Sonos One, Playbase, and Play:5 Will Support AirPlay 2 Functionality

[DeepIn2U]

Why would you expect a 5 year old device to get Airplay 2 support in the first place?

Sell it and just get a One, it will look and sound the same and if you don't want to use the voice assistant stuff just turn off the mic. If you have a limited edition Play:1 I'm sure you can sell it for more than what a new One will cost.

Why would I not? It’s 3yrs old when Sonos started selling the special editions with the colours, 2018-mid makes 4yrs. Also there is no hardware difference except the AI chip and RAM to run it. The boot in Wi-Fi chip is upgradeable via firmware; think about the press release. How is the One able to broadcast and pair with the Play:1 to make both AirPlay2 compatible?

I just dislike the shady non distinct clarification, then the major sale push and limited 2:1 discount of the One to entice that models sales when the Play:1 was still and still is sold directly from Sonos and their entire Sales channel.

I’m by asking for new hardware or new features; I really do not wish o have Alexa in my humble abode. I’m quite happy with my tunes, guitar single bed with a lover and a roof right over my head. Son will have his own space. Besides I have Siri already why mix two non compatible crews under one roof?!
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I dont know if this is a stupid question but, why do you want airplay 2 if you only have one speaker?

I paused on buying second speaker waiting for AP2 suppprt since AirPlay 1 wasn’t supported.

Why does AP2 matter to me?
- iTunes (PC/Mac) playback support.
- AppleTV 4 audio support (iTunes Music, NetFlix hosted TV/movies, AVX etc.
- iPhone audio streaming form any app.

Sonos app only allows music or podcasts which I currently don’t subscribe to through its own apps connections that’s it.

 

[HiRez]

I'm in the process of considering the Playbase and one of the hangups I had about it was lack of Airplay, so this just made the decision a little easier.

 

[wannabefanboy]

Well this sucks. I was holding onto all my play 1’s hoping they’d gain support. Time to sell them off for HomePod. I really want to be able to pair upto my Apple TV and use voice control. Ohh sonos, you let me down!

 

[masteroflondon]

Because AirPlay 2 is software based, not hardware. The only reason Sonos is going this route is to attempt to sell new devices. Unfortunately they are taking a chance of alienating all of their existing customers.

How do know there isn’t a technical limitation preventing the the 5 year old hardware from running a brand new piece of software? CPU requirements? Memory requirements?

 

[FX120]

Why would I not? It’s 3yrs old when Sonos started selling the special editions with the colours, 2018-mid makes 4yrs. Also there is no hardware difference except the AI chip and RAM to run it. The boot in Wi-Fi chip is upgradeable via firmware; think about the press release. How is the One able to broadcast and pair with the Play:1 to make both AirPlay2 compatible?

There is a pretty big difference in hardware required to support the buffer Airplay 2 specifies. Some of the oldest Sonos players only have 32MB of RAM and the Play:1 only has 64MB which is plenty to for what it was designed to do. Sonosnet is a mesh network and only needs stores a few seconds of buffered uncompressed audio in the player. Airplay 2 requires a buffer of several minutes of uncompressed audio, which probably wouldn't be possible to make room for on the older devices.

I just dislike the shady non distinct clarification, then the major sale push and limited 2:1 discount of the One to entice that models sales when the Play:1 was still and still is sold directly from Sonos and their entire Sales channel.

I didn't see anything from Sonos advertising that Airplay 2 support was coming to all devices natively, just that it would be supported on the One. I think the confusion comes around due to question of whether or not Airplay 2 audio sent to a One would be able to be distributed out to the rest of the network which is compatible with all older devices.

I've bought several Ones and Play:1s in the last year, and am glad that Sonos kept the Play:1 around as it's still a great device for places I don't need or want voice support and is $50 cheaper.
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Because AirPlay 2 is software based, not hardware. The only reason Sonos is going this route is to attempt to sell new devices. Unfortunately they are taking a chance of alienating all of their existing customers.

Software still runs on hardware. The hardware that runs the embedded Linux OS that Sonos uses wasn't designed to support the buffer that Airplay 2 requires. The resources just aren't there on the older devices.

 

[sunapple]

Could you potentially use AirPlay 2 with a Connect or Connect AMP? No idea how it works.

Edit: found out that since it doesn't yet support AirPlay it likely won't be upgraded since it wasn't announced today. Still not completely sure though.

 

[dabotsonline]

Having to find AC sockets for 3-4 Connect Amps and space

Do you dislike power adapters / extensions?

Getting more interested in Roon (roonlabs.com) as my primary audio playback software.

NAD CI 580 4-zone preamp with BlueOS that doesn't cost a vital organ

Gonna keep my existing Sonos but Bluesound is one to watch. Just found out the Lutron Audio Pico now works with Bluesound as well and i'm going Lutron for my smart lights.

I have a completely different idea:

What about using the 16 channels of a second-hand Apogee DA-16X to output to eight stereo pairs? Genelec 8020A/B/C/D active monitors could be used so no standalone amplifiers would be required.

The DAC could be configured using the Apogee Maestro software. with the X-Symphony card connected to a Symphony 64 PCIe card on a 2010 or 2012 Mac Pro or a Symphony Mobile ExpressCard/34 on an old MacBook Pro, and then the Roon zones configured to match.

I believe that Yuji LED plan to bring to market high CRI bulbs compatible with the ZigBee LL / Light Link protocol as used by Lutron or Philips Hue. You could sync the lighting to music with the upcoming Hue Sync app using the microphone of an iOS device such as an iPad Pro 12.9 1st Gen / 2nd Gen / upcoming 3rd Gen, but a more elegant solution might be to mirror one of the eight stereo macOS Roon zones to the stereo iOS Roon zone, then mute the stereo iOS Roon zone but use Luminair 3's Inter-App Audio support and smart light compatibility to match tempo automatically.

 

[DCIFRTHS]

There is a pretty big difference in hardware required to support the buffer Airplay 2 specifies. Some of the oldest Sonos players only have 32MB of RAM and the Play:1 only has 64MB which is plenty to for what it was designed to do.

What Sonos speaker was released before the Play 1? IIRC, I had a hub called the ZP80 (no built-in amp), an original Sonos wireless controller, the CR100, but I don't remember any speakers before the Play 1. Maybe I'm just getting too old to remember...

 

[jsmith189]

Pretty sure I've got the latest 5, so this works well for me. Can't wait. Does really suck how much they're limiting their other customers though. "Buy our latest, or most expensive, items if you want AP2."

Wonder how it'll work - if I'll be able to control the rooms with Hey Siri on the HP.

 

[LJ50]

To be honest, I have already decided that if Sonos don't enable Airplay 2 for the Connect:AMP I will sell all my Sonos kit and move to another solution.

If Sonos decide to enable this feature only for newer devices in a transparent attempt to get me to spend more money replacing the items I already have then they'll lose me as a customer entirely. I have already held off buying a couple of One's waiting for them to formally confirm whether my existing network will be supported; I'm not going to invest more money in an ecosystem that they choose to limit.

I appreciate that there is always going to be limit to whether older hardware is capable of running new features; but if the hardware is capable but they make a conscious decision not to enable it...I'm done.

 

[sunapple]

To be honest, I have already decided that if Sonos don't enable Airplay 2 for the Connect:AMP I will sell all my Sonos kit and move to another solution.

If Sonos decide to enable this feature only for newer devices in a transparent attempt to get me to spend more money replacing the items I already have then they'll lose me as a customer entirely. I have already held off buying a couple of One's waiting for them to formally confirm whether my existing network will be supported; I'm not going to invest more money in an ecosystem that they choose to limit.

I appreciate that there is always going to be limit to whether older hardware is capable of running new features; but if the hardware is capable but they make a conscious decision not to enable it...I'm done.

I just got a Connect AMP because I couldn't find a better solution for bringing Apple Music and AirPlay to my current passive speakers. Also, I'll try and add a SUB because wireless is really convenient.

I guess it does what it should for now, but if they'd suddenly stop supporting it and they're not being transparent about it, that would be annoying. If there are better alternatives, I might switch.

Edit: just found out that the AMP doesn't yet support AirPlay, I assumed it did. That would make it less likely for the AMP to support AirPlay in its current form. Maybe a hardware update will be released?

 

[Phooto]

Well, that's irritating. I've got loads of Play:1, a couple of Play:3 and a Connect:Amp...

 

[chopdog]

Absolutely gutted that it won't support Playbar / Sub systems. Our entire living room will be off the AirPlay grid. GUTTING. And the PlayBar is promoted as a current, modern Sonos device.
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Well, that's irritating. I've got loads of Play:1, a couple of Play:3 and a Connect:Amp...

I have 6 Play:1 and a Connect:AMP - and a whole new kitchen design just been approved including another Connect:AMP. Back to the drawing board.

 

[sunapple]

Absolutely gutted that it won't support Playbar / Sub systems. Our entire living room will be off the AirPlay grid. GUTTING. And the PlayBar is promoted as a current, modern Sonos device.
[doublepost=1524736356][/doublepost]
I have 6 Play:1 and a Connect:AMP - and a whole new kitchen design just been approved including another Connect:AMP. Back to the drawing board.

It can still use AirPlay version 1 right?

 

[chopdog]

It can still use AirPlay version 1 right?

How? Sonos doesn't support Airplay version 1 at all.

 

[sunapple]

How? Sonos doesn't support Airplay version 1 at all.

Oh, now I get it. So the announcement isn't just about AirPlay 2, but actually about AirPlay in general. My bad.

 

[masteroflondon]

This is a real stab-in-the-back for customers that have been with Sonos for a while. Here’s why...with the below configuration:
Room 1: 2x Play:1’s & HomePod
Room 2: 1x Play:1
Room3: 1x Play:1

If want to integrate AP2 in Room 1 then I need to buy a One (or better) which would result in two smart speakers in one room...pointless. Then for every additional room I need to buy a One to bring it onto AP2.

Given that I don’t want Alexa in my house, I feel like my only Sonos option really is to get a Play:5 & put that in Room 1 (moving one of the 1’s elsewhere) & accepting that only one room will have AP2 (because of the 5 price point).

I’m also assuming that I’ll be able to say “Hey siri, play Britney Spears in Room 1”...if I can’t do this then for me personally there is almost no point...I don’t hate the Sonos app THAT much...

I understood that you add just a single Play One and it will bring all the others into the fold. It will bridge between Airplay 2 and conventional Sonos. I agree on Alexa and I will leave that off. But an extra £50 for the bridge function (I need another speaker anyway) seems reasonable.

 

[legacyb4]

Why would you expect a 5 year old device to get Airplay 2 support in the first place?

Sell it and just get a One, it will look and sound the same and if you don't want to use the voice assistant stuff just turn off the mic. If you have a limited edition Play:1 I'm sure you can sell it for more than what a new One will cost.

Because from the start, the canned response to a request to confirm whether older hardware would support it always resulted in:

Hi there, we're working to make Airplay 2 available on Sonos this year, but we don't have any details to share just yet. Here's a page with a bit more information: http://bit.ly/2A85wqc
​

even after the release of the Sonos One. With today's announcement, older hardware just became paperweights... hopefully when AP2 rolls out on the HomePod, it'll at least allow the 1 be used in the same fashion as with the One.

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I’m dissapointed with the AP2 support list. They really need to add at least AP1 to older speakers!! I hoped for this update but now I’m thinking about switching to something different...

You can add Airplay 1 to older Sonos speakers through the Homebridge DIY project.

 

[nuckinfutz]

Do you dislike power adapters / extensions?



I have a completely different idea:

What about using the 16 channels of a second-hand Apogee DA-16X to output to eight stereo pairs? Genelec 8020A/B/C/D active monitors could be used so no standalone amplifiers would be required.

The DAC could be configured using the Apogee Maestro software. with the X-Symphony card connected to a Symphony 64 PCIe card on a 2010 or 2012 Mac Pro or a Symphony Mobile ExpressCard/34 on an old MacBook Pro, and then the Roon zones configured to match.

I believe that Yuji LED plan to bring to market high CRI bulbs compatible with the ZigBee LL / Light Link protocol as used by Lutron or Philips Hue. You could sync the lighting to music with the upcoming Hue Sync app using the microphone of an iOS device such as an iPad Pro 12.9 1st Gen / 2nd Gen / upcoming 3rd Gen, but a more elegant solution might be to mirror one of the eight stereo macOS Roon zones to the stereo iOS Roon zone, then mute the stereo iOS Roon zone but use Luminair 3's Inter-App Audio support and smart light compatibility to match tempo automatically.

Apogee and Genelec would be absolutely amazing. I"m not too averse to multiple power connections but at this point the Bluesound supports Hi-Res and has more flexibility which is understandable as Sonos hasn't updated their Connect Amp in years. They really need a single chassis 4 zone preamp/amp with CI friendly control (IP/RS232/IR).

Wow just went to Yuji's website. 98 CRI! I'll keep my eye on them.

 

[legacyb4]

Imma need y’all genius types to hack the Play:1 to enable Airplay 2. K? Thanks.
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So you can use the built-in iPhone music player and not the garbage Sonos player app.

https://github.com/nfarina/homebridge-sonos
[doublepost=1524747258][/doublepost]

How do know there isn’t a technical limitation preventing the the 5 year old hardware from running a brand new piece of software? CPU requirements? Memory requirements?

Sonos 1 can be used as an Airplay 1 speaker with Homebridge so the ability to stream to it is there; seems more like Sonos just wants to push sales on new hardware?

 

[err404]

Do all speakers need to support AP2? Or can one device act like the host and cast to the rest? Sonos does this today on the 5 series for the line in. However such an implement may add latency, preventing Apple's certification.
Sonos really needs to consider their existing user lock-in. A change like this resets the board and they lose years of advantage.

 

[JamesLeSmash]

I understood that you add just a single Play One and it will bring all the others into the fold. It will bridge between Airplay 2 and conventional Sonos. I agree on Alexa and I will leave that off. But an extra £50 for the bridge function (I need another speaker anyway) seems reasonable.

I don’t read it that way? I believe the One/a bridge will only enable AP2 for the Group (i.e. room) that it’s in. Which would mean a new speaker/bridge for each room. Can anyone confirm?

 

[4492865]

I don’t read it that way? I believe the One/a bridge will only enable AP2 for the Group (i.e. room) that it’s in. Which would mean a new speaker/bridge for each room. Can anyone confirm?

Only if you want to play different music in each room you will need multiple Ones. If you mostly play the same music everywhere, one One is enough, which is my case.

It's not about physical rooms, but your room groupings like you said. At least, that's what I would imagine.

 

[JamesLeSmash]

Only if you want to play different music in each room you will need multiple Ones. If you mostly play the same music everywhere, one One is enough, which is my case.

It's not about physical rooms, but your room groupings like you said. At least, that's what I would imagine.

I see what you're saying, although Rooms & Groups are separate. In my case my Rooms usually act as Groups and I rarely play the same music everywhere i.e. change the groupings. Thanks!

 

[MrJM]

If your using a Mac just download Audiobridge. It lets you use Airplay on your Sonos speakers. Simple!