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Sonos announced today the imminent availability of a new multi-room network streamer, the port. It will replace the Connect that has been in use for over ten years and was the first experience of many audiophiles with streaming from a server at home and later in the cloud.
The port switches the case from white to matte black and adopts a wider and lower profile to fit the new model to the Sonos amp. 'All around, we note the following connections: Ethernet input and output; a pair of RCA inputs for streaming analog sources to other Sonos devices; a pair of RCA outputs for connection to an amplifier or pair of powered speakers; and a single digital output – coaxial.
If the inside of the port is similar to that of the outgoing Connect, this missing TOSLINK output will be a disadvantage for those who care about optimizing the sound quality. Connect's TOSLINK was not the most resolute digital output solution, but it lacked the harshness and glare we find so confusing when we connect the Connect to an external high-end digital-to-analog coaxial converter .
The Wyred4Sound-modded Connect offered much better digital sound than the standard version. This is the main reason why this commentator continues to entertain Sonos' extremely complete streaming platform: if your streaming service is not on Sonos, it is invisible. Sonos is the only third party company to date implementing Apple Music on their platform with their UX.
Incidentally, the Sonos port offers the features of Apple Airplay 2, but there is no word on high resolution support. We will assume that the port adopts the 48 kHz ceiling of Connect's sample rate until we notice otherwise.
The Sonos Port will be on sale in the United States on September 12 for $ 399. Europe? Later … and for 449 €. Meanwhile, raise a glass for Sonos Connect. We did not know you very much.
Additional information: Sonos
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