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Using ARC sound bar with ACE


I have trouble understanding dialog in movies. I would like to use the new Ace headphones while my wife listens through the sound bar. Is it possible to use both at the same time?

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Use subtitles. Once you get used to doing that, you will find a lot of movies that are in their original language with English subtitles that will expand your window on the world of movies. Dubbed to English, these never come across well.

To actually answer the question posed by the OP instead of offering unsolicited advice about expanding ones cinematic tastes, it was stated in the Ace thread that the Arc will be silent when connected to the Ace.  So I’m afraid the Ace will not work for the OP’s needs.

Using subtitles even if OT seems like good advice then 🤔

Or @ptate if you have an Apple TV, you can connect two pairs of apple headphones to it. So not ideal for your partner, it would allow you to both hear the sound.

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When they say “A Singular Home Theatre Experience” they really mean it.

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I would like to see the same feature, I have hearing issues and would not want to swap sound from arc to ace, but add the ace to it. I read somewhere they don’t use the WiFi on the headphones because it significantly reduces battery life, but if you are on your WiFi eco system your at home and can charge them easily. If charge lasts 30hrs, even if there is huge reduction I would assume that would still have plenty of life.

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I would like to be able to do the same thing. No one seems to offer this (same issue with Apple AirPods and Apple TV box). It is my understanding that the reason it cannot be done is that there is an audio delay when transmitting sound via Bluetooth (a ¼ second or more) which would cause a disturbing echo effect if you were using the headphones while simultaneously having the speakers working as you would hear the sound delayed in the headphones yet the speaker sound would also bleed into your ears. This perhaps could be solved by using WiFi (Sonos Net) for the headphones like the speakers use. Guess Sonos was not smart enough to do that. They just came out with a “me too” BT headset like everyone else instead of making a truly innovative product. 

That’s certainly an interesting conclusion. What’s the evidence? I may have missed that in the product release data, but it seems odd that there would be a perceptible delay when the headphones are linked to an Arc. 

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Again Sonos have released a product still in development stage as per the app.Better integration with the Sonos system would make these headphones outstanding ie allow sound from both headphones and  speakers simultaneously with separate volume level control battery limitations shouldn’t apply when used at home where the speakers are (surround setup).

Hopefully Sonos will take onboard customer comments and Ace gen2 will address shortfalls and set future headphones in front of the pack

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Yes, I'm in exactly the same position. Having the facility to use the Ace at the same time as the Arc, via the app, would be an excellent feature for users with hearing difficulties who want to watch TV the same time as families. A family member with hearing difficulties with their own custom volume and Eq on the Ace and rest of the family on Arc soundbar.

As I understand, the Ace will connect via the Sonos WiFi network, as with other 'speakers'. If this is the case, it should be able to select to play along with the soundbar, as would other speakers. (Eg I can play TV audio from my soundbar, AND from my kitchen speakers, if I want)

In my household, as I suspect in many others with a member with hearing difficulties, it would move the Ace from a 'nice product but expensive' to a MUST HAVE!

Please make it so, Sonos. You're rightly known for your innovations - time to make it work for this very large section of the disabled community.

I would like to be able to do the same thing. No one seems to offer this (same issue with Apple AirPods and Apple TV box). It is my understanding that the reason it cannot be done is that there is an audio delay when transmitting sound via Bluetooth (a ¼ second or more) which would cause a disturbing echo effect if you were using the headphones while simultaneously having the speakers working as you would hear the sound delayed in the headphones yet the speaker sound would also bleed into your ears. This perhaps could be solved by using WiFi (Sonos Net) for the headphones like the speakers use. Guess Sonos was not smart enough to do that. They just came out with a “me too” BT headset like everyone else instead of making a truly innovative product. 

 

As stated here by @Marco B. from Sonos: 

 

The Sonos Ace connects to the soundbar in the same way as a surround speaker using 5Ghz WiFi. This won't work with other Sonos speakers than a soundbar.

 

There have been some users on the forum who have been incorrectly stating that Ace are just BT headphones as means of expressing their disappointment.  That seems to have contributed to some confusion as to what the headphones can actually do...although the some what complex nature and feature set of Ace doesn’t help either.  Ace can only be used with WiFi in the rather limited use case of  being bonded to an Arc for  TV audio only, and every other use case has to be done through a bluetooth connection.

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There have been some users on the forum who have been incorrectly stating that Ace are just BT headphones as means of expressing their disappointment.  That seems to have contributed to some confusion as to what the headphones can actually do...although the some what complex nature and feature set of Ace doesn’t help either.  Ace can only be used with WiFi in the rather limited use case of  being bonded to an Arc for  TV audio only, and every other use case has to be done through a bluetooth connection.

Yes. That is true, however what a lot of people here are saying is that Sonos had an opportunity to do so so much more with these headphones and separate themselves from the rest of the market (a competitive one at that, and instead (I could use a lot of euphemisms here but instead I will just say) came up short and took the easy way out. I am about as diehard a Sonos fan as they come (I even own stock for the sake of supporting them not to “get rich”) and while everything on the outside (design and general capabilities) is a hit out of the park the nuances and software and overall functuality and uniqueness is more like a strike out.

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I think the big disconnect between Sonos and users is that the Ace appears to have been created as a) bluetooth headphones and b) for Sonos home theatre TV users for  full ‘immersive’ experience.

The rest (= most?) of us who use Sonos for distributing music throughout their homes are left disappointed.

Having the phones enabled as a ‘room’ would allow Ace ‘rooms’ to be grouped with the TV room, and allow aged Ps to have the volume as high as they liked without disturbing the neighbours, and allow external use of the Ace like a Move also without disturbing the neighbours. Communal listening would still be done via the standard players.

(** Correction - Aged Ps would have to use independent Ace ‘rooms’ to allow for independent volume levels, but with the TV source redirected to each of them. That might cause latency issues, but my parents had their own latency issues between hearing and understanding...).

The Ace can be used as bluetooth headphones connected to a phone - but there is no way of allowing Sonos input to be directed to the Ace via the phone. If only there was a way for a phone to act as a Sonos player (instead of just a controller)...

The limitations of Arc setup only via IOS vs Android is risible. I’m a PC user and am still smarting that I suddenly needed a Smart phone controller to set up my considerable Sonos investment correctly when S2 came in (I think). Why is the Windows controller limited functionality? I fully understand the need for a phone or tablet to be used as a wandering microphone for TruePlay tuning purposes, though.

I’m not disappointed - the Ace apparently has the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon Sounds Apt-X ‘lossless’ Bluetooth audio chip, according to this media article:

https://www.whathifi.com/advice/sonos-ace-vs-airpods-max-what-are-the-differences

The audio quality capabilities are shown here:

The article states the Ace also supports Apples ‘lossless’ ALAC codec.

So Ace is undoubtedly going to sound great anyway. The TV ‘swap’ feature will be helpful in my own case as I have to disable Simplink (CEC protocol) on my LG TV to get the TV audio onto headphones and from what I’ve read so far it can now all be done with a long press on the ‘content’ button on the headphones (I assume it will also swap back to the TV with a second long press too) - so that’s going to make things much easier. 

Sonos hardware always sounds good to my ears anyway, so I’m looking forward to hearing and seeing how Ace works with our Sonos Arc and various music Apps and Bluetooth Transceivers we have around the Home, two of which are linked into Sonos (analog) line-in and (digital) line-out ports too.

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Let’s ask the simple question. Can Sonos Ace and Sonos Arc be active at the same time from the same input source (ie TV) ?

 

If yes, great!

If no, why be like everyone else?

Let’s ask the simple question. Can Sonos Ace and Sonos Arc be active at the same time from the same input source (ie TV) ?

 

 

I believe this has been asked and answered.

  

If yes, great!

If no, why be like everyone else?

 

That’s a question Sonos hasn’t answered.

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Maybe I missed it but I did not see a response from Sonos.

Maybe I missed it but I did not see a response from Sonos.

 

in this thread:

https://en.community.sonos.com/product%2Dupdates/the%2Dlong%2Dawaited%2Dfirst%2Dheadphones%2Dsonos%2Dace%2D6894915

 

If the headphones are playing audio, will the Arc and bonded speakers be able to play audio as well?

 @Corry P (from Sonos) answered:

Only if Ace is playing from a Bluetooth source. If playing Arc’s audio, Arc will not play too.

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Never a simple definitive answer.

 

Tv sound is playing on the Arc. Can the Ace play the same Tv sound as the Arc.

 

guessing that is a no else Sonos would announce that no one else does this.

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As per today's email, Sonos are no longer marketing the Arc 'TV Audio Swap' functionality as a feature. It wouldn't surprise me at all if this particular function gets canned before launch:

 

As per today's email, Sonos are no longer marketing the Arc 'TV Audio Swap' functionality as a feature. It wouldn't surprise me at all if this particular function gets canned before launch

Sonos have published a support document for the Ace/TV SoundSwap feature - so I don’t personally think that feature is likely going to be dropped… If anything, its going to be implemented later for other Sonos Soundbars too, according to the details mentioned in the text here...

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/listen-to-home-theater-audio-on-sonos-ace-with-tv-audio-swap

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As per today's email, Sonos are no longer marketing the Arc 'TV Audio Swap' functionality as a feature. It wouldn't surprise me at all if this particular function gets canned before launch

Sonos have published a support document for the Ace/TV SoundSwap feature - so I don’t personally think that feature is likely going to be dropped… If anything, its going to be implemented later for other Sonos Soundbars too, according to the details mentioned in the text here...

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/listen-to-home-theater-audio-on-sonos-ace-with-tv-audio-swap

Sseems like an incredibly odd omission considering it would be their USP,  no?

Never a simple definitive answer.

 

Tv sound is playing on the Arc. Can the Ace play the same Tv sound as the Arc.

 

guessing that is a no else Sonos would announce that no one else does this.

 

It’s been answered multiple times.  Yes, the Ace can play the sound from the TV, but you cannot hear the sound from the Ace and the Arc at the same time.  It’s either one or the other. 

Or they have multiple ads running, and you’re seeing just one of the many?

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Or they have multiple ads running, and you’re seeing just one of the many?

Have you seen the other one?

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