"Constantly dropping support"
Those play:5s are older than a decade, yet they'll still be functioning and getting security updates after the new app launches.
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Sonos Launches New Arc Soundbar With Dolby Atmos Support
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"Constantly dropping support"
Those play:5s are older than a decade, yet they'll still be functioning and getting security updates after the new app launches.
I assume there's no optical because this supports Atmos, which seems to be the main selling point over the previous soundbars, and Atmos doesn't work over optical.
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Once the HomePod was released I had a theory that they'd eventually release an AppleTV & soundbar combo. Given that there aren't rumors about an actual Apple television set anymore, I still think this could be a viable product for them.
Sonos Beam is fantastic. Got mine on sale beginning of last year. My 1st and only Sonos product so far.
True, but it doesn't need to be any faster, it's only transferring audio, not 4K video streaming to 10 devices. Putting faster wifi won't increase performance, but will increase price. All wifi routers/cards have backwards compatibility, and 802.11b/g isn't going to disappear anytime soon.
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LG offers a high end soundbar with meridian, a subwoofer and all the bells and whistles for 1,000$. My TV is LG OLED which means I can control both with the same remote. And it is also designed for the TV, same looks, colors, branding and all. Why would I buy this for that price?
Who cares? Optical inputs were an idiotic scam from day one, the "gold plated connectors" of the digital world.
HDMI ARC is a vastly more intelligent idea that actually solves a real problem.
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Or you could spend $400 on two HomePods.
Everyone has slightly different goals, and slightly different tolerance for what counts as an acceptable level of hassle, clutter, cost, ...
If you didn’t get the Playbar on sale I would definitely return it for the pre order on this. Personally even on sale I would return it. It will probably sound a little better. Plus if your ceiling are flat I’m sure the Atmos effect will sound ok. Plus it will probably have several more years of support past the Playbar.
I think we'll see one soon! Makes a lot of sense to be Apples second HomePod product
There are speakers that fire up that bounce off of the ceiling as well as ones that fire sideways. I assume there are purists that would insist this isn't real atmos and you really need speakers on the ceiling and behind you. But I figure if it works well enough then what's the difference?
There have been several atmos soundbars already, I've been wondering why Sonos didn't have one but hopefully it's just because they were really nailing down the details since I'm finally thinking of jumping into their ecosystem.
Can't see myself upgrading my current set up (soundbar, 2 play:3's, sub), but I'm glad they are still putting new products out there. Eventually my current set up will break down and I'll need to get something new, just not sure I'm feeling spending another 2k for a full setup again. I guess we shall see.
hardly constantly. the Sonos Play:5 (Gen1) does not support S2 and even with the S1 app it will still continue to receive security updates and patches. The original Play:5 is over 10 years old.
I’d consider reading this article before getting too upset: https://support.sonos.com/s/article/4786?language=en_US
It is just the typical Apple basher troll saying “look at me, I bashed Apple and the post had nothing to do with Apple!”
The Sonos playbar can be configured to work with your TV remote. Works well on my C6 and C9
Also the Sonos ecosystem is pretty sweet and you can integrate it throughout your house with different speakers and they're constantly adding functionality like Sonos radio. I also haven't heard another sound bar that sounds as nice as the playbar, and I imagine the arc is better
2.4 GHz is supported by all devices, works better in buildings and has plenty of bandwidth for audio.
I have several Sonos speakers, the sub and other stuff and actually I‘m very happy with them. Compared to Apple‘s speakers which seem to provide nice sound the Sonos gear supports far more streaming services and can be better integrated with my other devices. However my general grief with all those more-or-less smart speakers is the rate at which they become obsolete. My Sonos gear sums up to about 3.000 EUR which is as much as I‘m willed to invest in day-to-day audio, but it‘ll have to be replaced every 10 years, which is rediculous, given that the speakers are still in perfect condition and fit for purpose. Almost feels like a submission service.
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I've occasionally considered updating my current 5.1 system with Sonos' products (yes, it would be a big upgrade audio quality-wise), but I've never been able to figure out just how much audio lag having wireless rear speakers adds to real-time content (games) where the video signal can't be delayed to match audio. Say what you will about soundbars' ability to project rear channels, but I'm not convinced they're a replacement for discrete rear speakers.
I wouldn't want to play twitchy games on my console where the audio is out of sync.
Anyone have experiences they could share of such a setup? (Sonos soundbar + wireless rear speakers and sub + console gaming)
I wouldn't want to play twitchy games on my console where the audio is out of sync.
Anyone have experiences they could share of such a setup? (Sonos soundbar + wireless rear speakers and sub + console gaming)
this is interesting now as I think Sonos is the first big company which the public have now started to see that devices which are IOT, connected and reliant on the internet, have a limited shelf life. So this speaker might be what.. 5-8 years before they stop providing updates. So do you want to spend $100 a year on a speaker..
The bright side is that they’re no longer completely ripping off people with a sound bar limited to standard AC-3 and in the case of the Playbar not even an HDMI input! It’s now a comparable product to most other sound bars and even supports TrueHD and eARC. If you or someone you know just bought a Playbar tell them to send it back ASAP because this really makes that product practically obsolete.
eARC is important because it eliminates the need for soundbars to have extra HDMI inputs to pass the video to the TV to playback lossless multichannel sound because regular ARC does not have the bandwidth (typically greater than 3 Mbps) for those formats.
The cons are that it’s still an $800 sound bar and I think it’s insulting that these guys charge around $2000 for “5.1” setup yet they’re too cheap to pay for the damn DTS license. There is no excuse for this.
Sonos is the millennial/gen Z Bose. Decent quality at premium prices for people afraid of learning how to wire speakers. $2000 is the price of a solid mid-range home theater system that leaves a Sonos setup in the dust with support for even 11.2MHz DSD and 384KHz/32-bit PCM. The best Sonos can do unless something has changed with this product is 24-bit/48KHz.
Even with a $1000 you can put together a really solid 5.1 system especially if you buy during the holidays when AVRs and speakers are heavily discounted.
Unlike Sonos, regular speakers are never outdated. They don’t need firmware. As long as the tweeter and drivers aren’t blown out they last forever. You simply need a new AVR if it dies or when new formats are released as was the case a few years ago with the introduction 4K60p Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HLG HDR with HDMI 2.0b.
eARC is important because it eliminates the need for soundbars to have extra HDMI inputs to pass the video to the TV to playback lossless multichannel sound because regular ARC does not have the bandwidth (typically greater than 3 Mbps) for those formats.
The cons are that it’s still an $800 sound bar and I think it’s insulting that these guys charge around $2000 for “5.1” setup yet they’re too cheap to pay for the damn DTS license. There is no excuse for this.
Sonos is the millennial/gen Z Bose. Decent quality at premium prices for people afraid of learning how to wire speakers. $2000 is the price of a solid mid-range home theater system that leaves a Sonos setup in the dust with support for even 11.2MHz DSD and 384KHz/32-bit PCM. The best Sonos can do unless something has changed with this product is 24-bit/48KHz.
Even with a $1000 you can put together a really solid 5.1 system especially if you buy during the holidays when AVRs and speakers are heavily discounted.
Unlike Sonos, regular speakers are never outdated. They don’t need firmware. As long as the tweeter and drivers aren’t blown out they last forever. You simply need a new AVR if it dies or when new formats are released as was the case a few years ago with the introduction 4K60p Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HLG HDR with HDMI 2.0b.
Right, this has nothing to do with Atmos, here Sonos misuses a technical term for advertising purposes. It is annoying that Sonos considers its customers to be so gullible. I'm glad Apple doesn't. Apple doesn't even promote the room-filling sound that results when 4 HomePod-DSP's in a room interact for AppleTV cinema enjoyment...
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Used to love my Sonos, but they lost me with the mess that was ‘we’re going to brick your devices’ email. I know it was more nuanced than that, but essentially they wanted to force their customers hand to upgrade and not be able to sell older, perfectly working speakers.
Although they backtracked and I still own my speakers, they have converted me from being a loyal customer to one that has zero interest in buying anything more from them.
It’s either more HomePod’s on discount for me, or wait for the rumoured new, smaller and cheaper HomePod‘s to come out.
Although they backtracked and I still own my speakers, they have converted me from being a loyal customer to one that has zero interest in buying anything more from them.
It’s either more HomePod’s on discount for me, or wait for the rumoured new, smaller and cheaper HomePod‘s to come out.