3.5-inch woofer, two 3-inch midrange drivers, and two tweeters. Each speaker is driven by its own Class-D digital amplifier. On the back of the S5 you’ll find a 3.5mm headphone port; a 3.5mm audio-input port for connecting an analog audio source such as an iPod, portable disc player, or TV; and two Ethernet ports. You can use one for connecting the S5 to your router and another to deliver a network connection to your computer. If the S5 is connected wirelessly, you can use both ports for network purposes—one for the computer and another for a networked attached storage (NAS) drive, for example. On the top of the unit are volume and mute buttons.
There are a few upgrades to both Mac and Windows desktop apps. Automatic player updates: effortlessly keep your system on the latest software by setting your Sonos players to download and install. Sonos 3.7 requires Mac OS X 10.6 or higher and Windows XP Service Pack 3 or higher, including Vista and Windows 7. If your computer OS doesn't meet those requirements, no new Sonos app for you. Sonos has the right to close customer accounts and bill alternative forms of payment if a fraudulently obtained Sonos Gift Card is redeemed and/or used to make purchases on www.sonos.com or any affiliated website, or an authorized customer install dealer.
As with other Sonos ZonePlayers, the S5 offers no way to control playback. Rather, you use the free Sonos Desktop Controller application on your Mac, a Sonos hardware remote such as the Sonos Controller 200, or the free Sonos Controller for iPhone app. Via any of these controllers, you can use the ZonePlayer S5 to play music streamed from your music library as well as Internet radio and content from such services as Pandora, Last.fm, Napster, Rhapsody, and Sirius (subscription services such as Napster, Rhapsody, and Sirius require membership). Sonos ZonePlayer S5 The single Sonos You can consider the S5 from a couple of angles. If you already own a Sonos system, the S5 is a very simple way to add another room, speakers and all, to your audio system. Just plug in the S5, add it as a zone, and you’re ready to rock (or gavotte, depending on your musical tastes).
The bass port on the back also acts as a recessed handle so it’s very easy to move the S5 from the bedroom to the kitchen to the patio. The S5 can also operate as a one-room Sonos system, but as such its movability is limited without the additional purchase of a $99 ZoneBridge. The Sonos system requires that at least one ZonePlayer, or a ZoneBridge, be plugged directly into a network router. If that router is in the back bedroom and you want the S5 in the living room, you’ll need to either run a long Ethernet cable between the router and S5, or bite the bullet and buy that ZoneBridge and plug it into the router. Firebug for firefox mac. Do the latter and the ZoneBridge then acts as the bridge between your music library (hosted somewhere on your network) or Internet connection and any ZonePlayers in your home.
The convenience When you latch on to a Sonos unit, you’re not just getting something that will play music from your iTunes library or a device you can conveniently jack your iPod into. It’s truly a music system. With it you can bring all your music together—whether on your computer’s hard drive, a network drive, or on the Internet—and play it seamlessly as if it were all stored locally.
Sonos Mac Address
And there’s real value in that. Sonos’ way of doing things is very similar to Apple’s—ease of use is key. The system is designed so that you can set up and control the units easily.