Sonos Debuts 'Trueplay' Update for No-Hassle High Quality Speaker Tuning

[MacRumors]

Sonos today announced an update to its Sonos Controller app that will bring a new feature called "Trueplay" to its customers worldwide. The update allows users to fine tune their Sonos speakers, even if the devices are placed in poorly pitched areas of the room, so that the devices sound as good as they would in a higher audio quality setting.

Trueplay uses the microphone in your iPhone or iPad and a quick setup process to ensure your Sonos speakers always sound their best, whether you've placed one on the most perfect pedestal or hid one inside your kitchen cabinet above the coffee grinder. Now you can violate one of those audiophile rules and put your speakers where you actually want them: behind, above, under or inside and still get awesome sound.

The company promises that the new Trueplay feature will make any compatible Sonos speaker (including PLAY:1, PLAY:3, and PLAY:5) sound great whether they're "on the most perfect pedestal" or even behind a muffled door. Once the update to the Sonos Controller app is downloaded, a prompt for Trueplay guides the user through a 30-second tutorial that walks them around a specified room and sends the data back to the Sonos speaker for better quality sound.

Sonos ensured the calibration process would be user-friendly by layering in the possibility for external sounds to muffle the tuning -- a dog barking, or subtle wind noises picked up by the iPhone speakers -- and making sure the speaker didn't account for the sounds in the final stages of calibration. The company aims for Trueplay to keep all of its speakers on the cutting edge with constant updates to audio performance, "whether you've had your Sonos speaker for three months or three years."

The Sonos Controller app is available to download for free from the App Store [Direct Link].

Article Link: Sonos Debuts 'Trueplay' Update for No-Hassle High Quality Speaker Tuning

 

[ZMRoach]

I'm really looking forward to getting home and using this. It'd be great to see just how much different, hopefully even better, things will sound.

 

[HarryKeogh]

Very cool.

Also hoping they're hard at work integrating Apple Music with Sonos. I love both.

 

[GadgetBen]

I've just spent the last 10 minutes waving my iPhone around the living room like an idiot having to set up my speakers again because of this update and it wont compete the tuning process.

Plus still no Apple Music support

These speakers are redundant for me until then.

 

[avanpelt]

Set the Play 1 in my office up with Trueplay. Very clever how they use an iOS device to do the tuning. I notice perhaps a slight difference in the sound. It always sounded great and still sounds great so no complaints from me.

I just wish they'd add Apple Music support already. I'm thinking of dropping Apple Music since I'm currently getting Google Play Music on a trial with YouTube Red and Google Play Music has an extensive catalog plus it has Sonos compatibility. No ads on YouTube and being able to use other apps on my iPhone while listening to a YouTube video are just icing on the cake.

 

[testcard]

Very cool.

Also hoping they're hard at work integrating Apple Music with Sonos. I love both.

"...by the end of the year" according to a Sonos staff member on the Sonos community forum.

 

[rcooked]

I would think they would want this in place well in advance of the Holiday shopping season for a selling point.

Love the hardware, but holding off on more until I see when/if this hits.

 

[zorinlynx]

Of course, Sonos still has no AirPlay support, so it's still useless to me.

 

[npmacuser5]

And....Amazon Prime released as beta app for Sonos. So far so good.

 

[npmacuser5]

Of course, Sonos still has no AirPlay support, so it's still useless to me.

Can always AirPlay through TV.

 

[logicstudiouser]

Very nice update, I have sonos setup throughout my house and we use it on a daily basis. Very pleased they are continuing to provide updates for iOS 6 users like me!

 

[lars666]

Felt like a ghostbuster waving around my iPhone to those strange sci-fi noises...

 

[bergert]

Still no surround-sound for music? my 1995 AMP does that !
same channel front - back = lame !

STR-DAES90G + JBL-Control2.4G wireless (for back channel)

 

[Chytin]

"...by the end of the year" according to a Sonos staff member on the Sonos community forum.

I guess that means to be released on 31 December 2015.

 

[BrentD]

Still no surround-sound for music? my 1995 AMP does that !
same channel front - back = lame !

STR-DAES90G + JBL-Control2.4G wireless (for back channel)

How exactly are you expecting to get "surround" sound from stereo source material? I'm not sure I follow what you're expecting here. I run the Playbar+Sub combo with two Play:1's as rear surrounds. Playing a music source over that room there are two options. "Simulated" surround, which essentially just has a little bit of sound come from the rear speakers; or "full", which will play all speakers at the same volume with left and right separated.

 

[BrentD]

I was underwhelmed by Trueplay in my testing. In "normal" rooms with carpet and furniture it slightly changed the sound I already had set up, but in the bathroom I tried it in where there are lots of reflections it didn't do well at all. Took out a lot of bass and treble and made it kind of muffled to me. Still something they'll be improving over time I'm sure.

 

[iLog.Genius]

No effect/change for me with a Play:5 in my room.

 

[Poisednoise]

I'm sure this does quite a lot in certain environments. However the claims for it are wildly exaggerated. There is no way that a simple tonal adjustment can make up for the fact at one of the speakers is sitting on a wobbly board that resonates and rattles, while the other is sitting on a cushion (yes I know that's an extreme example!) or indeed that (in the kitchen example) the stereo image is going to be constantly altered from your perspective, depending on whether you're facing the right way, standing by the fridge with the door open/doing dishes/cooking at the hob... I'm not saying the exercise is useless, far from it, but I hate it when people make exaggerated claims.

 

[bigrustyjc]

This is simply a marketing gimmick. Simply doing some processing won't fix the problem of poor positioning behind something. You can't defy the laws of physics.

 

[deany]

Of course, Sonos still has no AirPlay support, so it's still useless to me.

Hi

I am in a rural area so rely on a 50GB a month 'capped' 4G (double speed) wi-fi modem.

If I'm running over my daily average I AirPlay GPM from my 128 GB iPhone 6 to Sonos via my 'roaming airport network' in 'line one' mode.
This uses ZERO data, is Airplay and the sound good (not as good as GPM Sonos 320 Kbps). It works perfectly in my four 'zones'.
I used to use AirPlay with Apple TV 2 but get less dropouts with 'airport roaming network' now.

Hope this helps feel feel to ask more questions

 

[peterdevries]

This is simply a marketing gimmick. Simply doing some processing won't fix the problem of poor positioning behind something. You can't defy the laws of physics.

You are wrong. What the process does is compensate for effects caused by positioning in the room. It would dial up or down lower, middle or higher tones depending on the situation. This is about balancing the sound, not about defying the laws of physics.