I have a few questions regarding how Headphone Linking, TV Audio Swap, and app control are going to work for Ace Ultra in a couple different situations.
Say you have a Sonos System with the following rooms setup.
Room 1 - Arc Ultra
Room 2 - Era 100
Room 3 - Era 300
Room 4 - Ace Ultra
Scenario 1 -
Action - Room 1 is playing TV Audio. While in room 1, with the Ace Ultra, press (hold) the content key to transfer TV audio to the Ace Ultra. Audio stops on Room 1 and plays on the Ace Ultra. Press the content key again while still in room 1.
Result - Audio stops on Ace Ultra and returns to room 1. Standard TV Swap scenario.
Scenario 2 -
Action - Room 1 is playing TV Audio. While in room 1, with the Ace Ultra, press (hold) the content key to transfer TV audio to the Ace Ultra. Audio stops on Room 1 and plays on the Ace Ultra. Move to room 2 and press the content key.
Result - Audio stops on Ace Ultra and returns to room 1? (or does TV audio transfer to room 2?)
Scenario 3 -
Action - Room 1 is playing music. While in room 1, with the Ace Ultra, press (hold) the content key to transfer music to the Ace Ultra. Audio stops on Room 1 and plays on the Ace Ultra. Move to room 2 and press the content key
Result - Audio stops on Ace Ultra and plays on room 2 ? (this is a headphone linking scenario, not TV audio swap?)
Scenario 4 -
Action - Room 2 is playing music. While in room 2, with the Ace Ultra, press (hold) the content key to transfer music to the Ace Ultra. Audio stops on Room 2 and plays on the Ace Ultra. Move to room 1 and press the content key.
Result - Audio stops on Ace Ultra and plays on room 2 ? (this is a headphone linking scenario, not TV audio swap?)
Scenario 5 -
Action - Room 2 is playing music. While in room 2, with the Ace Ultra, press (hold) the content key to transfer music to the Ace Ultra. Audio stops on Room 2 and plays on the Ace Ultra. Move to room 3 and press the content key.
Result - Audio stops on Ace Ultra and plays on room 3...standard headphone linking scenario.
Scenario 6 -
Action - Room 1 is playing music. Using the Sonos App, group room 1 and room 4.
Result - Audio plays on both room 1 and room 4 in sync. Standard grouping scenario?
Scenario 7 -
Action - Room 1 is playing TV Audio. Using the Sonos App, group room 1 and room 4.
Result - Audio plays on both room 1 and room 4, with room 4 slightly delayed? Standard grouping scenario with the delay for TV audio?
Scenario 6 -
Action - No audio is playing in your system. Using the Sonos App, initiate music playback on room 4.
Result - Music plays on room 4?
edit: Fixed grammar
Best answer by Corry P
OK, I have a few answers for you all. Some of the questions may have originated from different Community threads, but I think it best to have the answers here all together.
Will Ace Ultra show as a room in the Sonos app? Only while Linked to a compatible speaker. In addition, it will count towards the 32-device limit - if you already have 32 Sonos devices and try to Link Ace Ultra to one of them, the Link will likely fail.
Can it play independently via the app, or does content need to be on a speaker first? Content must come from a speaker first when the Content Key (the slider button on the headphones) is used - Ace Ultra cannot be targeted by the Sonos app in the way that, say, a Roam, Play or any other Sonos player, can. Should the Linked speaker be turned off or disconnected, playback on Ace Ultra will cease - the headphones are not an independent playback endpoint.
Content can be played to Ace Ultra via the Sonos app without being played on a speaker first, but the Link must be made with a compatible speaker before Ace Ultra will show in the app. This does mean playback can be initiated silently (without disturbing anyone else in the house - the Link is made, then the content is chosen from the Sonos app and started, all without anyone else hearing anything).
If the audio is pulled from an active group of speakers using the Content Key or the Sonos app, that groupwill be disbanded. Other types of bonded/paired rooms/zones will remain as they were. Disbanded groups will not be re-grouped when the content is pushed back to a speaker using the Content Key on the headphones - indeed, the content might not even go back to a speaker that was in the group initially. The Sonos app can be used instead of the Content Key when pushing content back to a speaker, in which case the user has control over the destination, and can regroup the speakers from there.
The content that is playing on Ace Ultra from a Linked speaker can be changed in the Sonos app without affecting the Link.
Do older/incompatible speakers work, or does the currently playing speaker itself need to be compatible? The currently playing (Linked-to) speaker must be on Sonos’ compatibility list when the Content Key is used, it is not enough for a compatible speaker to merely be present somewhere else on the system. Due to the ultrasonic pulses and proximity detection used, older players such as Play:5 Gen 2 cannot be Linked with Ace Ultra.
The Output Picker in the Sonos app can be used to redirect playback from an incompatible speaker, as long as there is a compatible speaker Linked in the system.
Compatibility list caveat: Thanks to the input of our Sonos Community members, the discrepancies between some of the sales and support pages regarding which speakers are compatible have been corrected. Beam Gen 1/2, Amp, Arc, Arc SL, Arc Ultra, Five, Roam/Roam SL/Roam 2, Move 2, Ray, Era 100/100 Pro/100 SL, Era 300, Sonos Play & Beam Ultra are all compatible (unless configured as surrounds, but if they are, there is likely a compatible soundbar there in the room anyway, though the Sonos Fabric will prefer to use other available Linking hosts first).
Playing TV Audio from a Grouped speaker? No - you will hear an error tone. If you want TV audio playing on Ace Ultra, the way to do it is with TV Audio Swap (identical to how Ace works), which is a separate feature. Besides, a grouped speaker will leave the group when Linked to Ace Ultra, so it would no longer be playing that TV source from the moment of Linking anyway.
For scenarios 4 and 5, I think you mean “transfer music” rather than the stated TV audio, since you are not in room 1 for either scenario.
Scenario 4 -
Action - Room 2 is playing music. While in room 2, with the Ace Ultra, press (hold) the content key to transfer music to the Ace Ultra. Audio stops on Room 2 and plays on the Ace Ultra. Move to room 1 and press the content key.
Result - Audio stops on Ace Ultra and plays on room 2 ? (this is a headphone linking scenario, not TV audio swap?)
Scenario 5 -
Action - Room 2 is playing music. While in room 2, with the Ace Ultra, press (hold) the content key to transfer music to the Ace Ultra. Audio stops on Room 2 and plays on the Ace Ultra. Move to room 3 and press the content key.
Result - Audio stops on Ace Ultra and plays on room 3...standard headphone linking scenario.
You may also have meant music in scenario 3, as although in room 1 it was music that was playing.
Scenario 3 -
Action - Room 1 is playing music. While in room 1, with the Ace Ultra, press (hold) the content key to transfer music to the Ace Ultra. Audio stops on Room 1 and plays on the Ace Ultra. Move to room 2 and press the content key
Result - Audio stops on Ace Ultra and plays on room 2 ? (this is a headphone linking scenario, not TV audio swap?)
For TV Audio swap it’s basically a line of sight over the 5Ghz. If you leave the room the Audio will eventually drop from any Ace.
If Linking for music (Ace Ultra) you are basically on WiFi hence you can move to any room and the Link will be maintained. Dis-engaging the link no matter where you are should return the audio to the original source and the Ace Ultra resets to allow Linking or TV Audio Swap to a different source.
Using the Ace Ultra for Linking should not (TMWOT) willy-nilly drop the original source and connect to another source just being in the proximity of a different source that is playing music. That would be very upsetting to me if I started listening to classical via Linking and because I enter a room where my wife is listening to Jazz have the Ace Ultra drop my link and steal my wife’s music. Needless to say she’d be irritated as well. 😂
If Linking for music (Ace Ultra) you are basically on WiFi hence you can move to any room and the Link will be maintained. Dis-engaging the link no matter where you are should return the audio to the original source and the Ace Ultra resets to allow Linking or TV Audio Swap to a different source.
No, that is incorrect.
In the Open House Keynote video, Tom initially swaps audio from the turntable/Fives in the Den to Ace Ultra, then moves to family room and swaps the audio from Ace Ultra to the Beam. It does not automatically return to the original source, but to the speaker/room you are closest with.
If Linking for music (Ace Ultra) you are basically on WiFi hence you can move to any room and the Link will be maintained. Dis-engaging the link no matter where you are should return the audio to the original source and the Ace Ultra resets to allow Linking or TV Audio Swap to a different source.
No, that is incorrect.
In the Open House Keynote video, Tom initially swaps audio from the turntable/Fives in the Den to Ace Ultra, then moves to family room and swaps the audio from Ace Ultra to the Beam. It does not automatically return to the original source, but to the speaker/room you are closest with.
Well if that’s the case the speaker taking the audio better not be in use. As I can see major problems with your senario if someone else is using the speaker. Like my wife ☹️
I hope the Ace Ultra is smart enough not to steal audio from a speaker already in use.
If Linking for music (Ace Ultra) you are basically on WiFi hence you can move to any room and the Link will be maintained. Dis-engaging the link no matter where you are should return the audio to the original source and the Ace Ultra resets to allow Linking or TV Audio Swap to a different source.
No, that is incorrect.
In the Open House Keynote video, Tom initially swaps audio from the turntable/Fives in the Den to Ace Ultra, then moves to family room and swaps the audio from Ace Ultra to the Beam. It does not automatically return to the original source, but to the speaker/room you are closest with.
Well if that’s the case the speaker taking the audio better not be in use. As I can see major problems with your senario if someone else is using the speaker. Like my wife ☹️
That is if you use the Content Key. I’d imagine if you just turned Ace Ultra off then the audio would be returned to the original source. Therefore, depending on how and where you “dis-engage” the link determines the possible outcomes.
If Linking for music (Ace Ultra) you are basically on WiFi hence you can move to any room and the Link will be maintained. Dis-engaging the link no matter where you are should return the audio to the original source and the Ace Ultra resets to allow Linking or TV Audio Swap to a different source.
No, that is incorrect.
In the Open House Keynote video, Tom initially swaps audio from the turntable/Fives in the Den to Ace Ultra, then moves to family room and swaps the audio from Ace Ultra to the Beam. It does not automatically return to the original source, but to the speaker/room you are closest with.
Well if that’s the case the speaker taking the audio better not be in use. As I can see major problems with your senario if someone else is using the speaker. Like my wife ☹️
That is if you use the Content Key. I’d imagine if you just turned Ace Ultra off then the audio would be returned to the original source. Therefore, depending on how and where you “dis-engage” the link determines the possible outcomes.
To your point that needs to be clear in the documentation so as not to cause a ruckus in the home.
You may also have meant music in scenario 3, as although in room 1 it was music that was playing.
Scenario 3 -
Action - Room 1 is playing music. While in room 1, with the Ace Ultra, press (hold) the content key to transfer music to the Ace Ultra. Audio stops on Room 1 and plays on the Ace Ultra. Move to room 2 and press the content key
Result - Audio stops on Ace Ultra and plays on room 2 ? (this is a headphone linking scenario, not TV audio swap?)
Oops. Looks like I didn’t proofread enough. Corrections made to the original post.
If Linking for music (Ace Ultra) you are basically on WiFi hence you can move to any room and the Link will be maintained. Dis-engaging the link no matter where you are should return the audio to the original source and the Ace Ultra resets to allow Linking or TV Audio Swap to a different source.
No, that is incorrect.
In the Open House Keynote video, Tom initially swaps audio from the turntable/Fives in the Den to Ace Ultra, then moves to family room and swaps the audio from Ace Ultra to the Beam. It does not automatically return to the original source, but to the speaker/room you are closest with.
Well if that’s the case the speaker taking the audio better not be in use. As I can see major problems with your senario if someone else is using the speaker. Like my wife ☹️
That is if you use the Content Key. I’d imagine if you just turned Ace Ultra off then the audio would be returned to the original source. Therefore, depending on how and where you “dis-engage” the link determines the possible outcomes.
To your point that needs to be clear in the documentation so as not to cause a ruckus in the home.
There is a technology in the personal printing world called “Follow-Me Printing”. You may already know of this but I’ll elaborate in case someone is unaware.
Follow-Me Printing is used extensively in colleges and universities. A student can start a print job in their dorm and print it out at the lecture hall. Thus the term Follow-Me Printing.
If using the Ace Ultra in my media room and I walk into my Den I should have the option to either release the audio back to the original source or just turn off the Ace Ultra as suggested or transfer the audio to a speaker not in use using the action button...thus initiating a Follow-Me Musicscenario.
Pressing the action button should not automatically transfer the music to another speaker or cause me to have to remember to turn the Ace Ultra off to prevent the transfer from happening. Therefore, either through a specific number of pushes on the Action Button should music be transferred to a speaker just because I’m in the proximity. I would favor using the action button as follows:
One push to transfer the audio back to the original source or stop it
Two pushes to transfer the audio to a speaker not in use
Of course all the above is a want by me; and not necessarily what SONOS wants.
EDIT regarding a previous post above:
During setup of the Ace Ultra the user can set it for both TV Audio Swap and Linking or just one or the other.
Pressing the action button should not automatically transfer the music to another speaker or cause me to have to remember to turn the Ace Ultra off to prevent the transfer from happening. Therefore, either through a specific number of pushes on the Action Button should music be transferred to a speaker just because I’m in the proximity. I would favor using the action button as follows:
One push to transfer the audio back to the original source or stop it
Two pushes to transfer the audio to a speaker not in use
Of course all the above is a want by me; and not necessarily what SONOS wants.
Except those actions already have existing functionality.
If Linking for music (Ace Ultra) you are basically on WiFi hence you can move to any room and the Link will be maintained. Dis-engaging the link no matter where you are should return the audio to the original source and the Ace Ultra resets to allow Linking or TV Audio Swap to a different source.
No, that is incorrect.
In the Open House Keynote video, Tom initially swaps audio from the turntable/Fives in the Den to Ace Ultra, then moves to family room and swaps the audio from Ace Ultra to the Beam. It does not automatically return to the original source, but to the speaker/room you are closest with.
Well if that’s the case the speaker taking the audio better not be in use. As I can see major problems with your senario if someone else is using the speaker. Like my wife ☹️
I hope the Ace Ultra is smart enough not to steal audio from a speaker already in use.
You can already do this ‘stealing audio’ with speakers already though. Start music playback in one room 1. With the Sonos app, clock on the speaker icon (for grouping) next to room 1, then deselect room 1 and select room 2.
That is if you use the Content Key. I’d imagine if you just turned Ace Ultra off then the audio would be returned to the original source. Therefore, depending on how and where you “dis-engage” the link determines the possible outcomes.
I’m not sure about returning to source if the Ace Ultra is powered down. That could be a problem functionally if you did not want music to start playing back at the original source.
https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/known-limitations-with-headphone-linkingI find the limitation of one Ace Ultra per system for headphone linking to be interesting. I can see that being the case if you only had one compatible speaker to ‘host’ the headphones, but if you have multiple compatible speakers, why can’t they all ‘host’ headphones. I wonder if perhaps it’s more that you would run into confusing issues, as users would probably want the headphones to play the same content at times.
Also interesting that there is a restriction on content sources.. My guess would be that the ‘host’ is using it’s own resources to send audio to the Ace Ultra, so perhaps the more complex (high resource usage) don’t allow enough resources for headphone swapping? That begs the question, if one room is the source, and grouped to another room, couldn’t the second room have enough resources to host an ace ultra regardless of the original source? Again, perhaps they are just disallowing the complex sources in order to keep the rules relatively simple for users.
If Linking for music (Ace Ultra) you are basically on WiFi hence you can move to any room and the Link will be maintained. Dis-engaging the link no matter where you are should return the audio to the original source and the Ace Ultra resets to allow Linking or TV Audio Swap to a different source.
No, that is incorrect.
In the Open House Keynote video, Tom initially swaps audio from the turntable/Fives in the Den to Ace Ultra, then moves to family room and swaps the audio from Ace Ultra to the Beam. It does not automatically return to the original source, but to the speaker/room you are closest with.
Well if that’s the case the speaker taking the audio better not be in use. As I can see major problems with your senario if someone else is using the speaker. Like my wife ☹️
That is if you use the Content Key. I’d imagine if you just turned Ace Ultra off then the audio would be returned to the original source. Therefore, depending on how and where you “dis-engage” the link determines the possible outcomes.
To your point that needs to be clear in the documentation so as not to cause a ruckus in the home.
There is a technology in the personal printing world called “Follow-Me Printing”. You may already know of this but I’ll elaborate in case someone is unaware.
Follow-Me Printing is used extensively in colleges and universities. A student can start a print job in their dorm and print it out at the lecture hall. Thus the term Follow-Me Printing.
If using the Ace Ultra in my media room and I walk into my Den I should have the option to either release the audio back to the original source or just turn off the Ace Ultra as suggested or transfer the audio to a speaker not in use using the action button...thus initiating a Follow-Me Musicscenario.
Pressing the action button should not automatically transfer the music to another speaker or cause me to have to remember to turn the Ace Ultra off to prevent the transfer from happening. Therefore, either through a specific number of pushes on the Action Button should music be transferred to a speaker just because I’m in the proximity. I would favor using the action button as follows:
One push to transfer the audio back to the original source or stop it
Two pushes to transfer the audio to a speaker not in use
Of course all the above is a want by me; and not necessarily what SONOS wants.
EDIT regarding a previous post above:
During setup of the Ace Ultra the user can set it for both TV Audio Swap and Linking or just one or the other.
A single press of the content key will pause the music. A long press will perform the linking feature to move audio to/from the closest Sonos room.
Given that, if you have audio playing in Ace Ultra that you don’t want to transfer to the current room your in, just pause it. If you want to transfer to the original room, you probably need to walk back to that room before transferring. In most cases, this should be fine, as why would you want the music to play in a room you are not currently in. I do wonder if you can transfer the audio via the Sonos app though.
That is if you use the Content Key. I’d imagine if you just turned Ace Ultra off then the audio would be returned to the original source. Therefore, depending on how and where you “dis-engage” the link determines the possible outcomes.
I’m not sure about returning to source if the Ace Ultra is powered down. That could be a problem functionally if you did not want music to start playing back at the original source.
I was just thinking what happens currently when you turn off Ace during an active TV Audio Swap session. But for headphone linking, it would make more sense to not resume the audio on the source device, unless that action is specifically requested by the user. ie. not just turning Ace Ultra off.
Whatever the outcome of Linking with music when done it is what it is. I’ll be able to experiment when I get my own set. Unless one of you Beta testers want to spill the beans.😂
However, that said if I’m done with Linking I rather have the music return to the original source or just stop which would be a choice of which button I push.
If pushing the action button while in another room links to that particular speaker what happens if I have multiple rooms in the same space 🤔.
My take… I think Tom’s use of pull and push are key for music linking (not talking about TV swap). By using the button on the headphones, you pull the music from the closest speaker to the headphones. You push the music from the headphones to the closest speaker. Somehow, it determines the closest speaker. You turn the headphones off, nothing happens, headphones turn off (my guess). You apparently can also control what will play in the headphones with the Sonos controller. But we’ll have to see what that looks like.
TV swap most likely works like it currently does, using the closest soundbar to swap/swap back.
I have asked for clarification on some of these points, but it seems answers are a little slow in coming back - I’ll update this thread when I hear more.
OK, I have a few answers for you all. Some of the questions may have originated from different Community threads, but I think it best to have the answers here all together.
Will Ace Ultra show as a room in the Sonos app? Only while Linked to a compatible speaker. In addition, it will count towards the 32-device limit - if you already have 32 Sonos devices and try to Link Ace Ultra to one of them, the Link will likely fail.
Can it play independently via the app, or does content need to be on a speaker first? Content must come from a speaker first when the Content Key (the slider button on the headphones) is used - Ace Ultra cannot be targeted by the Sonos app in the way that, say, a Roam, Play or any other Sonos player, can. Should the Linked speaker be turned off or disconnected, playback on Ace Ultra will cease - the headphones are not an independent playback endpoint.
Content can be played to Ace Ultra via the Sonos app without being played on a speaker first, but the Link must be made with a compatible speaker before Ace Ultra will show in the app. This does mean playback can be initiated silently (without disturbing anyone else in the house - the Link is made, then the content is chosen from the Sonos app and started, all without anyone else hearing anything).
If the audio is pulled from an active group of speakers using the Content Key or the Sonos app, that groupwill be disbanded. Other types of bonded/paired rooms/zones will remain as they were. Disbanded groups will not be re-grouped when the content is pushed back to a speaker using the Content Key on the headphones - indeed, the content might not even go back to a speaker that was in the group initially. The Sonos app can be used instead of the Content Key when pushing content back to a speaker, in which case the user has control over the destination, and can regroup the speakers from there.
The content that is playing on Ace Ultra from a Linked speaker can be changed in the Sonos app without affecting the Link.
Do older/incompatible speakers work, or does the currently playing speaker itself need to be compatible? The currently playing (Linked-to) speaker must be on Sonos’ compatibility list when the Content Key is used, it is not enough for a compatible speaker to merely be present somewhere else on the system. Due to the ultrasonic pulses and proximity detection used, older players such as Play:5 Gen 2 cannot be Linked with Ace Ultra.
The Output Picker in the Sonos app can be used to redirect playback from an incompatible speaker, as long as there is a compatible speaker Linked in the system.
Compatibility list caveat: Thanks to the input of our Sonos Community members, the discrepancies between some of the sales and support pages regarding which speakers are compatible have been corrected. Beam Gen 1/2, Amp, Arc, Arc SL, Arc Ultra, Five, Roam/Roam SL/Roam 2, Move 2, Ray, Era 100/100 Pro/100 SL, Era 300, Sonos Play & Beam Ultra are all compatible (unless configured as surrounds, but if they are, there is likely a compatible soundbar there in the room anyway, though the Sonos Fabric will prefer to use other available Linking hosts first).
Playing TV Audio from a Grouped speaker? No - you will hear an error tone. If you want TV audio playing on Ace Ultra, the way to do it is with TV Audio Swap (identical to how Ace works), which is a separate feature. Besides, a grouped speaker will leave the group when Linked to Ace Ultra, so it would no longer be playing that TV source from the moment of Linking anyway.
Just one quick question although I think I do understand it correct from your post. Using Ace Ultra, if I were to want to play a record on my turntable which is linked to my Five speakers, which are also bonded with a Sub Gen 3, I can initiate this via the app and the Sub can stay bonded yeah?
