Why I'm returning / selling my brand new Sonos Play 1

Just bought a Sonos Play 1 today.

I'm not happy with it to say the least.

I was expecting by it's description and it's reviews to produce really high quality sound.

I have to say I like the tone of the audio on some songs, others are to be desired, but whats rubbing me the worst is the actual quality of the audio. There seems to be a blotchy-ness with it that makes it sound almost low-res. There seems to be a lack of harmonic detail, any brass on the drums tends to sound like bad static more then a physical ringing instruments that they are. Something that really shocked me was when I was listing to "The Best You Never Had" by Leona Lewis. There's a synth tune that plays about 0:32 in the song, I like the tune, I tend to hum it when the song comes up, however whats strange is that my Sonos Play One the synth melody is almost inaudible! Then it got me thinking; "If I can't hear that, then what else can't I hear!?" There really is a shocking lack of detail in this speaker. I described it at one point as a sounding almost as a "supermarket speaker".

The sound quality isn't my only issue. It's also support. I understand you only support iOS and Android. The thing is I'm a hobbiest Windows 10 UWP App developer and my smartphone of choice is a Lumia 640 for it's affordability and decent spec and construction. Microsoft Lumia smartphones are officially unsupported by Sonos. Sonos does however support UPNP playback and so I can use that right? Well for about 8 hours of trying my Lumia 640 wasn't connecting to my Sonos. Totally frustrating! It somewhat works now, although I can't adjust the volume. I surprised to see that the Play 1 doesn't have bluetooth connectivity. It's something so common that I just thought it was given and that it a real bummer for me.

One of the only reasons I bought the Sonos over other brands of speakers was the True Audio technology. It made the speaker sound almost atomically customizable. Although I don't have a supported phone, my dad has a Galaxy S4 which he said he would let me borrow to set up this feature, which Is when I found out after I bought my Play One that it only works on Apple smartphone's and tablets, something which highly annoyed me as I don't own one (I'm not THAT rich or technically competent).

I bought my, what I think is a considerably expensive Sonos Play One speaker on the grounds of it having a really great audio quality, being vastly customizable, being able to tailor tune it to my room, being somewhat compatible with my phone, supporting bluetooth connection (Which is my fault really, although their is literally no information on the box and the website is just as cryptic).

What I believe I got is a well made, powerful, low-res wireless speaker that fails to accurately produce the entire frequency range of audio, that contains a shallow app (Using my Windows Laptop) with lack luster configurable options, that is sold under false pretenses to I'd imagine ~70% of customers whom don't own an Apple products, including myself.

Start to finish for me buying, unpacking, using and configuring this product I've had nothing but annoyances (Which I'm probably passing on my irritation to you, for which I apologize.)

I like the Sonos brand. I think the product line needs an update and I'm getting my money back be it via a refund or private sale on a popular auction website.

Thanks for you time and patience.

Nathan.

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You're obviously not the person to grasp what i've posted.

I'll take a listen to the track tomorrow. Have you done Trueplay tuning on the speaker, just out of curiosity?

Thanks, i don't have an IOS device at hand. I hope to hear from you.

I've noticed the flatness on other tracks as well, reportedly it's due to Spotify or a 'bad unit'

"Upwards at 45 degrees" is the correct title, the artist's name is Julian Cope. Setting spotify to stream extreme audio quality somewhat improved the playback.

On the bucket list though, are these:

http://www.quad-hifi.co.uk/product-detail.php?pid=11

Probably need a larger house as well:-). But even a Connect Amp may be all they need. But they do look as good as they probably sound too.

That's not logical - if they're no better than a Sonos set-up, why would you want them at all?

I definitely want them for their sound, but they're not room and wife friendly...

I did not say they are no better now, did I?! All I said was not to assume they are, just based on their price. And ESL speakers are known to sound more open and transparent, but this may not be a universal taste so in said blind test not all may prefer the sound.

I'd also need a larger room to afford all the space they need around them, and a lot of their appeal lies in their very cool looks. Who ever said that bucket lists are built on logic?!

Thanks, i don't have an IOS device at hand. I hope to hear from you.

I've noticed the flatness on other tracks as well, reportedly it's due to Spotify or a 'bad unit'

But do you still have the logitech pair to see if they deliver better sound quality from the same source, than the play 1 unit? And if so, there is an easy way to do apples to apples - how does the same music sound in comparison to the play 1 if you use just one of the two logitech speakers?

Unless apples to apples is first achieved, no comparison can be valid. This applies to achieving optimum placement for both speakers as well, to be fair to their designers and that may not be the same for both. Have Eq set to flat on both speakers as well.

Finally, although not likely, the 1 unit may be defective.

I definitely want them for their sound, but they're not room and wife friendly...

Perhaps the second part was an implicit context to the Sonos CEO comment that offends you? Because both are important criteria to the target market.

I've noticed the flatness on other tracks as well

Something more for you to consider, based on a reading of all your posts. A HiFi speaker - and the 1 unit is that except for its inability to faithfully deliver low bass content - seeks to be true to the source signal and that sound can seem flat to those accustomed to sound that is shaped by effects like Hall/Club/Studio/Reverb and the like. The 1 unit does not do these effects, and its EQ adjustments are only meant to cater to room responses that come in the way of the flat response it is designed to deliver. So if you like the all singing all dancing sound that these effects can deliver, then the 1 unit isn't for you. By customising the original recorded sound in this way, these speakers are less HiFi - by design - and appeal to some. Others, like many that like the 1 unit, find this added colour to not be to their taste, and also tiring to listen for a long time.

ratty said this in an earlier post, I am only elaborating on that.

I definitely want them for their sound, but they're not room and wife friendly...

Perhaps the second part was an implicit context to the Sonos CEO comment that offends you? Because both are important criteria to the target market.

No, he was talking about sound quality...

I did not say they are no better now, did I?!

No? So you accept that there are systems available for considerably under $40k that sound better than Sonos kit?

"Upwards at 45 degrees" is the correct title, the artist's name is Julian Cope. Setting spotify to stream extreme audio quality somewhat improved the playback.

A quick listen on a single PLAY:1 revealed a far bit of 'air', though whether this was real or an added studio effect is not known. I was however accessing a lossless stream. Depending on the degree of compression, lossy formats are known for their potential effect on reverb tails.

I did not say they are no better now, did I?!

No? So you accept that there are systems available for considerably under $40k that sound better than Sonos kit?

I accept that there may be such systems that will sound better to me. Which isn't to say that: i) there are such systems, a definitive statement I can't make until I find at least one after listening to it, and, ii) what sounds better to me will also sound better to others, or vice versa.

I don't think I have said anything different to this, anywhere. I am not a native English speaker, so perhaps my language may have led you to think so?:-)

Thanks, i don't have an IOS device at hand. I hope to hear from you.

I've noticed the flatness on other tracks as well, reportedly it's due to Spotify or a 'bad unit'

@commandline.be. First thing to say is that I was following the thread on my phone and initially missed your post highlighting a particular track, and thought you were saying a "Hall" sound was desirable generally. So apologies for my unjustified puzzlement at what you were saying.

I have listened to the track on a single Play:1, a pair of Play:5s and a top-notch hifi. My source is Google Play Music, so probably 320kbps lossy file. I can hear the reverb on all devices. The track doesn't sound as good on the Play:1 as on the other setups, of course, and part of that is that the reverb is slightly less pronounced on the Play:1. But it is definitely there and overall the track sounds good to me on my Play:1, and not like it was recorded in a wardrobe.

I listened to the track from two albums, Jehovahkill and The Collection. The track on Jehovahkill sounded slightly the better to me. However, they appear to be the same recording, and this could be my imagination. Maybe that just proves how subjective audio quality judgments are.

Do you have any locally stored music you could play through the Play:1, such as on a computer or phone? Have you tried this? I also think it would be worth getting hold of a friend with an iOS device to Trueplay tune the Play:1 before any final verdict.

I'll be interested in your further thoughts.

Are you able to also toggle back and forth between lossy and lossless to see if the air collapses and comes back? I haven't found any such thing in lossy down to 256 kbps.

John B Thanks for the feedback it's valued. In the meantime i found out a few things. Settings spotify to stream "Extreme Quality" helps, i dont like loudness so it's usually off, switching it on also offers a better experience. Basically i'm dissapointed the flattening is due to technological constraints. In a different song from Julian Cope i know hear more reverb than on other devices.

I'll check other sources but this Sonos App is not as well designed as i'd hoped.

Sonos will always use the highest quality from spotify regardless what the Spotify app is set to.

Next month (apparently) you will be able to control Sonos directly from the Spotify app without needing the sonos app at all as they will enable Spotify Connect compatibility on Sonos speakers.

I accept that there may be such systems that will sound better to me.

I shouldn't really have used 'better', anyway - it's more 'hi-fidelity' - in the original sense, not the green felt tip pen sense 😉

Are you able to also toggle back and forth between lossy and lossless to see if the air collapses and comes back?

No. I simply pulled a stream from Deezer Elite. I don't have any other subscriptions at present.

If you're interested: http://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/what-data-compression-does-your-music

Presumably the play1 is processing both LR stereo tracks into one mono output somehow?

it must have been placebo effect with your brain tricking you into thinking because you changed something to 'better' it must now sound 'better'

here is confirmation from Sonos that the highest quality is always taken. you cant adjust it yourself. That setting you refer to only applies in the Spotify app when streaming/downloading to your phone

https://en.community.sonos.com/music-services-and-sources-228994/setting-playback-quality-for-spotify-4440574/index1.html#post15296838

The more i listen the more i get upset with Sonos Play:1 sound quality. I'm pretty sure if someone would do a decent sound analysis it would show major distortions in the soundimage. Digital sound speakers, yuck.

The voice is simply being killed, dynamics reduced to sloth. I cannot believe this is entirely due to a mono speaker. I don't have a way to test this unfortunately, not yet.

Let it be said, this is my first halfway decent speaker i ever bought. Before i had an old stereo which played great sound to my ears. Then a cheap Logitech 2.1 soundsystem actually sold for games but it plays sound okay, at least not flattened. Now a €199 speaker which fails to convince because it's not stereo or just not good sound quality.

I did not buy this Play:1 as my kitchen or bedroom speaker but as the start of my main sound system. I expect to add another Play:1 this weekend but now i'm just anxious and frustrated with the sound quality perceived.

Presumably the play1 is processing both LR stereo tracks into one mono output somehow?

Yes. The 'somehow' is straight addition: L+R.

or rather, i changed room and the door is now closed, before i was in a spaceous kitchen.

do you have access to an IOS device where you can run Trueplay ? This will take room effects into account and adjust the equalisation to compensate.

This should be done every time you move the speaker. You can toggle Trueplay on/off and listen for the difference. It can be night vs day or very subtle. Totally depends on your environment.

Nicka99 i change this speaker from room to room infrequently, i don't have access to an IOS device immediately.

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