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. Is this true? 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) Would this elimination be immediately audible or do we need to await further updates?

Avid Contributor I

Answered

S2 Sound Quality Improvements?

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
June 8, 2020
17 replies
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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.

Is this true?
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)
Would this elimination be immediately audible or do we need to await further updates?

Sonos S2

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Best answer by Nialli

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Vahe

Lyricist III

Guys, I have Qobuz sublime+ full res subscription.

But how do I play the high res files on Sonos?

When I download the high res files from Qobuz app, they are not seen by Sonos app, so no much for "playing local files" in high res.

What am I missing? Do we need to purchase the songs before being able to put it in local files mode??

Vahe S.

P

Paul_41

Contributor I

Think it depends on the sampling rate s the max supported is 48khz. I have a lot of “High Res” files encoded at 24bit 96 or 192khz which Sonos does not recognise. It does, however play my 24bit 48khz files. Very annoying.

L

Liono

Lyricist III

I kitted my house out with Sonos kit in 2011/12 and with the recent S2 announcement iI decided to use trade in voucher to get a Port and Five to replace my Connect and Play: 5. This was on the assumption that S2 would be able to play Hi-Res files, especially on the Port. Having now split my system and testing S2, I can only play 24-bit files at 48KHz!

Sonos you need to confirm or otherwise that in a future update I'll be able to play 96 and 192KHz FLAC and ALAC, Otherwise this has to be one of the most misleading product marketing issues ever! If this was never going to be the case I'd have never ordered the new kit!

jgatie

You know what they say when you assume.

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Liono

Lyricist III

Yep I broke my own rule in this instance after purchasing a Sony A1 OLED TV on the promise of Dolby Vision via an update and it didn't arrive until 18months later!!

D

Digital Music Lover_1

Lyricist III

THe previous Sonos system tended to use some compression, and it was not bit perfect. I think the new S2 sounds very good when using Amazon HD, Quboz and TIDAL. I speculate they are no longer doing whatever they were doing before. I do not have any means to test and measure it, though but the proof in that it sounds very good.

ratty

THe previous Sonos system tended to use some compression, and it was not bit perfect.

I have no idea what you’re referring to.

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