Contributor I

Product suggestion - Proper PC soundbar with speakerphone

11 replies
102 views

I think it would be great if Sonos made a proper PC soundbar with multi noise cancelling microphones. There is the Sonos Ray but this is really not a proper PC soundbar as it only has an optical-in and no way to sync PC audio. My ideal Sonos PC soundbar would be:

Max 40cm wide as it needs to fit easily under any monitor
Have speakerphone capability with multi-noise canceling microphones
Have physical or haptic buttons on the top (vol +/-, mute, play/pause)
No LEDs or the ability to turn off any LEDs
Have only one input cable (USB-C for power and audio, the soundbar should have a built -in sound card and the power supply would allow pass-through data, this should allow just one connection at the back).

If Sonos built this I would buy it in a second as good PC soundbars with microphones do not exist and especially now that WFH is a thing, I believe this would sell incredibly well.

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.

Airgetlam

Certainly would mark a move into a different market, since it wouldn’t sync with other Sonos speakers, due to the design of the software, but then again, Sonos made that jump with the Sonos Ace headphones.

Not sure that the market of computer speakers isn’t already saturated, but I don’t have access to market data. It would be an interesting thing, to be sure.

Bruce

U

user1842Author

Contributor I

Certainly would mark a move into a different market, since it wouldn’t sync with other Sonos speakers, due to the design of the software, but then again, Sonos made that jump with the Sonos Ace headphones.

Not sure that the market of computer speakers isn’t already saturated, but I don’t have access to market data. It would be an interesting thing, to be sure.

Why would it not sync with other Sonos speakers. I'm sure Sonos could make this also happen.

jgatie

Why would it not sync with other Sonos speakers. I'm sure Sonos could make this also happen.

Syncing depends on buffering, and real-time video/audio on a computer monitor will not sync with other Sonos rooms due to the buffer needed.

Airgetlam

Sonos has chosen a delay of 75ms in order to synch ‘rooms’ in their software. You see this on all ‘rooms’ in general, so most often you don’t notice it. In a Home theater ‘room’, they use a low latency/low distance 5Ghz signal to sync the surrounds and Sub(s), but as soon as you add another Sonos ‘room’ to that, you end up paying the 75 ms delay for the connected room(s). In order to change that behavior, I suspect that they’d have to rewrite all of the Sonos operating system, which, amongst other things, could obsolete a slew of customers, systems, and be a substantial cost, even if it is possible. I’ve never been a coder, but it seems like if it was ‘easy’ to do, they’d have already done so, as the market changes.

Bruce

106rallye

Most Sonos soundbars rely on HDMI-ARC - most computers do not do ARC, so this would be a niche product.

U

user1842Author

Contributor I

Most Sonos soundbars rely on HDMI-ARC - most computers do not do ARC, so this would be a niche product.

I would disagree. For me this is just an upgraded Sonos Ray and I think would very much appeal to the PC and WFH crowd.

U

user1842Author

Contributor I

Sonos has chosen a delay of 75ms in order to synch ‘rooms’ in their software. You see this on all ‘rooms’ in general, so most often you don’t notice it. In a Home theater ‘room’, they use a low latency/low distance 5Ghz signal to sync the surrounds and Sub(s), but as soon as you add another Sonos ‘room’ to that, you end up paying the 75 ms delay for the connected room(s). In order to change that behavior, I suspect that they’d have to rewrite all of the Sonos operating system, which, amongst other things, could obsolete a slew of customers, systems, and be a substantial cost, even if it is possible. I’ve never been a coder, but it seems like if it was ‘easy’ to do, they’d have already done so, as the market changes.

Apologies, what I meant by syncing with other Sonos speakers was not syncing computer audio but phone initiated audio.

C

craigski

Local Superstar

Max 40cm wide as it needs to fit easily under any monitor
Have speakerphone capability with multi-noise canceling microphones
Have physical or haptic buttons on the top (vol +/-, mute, play/pause)
No LEDs or the ability to turn off any LEDs
Have only one input cable (USB-C for power and audio, the soundbar should have a built -in sound card and the power supply would allow pass-through data, this should allow just one connection at the back).

I you require something with noise cancelling microphones for WFH, I would suggest looking at a “PC Speaker Phone”, specifically designed for handsfree calls from PC, rather than a “Soundbar”

U

user1842Author

Contributor I

Max 40cm wide as it needs to fit easily under any monitor
Have speakerphone capability with multi-noise canceling microphones
Have physical or haptic buttons on the top (vol +/-, mute, play/pause)
No LEDs or the ability to turn off any LEDs
Have only one input cable (USB-C for power and audio, the soundbar should have a built -in sound card and the power supply would allow pass-through data, this should allow just one connection at the back).

I you require something with noise cancelling microphones for WFH, I would suggest looking at a “PC Speaker Phone”, specifically designed for handsfree calls from PC, rather than a “Soundbar”

I have this but the sound is poor, this is the exact reason for the suggestion. The suggested product really does not currently exist in the market and I think would sell well.

C

craigski

Local Superstar

The suggested product really does not currently exist in the market and I think would sell well.

Few manufacturers eg Sennheiser, offer “Speaker Phones” and “Soundbars”, two distinct markets.

Show more replies

Sign up

Login to the community