Sonos
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This article is about the music device manufacturer. For the computer memory system, see SONOS.
| Sonos | |
|---|---|
| Type | Private |
| Founded | 2002 |
| Headquarters | Santa Barbara, California Cambridge, Massachusetts Hilversum, Netherlands |
| Key people | John MacFarlane, CEO |
| Industry | Audio equipment |
| Products | Sonos Multi-Room Music System |
| Employees | 150 (2008 approx.) |
| Website | www.sonos.com |
Sonos is a consumer electronics company founded by John MacFarlane, who previously founded Software.com, that makes the Sonos Multi-Room Music System.
[edit] Multi-Room Music System
The Sonos Multi-Room Music System is a modular set of digital appliances that replaces a home stereo system. The appliances work together to form a zoned hi-fi in which different zones may play the same or different sounds.
The main appliance is a "ZonePlayer", a small computer and wireless network hub with analog audio outputs. Each ZonePlayer takes the place of a traditional component stereo amplifier, but with only a minimal control interface (controls on the ZonePlayer faceplate are limited to volume-control and a Mute button). The stereo is controlled mainly via wireless network, from a separate controller module or from an application on a home computer. ZonePlayers supply analog line-in and line-out RCA jacks, just as a conventional stereo. The flagship "ZP100" player includes a power amplifier and can be connected directly to loudspeakers. The "ZP80" player, in addition to analog line-in and line-out connections, has digital toslink and digital coax outputs that must be connected to a conventional amplifier.
Multiple ZonePlayers in a single household will auto-detect one another and form a synchronous mesh network, so that music can be played simultaneously in separate zones. The line-in port on each player may be played simultaneously in all the zones. The system is intended to play music from a digital repository such as a Microsoft Windows or Macintosh file share, or a Samba server. It can also stream audio via MP3 and WMA streams, internet radio stations such as Shoutcast and subscription music services such as the Rhapsody (online music service). While the user can specify streaming from an arbitrary URL, the system is shipped with several hundred stations in a preset list. Sonos does not provide support for Internet radios streaming using the RealAudio format.
In June 2007 the company added support for Pandora (music genome project radio) which allows users to stream personalized radio content based on musical tastes.
In August 2007 Sonos added support for the Sirius music service. It is possible to listen to more than 80 SIRIUS Internet Radio channels.
In October 2007 Sonos added support for the Napster music service. It is possible to listen to Napster's catalog as well as Napster Internet Radio stations.
The Pandora, Sirius and Napster services are restricted primarily to customers based in the United States. Napster is also available in Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom.
The ZonePlayers include ethernet jacks, and can be used as a virtual ethernet connection for normal network traffic: network traffic is bridged silently between all the ZonePlayers in a single system. Note, however, that this bridging can reduce bandwidth available for music streaming.
