The long-awaited first headphones: Sonos Ace

That’s exactly what I wanted. Super disappointed. 

100%

Lovely and comfy-looking headphones but I’m so disappointed by the lack of wi-fi (beyond sharing tv audio from the Arc) and Sonos multi-speaker integration, or at least a hand-off feature to swap audio from any other Sonos speaker like the Sonos Roam has. This feature was rumoured, seems only logical for a Sonos product, and would have made the Ace headphones a must-buy for me. It would be even better if Airplay 2 was incorporated, as it is on the Roam, if technically possible in the smaller form factor of headphones. If anyone from Sonos is reading, PLEASE consider multi-speaker integration for a future update/release!

A dandy set of lossy Bluetooth headphones, I’m sure. But none of the features I was hoping for are there.

• No integration with the rest of my Sonos system, which even my Roam can do. Well, could do until the irreplaceable battery died a few months after the device was out of warranty…
• No AirPlay 2 support.
• No ability to play lossless/hi-res streams from my iPhone or iPad, at least without a wired connection, which I’m not interested in.
• No ability to pair with my Bluetoothless TV, despite its being connected to a Sonos Amp. And even if it could, the stream would be lossy -- not how I care to listen to the soundtracks on 4K and Blu-ray discs.

But Sonos has a solution to that last point! Just buy an Arc, which I don’t need or want (TV’s connected to an Amp connected to good external speakers) and which in Canada would push the price of the headphone close to C$2K with taxes.

Plus because the only connection is Bluetooth or wired, my phone’s battery would need more frequent charging, increasing the chances of its running out of juice and meaning it’ll need to be replaced sooner.

Had been postponing the purchase of a pair of wireless headphones for quite a while in anticipation of this release. Not going to happen now.

The Roam issue, the gawdawful “new! improved!” app and now this.

I used to be a big Sonos fan. Several friends bought Sonos products based on my recommendation. Today I find myself regretting I’m locked into this system.

You can use the @ symbol if you want to call out another users attention, or at least quote them so it’s clear what you’re actually referring too.

You fit a lot into one sentence. I stated that Sonos has never been able to have a speaker be bonded into more than one room, or in a room and itself in another room.  I wondered how and if they were going to be able to accomplish that feat with the headphones, and it looks like they did not.  The chose to have Ace bonded in a home theatre rather than it’s own room, which disappointed a lot of people.  I have no doubt that a lot of people, many of them the same people, would disappointed if Ace couldn’t do TV audio.  I am not too surprised they chose TV audio.

I never said that the App isn’t a mess or that that the timing isn’t all screed up. 

I have no doubt that a lot of people want to see Ace as it’s own zone, the same way a lot of people want the Ace for TV audio.  Those that are unhappy are typically more vocal than those that are happy, and as I said earlier, many would complain either way.  Heck, there are folks on S1 and/or have no interest in headphones are here to complain.

I actually did expect limited functionality. The signs were all there.  The headphones were rumored for a long time, with nothing to show for.  We know the release date was delayed. They had to have many features that no other Sonos product has in order to compete. ANC,, Aware (maybe could have skipped that one), head tracking, wearable/comfort, taking phone calls etc. Perhaps all in the smallest for factor(Roam might be smaller?)  Am I surprised that the headphones aren’t there own room and connect to a home theatre?  No, not really.  I would have liked to have seen it, but I am not surprised.

The best part is that the new update broke the ability to control your 3rd party connected subwoofer to your Sonos Amp. You can't turn it on/off, no sub Volume control, phase control, or anything. I've seen Sonos acknowledge other app issues especially during their AMA but absolutely no acknowledgment of this issue that practically makes my Sonos Amp useless when it comes to subwoofer control. 

Sonos released the new app update today 80.01.11 stating subwoofer controls have been fixed but it's still broken.

Hard to be excited about new headphones while actively watching my Sonos Amp functionality breaking overnight and will be approaching almost 1 month of this before we know it.

I’ve been googling launch date of sonos headphones for years as this is something I would certainly use a lot. The reason is that my music listening ecosystem is primarily based on my extensive collection of audio files paired with sonos, not streaming services. And for years I’ve been pining for the ability to feed a sonos music queue into headphones instead of (or in addition to) speakers, either to avoid disturbing others or because I want that on-ear fidelity that speakers can’t deliver. Would love the ability to start listening on speakers, then switch to headphones, or vise versa. 

So imagine my disappointment to learn that the Sonos Ace headphones won’t even play music from my Sonos queue. That was the precise killer feature I was after. Now that they are finally released I see that they are just high quality bluetooth headphones in a crowded field of high quality bluetooth headphones. They look like they sound great. But I already have quality bluetooth headphones for streaming music from my phone and not sure I need to pluck down $449 for another pair. I would immediately order them if they truly integrated with the sonos ecosystem. 

Are there any plans to give Ace headphones access to the Sonos wifi network and queues and playlists in the future? When that feature is available I will immediately purchase a pair.

Is there a technical reason why the audio swap feature can only work with soundbars, or is it technically possible that support could come to other Sonos speakers in the future (even if no commitment could be made now)? I noticed speculation earlier in the thread that it might relate to the method by which soundbars link to surround speakers and subs, which other speakers don’t possess. But would be nice if someone from Sonos could comment. 

As others have mentioned it would be good if we could audio swap other speakers in order to pipe system aux input into the headphones.

Could someone from Sonos say something about battery replacement?

I assume the battery won’t be user replaceable, but will there be a battery replacement service whereby Sonos would replace the battery for a fee? Or in a few years time once you are no longer happy with battery life will the only option be to buy a new unit? 

Just wanted to join in on the disappointment. It is mind boggling how Sonos have self destructed their own brand and major selling point. Sonos has been equal to multi room audio. The system that every other multiroom system is mimicking. From now on you will have to ask in the store, or read the small text in the product specification “Is this Sonos product capable of multi room functionality?”. It’s like if you were to ask, wait, “Do these Rollerblades have wheels in line?”, or “does this FedEx envelope work to FedEx (sending) things in? Or is it just for storing?”. 
 

/A daily user of Sonos products in the last 12 years.  Was waiting for the headphones. Now I will choose to stick with my existing bluetooth ones. This is crazy (in the Sonos universe at least).