How stupid is it that they released a headphone that does not connect to the Sonos network? There are plenty high end headphones out there. I want headphones that connect to my Sonis system.

This has to be one of the stupidest products Sonos has created. Thought Sonos stood for quality product, but it just feels like delivery is priority 1 and quality priority 2. Creating an app that can't handle its own products describes the whole thing well. An app that you have to restart all the time just so it can find products. Then comes Ace, well I don't know where to start, again the app can't handle it, it can't play any music from inside the sonos app and then where did the wifi go. I don't understand that it only supports BT, there are many others products that can do that, I'm waiting for a headphone that will work with Sonos (wifi), no that was not Sonos' plan apparently. Now they finally added the function I bought them for, play TV on them, but no, now the music has to go by my Beam, to my phone and then to Ace, talk about delays, can't watch music on TV and listening on Ace with them, it's completely out of sync, you go crazy looking at drums etc. and seeing them play in two different worlds. I must now say, this is now my last Sonos product, it has become expensive and now the quality has disappeared, thanks for your time...

Seems like there might be some confusion about what the Ace can do within the Sonos system.  Ace can  effectively bond with a Sonos soundbar (Arc, Beam, or Ray) to play TV audio.  That TV audio would be whatever audio is coming through the TV, which obviously can include music.  It should be in sync with the video on the TV, and if it’s not, you might want to talk to support about that.

The initial setup of connecting Ace to your soundbar is done through the Sonos app, but the Sonos app is not involved in the audio playback at all.  Audio is transmitted from the soundbar to Ace via 5 GHZ wifi, not through bluetooth.

Sonos has not mentioned what future enhancements are coming for Ace, but my opinion is:

• Sonos Ace as it’s own separate room/zone in the Sonos system - not likely
• Use 2 Sonos Aces connected to one soundbar - possible with a future Sonos soundbar
• Play audio with a Sonos Ace and soundbar continues to play audio - possible with future Sonos soundbar
• Sonos Ace play the non-TV audio while connected to a Sonos soundbar- seems possible with any soundbar.

And where did you get information about Ace has wifi?

The headphones is connected though your phone by BT, then the phone must somehow connect to the Beam by wifi directly or though the sonos application. So of causes there will be some delay when you have to send Trafic though wifi and the repack to BT. So I don't think they will solve this issue, sense Beam can't control the video signal and then try sync the sound with a delay.

The Ace bonds to a soundbar, the soundbar controls everything, creates its own 5ghz wifi and sends all signals to the ace.

The 2nd way to send music to ace is via bluetooth. 

It’s been discussed many times on the forums.  If you are still unsure, test it out.  Turn off our phone, or turn off bluetooth on the phone, and audio swap between your soundbar  and Ace. If it’s using wifi, this should work.  If it’s using BT via the phone, then it won’t.

This link does say that soundbar must have wifi turned on, but I realize that won’t prove anything to you.  I don’t think Sonos wants to talk too much about Ace’s wifi capabilities so that consumers don’t get confused about what it’s capabilities are.

This is incorrect.  The last statement is somewhat correct is there is a bit of delay with your soundbar communicating with Ace, but it’s no different than the delay between soundbar and surrounds/sub.

I unable to set this up Ace without BT activated in my phone, Ace will not show up in the application then. But when I have successes set everything up and press move Beam to Ace I get sound but with delay. It is better when I then turn off BT on my phone, but the delay just build up again after a minute or two, unwatchable, and as soon move it back to Beam the sound is in perfect sync. 

After a reset of the Ace and added it again to my phone and system, its now comes up with new name and it is in sync for now, even with BT still enable,  hope it will hold.

Setup does require BT to be activated.  Changing certain settings as well.  Absolutely.  Once activated BT connection to phone should not be a factor in TV audio playback.  I don’t know why you’re seeing sync issues, but I don’t see how turning BT on/off would be a factor.  It sounds like resetting Ace helped, so hopefully your problems are over.

@Hin,

I use Ace with the Arc / Beam and not seeing any delay with the video on screen when using TV Audio Swap (long press on Ace ‘content’ button). Lip-sync is perfect - maybe make sure your firmware on both Ace and your Soundbar are up-to-date. If the issue persists however, then it maybe best to reproduce the issue(s) seen and then immediately submit a Sonos system diagnostic report from within the Sonos App, note it’s reference and contact/chat with Sonos Support Staff via this LINK and see what the Staff can perhaps suggest to help you to resolve the matter.

I also use the Sonos Ace with a ‘Sonos Port’ S/PDIF digital-out to a Fiio BTA30 Pro Bluetooth Transmitter and that provides access to all Sonos music/audio sources including Sonos Radio etc. using  Apt-X HD audio, so that saves me using mobile devices and other 3rd Party Apps whilst at Home and it means that playback lasts around 30 hours too.

IMO Ace limited battery life is a poor excuse. Nobody wears their headphones for 30 hrs straight.  Charging them when the battery gets down to 20-25 percent ( or for techies.  What ever level optimizes long term battery health) isn’t such a big deal for the happiness of a devoted community. I was going to purchase 2 pairs but when i read the first reviews and saw the “bait and switch” I didn’t. Even w the current price reduction, I fear ( and hope) that a newer model will become available that will act like any Sonos should.  I’ll wait. As I’m sure many others are (but we won’t wait too long) 

Don't buy them, it is a piece of crap, again my is out of sync, unusable! Then reason I buy more expensive system so I don't have to trickle, I need a system that is just plug and play. Maybe they can sell this by IKEA instead, just don't forget to include the Alan key....

Overall, I was very satisfied w my pre-Ace systems. The app snafu wasn’t as big a deal for me as it seems to be for other users.  I remain crestfallen that Sonos leadership doesn’t appear to be very plussed to have failed to provide for their promises on the WiFi Ace.  I put off purchases of other manufacturers products while waiting for the Ace.  In my line of work, (surgeon) you don’t make promises that you can’t keep. I still retain some hope that they will figure out a way to make good ( decreasing the price just doesn’t cut it). I have a lot of money invested in hi def audio that the current Ace just doesn’t do justice to.  

I can’t fault the Ace with its BT Snapdragon Apt-X HD and wired lossless UHD ALAC audio - the ANC noise cancelling is really excellent too. I have no issues with TV Audio Swap with the Arc/Beam and love the spatial head-tracking features for watching Atmos movies over Netflix. The voice services work fine with Siri, but would like to see that extended to other voice services like SVC.

As mentioned earlier I use the Ace with a ‘Sonos Port’ S/PDIF digital-out to a Fiio BTA30 Pro Bluetooth Transmitter and that provides access to all Sonos music/audio sources including Sonos Radio etc.

Like all Sonos products, the Ace is a high quality build and I thought it well worth the retail price. The carry-case and magnetic cable-tidy is also handy. It also charges pretty quickly aswell with my existing 100W -  5V x 3A (15W) PD certified charger, which I also use to charge my Move and Roam speakers aswell as my iDevices.

This was the only reason for the product to exist imo and they failed to provide it. The value that the Ace provides just isnt there IMO as the other companies already do it as good or better. I’m going to wait for AirPod Max2 which will be way better than ace I predict or get the Sony’s on the cheap at Black Friday. 

I have a legacy Bryston amp and preamp / Meadowlark Heron Hot Rod system in my workout room that I just added the Fiios BTA30pro to to stream from my hi def player.   It works great but if I went w the Sonos Port / BTA30 Pro at both houses and bought 2 Aces (purely for convenience sake - 2 houses - first world rich guy problems)  It would inflate what I’m willing to spend. Maybe I’ll dip my toes in and just buy 1 Port/Ace and see. But I’m still disappointed and kind of resent having to make a patch when the expectations were set so high. 

Wish I could figure out what your problem is, and what promise sonos hasn't kept. The major complaint is you have to use BT to access any source not playing through a connectable soundbar? Not critical just curious.

All the pre-release content hype was  that the Ace Headphones would have Wi-Fi connection just like the speakers (allowing for higher bit rates). Failure to meet this commitment (with the excuse of insufficient battery power) and substituting Bluetooth (which even now w the better codecs is just not the same) was a big disappointment to those of us who were loyally waiting.  My prior posts are self explanatory. I remain hopeful that Sonos will make good, but I would have preferred that they held off Ace release until they figured it all out. Even if it meant that I had to recharge more frequently. Didn’t think you were critical. Hope this explains.  I realize that everyone has their own opinion, just sharing mine. 

I haven’t seen anywhere where Sonos have made the excuse of battery power - after all isn’t the ‘TV Audio Swap’ a 5Ghz ad-hoc bonded connection to the soundbar for TV audio in sync with the video on screen? - I can’t see why though that Sonos can’t do a similar thing and have ‘Music Audio Swap’ too, but I’m not sure my own hearing will be able to tell the difference between lossless wireless audio and Bluetooth Apt-X HD audio, which sounds pretty good to me, even in comparison to direct wired 24/48 ALAC lossless audio.

I want integration with my Sonos system not just another Bluetooth headphone that costs more than other Bluetooth headphones I could buy with less functionality than my air pod pro2. 

You don’t have to buy the Ace - just stick with whatever suits you - I have other headphones besides the Sonos Ace aswell. Admittedly I like the Ace, but if you prefer Apple then that’s fine. My Sony headphones are good too and have some great features, but I prefer the Sonos noise cancelling and love the ‘TV Audio Swap’ feature (with spatial head-tracking) - I had already got the Arc and Beam anyway so it was a win-win in my own case.

I can tell the difference.  Lucky genetics I guess.  I’ll try to dig up the links when I have a few free minutes. 

I have a few, Nuraphone, Edifer, Hifiman, etc.  I’ m sure there will be more.  Just disappointed as I’m so happy w the freestanding speakers.