AirPlay 2 with Sonos PlayBar 5.1 and two Sonos One's as surrounds

I'm in the same boat. I bought the Playbar and the Sonos Ones and I saw that Airplay 2 was coming.... then I saw the beam come out.... Super frustrating.

What is my cheapest move to be able to get airplay 2 working? I'm paticularly interested in just being able to play from the podcast app on an iPhone to my sonos system. I hate navigating through the sonos app to find a podcast.

Purchase a Sonos One, group it with the Beam room.

I have two Sonos Ones ones. Are you saying I need to get rid of the Playbar and replace it with a Beam? Is that my only option?

Jgatie meant that you can purchase a Sonos One, then group it with your playbar room

Jgatie meant that you can purchase a Sonos One, then group it with your playbar room

Yes, if you want a working Playbar. The Sonos one will always work properly. I am glad I help off on the Playbar until they get this figured out. The only thing I do not like about Airplay 2 is that I spend most of my time on the 5G network and I need to be on the 2.4 GH network to get it to work. I also had to unplug the ethernet on my apple TV and move over to 2.4 GHz wireless to use the Connect to mix in my high end home theater system.

I own two Sonos Ones already. What specifically does it mean to group it?

They are currently set up to be the rear speakers of the surround sound system. Thanks!

Only the Sonos One and Beam will work. If you own other speaker they will not work.

Grouping means that the Beam and the Sonos One speakers can simulate 5.1. If you have a Playbar it will simulate 5.1 but not as Airplay2 (Only in the Sonos format)

I own two Sonos Ones already. What specifically does it mean to group it?

They are currently set up to be the rear speakers of the surround sound system. Thanks!

You would need a third, standalone one. The problem is you need an Airplay 2 capable unit as the primary speaker in the room. The Playbar is the primary speaker in your Playbar/surrounds setup and it is not Airplay 2 capable. So if you had a single One separate from your Playbar/surrounds, using the Sonos group feature, you could group the Playbar/surrounds with that single Sonos one. That way, you can send the Airplay 2 stream to the single Sonos One, and it will play on the grouped Playbar/surrounds.

You could also replace the Playbar with a Beam.

Only the Sonos One and Beam will work. If you own other speaker they will not work.


Wrong. Perhaps you're thinking of speakers with built in voice assistants? Sonos One, Beam, playbase, and Play 5 (2nd gen) are all compatible with airplay 2. As jgatie said, you can then group these speakers (or the room in which they are the primary speaker) with other rooms that are not airplay 2 compatible.

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/1230?language=en_US


Grouping means that the Beam and the Sonos One speakers can simulate 5.1.


No it doesn't. In Sonos terms, you are describing 'bonding'. Grouping is temporarily playing one room to play audio in sync with other room(s).

I own two Sonos Ones already. What specifically does it mean to group it?

They are currently set up to be the rear speakers of the surround sound system. Thanks!

You would need a third, standalone one. The problem is you need an Airplay 2 capable unit as the primary speaker in the room. The Playbar is the primary speaker in your Playbar/surrounds setup and it is not Airplay 2 capable. So if you had a single One separate from your Playbar/surrounds, using the Sonos group feature, you could group the Playbar/surrounds with that single Sonos one. That way, you can send the Airplay 2 stream to the single Sonos One, and it will play on the grouped Playbar/surrounds.

You could also replace the Playbar with a Beam.

So there's no way to create a 2nd group that has one of the existing sonos ones with the play bar?

If I buy a third one, can the play bar belong to two separate groups? When I create a group, how do I choose the Sonos One as the primary speaker?

So there's no way to create a 2nd group that has one of the existing sonos ones with the play bar?

If I buy a third one, can the play bar belong to two separate groups? When I create a group, how do I choose the Sonos One as the primary speaker?

"Group" has a very specific meaning in the Sonos context, which can be confusing when used as a generic term. These are the ways Sonos speakers can be combined:

Grouping: Non-permanent joining of two or more rooms to play the same source in sync. Grouping/ungrouping is a simple menu choice, and is meant to be fluid. Each room plays all channels of the source.

Pairing: Pairing the the semi-permanent connection of two like-model speakers to form a single room as a stereo pair. The speakers will play the left and right channels individually, giving superior stereo separation which is not possible with a single unit. Unpairing is not trivial, and all Truplay information is lost when you unpair.

Bonding: Bonding is like pairing, except you bond a Sub to other speakers, or a surround pair to a Playbar/Playbase/Beam. Like pairing, bonding is semi-permanent and not trivial to undo.