Sonos Connect into Naim (Delay?)

If you have a Naim streamer such as a 272, do you need to run a Sonos connect into it?

Chrissu - You would need to run a Sonos Connect into the 272 if you wish to use the other Sonos Play 1 speakers in multiroom, all in sync with each other, yes.

Exactly :-) The plan is to use the 272 alone for critical listening in the living room and then switch to the sonos for when I move from room to room (hopefully in sync). This second plan of course depends on the music being in sync, hence my question about any delay from the Naim.

Cheers

YiannisK posted:

Hello friends

I have had my sonos connect in storage for a while now but i am thinking of using it again. Not with my Dac V1 however as this seems to introduce a delay which means the sound is not in sync with my Play 1 speakers. This has been reported extensively in the past but I wanted to double check:

- Is the Dac V1 still introducing delay when you feed a Sonos Connect (hence resulting in slight out of sync sound with other Sonos players)?

- I am thinking of upgrading the a Nac n272. Has anyone used a sonos connect with that? If so, does it also have the audio delay problem?

Many thanks

To get sound in sync with multiple systems requires some effort, and is typically vendor specific as it will depend on the vendor software. Naim have gone to some effort to get synchronised replay from their devices albeit with some limitations. Sonos the same.. the chances of cross vendor products being synchronised on replay seems pretty remote to me... possible but wouldn't rely on it.

The Sonos multiroom system works very well, and I can see why you want to keep it. For critical listening, You would get better sound by giving your Naim streamer a direct Ethernet connection without the Sonos. You could, at a price, switch to an all Naim multiroom setup using Musos, which would eliminate your sync issues and improve sound quality.

Thank you all for the responses :-). Chrissu, definitely on to what you recommend and in time I will replace the sonos. I think that for now I will use the sonos connect with rca outs (bypassing the naim dac) in order to ensure sync. Just for background music in sync with other rooms of course :-)

Cheers

Have you tried "Grouping" the Connect and Play 1 on the Sonos app. This should sync everything. I use a Connect via Arcam  rDac into my main system and a Play 1 in the kitchen in perfect sync. The DacV1 shouldn't be the problem

I have tried this Grouping with a Play 1 and my sonos connect feeding coaxial / optical into my Naim Dac V1. There is a definite delay introduced by the Naim Dac V1 which results in an unpleasant 'Echo'. The sound is definitely out of sync. If I use my Musical Fidelity V90 dac or my old Rega Dac then the problem disappears. A bit of research in the naim forum revealed this issue is reported before (both with V1 and nDac). 

The big advantage with the Sonos is the reliable and easy to use app, as well as the good VFM players. Filling the house with Musos would be fantastic but I am currently channeling funds to upgrade the V1 to a 272 :-). Sonos will have to stay for a while longer. 

I think that the above recommendation is the best: Use Sonos for background music listening only and switch to Naim streaming for critical listening. It is not 100% perfect but a good enough compromise.

Cheers

Hi, Yiannisk.

FWIW, I was planning to abandon my old whole-house analog setup and replace it with Sonos Play speakers and Sonos amps into existing speakers in three zones.  I had issues with echo, too integrating wit my old Denon AV system; but, even considering the Sonos zones individually, it never sounded as good as the old system I wanted to "upgrade"; so, I ended up kerping the old analog system and giving up on Sonos, despite its admittedly excellent UI.

Subsequently, I have ended up with a Qute2 in my office which has the choice of playing zone 1 NDX-FM using either Party mode through the LAN, or analog Line-in from zone 1 -- the latter sounds noticably better, even at background levels.  Believe it or not, the NDX-FM/nDAC/555/552 sounds better as an analog source into the Qute2 than the Qute2's on-board streamer and tuner do, even though the analog interconnect is 20 feet long, and runs through a Denon AV-Pre repurposed as an analog-only distribution hub.

In short, if analog is possible in your situation, consider it.  All this network stuff is very clever, and some of it is excellent, but analog zones can be more robust and sound better, which increases the benefit you gain from investing heavily in your Naim zone1 system.

Best,

Nick

The Naim DACs (if I recall correctly) utilise a buffer to reduce jitters which also introduces a delay to the audio.