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.

Hi @melvimbe 

It’s not my thinking - I presume there was a focus group. While technically-minded people might easily appreciate these factors, others might not. The fact that Ace would need to communicate with a specific speaker directly and not with WiFi in general might be something that a non-technical person would not necessarily appreciate, specifically.

Nothing is set in stone - we came out with a new app specifically in order to give us more flexibility. Such changes may be in the pipeline.

However, even in your example I see an issue - “There are also times when I start music playback in a Sonos room and want to continue playback on headphones.” If you want to listen on headphones, a likely reason is that you want to move, and that is the exact issue I mentioned above - you might still be in WiFi range, but not in 5GHz range of the speaker.

It’s a good thing I said nothing of the sort, then!

These are our first headphones, and from the start, people had certain expectations. Not all of these expectations were practical, so some were not met, and perhaps never will be. Others will be taken on board, and yet more are still to be thought of. We appreciate any and all feedback, and we moderators will be sure to pass any such feedback to the appropriate teams.

I hope this helps.

I could also decide that I want to keep listening to TV audio while I walk to another room, out if 5 Ghz range. I get that people are more likely to stay in the room since video is part of the experience in this scenario, but that is not a guarantee.  I think customers understand that there is a range limit and can plan accordingly, regardless of the source of the audio.  It the specific example I gave, I was thinking of cases where I don’t want to disturb someone sleeping in another room while listening to music, a similar scenario to TV watching.  Or where a room has  a desk on the side that is not in sweet spot for music listening, and headphones helps address that issue.

I wasn’t trying to pick a fight with you, and I realize my post may have come across that way.  I love my Ace and use them all the time at work and the gym (when I bother to go), and would love to see these often requested features implemented if the future if the are technically feasible.

Hi @melvimbe 

Don’t worry - I know you weren’t try to pick a fight.

Honestly, I think the product team thought of all of this - and they came up with the current way that the headphones work as a result. I was told that shifting Ace to a non-HT source coming from a speaker would “not be an insignificant load”, relating to the amount of work it would require to be done on the current playback modules. That’s not to say it’s impossible, however. I can’t say whether any significant changes will come, or what they will be, but I think it’s a safe bet we’ve considered them all at some point.

I hope this helps.

Hi @Corry P, thanks for your replies - they were very helpful (whilst not necessarily what I was hoping to hear 🙂 )

I agree with @melvimbe in that consumer choice is a good thing and would love to see an option where one can pair a non-HT source to the Ace, but perhaps a warning appears in the app that moving away from the source will likely cause the audio to drop out.  

I have the same thing happen if I am on a video call (on the laptop) with a Bluetooth headset and have to pop downstairs to answer the door… the audio will start to stutter and drop out.  I recognise I’m away from the laptop and as soon as I’m back everything  is good.  Whilst this is obviously Bluetooth, it has the same concept as the 5 GHz, whereby you are “pairing” the headphones directly to a device, rather than your home network.

If that became a feature of the headphones I think this would appease the majority of people who were originally hoping for WiFi connectivity (myself included).

Thanks again

Let’s face it, when rumours of the headphones first circulated, we all thought they would include WiFi and the ability to act as a Sonos zone…

Happy days, the days before they completely ruined the controller app! Sales of the Ace have barely hit 10% of expected and Sonos customers are now pouncing on every “Everything is great” social media posting, venting their fury over an app which has to rate as the most hated of all time.

⭐️1.2 average on Trustpilot.