Avid Contributor I

Surround system with 2x Era 100 + Beam (G2) + Sub Mini - which formats ?

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I have built a surround system attached to my TV with the following Sonos devices:

Beam Gen 2
Sub Mini
2x Era 100

Beam is connected to the TV through HDMI eARC port.

Beam and Sub Mini are connected to the same network switch. Era 100s are connected to the same Ip subnet through wifi. ERAs are physically placed to the back of the couch and they are all included in the surround system formed on Sonos app.

As I don’t have an iphone (hate apple, love Android) , I am not able to use trueplay.

Btw, that’s weird because when I was using the Era’s as a stereo pair , the Sonos app would give me the option to use trueplay. Why it does not support trueplay in surround mode (when it is really needed)

Now, my questions:

is there a 3rd party app to configure trueplay in my situation ?
is trueplay required ?
my TV is not altering the digital audio from the source (direct audio to HDMI) but I am not sure if I get different sounds from the surround speakers (ERAs). How can I confirm that ?
which 5.1 formats does the Sonos system (that I have) support ? Atmos ? DTS ? other 5.1 formats ?
I am trying to test using the test files from here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1JxmeedtAtgmoafXv9rroiDOS2vEX7N4b , and I can clearly say that right, left, center and surround channels are working fine. But when it comes to movie effects, I don’t get sounds from back most of the time. (even if the movie info is displayed as Atmos on the TV player) There must be some informative flags on the Sonos app to confirm that. (my Denon AV receiver app can show which channels are active) But I can’t see on Sonos app.

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AjTrek1

This doesn’t make sense…

Beam and Sub Mini are connected to the same network switch. Era 100s are connected to the same Ip subnet through wifi….

The setup for a Beam, Sub Mini and Era 100’s as surrounds is a lot simpler than you have described. Unless you’re just providing information. If so...the wording is off 🤔.

Below is how a Sonos home theater should be configured….

Beam Setup

Beam should be added to your Sonos as a room via Wi-Fi with no switch involved
Connect the Beam to your TV following the instructions via the app
Configure the Beam to work with your TV remote to control volume

Era 100 setup

Era 100’s should be added to your Sonos as separate rooms no switch involved.
Do not combine them as a stereo pair
Place them in position behind your couch

Setup Era 100’s as surrounds

In the app go to the room with the Beam and select “Add Surrounds”
Follow the app instructions

Add Sub Mini

Add the Sub Mini to your Sonos system by selecting “Add a product/speaker” in the app
Once done...Go to the room with the Beam and select “Add a sub”
Follow the app instructions

That’s all...you’re done. If Necessary, the only product that should be wired to your router (or switch although not recommended) is the Beam.

@nik9669a is correct regarding the variations in microphone implementation on Android devices making it un-feasible to implement TruePlay. If you have a solution as an Android developer, I urge you to contact Sonos corporate to present your design/implementation to make TruePlay possible.

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.

Stanley_4

Grand Maestro

Maybe better than contacting Sonos with a workable Trueplay on Android solution would be to do your own App.

I would happily pay a reasonable price to be done buying Apple devices, running Trueplay, then sticking them in a drawer for months or longer. I have a nice collection of "no longer supported" Apple devices I never had any other use for.

Good USB Mike's aren't nearly as expensive as Apple devices and should never end up unsupported.

https://www.amazon.com/Dayton-Audio-UMM-6-MeasurementMicrophone/dp/B00ADR2E68/ref=sr_1_40

Airgetlam

If one USB microphone is acceptable, why wouldn’t all of them be?

Bruce

Stanley_4

Grand Maestro

Same reason each Apple device needs individual correction curves, differences in output response versus input audio.

Might be more forgiving if the USB mikes had near equal responses, not sure just how picky Trueplay is about that, but any variation from the expected would be reflected in Trueplay's corrections.

Back when I messed about with recording I found mikes with near identical paper specs sounded very different from each other when the recordings were played back. Some were discarded or returned as nobody wanted to use them.

Almost forgot to add the mike's pattern, omnidirectional, Cartoid and a bunch I can't recall.

I

ilkeraktunaAuthor

Avid Contributor I

Writing the App for Android would be easy,

Crafting the frequency/volume curves for every even slightly different Android mike, not easy.

Sonos should sell a calibrated USB mike that would work on any Android device.

I don’t see why Sonos requires calibration for microphones. This is a simple task. The microphone will receive sounds from each speaker and the “same microphone” will be collecting information from each speaker. It does not need to be calibrated because the app will compare the sounds received from the “same” microphone.

Sonos might be trying to achieve a better , more professional output with this feature (Truplay) but surround speaker owners with only an Android phone would accept a simple solution. Sonos can call it another name if it is not Truplay as they imagine.

I

ilkeraktunaAuthor

Avid Contributor I

This doesn’t make sense…

Beam and Sub Mini are connected to the same network switch. Era 100s are connected to the same Ip subnet through wifi….

The setup for a Beam, Sub Mini and Era 100’s as surrounds is a lot simpler than you have described. Unless you’re just providing information. If so...the wording is off 🤔.

Below is how a Sonos home theater should be configured….

I didn’t understand why “it doesn’t make sense” for you. I didn’t have any problem setting up the system. I just provided information on how my setup is (as you guessed)

Why the wording is off ? (btw, I am not a native English speaker, but I don’t see the problem in my wording)

no switch involved.

you wrote that twice. Why do you think no switch should be involved ?

I prefer ethernet cable connection over wifi as it is more stable. As long as all Sonos speakers are on the same IP network, I don’t see a problem connecting them through cable & switch. Is there an official statement about “not using cable/switch” ?

N

nik9669a

Senior Virtuoso

I don’t see why Sonos requires calibration for microphones. This is a simple task. The microphone will receive sounds from each speaker and the “same microphone” will be collecting information from each speaker. It does not need to be calibrated because the app will compare the sounds received from the “same” microphone.

Without knowing the sensitivity of the microphone at different frequencies, how will Trueplay know whether a poor response at that frequency is as a consequence of the room acoustics or the microphone? There has to be calibration first.