HomePod compatibility with Sonos system

Good points, and i'm pretty much sold on going full Sonos. Any idea on how well the playbar/2 play ones/subwoofer combo might compare to my old 12" infinity tower speakers with kenwood surround and center channel speakers?

@chicks It looks as though the homepods are capable of stereo pairing and some reviews suggest they sound slightly better than the the Sonos play 3's. But like I said, if it is a hassle to try and make it work, i'm not going to do it. I'm not trying to say one is better than the other, and I don't want to assume something due to preconceived biases or assumptions.

Apple will use boatloads of sound processing to simulate surround sound. No thanks.

What others are saying, I simply won't assume something before hearing the audio quality of the HomePod.....

"They’re using some form of dynamic modeling, and current sensing that allows them to have a p-p excursion of 20 mm in a 4″ driver. This is completely unheard of in the home market. The practical upshot is that that 4″ driver can go louder than larger drivers, and with significantly less distortion. It’s also stuff you typically find in speakers with five-figure price tags (The Beolab 90 does this, and I also suspect that the Kii Three does). It’s a quantum leap over what a typical passive speaker does, and you don’t really even find it in higher-end powered speakers

The speaker uses six integrated beamforming microphones to probe the room dimensions, and alter its output so it sounds its best wherever it is placed in the room. It’ll know how large the room is, and where in the room it is placed.

The room correction applied after probing its own position isn’t simplistic DSP of frequency response, as the speaker has seven drivers that are used to create a beamforming speaker array,. so they can direct specific sound in specific directions. The only other speakers that do this is the Beolab 90, and Lexicon SL-1. The Beolab 90 is $85,000/pair, and no price tag is set for the Lexicon, but the expectation in the industry is “astronomical”."


Since the soundbar is placed directly in front of me, I would have to guess that it is also using some sort of sound processing to simulate the surround sound?

I think there is hope that it should work, at least in theory. We will have to wait until the HomePod is released to say for certain, and you may need a 4th gen Apple TV as a hub to make it work.

Apple has said that the HomePod will be able to connect to other AirPlay 2 speakers. Sonos and Apple have partnered pretty closely in the past, and all of Sonos current speakers run AirPlay, so it would make sense that Sonos would update their existing speakers to run AirPlay 2. It may not happen right away, but they SHOULD update to AirPlay 2, and then you could connect your Sonos speakers with the HomePod.

It is unclear as far as connecting the HomePod to your TV, but there are two potential options. Connect a 4th gen Apple TV to your television, and then connect the HomePod to your Apple TV and then connect to your Sonos AirPlay 2 speakers.

The other option would be to purchase a Sonos Playbar or Playbase, connect it to your TV, and then connect the HomePod to your Sonos System. In theory, you could then use a pair of HomePods as the rear channels in your home theater system, and to play music.

It’s unclear if this will work, but in theory, as long as Sonos updates to Airplay 2, and Apple and Sonos continue to play nice with each other, it should work. The other option would be to purchase 4 HomePods, and an Apple TV, for around $1600 plus tax, and place them around the room, and that should give you pretty decent surround sound and bass, although we will have to see how it stacks up against a 5.1 Sonos system, which will cost you a few hundred more, but is more purpose built.

As far as the Siri integration question, despite what a lot of Siri haters say, Siri is pretty good already at integrating with HomeKit compatible products, and although unproven, it should be superior to Google or Alexa for music integration, at least when using Apple Music. Personally I use Tidal due to the ability to stream lossless audio, which isn’t available through Apple Music or Spotify, so it won’t really be an advantage.

The main disadvantage of a Sonos system so far has been being stuck using the Sonos app. If you use Apple Music already, adding a pair of HomePods to your Sonos system should offer a better user experience, and they are priced similar to a comparable Sonos Play 3.

It is unclear as far as connecting the HomePod to your TV, but there are two potential options. Connect a 4th gen Apple TV to your television, and then connect the HomePod to your Apple TV and then connect to your Sonos AirPlay 2 speakers.

The other option would be to purchase a Sonos Playbar or Playbase, connect it to your TV, and then connect the HomePod to your Sonos System. In theory, you could then use a pair of HomePods as the rear channels in your home theater system, and to play music.


I really don’t see how Airplay 2 would support 5.0 sound separation even in theory. Apple hasn’t stated anywhere about this functionality, describing Airplay 2 as a multiroom streaming ability. I think 5.0 sound separation works on entirely different level and it would require more than just a multiroom support. I’m not even talking about inclusion of Sub which I almost sure will not be supported in earlier iteration of Apple’s protocol, as it is not a speaker per se, what leaves Sub owners, who want to use it, with no other options than reverting back to using Sonos app. Just my thoughts though

Can someone tell me what Airplay2 does for the average Sonos user?...that the current app doesn’t do?..what is its purpose?.

Can someone tell me what Airplay2 does for the average Sonos user?...that the current app doesn’t do?..what is its purpose?.

Airplay 2 will allow you to stream directly from Airplay 2 compatible apps, instead of using the Sonos app.

What others are saying, I simply won't assume something before hearing the audio quality of the HomePod.....

"They’re using some form of dynamic modeling, and current sensing that allows them to have a p-p excursion of 20 mm in a 4″ driver. This is completely unheard of in the home market. The practical upshot is that that 4″ driver can go louder than larger drivers, and with significantly less distortion. It’s also stuff you typically find in speakers with five-figure price tags (The Beolab 90 does this, and I also suspect that the Kii Three does). It’s a quantum leap over what a typical passive speaker does, and you don’t really even find it in higher-end powered speakers


Meh, Philips was doing Motional Feedback way back in the ‘70s. Once again, Apple never innovates, but they do a pretty good job of perfecting technologies invented elsewhere.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motional_Feedback

Panasonic was doing it way back in 1964. It wasn’t new then, either.

http://www.proaudiodesignforum.com/forum/php/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=707&start=5

http://www.waynekirkwood.com/images/jpg/Motional_Feedback_Miami_News_October_19_1964.jpg

Word is, Homepod will not support synched multi-room playback at launch. So not only is it not compatible with Sonos, it's seemingly not even compatible with itself.