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Avid Contributor I
Jun 8, 2020 1:35 PM UTC
Answered

S2 Sound Quality Improvements?

I currently run Deezer Elite -- this is an FLAC stream.  I was told by an audio salesman that while Sonos runs FLAC the audio you actually get is less than CD quality due to Sonos’ own compression. 

  1. Is this true?
  2. If so, does the broader band of S2 eliminate said compression (or is the improved sound quality only going to be when you upgrade a stream all the way to HD)
  3. Would this elimination be immediately audible or do we need to await further updates?

 

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NialliAnswer
Contributor I
Jun 8, 2020 1:47 PM UTC

 

17 replies

jgatie
Jun 8, 2020 1:38 PM UTC

I currently run Deezer Elite -- this is an FLAC stream.  I was told by an audio salesman that while Sonos runs FLAC the audio you actually get is less than CD quality due to Sonos’ own compression. 

  1. Is this true?
  2. If so, does the broader band of S2 eliminate said compression (or is the improved sound quality only going to be when you upgrade a stream all the way to HD)
  3. Would this elimination be immediately audible or do we need to await further updates?

 

 

The salesman is full of it (as most of them are). 

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pwt
Virtuoso
Jun 8, 2020 1:38 PM UTC

this is an FLAC stream.  I was told by an audio salesman that while Sonos runs FLAC the audio you actually get is less than CD quality due to Sonos’ own compression.

It is not true.

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NialliAnswer
Contributor I
Jun 8, 2020 1:47 PM UTC

 

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Contributor I
Jun 8, 2020 1:48 PM UTC

No mention of MQA support with S2. Disappointing for Tidal users but Qobuz, Deezer and Amazon Music HD users should be happ

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Prominent Collaborator I
Jun 8, 2020 1:53 PM UTC

Yes - according to the feature desicription 24-bit is only for local FLAC/ALAC files, so users of ie Tidal HD streaming will still only get 16-bit audio… No upgrade there...

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Brandon_7Author
Avid Contributor I
Jun 8, 2020 2:03 PM UTC

Thanks all.  Niall, just for clarity -- the current system supports 16-bit?  

 

The s2 will support 24 bit,but Sonos also refers to this as FLAC and ALAC?  Why both?  Why not just say 16-bit is FLAC and 24-bit is ALAC?

 

Thanks.

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Brandon_7Author
Avid Contributor I
Jun 8, 2020 2:04 PM UTC

And to all -- so essentially S2 won’t offer any sound improvements until we get the updates allowing for ALAC audio streams?

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jgatie
Jun 8, 2020 2:05 PM UTC

Thanks all.  Niall, just for clarity -- the current system supports 16-bit?  

 

The s2 will support 24 bit,but Sonos also refers to this as FLAC and ALAC?  Why both?  Why not just say 16-bit is FLAC and 24-bit is ALAC?

 

Thanks.

 

FLAC and ALAC are two different formats.  ALAC is basically the Apple version of FLAC.  Both can be played at 24 bits for local files only.

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Ken_Griffiths
Jun 8, 2020 2:09 PM UTC

Thanks all.  Niall, just for clarity -- the current system supports 16-bit?  

 

The s2 will support 24 bit,but Sonos also refers to this as FLAC and ALAC?  Why both?  Why not just say 16-bit is FLAC and 24-bit is ALAC?

 

Thanks.

It’s 24 bit (either 44.1/48KHz) for both local ALAC and FLAC, just to clarify.

(edit: jgatie beat me to it👍)

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Trending Lyricist I
Jun 8, 2020 2:22 PM UTC

didn’t sonos support 24bit 44.1/48 from version 7?

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