It's like night and day!  

You need trained ears and a $50,000 system!

@Kumar 

I could not agree more.  Arguing about bigger numbers is meaningless if people can’t see or hear the difference.  Every audio and video format eventually reaches a point of diminishing returns.  And at some point they surpass the limits of what our eyes and ears can actually perceive making these supposedly quality increases strictly academic.

Audio formats reached that point that a long time ago. It’s kind of crazy that a 40 year old standard like Red Book still represents the pinnacle of audio reproduction but it really does. Video formats on the other hand still have room to grow.  Hi Res audio played back on my $3K sound system, does not impress me at all.  But 4K HDR video played back on my 65” OLED blows me away.  

Interesting point.  I really don’t have  a clue where the line is between video resolution and what your eyes can see.  Perhaps part of the reason is that resolution, isn’t the only advancement involved with video.  Size of the TV, how black are the blacks, frame rate, etc.  As well, in many cases, customers can actually see the difference betweeen TVs in a store, much better than they can hear the difference between speakers.

I think a lot of the cost for higher bandwidth is further down the line with your service provider and local WiFi network.  This is why I would prefer to block resolutions beyond what I can hear.

Eh, I think most people always want more, and don’t really think about the limits of what they can possibly hear or use.   I wouldn’t say that I’m immune to that psychology either. 

OLED and HDR are very fine. However with average vision the 4K part is only likely to be relevant if you’re sitting 9 feet or less from the screen. https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/by-size/size-to-distance-relationship

In many typical living room situations a viewer quite probably wouldn’t be able to distinguish 4K from FHD. 

The higher the audio bit rate the more data you have to move over your network. For folks with problems with issues with non-HD audio it will likely make things worse.

Agreed. And sitting close enough to pick the 4K on a large screen means turning to the left/right to catch all the action, that can get tiresome. 

But the few times I have watched 4K streams on a 2011 make 50 inch plasma HDTV, the picture clarity is a marked improvement even on that TV as compared to HD streams. Perhaps the better mastering analogy applies to video as well. Of course, how much better than that they would be on a 4K capable screen, I don’t know. 

The difference isn’t as marked as it is in the case of DVD to HD, so this suggests that diminishing returns for video are also now in play, and I would be surprised to see any need for 8K and higher.

Which is why you see all the frantic marketing of the latest audio kit, year after year, by the odious to the credulous - the HiFi specialist media being just as culpable. And their pandering to the all too common human condition of not being satisfied with what is available and at hand in the home.

Quite true, but nor can headphones create bass that one can feel as well as hear.

In New York City….After Sonos made the hi-res announcement, I subscribed to.Amazon Unlimited. I am playing Rush -- Ultra HD on a new Beam 2 and my app says: 

Tom Sawyer
Rush (with the Amazon “music” logo underneath) - Ultra HD Rush and
Dolby Atmos, to the far right.

Took a while, but an “HD” now appears where Dolby Atmos was when the playlist moved to another song, Limelight.

And now just switched to “Ultra HD” on far right...

You’re right, it’s Unlimited in the US as well.   

As far as the resolution badge, I think it’s in SD (no badge)  when initiating playback from the Amazon app or Alexa because Amazon doesn’t know what resolution the specific Sonos room can play.  That’s my theory anyway.

“HD” for Amazon sort of has two different meanings.  HD is the name of the service level you can get within Amazon music.  Within that service, you’ll have SD (Standard definition) tracks of the lower quality.  HD tracks are 16-bit/44.1 kHz (CD quality)  and then there are Ultra HD tracks at 24 bit.  There is also now the atmos music as part of this service.  When playing Amazon music on Sonos, Sonos will have no label for SD, HD for HD, Ultra HD label, and Atmos label.

Also I am curious what the difference is with Amazon’s HD vs Sonos Radio HD or are they the same?

I am curious about this. 

It would appear that there is an issue with the sub and a stereo pair of speakers playing the UHD files. I have seen this discussion here and in other forums as well. 

I assume you were referring to the following statement.

However, if you’re listening to a hi-res track with quality headphones or a Sonos speaker, you’re setting yourself up with the best possible circumstances to experience that track as it sounded in the recording studio.

It’s probably intentionally vague, I think, as Sonos can’t really say that 24 bit is better.  Again, I think the statement is silly as it implies nothing is done to the track between it’s recording and the final production file you’re hearing.  But regardless, I think the point was about producing the audio rather than eliminating any other audio you may hear.

Honestly, I think it’s odd that they mention headphones at all, particular since they don’t mention quality speakers that Sonos doesn’t make.  My guess is that the only reason they mention headphones is Sonos is very likely to sell their own headphones very soon.

No, I was referring to ambient noises in the actual listening environment, not on the recording.  I personally don’t care for recorded ambient noises, such as you would get in a live recording.  

Right, I generally don’t want those eliminated, personally preference.  I use headphones mostly at work, when I cannot use speakers.  The other time I would use headphones is when I need hearing protection or trying to block out annoying sound.

I did not say they are better; I just said that they can capture more of what Sonos is talking about and there is therefore a greater chance of this more accurate sound capture being heard on headphones compared to any speaker including Sonos. Not that there is any controlled blind test on headphones that establishes this for Hi Res...but I can see that they have a better chance of picking up any benefit, if  it exists.

Personally I don't like headphones and never use them, but there is little argument against the fact they offer a more accurate sound. The ambient sounds that you refer to are heard on them as well; those in the live performance, be it in a studio or concert hall.  What they eliminate, and what speakers cannot, is ambient sound in your home or mine, or in any other domestic environment. We may like the latter because we are used to it, which makes it just a personal preference.

From what I read about this search it seems to me that a lot of angst is generated when the data point is not available; angst that must be coming in the way of just sitting back, trusting ones ears and enjoying the music. There are enough more real things happening around all of us to save the worry and the energy to deal with those.

But 24 bit is used in studio recordings, right?  Might of been better for the article just to leave that issue alone and just state what is done without going into why it’s done that way.

One other thing I didn’t like about the article is it seems to conflate recording in a studio with the final produced file coming out of a studio.  There is no doubt that what’s recorded is mixed and mashed up to remove issues and mistakes, staple together the best parts of multiple records, etc.  You aren’t really getting a perfect reproduction of what was recorded in the studio regardless of what resolution of audio you’re listening to.

Quality is a subjective term, and I don’t fault Sonos in this regard for using it.  Personally, headphones don’t feel as natural to me, and the lack of external sounds, or having muffled external sounds, can be more distracting.   And obviously, headphones lack the shared experienced with others and prevent communication, etc.  I get what your saying regarding ambient noises reflections, but they are a part of reality, and certainly what you would get if you were listening to a live performance.  Removing everything but the music is different, not necessarily better.  Headphones most certainly have their place and are great for some people and situations,  but are certainly not an objectively better option than speakers .

Having a similar issue but with Ones and Sub gen 2. When the sub is bonded, only HD plays. If I remove the sub so the Ones are in a stereo pair, Ultra HD will play. Rebond the Sub and it drops back to HD for the same songs that were just playing in UHD.

My Arc is bonded with Play:3 surrounds and a Sub gen 2 and I’m able to play Dolby Atmos/Ultra HD on that setup without any issue.

I thought the blog was very open about the advantages of hi-res. Though explained within the (commercial) restraints (you would not want to bash this new feature) it does state CD-quality contains all you can hear. Hi-res is just because that's the way music is recorded and because it can be done. No claims about quality anywhere.

Per the Sonos blog on Hi Res, sound from CDs continues to sound “fantastic”. Perhaps they are still searching for an adjective for the outcome of the new science to describe what sound quality that delivers in comparison to fantastic..

The other place Sonos is being disingenuous is in equating Sonos speakers with quality headphones as being able to be like the recording studio such that this new super fantastic sound quality can be heard. Like ALL other speakers that interact with the room acoustics and have to deal with the ambient sound levels in even a quiet domestic room, Sonos speakers can never do what headphones can - eliminate the room and all that it brings to the listening, from the frame.

Does the generation 2 of the sub support Amazon Music high res 24 bit audio? I do not see anything about the compatibility of the subs. I did the update on the app and currently I am only seeing HD and no Ultra HD song tags (which I know are UHD). My current set up uses two fives with a gen 2 sub. Thanks. 

As far as I can see the only real result of this change is that your Sonos will have to move more bits to play your music. No big deal for most of us but for folks that are fighting WiFi or SonosNet issues it may push them over their limit and into having dropping issues.

My guess is that it was decided to use hardware that was as functional as the bookshelf and lamp had.  Costs, availability of parts from supply issues, or a combination of both.  IMO, I don’t think hi res is really worth it on the ikea speakers, but it’s my opinion and I haven’t actually heard the frames yet.

It begs the question, who controls the IKEA speakers? Are they designed and manufactured by Sonos and sold by IKEA, or are they designed and manufactured by IKEA, using parts purchased from Sonos, and just use the Sonos software to operate, with some sort of reduced fee structure due to not using the latest version of the hardware that supports Hi-Res?