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The following is NOT a Sonos advertised feature for the Sonos Ace Headset.  However, as we know Sonos is a versatile product capable of many out-side-the-box uses and this is one of them. If you don’t mind being tethered to your favorite seat used for watching movies...then continue reading 😊

Listen to Apple Music via your Ace headphones using the “Swap” feature.

The requirements are:

  • Sonos Arc (properly connected to TV)
  • AppleTV Box (connected to your TV via HDMI)
  • Apple Music Subscription
  • Sonos Ace Headset with latest update
  • Sonos App installed on your iOS device with latest update ^
  • Hint: The AppleTV remote can be used to control all functions to select what you want to hear, volume, play, pause, go forward, go back and stop as well as others you can discover. 

This function requires that you be in range of the Arc. It’s basically a line-of-sight experience using the 5Ghz transmission between the Arc and the Ace headset. You’ll not be able to roam through your home without intermittent and/or complete loss of signal. 

 

Following the guide/instructions to follow later in this post *….You can select the options below for Apple Music including your personal playlists curated via Apple Music.

 

 

 

To get started:

  • This assumes you have already setup the Swap feature in the Sonos App for at least one (1) room
  • Turn on your TV
  • Select AppleTV HDMI Input
  • Select Apple Music in the AppleTV app
  • Select your music 
  • Start Play
  • Place Ace Headset on your head
  • Power-On Ace Headset

Open Sonos app on your device

 

Select “Tap to Control Sonos Ace” when it appears

 

Tap “Select” 

 

 

Select your Room and Tap “Swap”

 

From here you can access Ace features for ANC, EQ, Spatial Audio and Head Tracking by tapping the picture of the Ace Headset. You can alternatively select “Swap Back” to send the audio back to the Arc.

 

You may want to turn Head Tracking off as it causes loss of audio in one cup depending upon which direction you turn your head when listening to stereo tracks

 

When done you can use the AppleTV remote to power down TV and AppleTV box simultaneously. Remove the Ace headset and power it down.

* This procedure basically follows the same setup for Home Theater Audio found in this link 

 ^ This may or may not work for Android users  

 

Moderator edit: Thread converted to conversation as requested. First sentence removed.

@AjTrek1, 

I may have missed something, but can I ask why this isn’t a Sonos supported feature? In my own case my LG TV has Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, Spotify and YouTube Apps built in and I listen to these Apps (and others) on Ace. Isn’t that what SoundSwap is all about? In my case I just use my LG magic remote.

I also don’t open the Sonos App to do SoundSwap, I just long press on the Ace “content” button to start/stop SoundSwap.

edit: I assume some users will use the Ace SoundSwap feature for gaming on their TV/consoles too.

@Ken_Griffiths

Sonos promotes “Swap”for home theater audio which is generally related to movie watching. You’re correct in actual use there is no difference for Music apps as long as they are being sent from the TV through the Arc. You are again correct regarding the long press to activate Swap assuming the user is aware of the shortcut. I thought I'd add the “101” visual instructions to promote the basics to engage Swap.  I also added a link indicating the similarity of using Swap for home theater. I hope this all makes sense.

Edit: I made a change to the opening statement to says it’s not an “Advertised” feature of the Sonos Ace. BTW...you just added more informative news to the post 😂

@AjTrek1, 

I may have missed something, but can I ask why this isn’t a Sonos supported feature? In my own case my LG TV has Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, Spotify and YouTube Apps built in and I listen to these Apps (and others) on Ace. Isn’t that what SoundSwap is all about? In my case I just use my LG magic remote.

I also don’t open the Sonos App to do SoundSwap, I just long press on the Ace “content” button to start/stop SoundSwap.

edit: I assume some users will use the Ace SoundSwap feature for gaming on their TV/consoles too.

 

Agreed.  I think this might be overcomplicated things a bit.  The swap feature of an Arc/Ace setup means that you can send any audio coming to the Arc via the HDMI-ARC, or optical, to the Ace.  That audio could be a movie, TV show, music, a baby monitor, anything.   You certainly don’t need an AppleTV or Apple music subscription, but that’s one way to do it.  In my case I have an nvidia shield with an Amazon Music and Plex app I might use occassional for music.  I don’t think I would really ever do this though, as I’d rather just use bluetooth if I’m not actually watching TV content.

 

A perhaps interesting experiment could be to use a Sonos Port with an RCA to HDMI convertor connected to a TV (connected to an Arc, connected to an Ace).  Anything playing on the Port, controlled with the Sonos app, would then play on your Ace.  Obviously not ideal, and not the best audio quality, but it would work.

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