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Chuckles70
Contributor I
December 8, 2016

Playbar 5.1 Trueplay Reviews

  • December 8, 2016
  • 21 replies
  • 3762 views
Hi there,

As a nerd for tinkering with my Sonos setup, the 7.0 Trueplay release for the Playbar has been a joy.

I have a playbar + SUB + two Play:1s.

The playbar rests below the TV on a stand about 4ft away from the corner of my basement. The SUB is behind the TV stand in the corner. The surrounds face each other behind the seating, they rest about 15ft from the TV stand. The basement has carpet, basic couch and two arm chairs, with 8 foot cielings.

However, I am wondering: what kind of a difference I should be noticing in the setup when watching movies or playing videogames, after Trueplay?

To me, it sounds as if the left and right channels on the Playbar got their volumes increased, creating a more immersive sound stage. The SUB also seems to impact the glass cabinet less, which is about 20 feet away off to the side of my basement corner.

These are just my basic observations!

I would love to know about other people's before/after reviews of Trueplay on their 5.1 setups.

Thanks,
Charlie

Trueplay tuning improved the sound of my 5.1 Sonos setup

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21 replies

Show previous replies
biffta
biffta
Headliner I
December 14, 2016
Only a subjective opinion but I think Trueplay has made an enormous improvement in my Playbar's performance. Thank you Sonos.
Chris
Chris
Lead Maestro
December 14, 2016
I agree. Especially for music for me. I previously thought playbar made music to soft. Not anymore.
Respect the Queue (2)Move (3)Beam (1) Era100 (2)ARC (1)SonosOne (1)Playbar (4)Play5 (4)Play1 (3)Play3 (1)Port (2)Connect (1) Roam (2) Ace (1)Connect:Amp (4)Sonos Amp (1)Sub + (9) Echo + Smartthings; (2)Play)
opsman
Lyricist III
December 15, 2016
Recently used the updated TruePlay to tune my Soundbar & Sub (which i've been waiting for, for ages) with my new Sony KD-55XD9305. Have to agree with the general consensus so far - has made serious improvements to the sound. Always thought the sound was pretty impressive before, but now it's more dynamic and the bass has really tightened up. Keep the updates coming Sonos!
Sony KD-XR65A80j, Panasonic Ubd9000 (discs), Samsung UBD-M9500 (media files) , Sonos Arc, Sub (gen 2) , 2 x Era 100's, 4 x Play 1's, 1 x Move
tom12
Enthusiast II
December 15, 2016
When my reply from Sonos support that asked why there was no support for TruePlay on any Android phones, they stated that they were "actively working on adding this".
I replied again with the suggestion that maybe Sonos should develop and offer a remote microphone that plugs into the phone's headphone jack. This would alleviate the issue with different hardware on the various smartphones/tablets. This is nothing new as this is how AVR's balance the audio.

They replied with "That is a fantastic suggestion. I will forward that along to our development teams along with your request for tureplay with Android".

Though I have to think this was their way of patting me on the head and saying, "run along now.... goodbye"
jgatie
jgatie
December 15, 2016
That is their standard reply. It's no indication really of anything, either positive or negative, encouraging or condescending. Just boilerplate PR.
    Spiderbundy
    Contributor I
    December 17, 2016
    I recently Trueplayed my 5.1 system (Playbar,Sub, 2x Play 1's) after the 7.0 update....i notice a nice difference especially when playing music. One problem which i'm not happy with, and i'm wondering if anyone else has noticed...when playing Stereo or Dolby Digital 2.0 sources (which is most broadcast TV in the UK) the dialogue, which is supposed to be coming from the centre speaker on the Playbar...is now coming from my Play 1 surround speakers as well....in effect creating almost an echo. This only occurred after updating to 7.0 and using Trueplay. When listening to a 5.1 source...the speakers all behave as intended...ie: all dialogue emanating from the Playbar and the surrounds handling effects and background noise etc.
    Any advice or observations? Thanks
    BoredofBalham
    Prodigy II
    December 17, 2016
    There have been many requests about allowing the surrounds to output the stereo signal too. I suppose that Sonos are now granting those requests.
    Like all changes, it's odd at first but you soon get used to it.
    tom12
    Enthusiast II
    December 17, 2016
    I recently Trueplayed my 5.1 system (Playbar,Sub, 2x Play 1's) after the 7.0 update....i notice a nice difference especially when playing music. One problem which i'm not happy with, and i'm wondering if anyone else has noticed...when playing Stereo or Dolby Digital 2.0 sources (which is most broadcast TV in the UK) the dialogue, which is supposed to be coming from the centre speaker on the Playbar...is now coming from my Play 1 surround speakers as well....in effect creating almost an echo. This only occurred after updating to 7.0 and using Trueplay. When listening to a 5.1 source...the speakers all behave as intended...ie: all dialogue emanating from the Playbar and the surrounds handling effects and background noise etc.
    Any advice or observations? Thanks

    And all this time I've been complaining that I don't have access to Trueplay because I'm using Android devices. If that is what Trueplay does, I'll think I'll pass.
    biffta
    biffta
    Headliner I
    December 17, 2016
    I recently Trueplayed my 5.1 system (Playbar,Sub, 2x Play 1's) after the 7.0 update....i notice a nice difference especially when playing music. One problem which i'm not happy with, and i'm wondering if anyone else has noticed...when playing Stereo or Dolby Digital 2.0 sources (which is most broadcast TV in the UK) the dialogue, which is supposed to be coming from the centre speaker on the Playbar...is now coming from my Play 1 surround speakers as well....in effect creating almost an echo. This only occurred after updating to 7.0 and using Trueplay. When listening to a 5.1 source...the speakers all behave as intended...ie: all dialogue emanating from the Playbar and the surrounds handling effects and background noise etc.
    Any advice or observations? Thanks

    And all this time I've been complaining that I don't have access to Trueplay because I'm using Android devices. If that is what Trueplay does, I'll think I'll pass.

    Your loss!
    Spiderbundy
    Contributor I
    December 19, 2016
    I recently Trueplayed my 5.1 system (Playbar,Sub, 2x Play 1's) after the 7.0 update....i notice a nice difference especially when playing music. One problem which i'm not happy with, and i'm wondering if anyone else has noticed...when playing Stereo or Dolby Digital 2.0 sources (which is most broadcast TV in the UK) the dialogue, which is supposed to be coming from the centre speaker on the Playbar...is now coming from my Play 1 surround speakers as well....in effect creating almost an echo. This only occurred after updating to 7.0 and using Trueplay. When listening to a 5.1 source...the speakers all behave as intended...ie: all dialogue emanating from the Playbar and the surrounds handling effects and background noise etc.
    Any advice or observations? Thanks

    And all this time I've been complaining that I don't have access to Trueplay because I'm using Android devices. If that is what Trueplay does, I'll think I'll pass.

    Your loss!
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