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mjr4078
Contributor II
December 10, 2021
Answered

HD Music Playback Help

  • December 10, 2021
  • 13 replies
  • 455 views

With the recent announcement of Amazon HD music support I was wondering if your playback source effects if music is HD or not. I stream my music via wi-fi from my Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and am not sure if playback is in true HD or do I need an external converter. Thanks for your help.

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Best answer by Ken_Griffiths

With the recent announcement of Amazon HD music support I was wondering if your playback source effects if music is HD or not. I stream my music via wi-fi from my Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and am not sure if playback is in true HD or do I need an external converter. Thanks for your help.

It will of course depend if the audio source is 16-bit (HD) or 24-bit (UltraHD) but as/if you are playing the audio via the Sonos App, the controller device (Samsung Galaxy in your case) is not relevant as the Sonos App is just a ‘remote’ - music is streamed direct to your chosen speaker(s)/room(s) direct from the Amazon servers…the Sonos devices that support 24-bit audio are:

  • Roam
  • Arc
  • Beam (both generations), 
  • Five
  • Sub (all generations), 
  • Move
  • One
  • One SL
  • Port
  • Amp
  • SYMFONISK Bookshelf
  • SYMFONISK Table Lamp
  • Play:5 (Gen 2)
  • Connect (Gen 2) (Summer 2017–> onwards)
  • Connect:Amp (Gen 2)

13 replies

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Mr. T
Mr. T
December 10, 2021

I guess there might possibly be some ‘teething’ issues with the ‘badge’ display on the ‘Now Playing’ screen, with certain Sonos setups - I don’t have a Play:5 (gen 2) to help test some of the things mentioned here, but I presume they will get sorted in the not too distant future.

I’m still wondering aswell, if network conditions LAN/WAN (for some) might also prove to be an issue with the streaming services? I’m sure I read somewhere something about that online. I just can’t find where I read it, but rather than have higher quality audio dropout, I would personally prefer to receive standard/HD audio in its place that continues without interruption. (My ears 👂cannot tell the difference in most cases anyway).

 

I vaguely recall reading something similar Ken as I troubleshooted my issue.

Personally, I would like it if the User was able to select different audio qualities within the Sonos app, rather than it being defaulted to the best available. Some songs sound terrible in Dolby Atmos and I’d rather have the HD/Ultra HD equivalent, or as you mention Ken, if people are experiencing audio dropouts at higher quality, they could lower the quality themselves to see if that stabilises their stream.

In a blind test, I doubt I could tell the difference between SD/HD/Ultra HD, but if it’s available in the latter then that’s what I want lol.

 

    Jimmy C
    Prominent Collaborator II
    December 10, 2021

    In a blind test, I doubt I could tell the difference between SD/HD/Ultra HD, but if it’s available in the latter then that’s what I want lol.

     

    😂  That’s pretty much what I told Sonos when I spoke to them earlier today and we were doing a diagnostic over the phone whole I was playing a track from Ed Sheeran’s Equals album. Since I am already paying for it, I would like to get UHD since my equipment supports it. Btw, moments before the call i tested my download speed and it was just over 84 mbps. Like I stated earlier, Sonos confirmed I was actually receing UHD. I was basically told they are aware of some display issues and are looking into it. 

    HT: Arc + Era 300s + Subs (G3/G2) + Sony A80L + Sony UBP-X800M2
      Mr. T
      Mr. T
      December 10, 2021

      Btw, moments before the call i tested my download speed and it was just over 84 mbps. Like I stated earlier, Sonos confirmed I was actually receing UHD. I was basically told they are aware of some display issues and are looking into it. 


      I’ve sent Sonos a couple of diagnostics so will see what they come back with, if it is a display issue or something else, as I can’t get UHD on a One stereo pair with Sub (gen2), but it’s fine without the Sub.

      My internet connection is 700Mbps+ but whilst your internet connection can be great, the Sonos speakers can still have a hard time talking to each other. I’m on SonosNet and they all appear Green in the network matrix, so WiFi interference shouldn’t be an issue here but we will see.

       

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