liquid12 Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 Sonos announced they are dropping support for older devices, eventually turning them into e-waste. I've never really considered otherwise good hi-fi equipment being made obsolete by software before. Don't own any sonos gear but this will definitely factor into any future purchases I make (sonos or otherwise).
MrC Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 I received an email today stating that 2 of my components will no longer be supported/updated. The offer of a 30% discount does little to entice me to purchase new components. At this stage I propose to keep using them .... they are working perfectly well and I don't really see any need to "update" them. I shall see how this pans out. 1
Guest Muon N' Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 One reason I stay with old school on the music front, annoying enough with computers and phones.
PositivelyMusicallyGeared Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 Many manufacturers have a published policy about product support on their websites, and they normally won't notify their users when the support period is over. Many people do not realise that there is a hidden cost in buying a discontinued/runout product at a big discount, for its software component has a much shorter period of support left.
rantan Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 8 minutes ago, Muon N' said: One reason I stay with old school on the music front, annoying enough with computers and phones. Definitely. You buy a black or sliver disc and you never need support of any kind. The only support my LPs and CDs need is a shelf. 23 2
Kaynin Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 23 minutes ago, PositivelyMusicallyGeared said: Many manufacturers have a published policy about product support on their websites, and they normally won't notify their users when the support period is over. Many people do not realise that there is a hidden cost in buying a discontinued/runout product at a big discount, for its software component has a much shorter period of support left. That's a great point. I need to ask that question more in the future...
Wimbo Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 (edited) 11 hours ago, liquid12 said: I've never really considered otherwise good hi-fi equipment being made obsolete by software before. Don't own any sonos gear but this will definitely factor into any future purchases I make (sonos or otherwise). This is computer based stuff. Its not HiFi. Nowhere near it. I know what you mean though. One Alert. Don't ever get a "Smart" Home. Hundreds of thousands of dollars for something thats extinct 5 years later. Edited January 22, 2020 by Wimbo 4
BugPowderDust Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 I’ve got quite a lot of Sonos gear and being told 5 units are now obsolete and it will impact the new units is pretty ordinary. I’m inclined to sell it all now and buy something else. The problem is, I’d imagine all the alternatives will be in the same boat before long. 1
audiofeline Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 It's there in the AV world. My Philips TV won't receive some new HD channels, and they have no intention of adding support. My Panasonic PVR, still being sold as a premium product, has internet software that is so out of date that it isn't really usable. Reading AV forums suggests many people complain to Panasonic about not having obsolete software in a current product with no updates, but they refuse to comment. It's certainly affected my brand loyalty, but adding the appalling product support recently provided by Sony Australia (another story) I don't have confidence that other brands will be any different.
zippi Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 5 minutes ago, recur said: The problem is, I’d imagine all the alternatives will be in the same boat before long. Depends what you consider a viable alternative. Why does everything NEED to be wireless?
Kaynin Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 1 minute ago, zippi said: Depends what you consider a viable alternative. Why does everything NEED to be wireless? Wired is always my first choice... 4
Guest Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 To be fair to Sonos, they provide good support for their devices even when they were no longer in warranty. My 3 x Play 5s were purchased 7-8 years ago, and I would be lucky to get 20-25% prior to the trade-in offer. Undecided whether I will keep them as is or trade in to 3 x Sonos One's ?
BugPowderDust Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 12 minutes ago, zippi said: Why does everything NEED to be wireless? There’s more to Sonos than wireless. The interface, meshing and ability to be so simple my parents can use it hasn’t been bettered by anyone else yet. I run much of my Sonos gear (Predominantly Connects, Connect Amps and playbars) wired and will be considering options for a replacement that allows me to keep my speakers and amplifiers untethered from a streaming source. 1
BugPowderDust Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 That said, this is probably all the encouragement I’d need to start to seriously consider Raspberry Pi units with Roon to replace my Sonos devices. 2
TOPSHELF Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 Could Sonos allow some type of open sharing platform to allow people like the bloke who comes and fixes my computer to carry on the work? Or am I dreaming?
Gee_Dee Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 (edited) If it was ZP100, ZP120 vintage - understandable. They are 10 - 15 years old. Connect:Amps are not that old. People would have invested in these 3-4 years ago, depending on stock at some retailers.. Not much fun for some. Edited January 22, 2020 by Gee_Dee Beer.
Irek Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 1 hour ago, Snoopy8 said: To be fair to Sonos, they provide good support for their devices even when they were no longer in warranty. My 3 x Play 5s were purchased 7-8 years ago, and I would be lucky to get 20-25% prior to the trade-in offer. Undecided whether I will keep them as is or trade in to 3 x Sonos One's ? What about Devialet in comparison with Sonos?
emesbee Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 1 hour ago, Kaynin said: Wired is always my first choice... Indeed. I have yet to find a need for wireless in my home. 1
Guest Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 35 minutes ago, Irek said: What about Devialet in comparison with Sonos? Devialet support itself is quite responsive but their software release can do with improvement..
KRSDarwin Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 I have Sonos around the home (10 products, some connected to my hi-fi) and it has been a very simple, stable and reliable system (including for running Roon over it). I received the e-mail today and 3 of my products will cease to be supported. If you don’t upgrade it retards the whole system. I upgraded 2 with the 30% discount from full RRP (noting some better deals by retailers in Australia on the internet). I can appreciate advances in technology and obsolescence and so while I wasn’t overjoyed I could see their side of it (and they are not quite forcing an upgrade) but what has irked me and made me feel less charitable is that the condition of the trade-up is that in 21 days the products to be upgraded are wiped (by software) and won’t be useable. Whereas I would have handed them on to my son or other family members (in different households) who could have used them without upgrading. I saw this as unnecessary. I guess I should e-mail them and communicate this. They are stopping support for an excellent purpose built remote that was palm sized and reassuringly chunky with a reasonable screen that I really enjoyed for a long time but now overtaken by Roon and iPad. PS while I type this I am listening to vinyl with Sonos silent. Back to the future 1
Steffen Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 I don't understand the outrage. Surely, the end of software updates doesn't mean the end of life of those devices? Won't they continue to function as they do now? For most AV gear (AVRs, smart TVs etc.) the end of software updates comes much sooner, typically after 2-3 years. A lot of the time vendors don't talk about that, they just stop making new firmware versions. As long as the devices continue to function, you can't expect much more I reckon. Sure, some of the updates are software bug fixes, but those should be ironed out during the first year or so. After that, who can reasonably expect a device they bought years ago to continuously improve and get new features forever? I don't consider Sonos gear good value (sound) for money, but I think this outpouring of anger is a bit over the top, and undeserved. 1
BugPowderDust Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 16 minutes ago, Steffen said: I don't understand the outrage. Surely, the end of software updates doesn't mean the end of life of those devices? Um, that’s precisely what Sonos are saying. If you don’t upgrade no software updates. If you have new devices meshed with old, no updates to the new devices. With no updates, they can’t promise that the system will work as they make changes in the platform and have already inferred that changes to streaming sources can’t be guaranteed to work. they have put a gun to the head of owners here. Not left them with many options. The Sonos forums are full of vitriol and I can’t see this abating without a change of attitude on a few fronts from Sonos.
Steffen Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 7 minutes ago, recur said: Um, that’s precisely what Sonos are saying. If you don’t upgrade no software updates. If you have new devices meshed with old, no updates to the new devices. I see, so it affects interoperability with whatever future direction the Sonos system may be taking. But if you just want to keep what you've got you will be fine. It looks like the real issue that they made people invest in a proprietary system, and then change the system leaving prior investments behind.
liquid12 Posted January 22, 2020 Author Posted January 22, 2020 32 minutes ago, Steffen said: I don't understand the outrage. Surely, the end of software updates doesn't mean the end of life of those devices? Won't they continue to function as they do now? In their email sonos themselves say this will "disrupt access to services and overall functionality". So maybe, maybe not?
Dolphy Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 11 hours ago, recur said: I’ve got quite a lot of Sonos gear and being told 5 units are now obsolete and it will impact the new units is pretty ordinary. I’m inclined to sell it all now and buy something else. The problem is, I’d imagine all the alternatives will be in the same boat before long. Me too, I might replace my current gear with Bluesound.
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