Playbar and hdmi rumor. (late 2018 / early 2019)

  • 12 February 2018
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We might finally get a new one. Including HDMI 2.1.

The guy who posted the topic on reddit soon deleted it after it was posted possibly because he actually wasnt allowed to post it?

If you click on his profile you'll find posts where he do everything in his power to make the post "less likely" and told people it was false. I think he fucked up revealing sensitive information. (since Sonos is too private about their releases and upcoming stuff)

Rumoured source:

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:PMYMBHFS8QoJ:https://www.reddit.com/r/sonos/comments/7vm79v/leak_the_next_sonos_sound_bar_will_have_hdmi/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=dk

https://www.flatpanelshd.com/news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1517993468

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52 replies

Weird. I keep telling you want and you keep telling me I want something else. Pointless conversation.
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I believe you are trying to use your sons for both HT and Stereo Audio.


Yes, but that doesn't really tell the whole story. I would like the option to be able to quickly switch to full audio even when playing audio for the tv, and back again. Right now, you can only set to full audio when playing from non-tv sources...and it's not exactly a quick switch.


Instead of looking into a method for audio to come from all speakers, Sonos should implement an easy way to uncouple and re-couple the primary stereo pair from the 5.1 setup.


If that's what you want. Great. I'm not interested though. I just want the option to play full audio (stereo) for tv sources (optical input). I would think that would be a lot easier to implement then reassigning the speaker bonds quickly.


That is not at all what I want. Faux-stereo sound is a terrible idea.

What you are looking for is a feature a very, very small number of people would use because there is no real-world, practical application for it. If there were unlimited development resources; maybe its a nice-to-have at best.

The uncoupling method gives you what you are looking for (the right way) and is do-able from a technology standpoint. If I were looking for a solution, that's where I would focus my efforts.


This is definitely NOT "Faux-stereo sound".

This is "full channel stereo" when you have got "stereo" sound.
Super easy as that.
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The uncoupling and grouping method does not keep all the audio in sync with the video so not really a viable option. +1 for full channel audio from stereo TV sources for me 😉
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I believe you are trying to use your sons for both HT and Stereo Audio.


Yes, but that doesn't really tell the whole story. I would like the option to be able to quickly switch to full audio even when playing audio for the tv, and back again. Right now, you can only set to full audio when playing from non-tv sources...and it's not exactly a quick switch.


Instead of looking into a method for audio to come from all speakers, Sonos should implement an easy way to uncouple and re-couple the primary stereo pair from the 5.1 setup.


If that's what you want. Great. I'm not interested though. I just want the option to play full audio (stereo) for tv sources (optical input). I would think that would be a lot easier to implement then reassigning the speaker bonds quickly.


That is not at all what I want. Faux-stereo sound is a terrible idea.

What you are looking for is a feature a very, very small number of people would use because there is no real-world, practical application for it. If there were unlimited development resources; maybe its a nice-to-have at best.

The uncoupling method gives you what you are looking for (the right way) and is do-able from a technology standpoint. If I were looking for a solution, that's where I would focus my efforts.


This is definitely NOT "Faux-stereo sound".

This is "full channel stereo" when you have got "stereo" sound.
Super easy as that.


Yes it is faux-stereo. Stereo sound comes from 2 speakers - not 4. 4 speakers with sound waves crashing into one another in a small/medium size room creates a giant mess.

The audio source is also in stereo - not like it was mixed for quad or 5.1. So again, what is the use case outside of having sound come from all speakers?
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The audio source is also in stereo - not like it was mixed for quad or 5.1. So again, what is the use case outside of having sound come from all speakers?


Regardless the wrongs or rights or looking in at it from a purist point of view, Sonos already support full audio across 5.1 speakers for stereo music sources so Sonos themselves see a use case for that. All that is being asked to do the exact same for TV sources e.g playing a music TV channel from satellite/cable service where (in the UK at least), not many are broadcast in 5.1
Ah. So that's where you get your 'faux' stereo argument from . Fine. I'm not an audio purest, and honestly do feel like it's a mess when I have full channel stereo on with music sources. That would be faux stereo as well according to you're definition. This what I want.

Also, I find it interesting that you're preferences your comment by saying it's a mess for small/medium room. I can somewhat agree with that. However, given my home and a many many homes these days are open concept, there is a large customer base that are using the Sonos 5.1 setup in a larger room.
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Call it ambient sound if you prefer...
It's not a mess because it depends also on current gain volume level.
Of course if you can pump up the volume, you can put 300watt speaker and listen like hell, or be in an anechoic room and listen like a pro and definitely NOT need multichannel stereo or full stereo (not fake stereo).

Just I would like to talk seriously about this with the Sonos team, if you don't need it, just don't use it.
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New! home theater Sonos product will be presented June 6!
New! home theater Sonos product will be presented June 6!

Link?
https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/5/3/17314980/sonos-2018-event-date-announced-new-playbar-playbase
Cool. Thanks.
Just actually read it. Interesting. The associated image seems to imply that the new device will reduce the number of remotes you use. That could just be referring to Alexa's limited ability to turn on the tv and a other commands through voice. I wonder if it also means that Sonos plans on using the hdmi connection to send commands to the tv. Since I'm not an expert on hdmi, I don't know how functional that could be.

In the realm of pure speculation and dreaming. I've always thought that Amazon's next move with Alexa would be put voice control on a fire tv (built in, not remote) along with a camera for video conferencing and such. It seems like a good product, however, the fire tv, is not usually located in a good spot for voice control and a camera. However, a soundbar would be a much better spot. I kinda doubt that Amazon would allow their voice conferencing and other stuff to be in an non Amazon product, but then again, soundbars and HT is out of their wheelhouse. Perhaps they are willing to make an exception for this. I would be amazed if this new product is a good HT and essentially turns your tv into a giant echo show.
Most interesting. Thanks for the link, melvimbe! And the catch, Camillo777.

One has to wonder how long it will be between the announcement and the actual release. If I recall correctly (and I wasn't paying a ton of attention) it was relatively quick for the PLAYBASE, say a month or so?
We won’t know until there is either a confirmation on a release from Sonos this year...or not. As much as I want it to be true doesn’t mean it is true. So I’ll hope for the best, and not be wildly disappointed if it doesn’t pan out.

But in the meantime, I do need to do some research with regards to his claims. I haven’t been following HDMI 2.1 very closely.

The part that makes it fake to me is the fact that their would be so few TVs that would have a function like eARC, and Sonos’ propensity for maximizing revenue by hitting the widest market possible. If Sonos had shown in the past that they were releasing hardware at the cutting edge of technology, I’d deem this more probable.

I hope I’m wrong, but I do want this thread to be a balanced understanding of the potential, and not a “OMG, it’s going to be released next week” thread. So far, it hasn’t. I want others to apply a critical eye to this, much as we have so far.


Since TheVerge has found a filing for an HDMI port and Alexa, I would assume they are going to add Amazon Firestick capabilities to the PlayBar. That would require an HDMI port. I still believe they will keep an optical port for audio output on most TVs.
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When a smartphone manufacturer starts to work on a new mobile, we get all details about it before launch. Rumors about the product will give the exact details about what is cooking. Now that we have only one week for the new product release, why there're still no details about it anywhere other than the FCC filing info? Are they really careful in not revealing their products or nobody is interested :8?
When a smartphone manufacturer starts to work on a new mobile, we get all details about it before launch. Rumors about the product will give the exact details about what is cooking. Now that we have only one week for the new product release, why there're still no details about it anywhere other than the FCC filing info? Are they really careful in not revealing their products or nobody is interested :8?

I would guess that media isn't trying as hard to find out info about the newest Sonos product as they are about the newest Apple or Samsung phone. I'd also guess that some of the rumors you hear are purposely leaked to the media in order to create a buzz. I don't know that such a plan would work for Sonos.

And if I'm really guessing, the announcement(s) on 6/6 may involve other companies that Sonos is partnering with. We already know Onkyo is announcing which of their products will 'work with Sonos'. Maybe Sonos needs to be careful not to announce something early that other companies don't want to talk about yet.
Are they really careful in not revealing their products or nobody is interested :8?

Both. Beta testers (if there are any) are under a very strict NDA, and unlike smartphone manufacturers who thrive on "leaks", Sonos is very protective of their products in progress. Plus, new phones are a cultural phenomenon and there is just not as much hype for a piece of audio gear as there is for a new phone.
And if I recall, the announcement isn't always on the same day as the actual release. I seem to recall there was about a month after either the PLAYBASE or PLAY:5 Gen 2 was announced before it was available?
I haven't ever really paid much attention to the gap between announcement and release, but I'm guessing a new product won't be release till around September or so. I mostly thinking of marketing reasons. I'd think you want to be out in advance of the Christmas season, but maybe not so early that it's old news by Christmas. Then again, I know nothing about marketing and have zero data to back up my theory.
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The announcement will help the new buyers (like me) to decide. Nobody wants to buy the old playbar if we know for sure that there's going to be an updated one available in the next couple of months. I was hoping that the rumors will let me know these details but there's none so far? Interesting. 5 more days to the event. Lets wait.
I think there's still going to be plenty of people who want the old playbar if it's at a lower price. And there will definitely be current playbar owner's who will want to uprade for the new features.
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Yeah im one of those new buyers who has waited 2 years now.. got enough giftcards for a whole playbar ? christmas, bday, christmas, bday. Hopefully this one will upfill all of our desires in a new playbar. Hdmi, atmos and so on. Too bad i might have an exam at that date so this will be a huge distraction ?
Shoot, I'd love it if there was a live-stream of the event, like Apple does with their announcements.
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3 more days this the announcement!
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Shoot, I'd love it if there was a live-stream of the event, like Apple does with their announcements.

I’ve enquired about this before but Sonos do do live streams. However normally the attendees post regular updates on Twitter as the event unfolds