Ya know how we have the option for full stereo or ambient when listening to music in a full 5.1 sonos stet-up? Can we get that with TV output as well, please? There is still plenty of content that is stereo output on many internet streams and traditional media. Having full stereo helps create an enveloping sound field when outputted via the playbar and the surrounds.
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Jgatie's response might be a bit harsh but essentially he is right on the money. +1
"Multi Channel Stereo" requires a sound processor which the Playbar provides (assuming the recording was mixed for n.1 audio).
Stereo only has 2 channels. If one is set to extend the sound they can group more speakers into the same zone. But don't blame Sonos as they implement the specs as intended.
You should be more concerned about companies selling "multi channel stereo" experience based on 2 channel (stereo) recordings.
Julien,
yes, that is the only way currently - un-bond your rear speakers and create them as a separate group with the playbar to listen to music via TV then go through the whole setup process again to reverse this situation when you want normal tv sound - hardly quick and simple.
It shouldnt be hard to have a button to do the exact same thing to toggle this on & off.
nick
@Jgatie
Customers are NOT idiots when they want to use their Sonos Speakers with the TV in the very same way the speakers can be used when playing back audio through a Sonos App (Room Settings, Advanced Audio, Surround Settings => set to Full). It should not matter if the 2.0 Stereo input signal comes from a mobile device, a MP3 file on a NAS or from the TV source.
Having the same stereo sound come out of the front and rear speakers is the most unadulterated way to have an immersive surround experience for 2.0 sources. Everything else is just an electronic guessing game that randomly shoves some elements to the rear.
We will agree to disagree.
@Jgatie: Sound engineers spend millions mixing surround sound to give an immersive experience only to have Joe Six Pack want "moar sound from dem speeekers I paid fer!"
Last time I checked, Sonos was a multi-room sound system. You cant tell me that those same engineers think that playing the same track through 10 speakers simultaneously in different rooms so its coming from all different corners of the house was the way they intended it to be heard either but Im sure you still do it.
As Gerald says - rightly or wrongly, sonos gave us the option for Full audio when listening to music in a 5.1 setup with a music source. All we are asking is the same option exists when listening to music when the TV itself, or whatever is connected to it, is the source of that music.
The fact is that web driven music services and smart TVs are becoming a common choice for music setups. To assume that audio TV will only require ambient sound signals (i.e surround sound movie tracks) sent to the peripheral speakers is completely at odds with how many users will want the playbar system to perform at the center of an entertainment system.
In all fairness, I think Sonos should be more responsive here. These systems are expensive and I believe that additional user flexibility could be delivered fairly easily if a bigger development effort was made by the company.
Users have spent a lot of hard earned cash on these systems, only to be told that basic functionality which is available in almost every bluetooth/wireless speaker isn't possible with Sonos. In addition to using the TV as a music source, I'm also referring to the failure of the controller to use browser based inputs (e.g. youtube), or the freedom to not use the controller at all (read: bluetooth/airplay). There's a lack of communication from the company on whether they are even exploring these features.
Frustrating!
In all fairness, I think Sonos should be more responsive here. These systems are expensive and I believe that additional user flexibility could be delivered fairly easily if a bigger development effort was made by the company.
Users have spent a lot of hard earned cash on these systems, only to be told that basic functionality which is available in almost every bluetooth/wireless speaker isn't possible with Sonos. In addition to using the TV as a music source, I'm also referring to the failure of the controller to use browser based inputs (e.g. youtube), or the freedom to not use the controller at all (read: bluetooth/airplay). There's a lack of communication from the company on whether they are even exploring these features.
Frustrating!
In all fairness, I think Sonos should be more responsive here. These systems are expensive and I believe that additional user flexibility could be delivered fairly easily if a bigger development effort was made by the company.
Users have spent a lot of hard earned cash on these systems, only to be told that basic functionality which is available in almost every bluetooth/wireless speaker isn't possible with Sonos. In addition to using the TV as a music source, I'm also referring to the failure of the controller to use browser based inputs (e.g. youtube), or the freedom to not use the controller at all (read: bluetooth/airplay). There's a lack of communication from the company on whether they are even exploring these features.
Frustrating!
Brian,
regarding AirPlay and Bluetooth the stands are pretty clear as John M. lined out in a different thread.https://ask.sonos.com/sonos/topics/unresponsive-sonos-support
in other words: unlikely. (At the same time, Sonos products don't carry either logo on their packaging so its quiet obvious that its not directly supported)
As of TV as source, same thread different kind of answer - however without a commitment.
Started a thread and was guided here. Looks like there is no solution short of unbinding the surrounds and creating a group each time. https://ask.sonos.com/sonos/topics/switch-room-from-surround-w-ls-rs-to-stereo?rfm=1&topic_submi...
I think many people would like this feature. If you also want better EQ please like this. https://ask.sonos.com/sonos/topics/soundbar-feature-suggestion
If you feed your playbar through an Xbox one, you can switch the audio output to 2.0 stereo in the Xbox settings quite easily. Hook your components into your Xbox, and then out via the optical into your playbar. Then you can watch tv, stream, go on YouTube, Netflix etc and watch everything in either stereo 2.0, or DD 5.1. When I watch music videos on YouTube I simply switch my Xbox audio setting to stereo to get constant stereo sound out of my rear surrounds.....If I'm going to be watching TV, or a movie, I simply switch it back to bitstream, then DD 5.1 for the surround effect.
I would love to see a music button that remembers room settings. It definitely gets tiresome having to go turn down the level of my rear surrounds when I stream music, only to have to go back into the room setting and turn the level back up when watching tv. The ambient, or full rear surround setting for music playback is great, but doesn't quite resolve the problem of your rear surrounds wanting to overpower the play bar during music playback. I added two play 1s, and a play 5 to the front of my room, and even then I find myself turning the level down on my rear surrounds every time I switch from watching tv to streaming tunes.
Interesting, wish it was easy for me to set this up and test it. I currently have an XBOX ONE in the mix. HDMI switch w/ the likes of TV, Wiiu, Apple TV... into the XBOX ONE and HDMI out to TV. My optical runs from the TV to the soundbar.
In your scenerio are the rear speaker bound to the sound bar as they should be? Please answer this.
Ya you bet bud. The rear surrounds are bound to the playbar.
my configuration is optical out from the Xbox into the play bar, because my tv does not support DD 5.1 pass through out its optical.
Cable box HDMI into Xbox one. Xbox HDMI out to TV. Xbox optical out to playbar. Then just watch tv through your xbox one. If you have so many components that you need a "switcher" make sure that it's a quality switch that supports DD 5.1, and has a remote with the option of switching back and fourth to stereo 2.0 output from DD 5.1.
To be able to set up all my sonos speakers the way I like them when watching tv.....hit save. Then set them up how I like them for music playback and hit save would be great. Example...... I like a high level going to my rear surrounds during tv watching in DD 5.1. While listening to music in stereo 2.0 half level to the rear surrounds is suffient. I'm tired of adjusting all my stuff every time I go from music listening to movie/tv watching.
The option is magnificent and well thought through by Sonos. But it is too deeply nested in the configution menus. It should be a minor effort to enable users to control this setting from the control area right beside the "Speech enhancement" and "Night mode" options.
Sometimes the simple changes make a product great and intuitive.
@Sonos: Can you please confirm on this one as an improvement for a future release of the software/app?
Sometimes the simple changes make a product great and intuitive.
@Sonos: Can you please confirm on this one as an improvement for a future release of the software/app?
ChrisB -historically Sonos will not comment on software improvement requests other then marking them under consideration or planned. Nothing yet on this topic. However, it is a popular topic. My hope in next few beta cycles they pick up on it and put the full/surround as a toggle in the same way they have the night mode / voice mode etc.
It would be nice to see it marked Under Consideration (Sonos you listening out there?)
It would be nice to see it marked Under Consideration (Sonos you listening out there?)
It has been a while since my last post on this thread, and still no response from Sonos. All they do in response to our requests is direct us to these threads. Switching between bonded group and back to a pair is difficult for me because I'm handicapped. I can't get to the speakers very easily. Sonos please HELP. This request is such a simple one to implement. Thanks
Add my vote for this feature - need to be able to use Play 3 as full stereo while watching TV source ! I'm glad that added full stereo at all but now please fully implement it!
Sonos is not scaled or intended to serve as an audio processor.
Can you do a playbar and connect amp to two speakers?( Make a stereo pair)
Any updates on this?
I have telling everyone how great this system is...but....
watching TV is getting to be a hassle. With 5.1, all is fine. Most TV is not 5.1 and my rear speakers are sitting there dead unless I remove the surround and go to stereo. Insane.
watching TV is getting to be a hassle. With 5.1, all is fine. Most TV is not 5.1 and my rear speakers are sitting there dead unless I remove the surround and go to stereo. Insane.
COMPLETELY AGREE. I have a $1,800 home theater system that SOUNDS amazing except on TV mode when the signal is stereo. What a waste. I am on the verge of returning the entire SONOS system in my house and switching to another wireless solution. SONOS it's LITERALLY a software update.
10 months on and still no official response ?!! How hard can this be ?Users do it already using the very tedious process of unbonding & grouping their rear speakers then the 're-bonding' setup again. Problem with this (aside from the steps involved) is the delay that is inherent in grouping vs bonding. Why not a button that can simulate this effect of grouping but without the delay ?
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