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

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 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.

So which one do I do to be able to use airplay with my current speaker setup ( 2 Ones, 1 Playbar, 1 Sub)

So which one do I do to be able to use airplay with my current speaker setup ( 2 Ones, 1 Playbar, 1 Sub)

You can't, unless you un-bond the surrounds from the Playbar and group one (or both) of them with the Playbar/Sub.

So which one do I do to be able to use airplay with my current speaker setup ( 2 Ones, 1 Playbar, 1 Sub)

You can't, unless you un-bond the surrounds from the Playbar and group one (or both) of them with the Playbar/Sub.

Thats crazy. So I bought something that is supposed to be AirPlay 2 compatible (the Sonos Ones), but now they are not compatible because I have them paired with another device that isn't?

Yes, that is the case. It is due to the architecture of the 5.1 setup. When they are set up as surrounds, there is no way for the One(s) to decode the Airplay and send it to the Playbar, and still be able to play the single stream surround channel coming back to them after the Playbar decodes the 5.1.

I can begrudgingly accept that there might be technical limitations to preventing you using airplay and actually getting surround sound.

But at least allow me to play music to that setup, even if its not in surround sound. I bought these speakers because the people in the store told me they were airplay 2 compatible. That is now turning out to be a gross misrepresentation.

I mean, I'd even be fine if I could just use airplay 2 to play to a single one of the Sonos ones, but it sounds like I would have to pair and de-pair each time to do that?

The same limitation applies. Because no matter the source, the Playbar is the master unit because it is the only one capable of decoding and distributing individual channels to each surround and the Sub. The One(s) would still have to decode the stream and send it to the Playbar, while simultaneously playing the stream sent back.

Plus, one must ask: If it were possible, what would Sonos' motivation be to not allow it? It isn't to drive sales for the Beam, because they enabled Airplay 2 on the Playbase, which has been out for a couple years.

The Sonos Ones do support airplay on their own, however they are no longer stand alone speakers and are now tied to the playbar as part of a surround setup. All content is sent to the bar and then out to the Ones and since the bar doesn't support airplay you cannot use it.

That is purely based on a hardware limitation, which the play one also shares.

In order to enable airplay with your current setup you would need to unbond the Ones each time (plus trueplay).

So the more practical option would be to have a separate Sonos one, which you could group with that setup to enable airplay when you are listening to music.

If you specifically stated that you were connecting to a playbar and were still told it was compatible then that is misinformation and you should file a complaint. I always recommend doing ones own research as sales people often don't give accurate information.

So just to be clear, since others seem to be in a similar position. I have a playbar connected to my TV, which is bonded in a surrround sound system with two Sonos Ones and a sub. If I buy an extra Sonos One (which I would put in an adjacent room) and group that with the surround system, then I can AirPlay 2 to the group?

So just to be clear, since others seem to be in a similar position. I have a playbar connected to my TV, which is bonded in a surrround sound system with two Sonos Ones and a sub. If I buy an extra Sonos One (which I would put in an adjacent room) and group that with the surround system, then I can AirPlay 2 to the group?

Yes, once you group it with the extra One it would enable airplay for the group

Fortunately, this issue may have just become far less important. Amazon has announced that Alexa will support Apple Music from the week of 17 December 2018. Presumably, although it is not yet completely confirmed, I will be able to ask Alexa on my Sonos Ones to play tunes from Apple Music. https://blog.aboutamazon.com/devices/alexa-play-bebe-rexha-on-apple-music