Contributor I

24 bit on Play 1

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Will I get 24 bit ausio on a play 1 if it is connected with the Arc? I would love a technical explanation of the sonos ecosystem to understand better. Does each speaker have a DAC? Can I override this with an external DAC if needed?

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J

John B

I am running S2. The confusing thing is that when I look at what devices are listed as being 24 bit compatible, the Play 1 is not on that list. Does this change when paired with a Playbar because Playbar is on the list of compatible devices?

Please see my first post on this thread.

controlav

Lead Maestro

If the Play:1s were capable of doing all the necessary processing reliably then why would Sonos not implement it? Other speakers, such as the gen 2 Play:5, received a free upgrade. I suspect the answer lies in the small amounts of memory in the Play:1 compared with the current range of products.

Its a good theory. Play:1s are some of the lowest performance devices able to run S2. Ones have 8x as much memory for example as a Play:1.

Author of the leading independent Sonos apps for Android, MacOS, iOS, Windows and Xbox.

Mr. T

I am running S2. The confusing thing is that when I look at what devices are listed as being 24 bit compatible, the Play 1 is not on that list. Does this change when paired with a Playbar because Playbar is on the list of compatible devices?

Using Amazon Music Unlimited the Playbar (and surrounds) is limited to HD (16-bit) playback, not Ultra HD (24-bit)

However, I’ve read elsewhere the Playbar is capable of playing 24-bit from Qobuz, but I’ve never used Qobuz.

Ken_Griffiths

I am running S2. The confusing thing is that when I look at what devices are listed as being 24 bit compatible, the Play 1 is not on that list. Does this change when paired with a Playbar because Playbar is on the list of compatible devices?

Using Amazon Music Unlimited the Playbar (and surrounds) is limited to HD (16-bit) playback, not Ultra HD (24-bit)

However, I’ve read elsewhere the Playbar is capable of playing 24-bit from Qobuz, but I’ve never used Qobuz.

Is it a Playbar 🤔? - I think the opening post mentions a Sonos Arc?

Mr. T

I am running S2. The confusing thing is that when I look at what devices are listed as being 24 bit compatible, the Play 1 is not on that list. Does this change when paired with a Playbar because Playbar is on the list of compatible devices?

Using Amazon Music Unlimited the Playbar (and surrounds) is limited to HD (16-bit) playback, not Ultra HD (24-bit)

However, I’ve read elsewhere the Playbar is capable of playing 24-bit from Qobuz, but I’ve never used Qobuz.

Is it a Playbar 🤔? - I think the opening post mentions a Sonos Arc?

The original post mentions Arc, but then he mentions Playbar in the text I’ve quoted. I assumed he had both?!

Ken_Griffiths

An Arc (master device) is definitely 24/48 capable (as we all know) and I accept in a ‘grouped-room’ situation, it will only play at the lowest common denominator, supported by whatever it is ‘grouped’ with - but I’m still curious to see what happens when Play:1’s are ‘bonded’ to the Arc, as it’s slave …and to see if that may perhaps alter things🤔?

The indications are, it will still fallback to HD, but it’s not something I’ve ever personally seen, or tested.

I would ‘happily’ have tested this one myself as I do have an Arc, but somewhat sadly, I have given away ‘all but one’ of my Play:1 speakers to friends & family.

The last ‘survivor’ is hanging about here now on S1, mostly just for posterity, so I cannot check things to be certain one way, or the other, as there are some ‘anomalies’, just like the old Playbar will play 24bit Qobux audio, but only 16-bit Amazon audio.

J

John B

An Arc (master device) is definitely 24/48 capable (as we all know) and I accept in a ‘grouped-room’ situation, it will only play at the lowest common denominator, supported by whatever it is ‘grouped’ with - but I’m still curious to see what happens when Play:1’s are ‘bonded’ to the Arc, as it’s slave …and to see if that may perhaps alter things🤔?

I have this set up. The app says Ultra HD.

Mr. T

An Arc (master device) is definitely 24/48 capable (as we all know) and I accept in a ‘grouped-room’ situation, it will only play at the lowest common denominator, supported by whatever it is ‘grouped’ with - but I’m still curious to see what happens when Play:1’s are ‘bonded’ to the Arc, as it’s slave …and to see if that may perhaps alter things🤔?

The indications are, it will still fallback to HD, but it’s not something I’ve ever personally seen, or tested.

I would ‘happily’ have tested this one myself as I do have an Arc, but somewhat sadly, I have given away ‘all but one’ of my Play:1 speakers to friends & family.

The last ‘survivor’ is hanging about here now on S1, mostly just for posterity, so I cannot check things to be certain one way, or the other, as there are some ‘anomalies’, just like the old Playbar will play 24bit Qobux audio, but only 16-bit Amazon audio.

I thought @John B had answered that above. (Edit: by above, I meant his comment yesterday, not the one directly above)

I can give my experience previously using Play:3s as surrounds with Arc and Sub (gen2). I could play Amazon Music Ultra HD. The Play:3s on their own however (single unit or stereo pair) are only capable of HD.

Furthermore, you may recall when Amazon Music first released Hi-res, I raised the issue with the Sub (gen2). When bonded with the Arc, I could play Dolby Atmos/Ultra HD, but with a stereo pair of Ones (not surrounds) the Sub (gen2) restricted the Ones to HD. Remove the Sub and the Ones would play Ultra HD. You @Ken_Griffiths, kindly bonded your Sub (gen3) to some Ones and confirmed that you got Ultra HD, so I knew the issue was due to the Sub (gen2).

J

John B

Furthermore, you may recall when Amazon Music first released Hi-res, I raised the issue with the Sub (gen2). When bonded with the Arc, I could play Dolby Atmos/Ultra HD, but with a stereo pair of Ones (not surrounds) the Sub (gen2) restricted the Ones to HD. Remove the Sub and the Ones would play Ultra HD.

I don’t have a precise explanation for this, but I would point out that the nature of the connection is different. Sonos talk of the Sub being “bonded” in a HT setup, where direct routing over 5GHz is used for the connection. When the Sub is connected to music speakers it is said that the Sub is “paired”, and it doesn’t use 5GHz direct routing. I am not sure whether direct routing over 2.4GHz is used, or WiFi, or SonosNet (if applicable).

Mr. T

Furthermore, you may recall when Amazon Music first released Hi-res, I raised the issue with the Sub (gen2). When bonded with the Arc, I could play Dolby Atmos/Ultra HD, but with a stereo pair of Ones (not surrounds) the Sub (gen2) restricted the Ones to HD. Remove the Sub and the Ones would play Ultra HD.

I don’t have a precise explanation for this, but I would point out that the nature of the connection is different. Sonos talk of the Sub being “bonded” in a HT setup, where direct routing over 5GHz is used for the connection. When the Sub is connected to music speakers it is said that the Sub is “paired”, and it doesn’t use 5GHz direct routing. I am not sure whether direct routing over 2.4GHz is used, or WiFi, or SonosNet (if applicable).

Tbh, although I am aware of the different connections between HT and a stereo pair, I’d always previously considered the terms “bonded” and “paired” as interchangeable.

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