Will Ace support audio swap with other speakers?

I wouldn’t expect such a thing, unless potentially the speakers in question have a Bluetooth transmitter in them. I suspect that’s the way that the soundbars ‘send’ the data to the Ace, but I’m fairly sure my PLAY:1s (for instance) were designed way before the concept occurred to Sonos, and do not have Bluetooth transmitters in them. 

But I suspect it may be possible with the Era 100/300s, possibly, but likely not near the top of the priority list for implementation. I do like the idea, I suspect there would need to be some code involved to even see if it were possible, though. 

OK….I’m not a Sonos employee of any sort. 

Currently all communication to the Ace is via the 5Ghz channel generated by the appropriate soundbar in the same manner as surrounds and sub receive information when bonded to a Sonos soundbar. For the Ace that means movie and music audio. 

Extending that capability to other Sonos speakers would depend upon connection in the same manner over a 5Ghz channel which obviously speakers used as surrounds have a 5Ghz card. However, having a 5Ghz card is not the only factor…sufficient memory must be available in those speakers to process the information. At this point no one in this community knows what amount of memory is required. If some do know they aren’t saying and Sonos doesn’t share information about future updates and products until just before they are released.

So…we can only hope 😊

Apologies…I think it’s the same issue, either way. I don’t think all Sonos speakers have the ability to ‘send’ out a signal to the Ace, only some of them. I ‘think’ there is a limit, based on hardware and age of design, along with other aspects mentioned above, that would limit the ability of a Sonos speaker in connecting with the Ace. 

Perhaps you can tell, I’m also not a Sonos employee ;) 

 Beam Gen 1 supports audio swap, but Amp doesn’t. Amp is newer than Beam 1. Specs don’t really correspond to product price or ability in Sonos world,
 

But I’d think the electronics inside are different, since they’re designed for essentially different purposes. I’ve not opened either of them to look at chipsets, either, perhaps you have better knowledge than I. 

Why would you think that? We know Sonos uses the same chip with different products … it’s listed in the product pages. 

Sorry, I think I missed where they list the chipsets in each speaker. Can you point me at this data? I may be looking at different listings than you are. 

Thanks for the responses.  I am not technical enough to know what is inside the speakers (assuming this information is even public knowledge) and whether, as has been pointed out above, non soundbar speakers have the correct hardware configuration to support such a feature.

@Marco.B / @Corry P - are you able to shed any light on this query?  I am not looking for confirmation of a feature to be released, but more of an acknowledgment whether it is technically possible or not.

Until I know whether these could, one day, work as I’ve always hoped they would, I am unlikely to purchase these (perhaps I would if there is a great offer on! :) )

Hi @BroomTech 

I did have this conversation with an engineer a while ago. As I understand it, it is technically possible. However, unlike with sharing audio with a soundbar where you are unlikely to leave the immediate area in front of the TV screen, if you were able to stream audio from a non-Home-Theatre product, there is nothing keeping you near that speaker, and if you were to wander, it is expected that the audio would soon start to stutter and suffer playback issues.

Basically, it’s seen as a better solution to have a mobile device provide the computational power to supply your Ace headphones with a music stream, seeing as the mobile device will likely go with you wherever you take your headphones anyway.

So, I think it fair to say that the proposed feature is technically feasible, but we are not currently considering it. Our focus instead has been on delivering rock-solid Bluetooth performance and Home Theatre experiences. We are open to feedback, of course.

I hope this helps.

I don’t see the range limitation as a reason to not implement the feature though.  Consumers should generally understand that any wireless technology is going to have a range limitation and plan accordingly.  The fact that customers have to go into the app and pair Ace to a Sonos room should reinforce that understanding.

Why not let consumers have the ability to choose what solution works for them?  Personally, I like Sonos radio, and I can’t get Sonos radio via a phone app and bluetooth, so it’s not a viable solution for me.  There are also times when I start music playback in a Sonos room and want to continue playback on headphones.  This is not an option, even when swapping with a soundbar since you can only swap TV audio.  I don’t have a turntable or other aux sources, but this is another scenario where bluetooth isn’t an option (unless your aux source also transmits bluetooth)

Prioritizing features makes sense, but I don’t think you can conclude that the feature isn’t needed or desired by consumers because bluetooth is available.