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S2 Sound Quality Improvements?


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I currently run Deezer Elite -- this is an FLAC stream.  I was told by an audio salesman that while Sonos runs FLAC the audio you actually get is less than CD quality due to Sonos’ own compression. 

  1. Is this true?
  2. If so, does the broader band of S2 eliminate said compression (or is the improved sound quality only going to be when you upgrade a stream all the way to HD)
  3. Would this elimination be immediately audible or do we need to await further updates?

 

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Best answer by Nialli 8 June 2020, 15:47

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I currently run Deezer Elite -- this is an FLAC stream.  I was told by an audio salesman that while Sonos runs FLAC the audio you actually get is less than CD quality due to Sonos’ own compression. 

  1. Is this true?
  2. If so, does the broader band of S2 eliminate said compression (or is the improved sound quality only going to be when you upgrade a stream all the way to HD)
  3. Would this elimination be immediately audible or do we need to await further updates?

 

 

The salesman is full of it (as most of them are). 

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this is an FLAC stream.  I was told by an audio salesman that while Sonos runs FLAC the audio you actually get is less than CD quality due to Sonos’ own compression.

It is not true.

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No mention of MQA support with S2. Disappointing for Tidal users but Qobuz, Deezer and Amazon Music HD users should be happ

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Yes - according to the feature desicription 24-bit is only for local FLAC/ALAC files, so users of ie Tidal HD streaming will still only get 16-bit audio… No upgrade there...

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Thanks all.  Niall, just for clarity -- the current system supports 16-bit?  

 

The s2 will support 24 bit,but Sonos also refers to this as FLAC and ALAC?  Why both?  Why not just say 16-bit is FLAC and 24-bit is ALAC?

 

Thanks.

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And to all -- so essentially S2 won’t offer any sound improvements until we get the updates allowing for ALAC audio streams?

Thanks all.  Niall, just for clarity -- the current system supports 16-bit?  

 

The s2 will support 24 bit,but Sonos also refers to this as FLAC and ALAC?  Why both?  Why not just say 16-bit is FLAC and 24-bit is ALAC?

 

Thanks.

 

FLAC and ALAC are two different formats.  ALAC is basically the Apple version of FLAC.  Both can be played at 24 bits for local files only.

Thanks all.  Niall, just for clarity -- the current system supports 16-bit?  

 

The s2 will support 24 bit,but Sonos also refers to this as FLAC and ALAC?  Why both?  Why not just say 16-bit is FLAC and 24-bit is ALAC?

 

Thanks.

It’s 24 bit (either 44.1/48KHz) for both local ALAC and FLAC, just to clarify.

(edit: jgatie beat me to it👍)

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didn’t sonos support 24bit 44.1/48 from version 7?

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Guys, I have Qobuz sublime+ full res subscription.

 

But how do I play the high res files on Sonos?

 

When I download the high res files from Qobuz app, they are not seen by Sonos app, so no much for "playing local files" in high res.

What am I missing? Do we need to purchase the songs before being able to put it in local files mode??

Think it depends on the sampling rate s the max supported is 48khz. I have a lot of “High Res” files encoded at 24bit 96 or 192khz which Sonos does not recognise. It does, however play my 24bit 48khz files. Very annoying.

I kitted my house out with Sonos kit in 2011/12 and with the recent S2 announcement iI decided to use trade in voucher to get a Port and Five to replace my Connect and Play: 5. This was on the assumption that S2 would be able to play Hi-Res files, especially on the Port. Having now split my system and testing S2, I can only play 24-bit files at 48KHz!

 

Sonos you need to confirm or otherwise that in a future update I'll be able to play 96 and 192KHz FLAC and ALAC, Otherwise this has to be one of the most misleading product marketing issues ever! If this was never going to be the case I'd have never ordered the new kit!

You know what they say when you assume.

Yep I broke my own rule in this instance after purchasing a Sony A1 OLED TV on the promise of Dolby Vision via an update and it didn't arrive until 18months later!! 

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THe previous Sonos system tended to use some compression, and it was not bit perfect.  I think the new S2 sounds very good when using Amazon HD, Quboz and TIDAL.  I speculate they are no longer doing whatever they were doing before.  I do not have any means to test and measure it, though but the proof in that it sounds very good.

 

THe previous Sonos system tended to use some compression, and it was not bit perfect. 

I have no idea what you’re referring to.