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Sonos Rivals HomePod With New Assistant Speaker, Adding AirPlay 2 Support to Speakers Next Year

cola79 said:
It does with ease. The eighties are over
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LOL, yes the 80's are over, but physics doesn't change over time. A Sonos/HomePod speaker will never out perform a proper receiver/home speaker set up. Having said that most people don't really care if their music sounds a little on the mashed potato side. They care more about convenience and/or aesthetics. For those who want to accurately hear a recording the way it was recorded there are receiver/home speaker combinations. Different strokes for different folks. Not everyone is looking (or in this case, listening) for the same end result.
 
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If this speaker sounds good at the price point then I will be very interested. Great to see is supports multiple eco systems.
 
lowercaseperson said:
Question for all you gurus out there:

I have a PlayBar and sync my TV sound with the Play1 in my kitchen so I can watch TV while I cook without the sound in the PlayBar blairing.

As Sonos adds Airplay2 could I replace that Play1 in my kitchen with A HomePod and and stream the TV sound to it the same way?
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cola79 said:
I doubt you can do that.

Because how do you want to transport the audio to your pod? The playbar basically just catches input and transports it to the desired places/receiving devices.

Whilst airplay is basically just a signal you can send. And your tv audio would first need to be caught (like now by your playbar) and then send again.

So your tv itself needs airplay capabilities and added to the ability to split audio from video signal.

So i would say your homepod will only work as a playback for your phone and maybe tv streaming you receive via phone. But not from your home television.
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I think it would be able to do it. Airplay 2 would allow the Playbar to communicate with Homepod the same way the Playbar can communicate with other Sonos speakers today. My question would be why would you want to buy a Homepod if you already have a Play:1?

EDIT: Looks like Airplay 2 won't be coming to the Playbar.
 
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The update for Airplay 2 will only work with recent sonos speakers: the PLAY:5 and Playbase.

Which really sucks because my house is kitted out with 3 play 1s (dotted about), an older gen Play 5 and a sound bar (with 2 more play 1s)... so I have 6 sonos speakers but they won’t get the update. Super annoyed!

Source: sonos support on twitter
 
thomasclark87 said:
The update for Airplay 2 will only work with recent sonos speakers: the PLAY:5 and Playbase.

Which really sucks because my house is kitted out with 3 play 1s (dotted about), an older gen Play 5 and a sound bar (with 2 more play 1s)... so I have 6 sonos speakers but they won’t get the update. Super annoyed!

Source: sonos support on twitter
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Where did you see this?

EDIT: Just saw your edit. Can you link the tweet?

Here it is: https://twitter.com/sonossupport/status/915639201974145024

Very disappointing.
 

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page3 said:
Sorry but that’s just laughable that Sonos can hold a candle to a proper AV receiver/amp.
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True however, most of the current music listeners do not care. The sales of amps and receivers compared to other systems like Sonos almost nil. Convience and ease of use trumps quality for the vast majority.
 
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thomasclark87 said:
[doublepost=1507145185][/doublepost]


Yea, I’m really bummed out by it! I was excited when I read the breaking news but this is disappointing
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I have a Play:5 gen 2 so I'm hoping this allows me access to use of Airplay 2 on all of my Sonos speakers like Line-in.
 
boshii said:
I have a Play:5 gen 2 so I'm hoping this allows me access to use of Airplay 2 on all of my Sonos speakers like Line-in.
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It will work if you group the speakers, but I would assume you would need to group them in the app. So asking Siri to play music in the living room would then require the sonos app to play in the kitchen or bedroom.

Ugh. I’m hoping there’s something they can do to fix this. There will be a lot of annoyed sonos customers!
 
green94 said:
Big news... having Alexa, Google, and SIRI built into one device would be pretty amazing.
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Not having any personal experience with any of the Sonos line-up or their well established sound quality, this seems like a well though-out product which to my mind anyway, is also very aesthetically pleasing.

If the sound quality lives up to the Sonos name, with all the listed compatibilities and at a little over half the price of Apple's upcoming HomePod, this could be a winner.
 
thomasclark87 said:
It will work if you group the speakers, but I would assume you would need to group them in the app. So asking Siri to play music in the living room would then require the sonos app to play in the kitchen or bedroom.

Ugh. I’m hoping there’s something they can do to fix this. There will be a lot of annoyed sonos customers!
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You don't need to group the speakers for line in. All you need is one player with an input and you can stream to any player.
 
Winni said:
Actually, that "war" is already over. Amazon has won -- simply because they were the first to open their assistant technology for third party developers AND to allow Alexa to be installed on ANY device. Openness always wins. And the final killer argument, even if you don't care for the openness and software developers: An Echo Dot costs 50 bucks. It won't get much cheaper than that, everybody can afford to have Alexa in their homes. And unlike the competition, there's a huge amount of services behind Alexa, not just music. Amazon is handling this absolutely right.
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The war is far from over. Amazon potential market is small compared to Apple. By the end of next year Apple would have sold more homepods than Amazon has simply because the HomePod will be sold worldwide from day 1.
 
boshii said:
You don't need to group the speakers for line in. All you need is one player with an input and you can stream to any player.
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Wait, so if I have an airport express plugged into a play 5, can I airplay now already? And airplay to a play 1 elsewhere in the house??
 
mw360 said:
They cheated a little - they set the Homepod against a Play:3, which I think is commonly accepted to be the weakest of the Sonos products. I have one and don't find it nearly as nice as the Play:1s
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You think the $199 Play 1 sounds better and more powerful than the $299 Play 3 in an average size space? Interesting. If that were the case, logic would dictate that they stop selling the play 3 since they're already able to surpass the sound quality in a far smaller, more affordable package.

I've read several reviews and have heard both and I don't think that's a commonly accepted opinion. I believe two Play 1s in stereo mode would sound better than a single Play 3, but that's not what you're saying.
 
mw360 said:
The problem is, Apple being Apple, there's a real risk any new features like that would require you to replace your existing hardware with version 2. See the history of the AppleTV for an example. I'd be staying well clear of a Homepod until they prove they are serious about supporting it long term, without customers having to keep ploughing money in. To their credit, Sonos seem to be very good at supporting older hardware - for example, they just released an Alexa-capable device, yet are happy to let existing owners have all the Alexa features without giving them an extra penny.
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This what I thought as well and I agree with you and your point. HomePod will last 2 years and then it will replaced by another upgraded one. With sonos you don’t have this problem and you can use a play 1 for 6 years minimum.
 
mw360 said:
Won't work with Apple Music (yet) - its Amazon Music for now, or Pandora, or TuneIn and a few others. I think Apple have been late opening up to 3rd parties.

To start Amazon Music playback
Alexa, play music in the (room name) (Alexa will select music)
Alexa, play (artist) in the (room name)
Alexa, play (song name) by (artist) in the (room name)
Alexa, play (artist) on Pandora in the (room name)
Alexa, play the album (album name) by (artist) in the (room name)
Alexa, play (activity) music in the (room name)
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Once part of the Alexa/Sonos environment, Apple Music should work with Alexa commands, as Sonos supports Apple Music. Something like "Alexa play Sonos Apple Music everywhere".
 
npmacuser5 said:
True however, most of the current music listeners do not care. The sales of amps and receivers compared to other systems like Sonos almost nil. Convience and ease of use trumps quality for the vast majority.
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Agreed, I can't argue against the fact that systems like this compromise sound quality.
 
Products like THIS are good for all of us.

I was considering the Homepod but now with this Sonos no way. This is a buy.
 
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