EEVblog 1519 - FREE Your Sonos Speaker! (HACK)

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  • Опубліковано 11 гру 2022
  • Fronos! Hacking a dumpster Sonos Play 5 Gen 1 speaker to remove all the evil software locking and turn it into a dumb speaker with just line-in and basic wireless Bluetooth.
    Integrating a new Fosi Audio ZX-TB21 2+1 amplifier.
    amzn.to/3USD7xQ
    Sonos, the Juicero of wireless speakers: • EEVblog 1514 - Sonos: ...
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    #ElectronicsCreators #Hack #Sonos
  • Наука та технологія

КОМЕНТАРІ • 640

  • @pro5p3c7or1
    @pro5p3c7or1 Рік тому +665

    you need to REGISTER the speaker to use the "line in" function? do people realize HOW RIDICULOUS that is? why do people keep buying this kind of products 🙄🙄🤦‍♂ this is the best example of "You'll Own Nothing and Be Happy"

    • @WouterWeggelaar
      @WouterWeggelaar Рік тому +18

      yes, people realise that and then don't buy Sonos products, so you won't hear about that.

    • @EEVblog
      @EEVblog  Рік тому +107

      Yep, you have to actually register to use the line-in function. Pure engineering evil.

    • @over2seeyer
      @over2seeyer Рік тому

      we're living dark times where every big company wants to harvest your data

    • @bevis71
      @bevis71 Рік тому +29

      I don't think it says on the box REGISTRATION NEEDED. That's why some ppl bought it.

    • @JohnBurgessMusic
      @JohnBurgessMusic Рік тому +29

      Next gen will come with a slot where you have to provide a DNA sample to login, only works while connected to the internet and a microphone that's always listening.

  • @witchdoctor88
    @witchdoctor88 Рік тому +53

    Truly a heartwarming holiday tale. Dremels, capacitor selection, and hardware hacking. Brings a tear to me eye.

  • @atkelar
    @atkelar Рік тому +134

    The production date thing on the case: The calendar is embossed in the mold, and every passing month somebody manually stamps the current month; so the "newest" mark is the actual one, so they can re-use the mold over n-months. Same as with books "editions" in the front cover where the numbers get removed rather than updated. It's a trick to make it easier to modify such things without remaking the mold; just in case the comment was serious 😜

    • @westelaudio943
      @westelaudio943 Рік тому +2

      Yes. This type of date code has been around since at least the late 1970s.

    • @kbhasi
      @kbhasi Рік тому +1

      Yep, I took a while to realise it when I took apart different devices for repairs. The little dials were a little easier for me to figure out, though, but once I figured both of those, as well as decoding certain serial formats, I could deduce the timeframe in which a device could've been manufactured.
      For the books, though, some publishers _(usually indie/minor and/or younger publishers AFAIK)_ just put a single number that they manually increment, but most _(usually major and/or older publishers AFAIK)_ I've seen do what you mentioned and put several numbers and then delete them to have the lowest number indicate which print run the copy of the book was produced in, likely more as a leftover from the days of manual typesetting using printing blocks before the age of computers and Adobe InDesign.
      I didn't realise those numbers on the copyright pages indicated which print run a copy was produced in, until an author I follow on Twitter posted a photo of the copyright page from a copy of her bestselling book to proudly announce that it had reached its 13th printing.

    • @kevinmartin7760
      @kevinmartin7760 Рік тому +3

      @@kbhasi Indeed, the "put in a bunch of numbers and remove them over time method" dates back to letterpress printing, where the printing plate would have been made of a metal alloy and had raised surfaces that actually do the printing. It would be a simple job to chisel off one number from the sequence every now and then.
      This is less likely to have been done if the copyright page was printed directly from handset type, as it would have been easy to just replace the number each time.
      Rather than storing the actual plates between printings, the printer might also keep stereotype flongs from which new plates could be cast. The freshly-made plate would have all the numbers on it, and some would be chiseled out before printing. This avoids storing large heavy plates and also takes care of the wear that the plate undergoes during printing.
      Plates can also be made photographically from negatives kept from one run to the next. In this case one would black out some of the numbers on the negative before making the plate.
      There is no reason, and in fact no simple way, to do this with modern direct-to-plate offset lithography. Nowadays the offset "plates" are discarded after the print run and new ones made for the new printing.

    • @zilog1
      @zilog1 Місяць тому

      Oh hey, cool seeing you here :p

  • @TechBench
    @TechBench Рік тому +29

    An actual project ... done to completion ... all in one episode! Fabulous viewing along with a lesson about planned obsolescence. Nice!

  • @TechBaffle
    @TechBaffle Рік тому +45

    I like how SONOS reads as SONOS even when upside down 😂

    • @Elberto71
      @Elberto71 Рік тому +32

      So you can identify it in the dumpster from any angle

  • @TheSanzca
    @TheSanzca Рік тому +18

    I have the play 1 gen 1 (and $1000's of gen 1 gear) and I agree with those that say it is BS that software can make your speaker obsolete. Yes, there is a separate app for the old stuff (can't mix and match with the new!), but I cannot even use my old speakers as monitor speakers! It is either the app or no go ( can't airplay or chrome cast to the speakers!) and the app does not look like it is being updated and even worse, the firmware. In my opinion, at the very least sonos should have open sourced the old code so that the community can add additional features and security updates.
    Let this sonos fiasco be a lesson for internet of things devices and also realize that you do not own these types of devices, it is up to the manufacturer if they will allow them to be usable, you just own worthless hardware. I know people with 30, 50 year and even older audio equipment that still works fine and is as usable today as the day it was purchased.
    Lastly, these types of companies (and apple you are one), are the first to preach about climate change and being good stewards of the environment, but it is their planned obsolescent gear that is filling up the garbage dumps and contribute to polluting the environment (not even talking about carbon cost of manufacturing), the stench of hypocrisy is strong with these companies. I will not buy another Sonos product, ever and any IOT thing I buy, if it cannot be controlled locally i.e. no apps, no services etc. that I cannot install, configure and run myself and are open source compatible, then I am just not interested.

  • @alasdair4161
    @alasdair4161 Рік тому +7

    I have a friend who is a Sonos fanboy and he happily upgrades the system when they force him to. last time this meant a full hardware upgrade after it self bricked, so they appeased him with a discount code on a new system. he's actually been suckered in so deep that he believes the three or five year push from them is a great way to keep having the latest and greatest performance product available (from them...). I still have stereo gear from the 80's that sounds a hundred times better, I run bi directional v5 bluetooth modules that also allows multicasting up to 100m range (to multiple Bluetooth headphones as well as my phone for music source), or the TV etc. His Sonos system cannot do this, yet he's spending thousands for a temporary subscription against my few bucks for permanent performance... and he appears to be content to do so. It stuns me that people think this way, completely hooked into the consumer money extraction machine.

    • @Xiefux
      @Xiefux Рік тому +4

      i bet he also uses iphones

    • @alasdair4161
      @alasdair4161 Рік тому +1

      @@Xiefux lol, I think you nailed it..

    • @SS-hc6sp
      @SS-hc6sp 6 місяців тому +1

      @alasdair4161, would you mind sharing the details on the module(s) you're using to achieve this? And are you actually able to get synchronized multi-room audio from this with commodity bluetooth speakers? I'm an orphaned Sonos user and searching for a multi-room audio solution without vendor lock-in, but am skeptical that bluetooth audio can achieve the sync (e.g. no latency or sync issues when standing between two speakers).

  • @RetroJack
    @RetroJack Рік тому +20

    I love the fact that you treat your kids like people and not mindless idiots like so many other parents do - respect! 👍

  • @XSpImmaLion
    @XSpImmaLion Рік тому +121

    Sonos seems to be one of those textbook examples where you have a team of engineers and designers that are super qualified and super professional, like true dedicated audiophiles there doing everything to make this speaker as good as possible, only for management to take a huge dump on their work and demand anti-consumer crap into the whole thing to force costumers who have been loyal to the brand because of it's history to throw away their older models and buy newer stuff just because apps and software stopped working. It's vile.

    • @lasskinn474
      @lasskinn474 Рік тому +19

      wdym? sonos was always the poster child for crapola like this. apple of the audio. it was made as a company to be this, it's not like it's some hifi company from yesteryears that pivoted into this.

    • @lasskinn474
      @lasskinn474 Рік тому +10

      @spaz you're missing the point... They made the company to do exactly what they're doing and closed drm audio path was part of the design parameters. Its not lile the management came afterwards and demanded them to make it anti consumer, being a closed system was the point all along through the existence of sonos and ties into the board design on purpose from day 1.
      That then ties into streaming deals etc

    • @rohitkhanna4487
      @rohitkhanna4487 Рік тому +5

      Why cant people file lawsuits in large numbers in order to force companies to unlock the product to work as an line in or a bluetooth speaker once they stop supporting the software.

    • @sparqqling
      @sparqqling Рік тому +1

      @@lasskinn474 It is the core of the business model, vendor lock-in.

    • @jonwelch564
      @jonwelch564 Рік тому +1

      @@rohitkhanna4487 maybe we need to partition Elon to buy Sonos and sort it out.

  • @InfernosReaper
    @InfernosReaper Рік тому +8

    Sagan's old enough to contribute to videos to that degree? Wow, how time flies

    • @EEVblog
      @EEVblog  Рік тому +2

      He'll be 12 soon...

  • @cuteswan
    @cuteswan Рік тому +3

    _The Directors of Sonos_ sounds like an awesome psychological thriller.

  • @necrojem6355
    @necrojem6355 Рік тому

    This was a really fun video to watch! it just appeared out of nowhere on my front page and I'm glad I watched. Always good to see audio gear reused rather than end up in the tip. The Aussie "near enough is good enough"approach is a welcome breath of fresh air compared to all the audio snobbery on youtube! Sometimes good enough really IS good enough! Especially for a workshop speaker or whatever.

  • @VIRAL_DNA
    @VIRAL_DNA Рік тому +3

    Mod looks great and wow did that board ever fit in there perfectly!
    Great video as always and thanks for sharing!

  • @landynhigh
    @landynhigh Рік тому +3

    Really love this video Dave. Would be great to see this kind of thing more but I guess it depends what comes your way via the dumpster! Excellent content!

  • @maxinlux6570
    @maxinlux6570 Рік тому +8

    In the olden days, Sonos used to have a physical shop in Luxembourg where they sold their (I think) very first product, a wireless kit for connecting your existing HiFi components (via Cinch/RCA connectors) and turn your home audio into a sort of Ur-home network. Yes, I'm that old...

  • @bigjoeangel
    @bigjoeangel Рік тому +1

    Brilliant idea, so glad you caould make use of such a high quality speaker/enclosure. I did something similar with an old LG micro-system I didn't like (the standby power consumption was over 30W!, ffs).The tape deck and the cd player didn't work and I didn't care to fix them, I only used its line in function anyway to get sound from a PC and occasionally used the radio. So I dumped the micro system entirely and just kept the nice shelf speakers. I bought a very similar classD blutooth amp like the one in this video and use an old external HDD PSU to power it (even the barrel jack was the correct size). I wired in the speakers and used Blutack to stick it on top of one of the speakers, simple.

  • @allartwatnudan1205
    @allartwatnudan1205 Рік тому

    Reminds me of a 'rebuild' I did for a friend last year.
    It was a really old school radio cabinet. Radio and record player.
    I think '60 build, didn't had tubes, but I guess first series transistors. Resistors were so old and dirty, the colour rings weren't readable.
    I placed a 12 volt SMP, the same audio board as Dave used in this video and of course 2 new speakers.
    To finish it of I placed warm LEDs in it so it looks original. The bulbs inside were ok, but used about the same amount of power as the audio amplifier. 🤣🤣
    Result was amazingly good and my friend was really happy!

  • @joshcliffejones
    @joshcliffejones Рік тому

    I have done exactly this for 2 of the first gen Sonos Play 5 devices! I use one in my garage workshop for “decent enough” music and the other as an on the go jobbie when needed :)

  • @westelaudio943
    @westelaudio943 Рік тому +16

    Good job. Converting obsolete 'smart' speakers was an idea I had too for some time - at one point you are gonna get all that fancy Sonos crap at a dime a dozen and they actually have pretty good cabinets and drivers in there.
    However the sound response in your case won't be as good as the original, not only because of the leaky cabinet but also because of the rather rudimentary crossover. 1st orders and dome tweeters operating that close to resonance don't match well. 5kc would be a more appropriate crossover point. Also filters are meant to be designed for the exact impedance at the crossover point, and with the whole impedance curve in mind. Another improvement would be trying to match the midrange and tweeter levels (by ear or dB meter) using resistive dividers. Flip the tweeter's polarity to see if you get a better phase match that way (sound will be louder on axis at Fx). That's about all you can do without too much work and without a proper measurement mic set-up.
    Just suggestions though, I understand it is just a basement speaker.

    • @dosgos
      @dosgos Рік тому +5

      Sonos would have a nice DSP scheme to adjust for the loudness too. Good enough for this neighbourhood.

    • @westelaudio943
      @westelaudio943 Рік тому +1

      @@dosgos
      Yes but that's not really neccessary, some of the world's best speakers are entirely passive. I wonder if the sub had some frequency response correction (Q compensation, low end boost) though, could be.

    • @dreamcat4
      @dreamcat4 Рік тому +2

      well what i want to know is if the sound is any better when hacking the i2s bus, because at that point i would expect that we benefit from the native crossover. however sonos also includes a mic and a setup routine to measure and compensate for the room. so i would expect that part of the native sonos sound adjustment technology to be absent here. at least... not without doing your own external version of room mic adjustment such as a sonarworks etc.

    • @dosgos
      @dosgos Рік тому +4

      @@dreamcat4 Sonos locked out all the features here from playing music to all the fancy sound engineering. This equipment was a rental disguised as a sale.

    • @RaduTek
      @RaduTek Рік тому +1

      @@westelaudio943 but this speaker isn't "the world's best" at all. They're using DSP to overcome the limitations of the form factor, just like every other small form factor consumer speaker out there.

  • @theDane70
    @theDane70 Рік тому

    Great video, yes if you see anything like that pick it up and have fun...
    That’s actually how I got started in my electronics hobby, fixing tape decks & old VCRs then lots of walkman at school to fix...

  • @NVRMTmotion
    @NVRMTmotion Рік тому

    Damn. Perfect timing! Our Roku Streambar died won't boot at all. It's on the healing bench all prepped for an identical upgrade and you've saved me the research! Nice.

  • @mikehensley78
    @mikehensley78 Рік тому +2

    I have that exact Amp module. Mine rocks 2 bookshelf speakers and a 10in sub in the corner. The Bluetooth is sometimes a little flaky but mine is lined in to my pc. Powered by an old 19v laptop brick. I love it.

  • @VincentGroenewold
    @VincentGroenewold Рік тому +5

    Absolutely looooove this! I hope we've seen the last of these things in general, now that repair ability is kind of a thing.

  • @rhiantaylor3446
    @rhiantaylor3446 Рік тому +15

    Trouble with modern "speakers" with integrated electronics is that you don't know to what extent the amp section has a contoured response to offset the characteristics of the enclosure - not just a crossover. Glad it worked out for you.

    • @elektrokinesis4150
      @elektrokinesis4150 Рік тому +4

      sonos very much does this, I don't quite think dave was going full audiophile on this, and there isn't really any need to be with what he wanted to use it for

    • @IcecalGamer
      @IcecalGamer Рік тому +1

      @@elektrokinesis4150 Most of the videos from Dave have at least one "Good enough for -stralia" lines in them ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    • @jrshaul
      @jrshaul Рік тому

      @@IcecalGamer I've seen what counts as "good enough for Australia." The Barra six you put in big frumpy family sedans will turn a tubular girder of a propshaft into a big steel pretzel - without even opening it up!

    • @IcecalGamer
      @IcecalGamer Рік тому +1

      @@jrshaul I think you missed the point. I wasn't dissing Dave or the small block (y are we on cars now?). I was just stating the obvious fact that, Even Dave (i think) mentioned in the video, this wasn't meant as an audiophile replacement solution. But it was made as a "don't waste actual good speakers, just because of a fricking app".
      Back to cars analogy, don't waste a good platform just cos the ECU is locked. Put a Halltek in it and go do skids. ✌

    • @jrshaul
      @jrshaul Рік тому +1

      @@IcecalGamer Where I come from, "has enough tuning potential to snap the rest of the drivetrain" is a good thing.

  • @runforitman
    @runforitman Рік тому +2

    10:54 Worker on their 51st attempt to get the production date correct: "Yeah that sounds about right"

    • @Poebbelmann
      @Poebbelmann Рік тому +2

      I think every month with a dot is where the die press form was used.

  • @pasikavecpruhovany7777
    @pasikavecpruhovany7777 Рік тому +4

    Would be fun exercise to try extract and modify he firmware so that line in is permanently enabled, keeping the DSP chain.

  • @Circlotron
    @Circlotron Рік тому +6

    Those powdered iron toroid inductors you used on the "subwoofer" crossover, they will vary their inductance all over the place with changes in current.

    • @jrshaul
      @jrshaul Рік тому

      Will they? Not familiar with this. Powdered iron is used in some speaker crossover parts, but those are much larger..

  • @dolphhandcreme
    @dolphhandcreme Рік тому

    I designed an SPDIF-to-I2C and an Analog-to-I2C-circuit as a hobbyist several years ago. Only a matter of some opamps and an IC from cirrus logic. No big deal after all and worked on a breadboard and later on some prototyping pcb.

  • @maxzuidberg2322
    @maxzuidberg2322 Рік тому +6

    I'd have loved to see some hack using the integrated amplifier. There are modules available that accept bluetooth and/or analog input and have I2S output. Might even end up being the simpler hack (?)

  • @chuckfinley5206
    @chuckfinley5206 Рік тому

    Someone gave me 6 of these. Haven't had the chance to open them. Thanks for showing me what's inside.

  • @initialb123
    @initialb123 Рік тому +7

    Nah, stufd Sonos and their app requirement..
    Nice looking hardware no doubt a subscription model coming to a Sonos speaker near you!
    $5/month for SD
    $8/month for HiFi
    $19.99/ family package (if you have more than two speakers or people...

  • @geotoxiz
    @geotoxiz Рік тому +3

    Wow thanks! never knew how those two/three way speakers worked with a single channel.
    I have been building my own speakers with Squeezelite firmware on a ESP32. Works great!

    • @dreamcat4
      @dreamcat4 Рік тому

      allright! now that's what i wanted to find out about here in the comments! Because that is then a lot cheaper and more economical than those other (more well known) RPI type of solutions. which you then have to pay a lot more money for an rpi etc.
      seem like it's best to get a LAN wired ethernet module too is it? seem like it would be worth the money to add that to the esp32 right?

  • @tothehilt
    @tothehilt Рік тому

    Try downloading a current OS or run updated apps on an iphone 6, you can't - it ain't just Sonos, it's everywhere. Good on you for not being lazy and breaking the cycle.

  • @AndrewFremantle
    @AndrewFremantle Рік тому +6

    Seems like an awful shame to discard all the existing drive circuitry. Is there no either 3rd-party firmware for the existing controller or a 3rd-party controller board replacement?

  • @lilman227
    @lilman227 Рік тому +1

    My parents still using a 12 speaker Sonos gen 1 setup in their home…
    It’s been like 5 years so far. I hate Sonos shady practices, but I can’t argue with the experience they’ve been having.

  • @brainndamage
    @brainndamage Рік тому +9

    The downside is that you lost all the DSP and filters that make it sound good. I imagine they did some sort of FIR filtering to correct the pulse response and give the flattest frequency and phase response possible. A passive 1st order crossover can't even come close to an active higher order crossover. So I would see if it's possible to hack the firmware to make it permanently line in. Maybe it's as easy as editing a config file once you get into the console if it runs linux. Or maybe it's very hard/not been done before.

  • @ryan176eircomnet
    @ryan176eircomnet Рік тому +27

    Love to see more videos like this, modding and repurposing tech.

  • @Doyle69
    @Doyle69 Рік тому +1

    I own couple of them amps and a stereo version, they're pretty good.
    I also use them to bypass devices or 3D print my own speaker enclosures.

  • @Paxmax
    @Paxmax Рік тому

    "So Audiophiles, Flame on in comments!" 😂 I can offer a slight smoulder? 🤣 Excellent practical job Dave and family! Merry Christmas too!!

  • @jeffm2787
    @jeffm2787 Рік тому

    TPA3116D2, I like that chip. I've got several amps around the house that use them. So long as they filter the output stage right they work great.

  • @andrew_koala2974
    @andrew_koala2974 Рік тому

    You wrote in the video description:
    Integrating a new FOSI Audio ➜ ZX-TB21 2+1 amplifier.
    where as in the PCB at 04:00 the indication on the PCB
    shows ZK-TB21

  • @jameshancock
    @jameshancock Рік тому +3

    Just tap a raspberry pi i2s and kill the cirrus chip and it will work and you can install Plexamp, AirPlay, and way more and bob’s your uncle wifhout anything else.
    Even the top buttons can easily be made to work with the pi.
    (There’s even an i2s driver built directly into the pi os)

  • @IanSlothieRolfe
    @IanSlothieRolfe Рік тому +4

    I have a couple of old bluetooth speakers (the portable type) that either went flaky or were from the start, but the sound quality was pretty good for a speaker of the size. I took one apart intending to gut out the speakers and any other bits that might be reusable,, but noticed on the PCB that there was a position for an aux input, and the amplifier had analogue input (possibly because it also had an FM radio?). So I cut a few tracks to take out the bluetooth signal which used to make annoying announcements all the time, wired in a jack socket and ended up with a quite useful battery powered bench amplifier. Its not hi-fi but its good enough for listening to music or tracing an audio signal through an amplifier.

    • @jrshaul
      @jrshaul Рік тому

      The SONOS appears to be using some DSP trickery so you'd need to feed a digital signal into the board. That said, they put the smart bits and the audio bits on a different board, so there's a big connector right there already - and chip manufactuers make it easy to use their parts for a reason...

    • @IanSlothieRolfe
      @IanSlothieRolfe Рік тому

      @@jrshaul Yes, in the case of the SONOS it would have been tricky as you say because they seem to be using one chip to do multiple things, so Dave's approach was probably the best, but of course in this case the actual speaker system and enclosure is really high quality so its worth the effort of putting in different electronics.

    • @jrshaul
      @jrshaul Рік тому

      @@IanSlothieRolfe Sure Electronics makes a DSP amp board that might do it.

  • @Foche_T._Schitt
    @Foche_T._Schitt Рік тому +3

    You should spend some time on the Audio Science Review forum.

  • @PileOfEmptyTapes
    @PileOfEmptyTapes Рік тому +3

    That's some first-rate bodgery right there. Let's rip the guts out of a 3-way active DSP speaker - _what could possibly go wrong?_ Yes, you can technically do that, but we're talking the engineering standards of a backyard tinkerer. It's a bit like hacking a hole in the floor of a Toyota Prius for a "Fred Flintstone Edition". So much of speaker design is in the crossover and EQ. I would at least have attempted to do it properly after a look under the shielding. This kind of thing requires a more subtle approach. It may still turn out to be too much work to pursue, but you bet it would be interesting.
    That being said, not being able to use the _line-in_ straight out of the box is just silly indeed.

  • @mfx1
    @mfx1 Рік тому +1

    The grommets are probably more about preventing vibration noise from the cables against the plastic casing.

  • @billynomates920
    @billynomates920 Рік тому

    could you use any of the other 'evil' components if you de-soldered them and what for?

  • @HappyLittleDiodes
    @HappyLittleDiodes Рік тому +2

    Interesting hack and as always great enthusiasm

  • @1allan2
    @1allan2 Рік тому

    I purchased one of these and installed it in my old workshop speakers - bloody great !
    Im buying another for the caravan........

  • @russellhltn1396
    @russellhltn1396 Рік тому +4

    Very nice. But personally, I would have licked to find a way to reflash the software so any DSP could be kept.

  • @countzero1136
    @countzero1136 Рік тому +1

    Hackers 1, Corporations 0 - great result Dave!

  • @michaelcharach
    @michaelcharach Рік тому

    I would be curious of the speakers audio performance stock vs modified.

  • @erwinvb70
    @erwinvb70 Рік тому

    Nice to see my suggestion being made before I do it myself

  • @koyaan1sqatsi
    @koyaan1sqatsi Рік тому +14

    My next steps here would be to add a Raspberry Pi Zero W with a Pirate Audio DAC running the Snapcast client. I have my whole house done up with RPis running Snapcast with a few different feeds into it. So good to see more attention being given to the problem of perfectly good hardware being rendered useless by greedy IoT companies. I can't stand IoT. If a device can't perform its most basic functions without an internet connection, I will not have anything to do with it.

    • @TheRailroad99
      @TheRailroad99 Рік тому +2

      Would be great if somebody just designed a drop-in replacement board for it, so the integrated amp is re-used and the setup is clean

    • @smile768
      @smile768 Рік тому +1

      I will have a look at Snapcast. I agree with you, that I am not asking the cloud whether I can listen to music or not in my castle.

    • @SS-hc6sp
      @SS-hc6sp 6 місяців тому

      It's less about IoT than vendor lock-in. Your alternative setup is still an IoT solution (and sounds pretty cool, btw). How's that working out? Are you satisfied with multi-room audio experience (solid sync, etc)?

    • @koyaan1sqatsi
      @koyaan1sqatsi 6 місяців тому

      ​@@SS-hc6sp Oh man, I love it! Very stable and great sound. If you set things up right, it can be bit-perfect playback even for hi-def music. Mine is not likely bit-perfect, but I play hi-def files on it all the time (96KHz/24bit FLAC). And I very rarely have issues with sound sync. Once in a while one unit will lose its mind and be up to a few seconds off, but that is rare (once in maybe 6 months?) and a quick reboot returns it to sync. A RPi Zero W with any one of a few really good sounding DACs will plug into pretty much anything for amplification and powers from a 1A USB cube. I have 8 clients in my system: two boom boxes, two hi-fi systems, three shelf/desktop systems and a Frankenstein system on our back patio. No IoT involved. Local network only, except when the music source is Spotify. Other sources include MPD/Mopidy, AirPlay and "broadcast". And more than one source can be used at the same time and directed to different sets of speakers.

    • @SS-hc6sp
      @SS-hc6sp 6 місяців тому

      ​@@koyaan1sqatsi Oof, you've sent me down a deep, deep rabbit hole, but it's utterly fascinating and I had no idea this existed. I started reading about the stack to get that working, and I can see standing up a snapcast server on my proxmox instance that runs HA. Started reading about MPD and music-assistant in Home Assistant, then looked at HiFiberry equipment. It's definitely a rabbit hole, but seems like a phenomenal replacement for Sonos.
      Were you able to source pretty cheap DACs that adapted well to the Pi or did you use something specifically built for the Pi? And does that set up just rely on the Pi to drive the speaker, or are all your setups using external/built-in amplifiers (like the bookshelfs, etc)? I could see adapting a Sonos Play:5 over to that pretty eloquently, even using the same amp he has there. However, I guess in any case one loses the ability to control the eq (or at least bass and treble) from HA interface, correct? Or is there a solution that exposes those controls?

  • @MrReeceyburger123
    @MrReeceyburger123 Рік тому

    Haha awesome man, we tapped off an aux port on a gen 2 as the WiFi messed up 😂

  • @triangle3510
    @triangle3510 Рік тому

    I’ve read somewhere that you shouldn’t use non polar electrolytic caps for AC as they won’t last long on AC. Like they can be inserted any way into a DC circuit and then kinda “polarize” themselves according to the voltage applied to them. Is that right?

  • @redsquirrelftw
    @redsquirrelftw Рік тому +1

    Love to see stuff like this getting hacked so it's usable again without all the software crap.

  • @nickmandleberg
    @nickmandleberg Рік тому

    This is so cool! I have 2 of these is there a way to make them work like this but as a stereo pair ?

  • @WiztotheIzzard
    @WiztotheIzzard Рік тому +1

    Placing the unit upside down (would it be a SONOɟ?) would give you better access to the knobs, and you could print / lasercut / resin-fill to cosmetically fix the new 'top'.

  • @fieldlab4
    @fieldlab4 Рік тому

    So how did Bluetooth work? Was that part of the amp or a little aux unit?

  • @bigwave_dave8468
    @bigwave_dave8468 Рік тому +2

    Sure, 1st order is fine but mind the total response when you turn on the "subwoofer" (lol) as it´s effectively a 3-way system with the two Peerless (full-range) drivers used as mid range. HF may need attenuation. You can go as shallow or as deep as you like but going deeper requires more fun, testing and knowledge acquisition :-) PS: Thiel-Small param´s for those drivers are on the internet

  • @scottb721
    @scottb721 Рік тому

    I just bought the cased version of that amp. Great little unit.

  • @e74av
    @e74av Рік тому +2

    I like this type of vids. Still remember the mic red led hack ;)

  • @JohnBurgessMusic
    @JohnBurgessMusic Рік тому +35

    Very cool, it's exactly what I thought you should do when I saw the teardown. Even pro audio speakers are going the way of being highly complex and integrated. It used to be more common to have a passive speaker that was well tuned and constructed with external power amping, now they contain a switchmode PSU, class D amps and onboard DSP all slathered in silicone. Pretty much any component failure necessitates a whole board replacement. Fingers crossed the manufacturer will sell it to you without it being prohibitively expensive. Can't wait for the brave new world of IOT subscription based systems...bleh

    • @Conservator.
      @Conservator. Рік тому +7

      I doubt that that speaker will even sound decent without the Sonos DSP.

    • @JohnBurgessMusic
      @JohnBurgessMusic Рік тому +3

      @@Conservator. Yes that's a good point if you're looking for the best frequency response. I'm not sure how much they fix in software compared to purely cabinet and driver design. That's my concern with my EV pa speakers if I ever want to mod/repair them. Very good quality cab and speakers, but it's all designed as a package with the onboard DSP.

    • @zaprodk
      @zaprodk Рік тому

      @@Conservator. It won't.

    • @westelaudio943
      @westelaudio943 Рік тому

      @@zaprodk
      It's possible to get it to that point though.

    • @AnnaVannieuwenhuyse
      @AnnaVannieuwenhuyse Рік тому +3

      Hate the modern smps & class D based plate amps all you want, but they're pretty great tech when done right. I repair and design both older Class G/H as well as cutting edge class D nowadays, and it's really fun! There's so many things that are prohibitively expensive or complex in the fully analog world of passive crossovers or active analog crossovers, that the digital world with DSP and unification really brings a new light to the world.

  • @johnsonlam
    @johnsonlam Рік тому +102

    Love to see hackings to improve life and privacy.

    • @Kirillissimus
      @Kirillissimus Рік тому +4

      And the best part is that you can order everything you need for that including hot melt glue and wires from China and it will not cost more than a few yankee bucks delivered. Electronic mods are so accessible today that I don't know why everybody does not do it.

    • @kyanhluong
      @kyanhluong Рік тому

      ​@@Kirillissimus These product don't come by unless you in the modding hobby, you can try to recommend them to the right people tho...

  • @17qaz17qaz
    @17qaz17qaz Рік тому

    Would it be possible to use a Raspberry Pi or an Amazon echo board to replace the Sonos board that controls the speakers?

  • @de-bodgery
    @de-bodgery Рік тому

    I'm listening to you right now on a FOSI audio amp.

  • @rickbates9232
    @rickbates9232 Рік тому

    Noice. You can design and 3D print the knobs to be any shape style you want. Different colours are good to easily remember which does which if they are not labelled or easy to see.

  • @paulf.5261
    @paulf.5261 Рік тому

    I’ve got a receiver that is not used anymore....and I also have a Tunebase that plugs into the lighter socket to send the phone or iPod signal to the FM radio in my car.
    Thing is I don’t use it in the car and I wondered if there was a adaptation that would allow it to be used to send the signal FM style to my functional hifi receiver allowing me to get a signal into my vintage gear🤷‍♂️
    I guess the lighter connection would need to be ditched or adapted.....etc😬
    Though I suppose there’s already such a thing..... if they’re still available 🤔 Possibly not. Guess I’ll have to check.
    Any thoughts though😁🙏

  • @davidlong1786
    @davidlong1786 Рік тому +2

    Everything looked fine EXCEPT that first order filter and how you went about designing it. I can promise you that using a first order filter NEVER works out as planned. Speaker impedance varies with frequency and you will end up with a crappy response. Placing those inductors side by side like that will induce mutual coupling and changes the total value also. Just do some basic Googling to see why. Probably can find the info you need on the Parts Express website forum.

  • @brantwedel
    @brantwedel Рік тому +8

    "Ripping stuff out is way more entertaining" ... future content creator right there!!

  • @crazygeorgelincoln
    @crazygeorgelincoln Рік тому

    My friend used to be a sales rep or something for these guys. They got all the gear to use at home.
    If there's a party and you want to hear something different, it's practically just impossible

  • @Spark010
    @Spark010 Рік тому +1

    Was there space to mount the board vertically and have the controls on top behind the original power button?

    • @EEVblog
      @EEVblog  Рік тому +2

      I don't think so with the horns and the subwoofer.

  • @MatthewHarrold
    @MatthewHarrold Рік тому

    My eldest son was shopping for appliances for his future house (next 12 months). They now sell dishwashers with monthly subscription dish disks and bluetooth range hoods ... Dave ... have a look at "modern" kitchen appliances ... they are a multitude of failure points with zero gain. $0.02

  • @AlanMedina314
    @AlanMedina314 Рік тому

    This is a solid example of what to do with a sonos speaker other than the rubbish bin.

  • @coondogtheman
    @coondogtheman Рік тому

    I have this iHome iPod speaker and about 15 years ago ago I modded it to be a non bluetooth dumb speaker with the guts of a cheap pair of iPod speakers because it kept cutting out because it used digital everything like power on off and volume and it ate batteries like crazy. I still have that hacked speaker and it still works and it no longer eats batteries.

  • @redsnappa7837
    @redsnappa7837 Рік тому +2

    Good work mate! Should call it the NOSON

  • @imark7777777
    @imark7777777 Рік тому

    I got a similar module like that for just two channels. I think the output polarity is reversed and it has a DC offset I believe which causes some popping when turned on. Otherwise I really like the thing. Would be nice if there was some mods available. Annoyingly Bluetooth is always advertising which means somebody else in the family paired to it without me knowing trying to pair what they thought was their keyboard.

  • @tuttocrafting
    @tuttocrafting Рік тому +3

    Unfortunately that crossover would be completely off, at least i would have tried to find the datasheet of the drivers, and i would have simulated the phase change to align with the tweeter with the woofer. (Or measuring directly the thiele small params if the drivers datasheet is unobtanium)
    The best choice would have done: buy a chap adau DSP board and a i2s BT module. Program the ADAU with the proper filter calculated above and feed the i2s to the original amplifier board.
    A nice project for the channel...

    • @EEVblog
      @EEVblog  Рік тому +2

      Meh. Good enough for Australia.

    • @tuttocrafting
      @tuttocrafting Рік тому +1

      @@EEVblog if is good for you is good for me!
      A mention about the DSP magic would have been better... At least so people don't expect the same sound quality blaming the cheap amplifier.

    • @lasskinn474
      @lasskinn474 Рік тому

      @@tuttocrafting how do you go about simulating the phase change to align with the woofer with the tweeter when the phases are different lengths and peoples heads aren't stationary? like to some sort of useful end result anyway?

  • @leo11877
    @leo11877 Рік тому

    I want to do the opposite. I would like to take the streaming board out of a cheap S2 speaker and get digital output from the streaming board to my higher end DAC. Not sure if it's possible.

  • @BeatboxNorwich
    @BeatboxNorwich Рік тому

    I've been converting traditional speakers to Bluetooth for a couple of years now. Hopefully
    there are some Sonos out there no one wants anymore! Great vid Dave :)

    • @jrshaul
      @jrshaul Рік тому

      I'd gut 'em for parts.

  • @edgarcornette6387
    @edgarcornette6387 Рік тому +2

    You made my day.. LOVE to see it. I dont buy anything that requires the cloud or a company server to work. Cause in the end your screwed one way or another.

  • @younesel
    @younesel Рік тому

    Exactly what I was looking for!

  • @lrrromicronpersei8294
    @lrrromicronpersei8294 Рік тому

    I did a similar thing with an old Bose that had the large iPhone connection on the front ripped it all out and used an amp and Bluetooth module and use it in my camper van plugs into a 12v outlet

  • @Afrotechmods
    @Afrotechmods Рік тому +7

    "Don't toss it out, take it apart!"

  • @bertblankenstein3738
    @bertblankenstein3738 Рік тому

    Nice work Dave!

  • @zungalele
    @zungalele Рік тому

    I love this type of adaptations

  • @PhilXavierSierraJones
    @PhilXavierSierraJones Рік тому +4

    In theory someone could make an ESP32 board that communicates with the I2S DAC chip, and truly make a drop-in replacement for those otherwise excellent speakers...
    It's a big shame that they decided to slap a DRM and other online garbage on it.

  • @AKADriver
    @AKADriver Рік тому +3

    Given the lengths they went to to isolate the sides of the board, I'd be tempted to physically saw off the digital audio side!

    • @firesurfer
      @firesurfer Рік тому

      I thought that was the point.

  • @treelineresearch3387
    @treelineresearch3387 Рік тому

    I seem to remember the "Play:1" units I have are based on the same or a similar SoC to the BeagleBone Black, although apparently later revs have the boot pin physically disabled. Not sure what rev mine is, I seem to recall they're a nightmare to get into with lots of VHB sticky foam tape. Granted, just hacking in a modular bluetooth amp would probably make them more useful, because they don't have a line in hole at all (I was immediately disappointed on seeing that despite not having paid a dime for the pair).

  • @LawpickingLocksmith
    @LawpickingLocksmith Рік тому

    Incredible! Now onto open a Sydney FUTO so things can be fixed again!

  • @dreamcat4
    @dreamcat4 Рік тому

    also what is 'darkarnium / sonor' ??? has anybody out there tried that thing out yet? seems a bit like a jailbreaking script. or something vaguely along those lines.

  • @n0van0va
    @n0van0va Рік тому

    BOSE did the same with my soundBar.. had to do a whole annoying registering process to enable optical line

  • @johnwalton5576
    @johnwalton5576 Рік тому

    I learned a lot Dave, thanks!

  • @DeltaCmndrElite
    @DeltaCmndrElite Рік тому

    I have used this amp board to resurrect a few speakers and also make some they are great value but they definitely need the 24v to make the most of it

  • @romeoscrying2048
    @romeoscrying2048 Рік тому

    I won a Play1 1st gen while working at best buy. I ended up punching it trying to make it be a speaker. So much potential, so little acces. Def gonna break it and try some things. It still looks good sitting in my corner.

  • @cinobro6393
    @cinobro6393 Рік тому

    Is it just me or is this video not showing up in EEVBlog’s recently uploaded videos?

  • @mickeyfilmer5551
    @mickeyfilmer5551 Рік тому

    Don't forget the new "FRONOS" Badge as per your executive director's instructions !

  • @SeanBZA
    @SeanBZA Рік тому +15

    Could have connected the new amp to the existing LC filtering on the board, which would have given more filtering on the signal, and meant the LC values would be lower, plus also reuse the existing connector as well. Nice upgrade to the speaker as well, improving it to a new spec for a low price, and getting all the DRM and advertising out of it as well. A good upgrade for the free speaker set.

    • @InfernosReaper
      @InfernosReaper Рік тому +2

      I'd have just harvested components off the board myself for that filtering.

    • @Hitek146
      @Hitek146 Рік тому +5

      The on board amp is 5 channels, and the crossover frequencies are determined by the I2S DSP...

    • @AnnaVannieuwenhuyse
      @AnnaVannieuwenhuyse Рік тому +5

      @@Hitek146 Yup. :) The filtering on the output is for filtering the PWM signal after amplification, and not for crossover. :)

  • @richardhalliday6469
    @richardhalliday6469 Рік тому +4

    I did a very similar mod (similar AliExpress module to yours) to a software locked Zeppelin. Better than new as it now has 5.0 Bluetooth which the original set up didn't have along with a useless redundant Apple dock.