Retired Sonos Staff

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The long-awaited first headphones: Sonos Ace

Related content:Hardware

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Today we are announcing the launch of our first-ever headphones, Sonos Ace, marking the brand’s long-awaited entry into the personal listening category. As a leading innovator in sound, Sonos is now using its renowned audio and design expertise to transform the way we listen on headphones.

The premium over-the-ear Bluetooth® headphones feature breathtaking lossless and spatial audio, world-class Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and Aware Mode, as well as the most precise and immersive home theater experience possible using Sonos’ new TrueCinema technology. Sonos Ace will be available globally in both Black and Soft White.

Superior Sound on a Personal Level

Artfully crafted and masterfully tuned, Sonos Ace defies expectations with a range of features that bring the best of Sonos to headphones.

Indulge in high-fidelity sound: Savor every second of your favorite song, podcast or friend’s phone call thanks to Sonos Ace’s two custom-designed drivers that render each frequency with impeccable precision and clarity.
Your own private cinema: Sonos Ace lets you enjoy a surround sound home theater experience while giving your household the gift of quiet. Instantly swap the TV audio from a compatible Sonos soundbar to Sonos Ace with just the tap of a button. Spatial audio with Dolby Atmos envelops you in dramatically detailed sound from all directions and dynamic head tracking keeps you centered in the action even if you need to grab a blanket or reach for the snack bowl. Coming later this year, Sonos’ all-new TrueCinema technology precisely maps your space then renders a complete surround sound system for a listening experience so realistic you’ll forget you’re wearing headphones.
Turn the world on or off: Make personal listening even more personal with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), or activate Aware mode when you want more awareness of your surroundings - be it walking on a busy street or working in the office.

Day-long battery life and ultra-fast charge: Listen or talk for up to 30 hours with an extended, energy-efficient battery life. Ultra fast charging ensures you’ll never miss a beat - get 3 hours of battery life with a quick 3-minute charge using the included USB-C cable.

Elegant Design and Long-Lasting Comfort

Sonos Ace was made to look and feel as good as it sounds. Its distinctive, slim profile beautifully blends metal accents with a sleek matte finish, complementing any style no matter how fast trends move.

Endless Comfort: Sonos Ace uses lightweight, premium materials for an airy fit that gently hugs your head. Its pillowy soft memory foam interior is wrapped in vegan leather, while a custom headband and ear cups that hide the hinge create the perfect acoustic seal without catching on hair.
Intuitive Design: Wearing and storing Sonos Ace is a breeze - contrasting colors inside the ear cups subtly signal which way to put the headphones on and beautifully-tactile buttons make controls easy to use while wearing them. When you’re done listening, put Sonos Ace away effortlessly thanks to its fold flat design that fits snugly in its lightweight travel case.
Responsibly Made: Sonos Ace is built to last and made for daily wear. The headphones feature replaceable ear cushions, circular materials that allow us to use 17% less virgin plastic, and a 75% recycled felt travel case made from plastic bottles. Engineered to drive energy efficiency, wear detection pauses your music when you remove Sonos Ace from your ears, minimizing the need for charging.

Sonos Ace will be available on June 5 for $449 USD (499 EUR, 449 GBP, 699 AUD). For more information, visit sonos.com, and follow along on @sonos.

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Roro597

Lyricist I

There is a lot to unpack in this thread, lol. I’m not as angry as most, I have been patiently waiting for the release. Now that it’s here the one thing I was expecting was having the headphones as a “zone” like the rest of the eco system. I guess my real question here is do these have the hardware necessary for this and can WiFi zone support added in an update? I understand at launch not having all features is one thing, but if it can’t be added via a software update I may have to wait for gen 2.

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JohnnyWilder

Contributor I

I don’t care if these headphones are the best headphones ever made, I will never buy them due to the fact that the entire reason for the botched app rollout was because of these headphones. They rushed the app to coincide with their release. As some notable fellas once said, “Suck it!”

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jaylaw64

Contributor I

Thanks for the clear answer on support for multiple sets of headphones.

Let me give you a user scenario that is my life. My wife and I frequently watch movies after we’ve put the kids to bed. We live in an apartment where if we crank up our Arc, surround speakers, and subwoofer with Atmos any hope of sleeping chilldren is gone. If you allowed 2 pairs of headphones that still had Atmos support you would have just gotten a pre-order for 2 sets of headphones.

melvimbe

Thanks for the clear answer on support for multiple sets of headphones.

Let me give you a user scenario that is my life. My wife and I frequently watch movies after we’ve put the kids to bed. We live in an apartment where if we crank up our Arc, surround speakers, and subwoofer with Atmos any hope of sleeping chilldren is gone. If you allowed 2 pairs of headphones that still had Atmos support you would have just gotten a pre-order for 2 sets of headphones.

I would guess it’s not so much a matter of ‘allowing’ 2 Aces to connect to an Arc, but whether the Arc has the hardware needed to send atmos audio to two Aces at the same time. I have little doubt Sonos would be happy to sell you 2 of them if it was just a matter of flipping a switch.

Danny

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AnnaR

Contributor II

I have the Sonos Playbar and I was disappointed to hear that these headphones aren’t compatible with the Playbar. So many of us are happy with our Playbar and would love to add the Ace to our setup, but Sonos is ignoring all of our feedback. It’s really strange that Sonos is rushing these products and ignoring their existing user base. I can only hope that they improve.

jgatie

I have the Sonos Playbar and I was disappointed to hear that these headphones aren’t compatible with the Playbar. So many of us are happy with our Playbar and would love to add the Ace to our setup, but Sonos is ignoring all of our feedback. It’s really strange that Sonos is rushing these products and ignoring their existing user base. I can only hope that they improve.

Unfortunately, the Playbar is over a decade old, and headphones weren’t even thought of a decade ago. Even if the technology used to connect the headphones existed back then, Sonos would have to have a time traveller on staff to realize it needed to be incorporated into the unit. I’m sure if they could include the Playbar in Ace support, they would, but you can’t reengineer something made a decade ago to current specifications.

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notAnAudiophile

Lyricist I

Hi @melvimbe

When the headphones are bonded to an Arc, will they be able to play audio that the Arc zone/room is playing regardless of source? I understand that they will play TV source, but if you are playing audio from a streaming source, aux input in another zone (turntable), or local library, will the headphones play that audio?

The linked-to soundbar must be actively playing the source for Ace to play too.

Ok, so if I’m understanding this correctly, I can set the Arc to play Sonos Radio, for example, then do the swap thing with Ace to have Sonos radio play through the Ace headphones.

If the headphones are playing audio, will the Arc and bonded speakers be able to play audio as well?

Only if Ace is playing from a Bluetooth source. If playing Arc’s audio, Arc will not play too.

Understood. This is somewhat unfurtunate as it means that a hard of hearing member of the family can’t listen to Ace while the rest hear audio through the Arc.

I see that Sonos is selling a bundled pair of headphones. Can 2 headphones be bonded to the same Arc?

No. We’ve conducted user research and learned the most common use case for wearing headphones with a home theater is for viewing content alone, so you don’t disturb others in your household. We’ll continue to learn how customers are using Sonos Ace and explore additional features over time.

Ok, the bundle seems a little odd then. I suppose it’s there for people with multiple home audio room or those who want to have a dedicated Ace for home theatre and anther for bluetooth only sources.

The product page literally says -

“Quietly share an immersive home theater experience with someone when you swap TV audio from Sonos Arc.”

AjTrek1

From the marketing above it’s logical to believe that two (2) Ace headsets can be connected to the Arc at the same time to share in a home theater movie experience. That’s makes sense as I would assume many Sonos users are couples in a household.

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

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sjw

Local Superstar

From the marketing above it’s logical to believe that….

… Sonos also said that they'd “taken great care to ensure that this update only enhances your Sonos experience. Your products, features and services will work as they always have, and all your settings will be saved.” and we all know how that worked out. I suppose it's up to the public to ever believe what Sonos ever says again.

Apparently, people who complain are a 1% minority.

The bugs and issues being raised lately (mostly unacknowledged) is incredible.

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RB500

Lyricist III

The only impact for Sonos to take notice will be in sales. Difficult to find any enthusiasm for ‘headphones’ when I’m looking a few grands worth of speakers that can’t play my library anymore, interesting to be a 1%er if that is the case. Reminds me of Jobs telling everybody they don’t need to ‘own’ their music.

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