Sonos is cautioning Mac users that the Lion operating system upgrade is not compatible with the Sonos system. While Sonos will surely remedy this with a firmware upgrade, for now, users who upgrade to Lion will not be able to stream their iTunes to Sonos music streaming devices.
Before you let that deter you from enjoying the rest of the exciting new features Lion has to offer, there is already a solution — using iTunes and AirPlay with an Airport Express. This solution has a number of advantages whether or not you upgrade to Lion.
Lion Isn't the Only Problem Sonos Has with iTunes
Even before Mac's operating-system upgrade to Lion, Sonos systems had troubles with iTunes. While it promised to be fully compatible, Sonos could not display iTunes playlists without taking steps to import them. Also, for those who have enormous iTunes libraries with thousands of songs in their smart playlists, Sonos limits the number of songs in a playlist to 40,000. And Sonos will not play copyright protected (DRM) songs purchased from the iTunes store prior to 2009.
AirPlay Streams Directly from the Source, Bypassing the Problems
While there are complicated solutions to many of these issues, the easiest fix is to use an Airport Express and AirPlay. Because AirPlay streams directly from your computer's iTunes library, it is simply using the Sonos device as a speaker. All of the iTunes problems are instantly solved. Sonos are not AirPlay-enabled but the ZonePlayer 120 and the Play:5 have mini-jack line-in ports. To use AirPlay with Sonos, you'll need an Airport Express connected to the line-in.
To play your iTunes music using AirPlay, choose "line-in" from the Sonos music menu.
Note that when you use AirPlay, you will use not be using the Sonos controller to choose your songs, nor to play or pause your music. With AirPlay and the Airport Express, you will use your computer, or the iPhone, iPod or iPad from which you are streaming, to choose songs to play on your Sonos device.
Not only does this solve the forementioned problems with iTunes, it adds the ability to stream from your iPad, iPod and iPhone using AirPlay and any third-party AirPlay-enabled apps. The iPhone Rhapsody and Napster work with Airport Express. You might prefer to use the iPhone apps rather than choose these services on the Sonos menu. The iPhone apps have features that you won't find when using Rhapsody directly on the Sonos controller.
Another benefit is that you only need one Airport Express to be able to use AirPlay in streaming music to any Sonos in your Sonos network. By choosing "line-in" as the music source for the ZonePlayer that is connected to your Airport Express, you can add other Sonos devices to that same Zone group and share the AirPlay music on all players.
Note that you must play the music you want to share from AirPlay on the Sonos player that is connected to the Airport Express. If you don't want to hear music from that player, you can lower its volume or mute it and still listen in the other rooms. This makes more sense when you understand about choosing zones and groups in the Sonos system.
Check out Sonos' FAQ page for any questions you have about setup, troubleshooting or optimizing your Sonos and Airport Express.