Sonos S14 thoughts and wishes


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Hi. I actually enlisted all my Sonos for sale, as I think Sonos isn't up to date and actually doesn't have the visions to be (for us surround users) updated, only for multiroom purpose.

BUT, now s14 is in the horizon which is rumored to have hdmi. For at start I think its nice, since I will be able to control Sonos sound on my Apple TV remote app.
In this scenario, it would be nice and some kind of a must if this S14 has at least one hdmi input.I use all my hdmi inputs on my old b6 and would have to skip one unit in order to make place for at Sonos soundbar with hdmi. I think many Sonos users use all of their hdmi inputs on tv as its kind of the thoughts - the tv is the hub.
BUT isn't this against Sonos´s "bulletproof" philosophy?. im thinking on handshake issues, personally I could think Sonos only supports sound on hdmi, in order to avoid handshake issues.
Well it may have a hdmi 2.1 socket which have the capacity to potentially fix many of these hdmi issues.
Which brings me to my next thought - atmosphere is the shi... right now and is quite common, is it really realistic to think Sonos AND atmos.
Well hardwarewise I could think a Sonos connect for atmosphere or play one/1.

How about the design? The blueprints shows a square?

What are your thoughts and wishes for this new home theater unit?

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82 replies

Userlevel 7
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There have been threads of people asking for Sonos headphones. Pretty much like all their music in the Sonos app and want to be able to listen to privately. I can understand the desire to play wifi to a Sonos type headphone. Now as far as a Bluetooth headphone - I guess because there is no Sonos headphone they would like some way to rig a Bluetooth headphone. But it really then comes down to outputting from Sonos to a Bluetooth transmitter - and only way to output from Sonos is via a Sonos Connect.

I guess if you have some nice Bluetooth headphones - the cost to get sonos to them is the cost of a Connect and cheap Bluetooth transmitter.
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Chris - but i still like my Sonos 5.1 system, in your case, i would have to add a connect to my tv aswell.
I have my work around because of Apple tv, but would be much easier If Sonos handled the output from all tv plugged sources:)
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Chris - but i still like my Sonos 5.1 system, in your case, i would have to add a connect to my tv aswell.
I have my work around because of Apple tv, but would be much easier If Sonos handled the output from all tv plugged sources:)


Could that not be done via a receiver? All inputing into receiver then from that to sonos for 5.1 or direct via receiver to BT.

Some sonosnet headphones might be interesting, assuming the techncan be miniturised enough and working from a batter is feasible. Not sure I’d want audio path going stream > Wifi/snet > Sonos > bt > headphones. I’d have thought the lip sync would be horrible. It is bad enough going direct from streamer to headphones when using BT. And I have quite high end BT headphones (well B&O) more form over function if you ask me ?
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Oh i forgot, i would really like to be able to use wireless Bluetooth headphones on Sonos

Not being sarcastic, but what for exactly? I’m struggling to think of an use case that is not better addressed by having the same stream play direct (to headphones). Curious what the purpose of powering on a lot of speakers, only to put on headphones would be. I’m probably missing the point though ?


The ability to create playlists from multiple sources comes to mind. I don't think I own anything else that allows that. But that's kind of niche - I could see a long term Sonos owner who has a lot of playlists built up in the ecosystem liking it, but it's not likely to be a real draw for new customers.
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Some interesting ideas about the headphone use, and how peole use their equipment in different ways. I guess my use cases are very simple. ATV or PS3 to soundbar for movies and radio app and spotify for music i chucked my NAS and local file collection into a recycle dump when I moved house as I was never using it. ?

I guess having more non speaker uses for Sonos might help justify the always on paradigm and 24/7 power consumption.
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My personal tought:
IF, the new model will add HDMI support, maybe the new speaker will be able to decode DD+, DD true HD, DTS HD MA. Since this will be a possibility, it means that Sonos is going to pay royalties to decode DTS signal as well --> maybe they will add DTS support via SW update also on Playbar/playbase.
DTS 5.1 IS POSSIBLE trough optical, but codec is missing...
My personal tought:
IF, the new model will add HDMI support, maybe the new speaker will be able to decode DD+, DD true HD, DTS HD MA. Since this will be a possibility, it means that Sonos is going to pay royalties to decode DTS signal as well --> maybe they will add DTS support via SW update also on Playbar/playbase.
DTS 5.1 IS POSSIBLE trough optical, but codec is missing...


I'm not a expert on royalties, but I don't know that that would be a good idea from a Sonos perspective. Sonos has always looked to add new features to their existing products, but there is always at least a chance that the customer will end up buying new products because of it. Assuming that the new product replaces the playbar , adding DTS to the playbar will only cause customers to avoid buying the S14 (or whatever new product is). Perhaps maybe they add it to the playbase, if it serves a different customer than the S14.

But I speculate.
Userlevel 7
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I think you are right DTS on a new product will drive more sales, current playbars can be moved to 2nd/3rd tv rooms.
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The new Sonos PLAYBAR needs to have at least 2 HDMI 2.1 inputs. Only 1 is technically needed for new HDMI 2.1 TVs via eArc, but let's say at least 2 for TVs with HDMI 2.0b and below.

1 HDMI 2.1 (eARC) output.

4K Dolby Vision and HDR10+ passthrough.

Support for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X respectively.

With HDMI 2.1 comes eARC. eARC allows the following audio formats to be transported:

Dolby Digital Plus (up to 7.1 channels)

Dolby TrueHD (up to 7.1 channels)

Dolby Atmos

DTS-HD High Resolution Audio (up to 7.1 channels)

DTS-HD Master Audio (up to 7.1 channels)

DTS:X
Userlevel 7
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The new Sonos PLAYBAR needs to have at least 2 HDMI 2.1 inputs. Only 1 is technically needed for new HDMI 2.1 TVs via eArc, but let's say at least 2 for TVs with HDMI 2.0b and below.

1 HDMI 2.1 (eARC) output.

4K Dolby Vision and HDR10+ passthrough.

Support for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X respectively.

With HDMI 2.1 comes eARC. eARC allows the following audio formats to be transported:

Dolby Digital Plus (up to 7.1 channels)

Dolby TrueHD (up to 7.1 channels)

Dolby Atmos

DTS-HD High Resolution Audio (up to 7.1 channels)

DTS-HD Master Audio (up to 7.1 channels)

DTS:X


I fear that compiling this wishlists will only lead to disappointment come June 6 - I hope to be proved wrong !
Wildbomber, what are you thinking the 2nd (or more) hdmi is needed for? Not doubting you, just curious what you're thinking. I can see where it could be useful for older tvs that perhaps don't have eArc. If there are multiple hdmi inputs, are you thinking that that cable, Blu-ray etc sources would route to the S14 first, then to the tv, as many receivers are designed to do today.

Personally, I'd like it to have an hdmi output, to pass audio and video to another tv, but I'm pretty sure my use case is not that common.
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ARC only supports PCM (2 channel),
Dolby Digital (up to 5.1 channels) and Dolby Digital Plus (up to 5.1 channels) with Dolby Atmos, and
DTS Digital Surround (up to 5.1 channels). I’m not sure about DTS-HD High Resolution Audio (lossy) and DTS:X. So if you have multiple devices that support Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, it will eliminate the need to keep swapping HDMI cables.
Ok WildBomber, I admitted not that strong on this subject. Are you saying that you couldn't connect 2-3 hdmi inputs to your tv, and then have the audio pass down through hdmi to the S14 in anything other then stereo? I hadn't thought of it that much, but I suppose since technically the hdmi on the tv side is input only, you have to use ARC to send audio to the soundbar. Correct?

I am not crazy about that as aesthetically speaking, you can hide wires in the back of a tv better than you can from a soundbar, but if that's the way it has to be...
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You could connect 2-3 inputs to your TV, but your HDMI ARC port would only be able to pass down PCM (2 channel), Dolby Digital (up to 5.1 channels) and DTS Digital Surround (up to 5.1 channels). Some TVs, such as my LG B7 with 4x HDMI 2.0b ports, support Dolby Atmos playback via Dolby Digital Plus through ARC. ARC doesn't support HD audio due to limited bandwidth. With the upcoming HDMI 2.1 TVs, the eARC port will be able to pass down HD audio from the TV and all other HDMI inputs, eliminating the need for mutilple inputs on soundbars.
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TV's can only pass through limited formats, to get the good stuff (like dolby atmos or high res) your devices need to connect into the soundbar directly and there in is the problem - almost every bar on the market with HDMI inputs only has like 1 or 2 inputs - I have 4 devices, I need 4 inputs and I don't want to shuffle cables all the time

The fix to this is HDMI 2.1 TV's with eARC - once new TV's come out with these ports you just connect all your devices to your TV and your TV will pass-through just about any sound format into the soundbar

But key to this: both the soundbar and TV will need to have the HDMI 2.1 eARC port for the pass-through to work correctly
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oh yea - and TV manufacturers need to get it right (they have bad history of just plain messing this part up - like with the toslink pass through standard).
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Saying that, Denon have issued a firmware update for their AVR-X3400H, AVR-X4400H, AVR-X6400H and AVC-X8500H AV receivers (which are all HDMI 2.0 compliant) to achieve eARC compatibility. This might also be possible for some 2017/2018 high-end TVs, depending on the hardware.
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I can see the S14 being HDMI 2.0 compliant, but with eARC support like the Denon AV receivers mentioned above. My LG B7 can passthrough Dolby Atmos via Dolby Digital Plus. Is there a noticeable difference between Dolby Atmos via Dolby Digital Plus (lossy) and Dolby Atmos via Dolby TrueHD (lossless)?
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LG's SJ9 soundbar can passthrough 4K Dolby Vision as well as Dolby Atmos via Dolby Digital Plus.

Sony's HT-ST9 soundbar supports LPCM 5.1, LPCM 7.1, Dolby Digital, Dobly Digital Plus, Dolby Digital TrueHD, DTS Digital Surround, DTS-HD High Resolution Audio and DTS-HD Master Audio.

Samsung's HW-N950 soundbar supports DTS:X and I pressume will be able to passthrough 4K HDR10+.

If Sonos can incorporate all of the above into the S14, it's pretty much game, set and match.

Although I won't hold my breath:

https://en.community.sonos.com/wireless-speakers-228992/no-dts-on-new-playbase-and-thats-not-due-to-hardware-limitations-6766995/index1.html
LG's SJ9 soundbar can passthrough 4K Dolby Vision as well as Dolby Atmos via Dolby Digital Plus.

Sony's HT-ST9 soundbar supports LPCM 5.1, LPCM 7.1, Dolby Digital, Dobly Digital Plus, Dolby Digital TrueHD, DTS Digital Surround, DTS-HD High Resolution Audio and DTS-HD Master Audio.

Samsung's HW-N950 soundbar supports DTS:X and I pressume will be able to passthrough 4K HDR10+.

If Sonos can incorporate all of the above into the S14, it's pretty much game, set and match.

Are all of these cordless soundbars?
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LG's SJ9 soundbar can passthrough 4K Dolby Vision as well as Dolby Atmos via Dolby Digital Plus.

Sony's HT-ST9 soundbar supports LPCM 5.1, LPCM 7.1, Dolby Digital, Dobly Digital Plus, Dolby Digital TrueHD, DTS Digital Surround, DTS-HD High Resolution Audio and DTS-HD Master Audio.

Samsung's HW-N950 soundbar supports DTS:X and I pressume will be able to passthrough 4K HDR10+.

If Sonos can incorporate all of the above into the S14, it's pretty much game, set and match.

Are all of these cordless soundbars?


Yes, LG's SJ9 can be paired with their H3, H5 or H7 wireless speakers. And Samsung's HW-950 is a wireless 7.1.4 setup.
Yes, LG's SJ9 can be paired wirelessly with their H3 and H5 speakers. And Samsung's HW-950 is a wireless 7.1.4 setup.
Do you happen to know how reliable the wireless performance of the surround channels is?
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Yes, LG's SJ9 can be paired wirelessly with their H3 and H5 speakers. And Samsung's HW-950 is a wireless 7.1.4 setup.
Do you happen to know how reliable the wireless performance of the surround channels is?


I don't unfortunately.
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Hello, do you know if a streaming link will be available in order to follow tomorrow's press conference from Sonos?

Thanks
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Hello, do you know if a streaming link will be available in order to follow tomorrow's press conference from Sonos?

Thanks


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