Skip to main content
Answered

Sonos Five and Dolby Atmos

  • April 11, 2022
  • 3 replies
  • 2822 views

Hi There, 

I currently have 1 Play Five and love it. Considering getting a second unit to pair for stereo sound in the lounge. What is the deal with dolby Atmos? Will the two fives be able to give that sound experience as Apple music now has that ability from the source. 

Best answer by melvimbe

A pair of Sonos Fives will give you stereo audio only, not atmos.  Only the Arc and Beam have the capability of playing atoms music, although I don’t know off hand (pretty sure not) if they play Apple’s brand of spatial audio.

My personal opinion though is that a stereo on a pair of Fives is great.  Atmos on an Arc improves the audio in some cases, but far from all.

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

3 replies

melvimbe
  • 9966 replies
  • Answer
  • April 11, 2022

A pair of Sonos Fives will give you stereo audio only, not atmos.  Only the Arc and Beam have the capability of playing atoms music, although I don’t know off hand (pretty sure not) if they play Apple’s brand of spatial audio.

My personal opinion though is that a stereo on a pair of Fives is great.  Atmos on an Arc improves the audio in some cases, but far from all.


Ken_Griffiths
  • 22015 replies
  • April 11, 2022

Dolby Atmos immersive surround audio on Sonos using 2 x ‘Fives’, currently requires a Sonos Arc, or a Beam (gen2) HT product ‘bonded’ to the Fives for the two height channels (pseudo in the case of the Beam) and that then includes the front and surround channels needed for that codec. Ideally you would also add a Sonos Sub into the mix too, although the latter is not essential, but recommended.


  • Lead Maestro
  • 10452 replies
  • April 11, 2022

In addition to the information already mentioned above, the only way to play Dolby Atmos/Spatial Audio music from Apple Music on the Arc or Beam (Gen 2) is through an Apple TV 4K directly connected to the TV.

The only streaming service that currently supports Dolby Atmos music streaming through the Sonos app is Amazon Music Unlimited.