Welcome the new zones feature

Hello everyone,

In this article you will get an overview of the new zones feature. We will walk through how it works and what settings you have available to control it.

What are zones?

We will now offer four different methods for speakers to play together:

• Group
• Stereo pair 
• Home theater set
• Zone (NEW)

A zone is a configuration where multiple speakers play together for easier control in the Sonos app. Zones can be created, edited, and removed easily in the Sonos app. Zones offer a semi-permanent* configuration of a number of speakers, controlled as if it were a single speaker, similar to a stereo pair:

• Settings configured together for the whole zone:
  • Room name
  • Volume Limit
  • Status Light
  • Touch Controls
  • Loudness
• Individually configured settings for each speaker in the zone:
  • Volume Trim
  • EQ
  • Line-in
  • Voice Assistant
• All speakers in the zone receive stereo audio (L+R)
• A zone can be grouped with other zones, speakers, stereo pairs, or home theater sets

Supported Products

A zone can be comprised of any combination of the following products:

• Era 300
• Era 100
• Era 100 Pro
• Sonos One
• Sonos One SL
• Sonos Five

Unsupported within a zone

The following are not supported within a zone:

• You can’t add a Sonos Amp or any Sub to a zone - unconfigured or otherwise.
• You can’t add other zones, but they can be grouped.
• You can’t add stereo-paired speakers, but they can be grouped.
• You can’t add Home Theater soundbars or home theater configurations, but they can be grouped.
• Portable speakers (Roam, Roam 2, Move, Move 2) can’t be added, but they can be grouped.
• Atmos and Spatial audio can’t be played in a zone. Zones only support stereo audio.
• Trueplay is not supported for zones. If you add a speaker to a zone that has an active Trueplay configuration, it will lose the configuration.
• Speakers in a zone can’t have individual room names. The whole zone will appear as a single speaker, similar to a stereo pair which means it can have only one name.

Playing Bluetooth

At least one speaker in the zone must be capable of Bluetooth.

Bluetooth is handled the same as with a stereo-pair:

• You may pair your source (Phone, tablet, etc) to any Bluetooth capable speaker in the zone.
• Disconnecting Bluetooth can be done at the source device or by pressing the Bluetooth button on the speaker.
• Bluetooth audio will play on all speakers in the zone
• If the zone is separated while Bluetooth is playing, the audio will continue playing only on the speaker that has the Bluetooth connection.
• If a zone is created or edited while Bluetooth is playing, you can hear the setup chime and playback will stop and needs to be re-initiated manually.

Playing a line-in source

Line-in is handled the same as with a stereo pair:

• You have line-in settings for each speaker in the zone that supports 3.5mm line-in. The setting is grayed out by default and will become enabled when a 3.5mm jack is connected.
• Only one line-in can play to the zone at a time, but additional line-in can play to other speakers and configured sets outside the zone.
• Autoplay works for each line-in. Line-in on one speaker can autoplay to the zone while line-in on another speaker autoplays to a separate speaker outside of the zone.
• If multiple line-in streams are played on a speaker, initiated either manually or through autoplay, the most recently initiated stream plays.

Era 100 and 300 require a line-in or combo dongle.

 

Playing Spotify Direct Control and AirPlay

Spotify Direct Control is handled the same as with a stereo-pair:

• The zone, as a whole, is listed as a single entity.
• The zone name is shown in the list.
• Audio is played to all speakers in the zone.

AirPlay requires that the source device is available on the local network:

• Disabling WiFi or disconnecting from the network will stop playback.

Setting up a zone

To set up a new zone, follow the instructions below:

1. Make sure your system and controller are updated to the latest version.
2. Open the Sonos app for iOS or Android.
3. Go to the Settings menu.
4. Under Your System, select one of your products that supports zones.
5. Select Set Up Zone.
6. Follow the steps to choose the products for your zone and give it a name.

You can also select Edit Zone to add or remove Sonos speakers from the zone, or select Separate Zone to remove the zone and separate all speakers within it.

Changing zone settings

You can change the settings for your zones the same way you change settings for individual Sonos speakers. In the Settings menu, select the name of your zone under Your System.

To identify individual speakers within the zone, select the speaker and use the chime button to play an audible chime from the selected speaker and flash its LEDs. The chime will be played for 60 seconds or until you hit the chime button again (speakers in a zone are labelled with model names, not room names, so you could, for example, have 4 Era 100s all labelled the same) .

In the zone settings page, you can change the name of your zone, view the status and info for individual speakers, and adjust volume and EQ settings. 

Volume Trim

Use this setting to adjust the relative volume (-15dB to +3dB) for each individual speaker to compensate for speaker locations and audio volume differences between speaker models. You can use the chime button to identify a specific speaker. The volume trim will never allow the speaker to play louder than its maximum volume.

EQ 

With this setting you can adjust bass and treble for each individual speaker. Adjust the Loudness as a single setting for the whole zone. You can use the chime button to identify a specific speaker.

Volume Limit

Use this setting to set a maximum volume for the whole zone.

Line-in

Line-in is only shown if one or more speakers in the zone are capable. Sources will list each individual speaker capable of line-in. If line-in is not connected to a speaker, the options will be grey.

Voice Assistant

Use this setting to add a voice assistant to the primary speaker in the zone. The primary speaker is the speaker that is at the top of the list of speakers in the zone. 

Status Light

Use this setting to enable or disable the status LED on all speakers within the zone.

Touch Controls

Use this setting to enable or disable the touch controls on all speakers within the zone.