Airplay 2 Support

What good are my other play 1s and soundbars going to be with no airplay support? Some of my speakers will work with it and some won’t? That doesn’t sound like whole home audio. Alexa is fine but I only use it because airplay and Siri aren’t available yet.

You can currently do Airplay to all that with Airsonos.
I'm not seeing a technical reason why Airplay 2 can't be implemented on existing hardware.

What good are my other play 1s and soundbars going to be with no airplay support? Some of my speakers will work with it and some won’t? That doesn’t sound like whole home audio. Alexa is fine but I only use it because airplay and Siri aren’t available yet.

You can currently do Airplay to all that with Airsonos.
I'm not seeing a technical reason why Airplay 2 can't be implemented on existing hardware.

Unless there is a hardware technical limitation to older devices (which I am not going to pretend whether or not I know there is or is not), it is rather greedy of Sonos to only enable for Gen2 Play:5 and Playbase's. AirPlay 2 is software authenticated. to quote The Verge "Unlike the original AirPlay, AirPlay 2 doesn't require special hardware anymore, but is entirely software-based, which allows for companies like Sonos to add support to their devices after the fact." https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/4/16418944/sonos-airplay-2-support-apple-ios-siri-2018

So unless the original Play:1, Play:3, Play:5 and Playbar do not have the hardware capabilities to make the software authentication work - I foresee no reason why older devices cannot work. And if they do not, I would fully expect Sonos to be transparent on this and tell us why.

As soon as HomeKit went software authenticated, thousands of devices were updated to support it - including older devices. Those companies did not require users to introduce new hardware to make their old hardware compatible.

Alot of speaker companies are saying they can update their speakers to use Airplay 2 but those are mostly companies that already do Airplay. Some that do Airplay now are saying they cannot update. Hard to say if they are jsut trying to sell new speakers.
Has anyone tried Airsonos with the Sonos One's?
Im a huge fan of Airplay by the way and have used it for multi-room for some time as there have been ways to do this before Airplay 2. I don't use bluetooth and one of the reasons I didn't buy Sonos products before is they restricted you to using their app. The combination of promising Airplay 2 and Alex in the Sonos Ones is what spurred me to buy two Sonos One's.
If they had the Play 5 with built in Alexa I would have bought two of those.
If they ever put HDMI into their home theater products I will buy those.

Unless there is a hardware technical limitation to older devices (which I am not going to pretend whether or not I know there is or is not), it is rather greedy of Sonos to only enable for Gen2 Play:5 and Playbase's. AirPlay 2 is software authenticated. to quote The Verge "Unlike the original AirPlay, AirPlay 2 doesn't require special hardware anymore, but is entirely software-based, which allows for companies like Sonos to add support to their devices after the fact." https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/4/16418944/sonos-airplay-2-support-apple-ios-siri-2018

So unless the original Play:1, Play:3, Play:5 and Playbar do not have the hardware capabilities to make the software authentication work - I foresee no reason why older devices cannot work. And if they do not, I would fully expect Sonos to be transparent on this and tell us why.

As soon as HomeKit went software authenticated, thousands of devices were updated to support it - including older devices. Those companies did not require users to introduce new hardware to make their old hardware compatible.

There are plenty of technical reasons why older devices cannot support Airplay 2 beyond the fact that there are no specific hardware chips required. Starting with memory limitations and processor capabilities. As to the Verge statement, there were plenty here and in the press who claimed Airplay 1 required no such hardware and therefore Sonos could implement it in software any time. Now it turns out special hardware was required. So I take any "definitive" statement on whether a chip or other special hardware is required for Airplay 2 with a big grain of salt, no matter what the source.

Read the Apple developer docs. They clearly say software only and no hardware required.
That’s authoritative.

Read the Apple developer docs. They clearly say software only and no hardware required.
That’s authoritative.

I stand corrected, though there were plenty of claims from posters here that they also had "authoritative" proof that Airplay 1 required no hardware. Glad to see that put to bed at least, and it still does not mean there aren't other legitimate reasons older Sonos units cannot support the protocol besides simple greed. Sonos simply has no history of abandoning older hardware when implementing new features.

I do not have the developer access so I cannot comment to that. I am assuming that DarwinOSX has access or has seen and read the documentation.

I totally stand behind Sonos if they are transparent and come out stating that there is a hardware limitation preventing it. Totally OK with that. When they designed the Play:1, there was not a notion that Apple would make AirPlay software authenticated so the devices were just not designed for it.

I just have to be hard pressed that Apple does NOT want as many devices in their AirPlay ecosystem and would require a special hardware device to enable it. I go back to the HomeKit authentication - a lot of devices were introduced suddenly with a simple software update. And these devices could be smaller than a Sonos speaker and required no hardware update.

Plus, maybe Sonos will not get side eye from Apple on one of their fancy keynotes o_O

I do not have the developer access so I cannot comment to that. I am assuming that DarwinOSX has access or has seen and read the documentation.

I totally stand behind Sonos if they are transparent and come out stating that there is a hardware limitation preventing it. Totally OK with that. When they designed the Play:1, there was not a notion that Apple would make AirPlay software authenticated so the devices were just not designed for it.

I just have to be hard pressed that Apple does NOT want as many devices in their AirPlay ecosystem and would require a special hardware device to enable it. I go back to the HomeKit authentication - a lot of devices were introduced suddenly with a simple software update. And these devices could be smaller than a Sonos speaker and required no hardware update.

Plus, maybe Sonos will not get side eye from Apple on one of their fancy keynotes o_O

Let's turn this around. What is it about preventing older Sonos devices from accessing Airplay 2 would be beneficial to Sonos? If you say greed, what is it exactly about Sonos' dealings in the past make you think they are prone to greed based decisions? They effectively killed their own very lucrative hardware controller by releasing phone apps. Every new feature ever released has been available on every Sonos device ever made. They bend over backwards to make sure older devices are not abandoned for new hardware, much to the chagrin of folks who want larger local libraries. The latest partnerships with other parties, Alexa and Spotify Connect, could easily have been locked out of older devices in order to be "greedy" and sell new devices, but they are compatible with every Sonos device ever made. So why now are they going to start artificially locking out devices in the name of "greed"? It isn't really in their DNA.

All that aside, I highly doubt you are going to see Sonos be transparent about their internal designs and the limitations therein. That also isn't in their DNA. Will that fuel the tin-foil hat brigade? Sure, but Sonos doesn't seem to care much about that fringe element.