Idle speculation of course but an interesting thought nonetheless 
I think it is more likely (complete wishful thinking) that Apple is a better home for Sonos than Harman.
Also a possibility - though Apple arenât famous for supporting hardware beyond a certain timeframe - which is part of the Sonos issue
Sometimes yes, sometimes no.
My Roon Core runs happily on a 2018 Mac Mini, and my office computer is a 2012 mini which is still getting software upgrades as of last week. Truth, I am replacing it with another 2018 âcause the 2012 is about to max out the 256 storage, not due to a âvintageâ tag.
I trust Apple more than Sonos or Harman, but your experience may be completely different.
Since Harman now owns Roon and with Sonos having a user base many times larger than that of Roon, corporate thinking would demand that Roon gets the axe. After all Logitech did kill the Squeezebox line of streamers after acquiring Squeezebox. Just sayinâ.
I hear you, but I donât see a clear business reason to get rid of Roon. Harmon bought Roon to create new revenue streams, including the opportunity for profit, not to shut it down.
Sonos currently has a software problem. Although it seems to be somewhat widespread, it is not affecting every user.
My Sonos system works fine. Luck? Or?
I set up a Sonos amp this week, removing the SL One surrounds in favor of Klipsch in-walls. Process was easy, done in less than 10 minutes.
If the problem is software/hardware compatibility,I would bet Apple would be in a strong position to right the ship. Again, personal wishful thinking.
In my house, Apple and Sonos play well together.
Our Sonos systems work fine too, but the UI is abysmal compared to what it was. I hear speculation of a rollback being offered to the original S2 look and feel - something I would definitely welcome.
I think they will get it right, just not right now.
Well, they did ⌠eighteen years after aquiring Slim Devices ⌠and Squeezebox Server lives on because it is open source ⌠unlike Sonos.
2 Likes
Correct timeline:
2000 - Slim Devices founded
2006 - Logitech acquires Slim Devices
2012 - Logitech discontinues making and developing Squeezeboxes
2024 - Logitech closes mysqueezebox.com, the last piece of âofficialâ support for Squeezebox devices.
As you can see it took less than six years for Logitech to kill Slim Devices. Just in time to miss the music streaming revolution, which put Sonos at the forefront.
3 Likes
Hi Denis ⌠I have 2 Play:1s from a decade ago that still work, albeit as slaves to more recent SONOs Ones as satellites and an ARC âŚ
The new software is hot garbage. 
Apple fired Scott Forstall and a few others when Maps was released too early. Sonos should be cleaning house after this chaos.
But, a takeover? Probably not. Theyâve got a solid ecosystem in place. I think, more than the software chaos causing problems, the headphones will determine the success of the company. Why headphones?
The Sonos headphones were anticipated for years and many thought Sonos had a prime market ready to do truly high resolution (by Sonos definition not traditional audiophile definition), wifi, set of cans. They didnât deliver that. They delivered a novel hand-off which required a very expensive soundbar for the functionality. That wonât exactly drive standalone purchases. Or will it? Will years of R&D effort and millions of dollars payoff? It will have rippling negative effects on further product development if it fails. Then Sonos might be in trouble.
Anyway, the software will be fixed and the sobering fact too many decision makers never used the product they were making decisions about will be fixed. One rumor is they will release the old software again to give them more time to fix issues.
Personally, I use the software to stream radio and use Roon for everything else. I lost album artwork that used to be there on a number of streams. Otherwise I was not impacted by their poor choice to this the hot garbage.
Not sure anyone posted this but you can read through the chaos as it unfolds and users found missing features and broken functionality immediately after âupgradingâ.
Exactly. Sonos delivered noise cancelling, Bluetooth, over ear, headphones - similar to the headphones currently being offered tby he likes of Apple, Bose and Sony. As they say - âmove along, nothing to see hereâ.
Seems that many people were hoping for the first WiFi headphone, which might have actually had true lossless audio. Oh well.
On the subject of headphones with true lossless audio (and NOT LOSSY Bluetooth audio) why hasnât some manufacturer come out with a Google Chromecast or Apple Airplay enabled headphone? Both technologies are well proven and provide true wireless and lossless audio. DUH!
Logitech stuck with Squeezebox for nearly two decades, and introduced more devices in that time than before. This hardly justifies your opening comment.
If we knew Harman still owned Roon in 2042 and the software was mantained, albeit the Nucleus was discontinued in 2030, I think we would be pretty happy about this.
Shame they wonât release the harmony stuff to open source as itâs still one of the best remote systems out there. They still host myharmony for now, but I donât think they willl keep it going as long as mysqueezebox.
Not two decades. Six years until Logitech effectively killed the Squeezebox. I stand by my assertions.
They killed the hardware yes, but continued to support it via mysqueezebox for another 12 years which is commendable. They could have completely pulled the plug but didnât. Tidal relied on this as did a few other services and the ability to use them without a server. Also passing the whole software eco system on to open source isnât something many big corps do. I only remember Apple doing this with Shake the film/video Compositing Sofware they acquired.
2 Likes
Squeezebox hardware may have ceased. Most likely because it was no longer profitable. This period also saw SMBs, which allowed hobbyists to build a Squeezebox using Squeezeplay software.
Nonetheless, to use Logitechâs aquisition as an example of a company asset stripping is fundementally flawed. If that were their intention, it would have been axed (your choice of words) long before they introduced more products to market.
Moreover, Roon and Logitech Media Server (AKA Squeezebox Server) whilst both music player, are not the same. Roon doesnât make the players, although Bridge is available to DIYers, and only build the Nucleus, which isnât essential to run Roon.
Harman and a plethora of third parties provide the players. This is entirely different to the Squeezebox model (I only recall one other manuafcturer of hardware.)
Harman has also had a positive impact already, and shared their motivation. Of course, things do change, but if I Roon has the longevity of Squeezebox, then Iâd be pretty happy.
Nothing lasts forever.
Maybe, if Sonos had invested in Roon, as Bluesound did, we may not be having this conversation.
Letâs just say enthusiast audio (which includes high end audio and, at the moment, lossless audio streaming) and big corporations donât play well together. Even the biggest names in high end audio, like McIntosh, Krell or Vandersteen, are small fish in the corporate pond. Sometimes those small fish get swallowed up by big fish and that usually doesnât end well for the small fish.