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Ryan S
Ryan S
Retired Sonos Staff
June 8, 2020

Introducing S2, New App and OS for Sonos

Related content:Software
Introducing S2, New App and OS for Sonos

The next generation of Sonos software is now available. Sonos S2 is a new app and an operating system for compatible devices, which brings support for higher resolution audio, saved groups, support for new Sonos products, and more.

Learn more about the Sonos S2 app on our S2 home page.

 

Support for the newest Sonos products

The all new Sonos Arc, Sonos Five, and Sonos Sub will require the Sonos S2 app. These new players are not supported by the Sonos S1 Controller. 

 

Saved Groups

The new S2 app can save groups of rooms to create groups quickly and easily. Once a group is created, you can select it to start playing music and the players will automatically group up. 

 

High Resolution Audio

 

With S2, Sonos speakers now have support for high resolution audio, 24-bit, 44.1/48kHz for FLAC/ALAC only. This support is for local music libraries shared from computers and network attached drives. We’ve updated the article on Sonos supported music formats here.

The Sonos Arc is a Dolby Atmos soundbar, and S2 brings support for that audio to Sonos for home theater and music. Dolby Atmos can be read from Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby MAT, and Dolby TrueHD. 

 

How to get S2

All Sonos systems will be able to update to Sonos version 11.2, which contains some bug fixes and stability improvements. This version is a new S1 update, and compatible with all players. 

Once the 11.2 update is completed, systems compatible with Sonos S2 will receive a notification that the new app is available. You can tap that notification to start updating and the new app which will guide you through updating compatible players to the new platform. If you don’t see the notification banner, you go to System Tools in Settings to check compatibility and update. Sonos S2 is Sonos version 12.0.

You can check our Sonos S2 Compatibility article for a list of products that are compatible with S2.​​​​​

 

Articles and important information about S2

We will support products on Sonos S1 with bug fixes and security patches, and we will do what we can to ensure they keep working with the music services you love given their limited RAM and processing power.

We’ve put together answers to some of the top questions we’ve seen around S2 here, so please check out the following articles on:

Sonos S2 Overview - A great starting place to learn more about S2.

Sonos S2 Compatibility - Information about the differences between Sonos S2 and S1, including which Sonos products are compatible.

Set up separate S1 and S2 systems - Learn how to set up a separate Sonos S1 system with Sonos products that are not compatible with S2.

Known limitations with separate S1 and S2 Sonos systems - This article covers what you can expect when using two separate S1 and S2 systems.

Set up a separate Sonos S1 system

Remove Sonos products that are not compatible with S2 - Instructions on how to use the product removal tool in the Sonos S1 Controller before updating to Sonos S2.

Information about Trade Up:

If you’re interested in updating older Sonos speakers, here’s all the details on our Trade Up program, a way to get a big discount on any new Sonos products that are S2 compatible.

Trade Up home page - Get a general overview of the Sonos Trade Up program.

Trade Up support article - Step by step instructions on how to trade up your eligible Sonos products.

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    230 replies

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    jgatie
    jgatie
    June 9, 2020

    what about music from turntable connected to line-in of a Play:5 2nd generation? How is converted?

     

    In uncompressed mode it is converted to 16 bit, 44.1 kHz WAV.  Which is overkill, considering vinyl has a maximum dynamic range equal to about 14 bits.  

      ratty
      ratty
      June 9, 2020

      what about music from turntable connected to line-in of a Play:5 2nd generation? How is converted?

       

      In uncompressed mode it is converted to 16 bit, 44.1 kHz WAV.  Which is overkill, considering vinyl has a maximum dynamic range equal to about 14 bits.  

      12 bits. Around 70dB tops.

        jgatie
        jgatie
        June 9, 2020

        12 bits. Around 70dB tops.

         

        But it has a frequency response of zero to infinity! (Or so I’ve been told. :yum: )

          ratty
          ratty
          June 9, 2020

          12 bits. Around 70dB tops.

           

          But it has a frequency response of zero to infinity! (Or so I’ve been told. :yum: )

          Ah, that’ll mean 12/384 then. :wink:

            tloblaw
            Contributor II
            June 9, 2020

            Now that I’ve installed the S2 app, I can no longer group my Play:3 with my Play:1 systems.

             

            What gives?! 

            timgrieve
            Contributor II
            June 9, 2020

            Ryan, can you confirm what jgatie said above — that is, that downloaded music from Amazon HD will not play in 24bit via S2, and that the only way to get 24bit on S2 is with music that has actually been purchased and stored on a local device.  I was about to pull the trigger on a new Sonos Amp to replace an old Connect-and-receiver setup.  But If the only way to get 24bit from S2 is to go and buy all new music, then I probably should hold off on that purchase.  Thanks. 

            Ryan S
            Ryan SAuthor
            Retired Sonos Staff
            June 9, 2020

            Ryan, can you confirm what jgatie said above — that is, that downloaded music from Amazon HD will not play in 24bit via S2, and that the only way to get 24bit on S2 is with music that has actually been purchased and stored on a local device.  I was about to pull the trigger on a new Sonos Amp to replace an old Connect-and-receiver setup.  But If the only way to get 24bit from S2 is to go and buy all new music, then I probably should hold off on that purchase.  Thanks. 

            Music that’s saved for offline playback from a service is almost always saved in a DRM protected format that only allows it to play on the device that it’s saved to, and not shareable to Sonos using the music library feature. 24-bit music on Sonos today is for tracks that you own which are shared for local playback off of a computer or NAS drive. 

            Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.
            Coryisvanguard
            Lyricist I
            June 9, 2020

            This might be a moot point but I really like the S2 app. My only beef with it is the status bar(the star browse icons etc) at the bottom looks like a carryover from S1/android days. Is there a way to make this cleaner and flow better with the new theming? Or at least when i’m in the now playing screen have it all flow together without the rounder corners straight line jazz thats there. Grant it I know you guys have bigger issues and this truly is an elite first world problem so if nothing happens I understand. I attached photos to help illustrate the problem areas. 

             

            Phil56
            Avid Contributor I
            June 10, 2020

            Can we setup a forum for feedback on the new interface?

            i for one liked the old GUI with having the current song/ album art along side the queue. Now you either get the fullscreen album art of current song or a queue.  Anyone else agree with me? Also it would be nice when in this new queue format that the current song could be highlighted a little more it doesn’t quite stand out.  Or add its album art like S1😀

            ok I just found that you get the combined current album art and queue in landscape mode. Why not the same in portrait? I’m using an iPad. I could see maybe being restricted on a smaller device.

             

            one thing I always posted as  was preserving the current song pointer in the Queue if you switched say to a radio station or a line in (I use play5 as a tv speaker). It would be nice to go back to the queue and resume where you left off. Vs finding that song and selecting it. 
             

            I wish the amazon music menus had the A-Z indexes on the right side so I could jump directly to For example Letter M Songs and not have to scroll forever. 

              Phil56
              Avid Contributor I
              June 10, 2020

              Ryan, can you confirm what jgatie said above — that is, that downloaded music from Amazon HD will not play in 24bit via S2, and that the only way to get 24bit on S2 is with music that has actually been purchased and stored on a local device.  I was about to pull the trigger on a new Sonos Amp to replace an old Connect-and-receiver setup.  But If the only way to get 24bit from S2 is to go and buy all new music, then I probably should hold off on that purchase.  Thanks. 

              Music that’s saved for offline playback from a service is almost always saved in a DRM protected format that only allows it to play on the device that it’s saved to, and not shareable to Sonos using the music library feature. 24-bit music on Sonos today is for tracks that you own which are shared for local playback off of a computer or NAS drive. 

              What about music bought from something like HD tracks? Or if it came as a download card that came with an LP?

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