Now Playing Trueplay - Your Impressions

  • 10 November 2015
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94 replies

Single Play:1 in kitchen, lousy location on breadbox, up against back wall, under cupboard, boomy bass. After tuning, huge improvement, tight bass, much cleaner vocals.

Play:1 pair on desk in tiny office, nearfield, tuning didn't do much, as they already sounded fantastic.
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No SONOS controller for my Lumia so I borrowed an iPAD and went for a wave

Play 1 in study - no appreciable difference
Playbar, sub, two play 3s in lounge - trueplay not available
Two play 5s in dining room - no appreciable difference
Play 5 in gym - no appreciable difference

In all cases SONOS app reported only subtle changes made

I think that the test noise was loud enough to scare the neighbours though

Given the ecstatic reviews above perhaps I may try turning Trueplay on and off and experimenting with different music
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Maybe try tuning the study again. That single play one would normally tune to a big difference unless a perfect room.
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So I tuned 3 rooms after upgrading to the version 6 controller software. In they case of each room, the differences were subtle - but noticeable.

All I can say is that after tuning the music sounds ---- well more musical! The vocals are more pronounced and the bass is more taught and with more punch. My wife noticed that the music sounded better but could not put into words. "That sounds really good"

I would look at it this way: all speakers interact with the rooms they are placed in. Manufacturers have no way of knowing where or how the speakers will be placed in a room and the volume of the room. Some rooms are soft and plush - absorptive - while other rooms are hard and reflective. TruePlay is Sonos answer to helping mate their speakers to rooms through innovative engineering. I think it is awesome. With a relatively simple procedure, one can improve the frequency response of his/her speakers just by walking around and waving your phone in the air. How cool is that.

One thing people should try is pick several of your favorite tracks and then enable/disable TruePlay tuning for that room and close your eyes. I have done this and much prefer the tuned version as opposed to the previous default EQ. I think the vocals is where I notice just sound more life-like. Even when listening to NPR over the radio - they voices just sound more natural.

A great big thanks to all the Sonos engineers that made this a reality. Over time it will get even better.

I think this is a real game-changer!

Rock on.
Gotta say... I swear someone fell down the stairs today but it was the bass response out of my Play:1s. Never had that level of awesome out of them!
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I've played a bit with Trueplay. In my main listening room (Play5 pair + sub), the app said that only minor changes were made, however, my impression is that of a huge change. All the nice clarity in the bass department that the sub brought (just bought it a couple of weeks ago) is gone, it almost sounds like before when I only had the Play 5 pair. I'm, not a "boomy bass" type of listener - EQ has always been in the middle, I mainly listen to jazz and classical music. I'm still switching back and forth between Trueplay on and off, maybe I still need time to get used to it, but I always end up liking it a lot better with Trueplay switched off in this room.

In the bedroom, Trueplay said "not done much", and here, I like what it has done - the Play5 sits in the corner (although with plenty of space from the wall on all sides).

In the room with the worst listening situation (Play1 in a very, very small bathroom with all flat and hard surfaces), Trueplay never finishes, complaining about too much background noise (while there is virtually none). I expect it can't cope with the reflections.

So, at the end of the day: Mixed feelings about Trueplay. Good it can be switched on and off.
Good it can be switched on and off.
I agree. Along with the fact that it is free.
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I tried Trueplay using the latest iPod Touch. Stereo Play:1s in the kitchen, each in a corner on opposite ends of the longer wall. I was delighted by the difference! The kitchen Play:1s always sounded tubby to me. Now they are open with rich, well-defined bass and crisp mids / highs. I am very impressed, thanks Sonos for this free upgrade!

Next on to the living room, bedroom, and studio!
I've always been impressed with the sound from my play 1, 3 and 5. I enabled trueplay and the sound is very clear.

However, with trueplay turned off it sounds very unimpressive and I can't believe it sounded that bad before trueplay. I don't think I'd have been happy with it sounding like that. I'm wondering if when trueplay is turned off its actually not the same as it used to be and tuned differently thereby giving a false impression of how much different it is with trueplay.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with how it sounds with trueplay I just don't think it used to be as bad as it is now without trueplay.
Enabling Trueplay sets the eq back to default, so any adjustments you'd made previously would be lost, if you'd changed anything in the eq before you'd need to set it back to how you had it before to hear the real difference.
Thanks. I did notice the EQ was reset after trueplay and returned them back to their original settings. It just seems so unclear and dull with trueplay turned off and I find it hard to believe it sounded that bad before.
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Thanks. I did notice the EQ was reset after trueplay and returned them back to their original settings. It just seems so unclear and dull with trueplay turned off and I find it hard to believe it sounded that bad before.

I know, I had the same thought. But I do remember my kitchen Play:1s sounding tubby before, and now they sound much better.

You kind of get used to what you have, and the music takes over and you forget about the "sound". Soon you will also forget about Trueplay.
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U tuned 3 x play 1 & 2 x play 5.

Play 5 in Kitchen & living room : not much difference, a little less bass.
Play 1 in bedrooms : I was already impressed about the quality/sound you could get from such a small speaker, now even better.

Looking forward to a Trueplay on Android.
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Now that you have tuned them what do you need android version for??
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Maybe I'm tone deaf, but I didn't get it. On my Play:1 stereo pair it created distortion. I've submitted a case for it. I also found that in that room space is very limited and I ran out of places to go to wave my iPad round. It's a no from me.
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I have one Play:5 (gen1) and I heard of trueplay and couldn't imagine how it should work so well. I read reviews online before it was released and it was highly praised... Then when it came out I had a friend with his iPhone over and we tuned the Play:5. at first I didn't hear a difference... But when I turned it off again I wondered how i was able to listen to music before although the app only reported "minor changes"! Much clearer sound than before! Keep going Sonos!
I had a similar experience to what couple of people have mentioned. Although the app reported only minor changes for my Play 5 in the living room and I didn't perceive a whole lot of difference either, a couple of days later when I started trying some tracks with and without TruePlay I was shocked at the difference. The sound is much richer and natural sounding right now. With TruePlay off it sounds a lot more boxed in. Great job Sonos team on this feature!
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With my Play 1's TruePlay gave a great improvement to the sound. With my Play 5's (Gen 1) either as a stereo pair or used individually the result was however completely different. TruePlay literally sucked the life out of them. Would anyone who is happy with the sound of the Play 5's (Gen 1) using TruePlay post what EQ and Loudness settings they are using to restore some 'warmth' or 'richness' to the sound.
This isn't new news for this thread but poorly placed Play 1's seem to have the most to gain from TruePlay. I have mine (Play 1's) up on top of my kitchen cabinets and they are not visible anywhere in the room. I thought they sounded pretty good before running TruePlay but (WOW!) what a difference the calibration made!!! Thanks for making such a novel capability in this space!!
I have mixed experiences with Trueplay. I bought a new Play 5, 2nd gen some weaks ago. There was something wrong with the bass elements so I got a new one. This is working fine. I have it in my living room, which is quite minimalistic, meaning it's a bright room with some echo. Trueplay does a great job when it comes to making the sound tighter (less hall/cathedral sound). But what I don't like at all is that the Trueplay brings sibilance to the trebles. At first I thought it was the Loudness setting that was the problem, but after further testing with turning Trueplay on and off, it's clear that this setting makes a big difference when it comes to trebles. As mentioned I have a bright room and I really don't get why Trueplay is making the trebles sharper. If I had lots of carpets, furniture and curtains I would understand why the trebles were increased. But in my kind of environment, this is making the trebles sharp and unpleasant to listen to. It's to much to easily adjust with the treble settings. My only option to make the trebles sound ok, is to switch off the Trueplay setting. But this makes the whole sound much less tight. So my conclusion is that in my living room Trueplay brings clear improvements to the the sound, except for the increasment of the trebles that gets much to sharp (sibilance). If someone can help me with this I would really appreciate it.
I have mixed experiences with Trueplay. I bought a new Play 5, 2nd gen some weaks ago. There was something wrong with the bass elements so I got a new one. This is working fine. I have it in my living room, which is quite minimalistic, meaning it's a bright room with some echo. Trueplay does a great job when it comes to making the sound tighter (less hall/cathedral sound). But what I don't like at all is that the Trueplay brings sibilance to the trebles. At first I thought it was the Loudness setting that was the problem, but after further testing with turning Trueplay on and off, it's clear that this setting makes a big difference when it comes to trebles. As mentioned I have a bright room and I really don't get why Trueplay is making the trebles sharper. If I had lots of carpets, furniture and curtains I would understand why the trebles were increased. But in my kind of environment, this increasement is making the trebles sharp and unpleasant to listen to. It's to much to easily adjust with the treble settings. My only option to make the trebles sound ok, is to switch off the Trueplay setting. But this makes the whole sound much less tight. So my conclusion is that in my living room Trueplay brings clear improvements to the the sound, except for the increasment of the trebles that gets much to sharp (sibilance). If someone can help me with this I would really appreciate it.
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My Play:1's and Play:3's really gained a lot from trueplay. But my two new Play:5's with Sub, lost its warm sound and kicking bass . . . so it that case trueplay is unchecked.
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we really need true play for player home theatre set up that would be epic
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we really need true play for player home theatre set up that would be epic

Ryan S. of Planet Sonos, if you are out there, any word on TruePlay for Playbar and Home Theater users? Before TruePlay was announced, I was looking for an iOS App based speaker/placement tuner for home theater, and then got terribly excited when TruePlay was announced. Then it was Sad Trombone time when I saw that it didn't apply to the Playbar and Home Theater setup. From all the favorable reports on TruePlay success for speaker tuning, I hope Sonos is working on it.

(Dumb) Question: I have my viewing room set up with Playbar, Sub and 2 Play 1s. Can I create a separate room setting for the same 2 Play 1s and Sub so I can try out TruePlay for music only, and still keep my home theater set up for movies?
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we really need true play for player home theatre set up that would be epic

Ryan S. of Planet Sonos, if you are out there, any word on TruePlay for Playbar and Home Theater users? Before TruePlay was announced, I was looking for an iOS App based speaker/placement tuner for home theater, and then got terribly excited when TruePlay was announced. Then it was Sad Trombone time when I saw that it didn't apply to the Playbar and Home Theater setup. From all the favorable reports on TruePlay success for speaker tuning, I hope Sonos is working on it.

(Dumb) Question: I have my viewing room set up with Playbar, Sub and 2 Play 1s. Can I create a separate room setting for the same 2 Play 1s and Sub so I can try out TruePlay for music only, and still keep my home theater set up for movies?


Toltec21! This is Ryan S. from Planet Sonos. Do you read me Toltec21! :)


We don't give out spoilers on the roadmap or share a timeline on these things. I posted this a little while back, and it's just as true today:

Trueplay for home theater adds a lot of complication and calculation. We hope to be able to bring the tuning to the PLAYBAR and home theater setups, but don't have any news to share on making it happen.

As to your second question, you can remove the surround pairing on the PLAY:1s and group them together as a different room then do Trueplay. However, they won't be paired with the PLAYBAR anymore, so if you want to group them with that unit, they won't be treated as surround speakers. Also, they'll be connecting with the 2.4GHz network and not the 5GHz surrounds usually use. This means they'll also be a little out of sync. Generally, I wouldn't recommend it.