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Ryan S
Ryan S
Retired Sonos Staff
November 10, 2015

Now Playing Trueplay - Your Impressions

  • November 10, 2015
  • 94 replies
  • 11820 views
Trueplay is now available for the world to try and we’d love to hear what you think about the tuning. Have you noticed a change in your home? What are your impressions?

Personally, I first set up Trueplay in the worst possible situation I had at home, an original PLAY:5 sitting half behind a hollowed out speaker tower speaker which was used as a table for a record player (it’s a long story). The room has stone floors, high ceilings, and a few couches. The difference was immense.

After my dance around the room the PLAY:5 sounded like a completely different speaker. The highs were much clearer, and the lows resonated better throughout the room. Friends in the house couldn’t believe the difference either.

The next room I tested was much better off. The PLAY:3 in there was in a better place already, sitting toward the corner of the room, on top of a table. Wood floors, much smaller room, lower ceilings. There was still a noticeable change, as Trueplay really does help out the PLAY:3, but it wasn’t as big as with that first room.

Let us know how it goes! We recommend testing out 5 tracks that you know very well and seeing the difference. What rooms did you try it out in? What did you notice? What are your experiences? Share your stories here.
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      94 replies

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      dr_mops
      Trending Lyricist I
      November 26, 2015
      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!
        noizfactory
        noizfactory
        December 15, 2015
        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!
        mourneviewace
        Trending Lyricist I
        December 22, 2015
        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.
        TTrafton
        Lyricist III
        December 30, 2015
        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!!
        storform
        Contributor III
        January 14, 2016
        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.
        storform
        Contributor III
        January 14, 2016
        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.
        Henrik_2
        Contributor II
        February 4, 2016
        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.
        Rs16iandy
        Avid Contributor I
        April 24, 2016
        we really need true play for player home theatre set up that would be epic
          Toltec21
          Trending Lyricist I
          June 22, 2016
          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?
          Ryan S
          Ryan SAuthor
          Retired Sonos Staff
          June 23, 2016
          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.
          Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.
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