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

[Uofmtiger]

I just updated my pair of play 1’s that are in stereo mode with my echo dot and it worked perfectly. I am shocked that this was available with older play 1’s instead of just the new model. Thank you Sonos.
Now I just say, “Alexa, play xxx and it just works!
[doublepost=1507252260][/doublepost]
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.
2 Sonos One’s paired as stereo =$400
1 HomePod =$350
Hmmmmmm
[doublepost=1507252676][/doublepost]
I’m sure there will be plenty of reviews comparing the two very shortly.

In theory, more of a bad thing doesn't necessarily make things better. In other words, you could just be getting more bad sound quality by investing more into comparatively inaccurate speakers. As you said, we won't know until the HomePod is out in the wild.

That being said, I think this will come down to whether people want Siri/Apple Ecosystem integration and Apple Music. I think SQ is the way they are explaining the selling price, but that is just one small reason people will buy it. If Apple really was all that concerned about SQ, they would have a lossless tier available in Apple Music and put a digital output on the HomePod so people could feed their main systems a digital signal.

I don't know one audiophile that is throwing out their DACs, amps and speakers to replace them with a HomePod.

 

[BMox81]

So as someone who is wanting to get into the wi-fi speaker game from scratch and is in an Apple household, should I be laying down some cashola for a Sonos One?

 

[DotCom2]

So as someone who is wanting to get into the wi-fi speaker game from scratch and is in an Apple household, should I be laying down some cashola for a Sonos One?

If I were you I would wait until the HomePod comes out and read the reviews but having said that, getting 2 Sonos One's and pairing them as Stereo for just a lil more than only 1 HomePod, and Sonos work with most all Music Services, that's gonna be kinda hard to beat. I have two Play 1's that are paired as Stereo and I just love them and now that they work with Alexa I am well...just THRILLED!

 

[BMox81]

If I were you I would wait until the HomePod comes out and read the reviews but having said that, getting 2 Sonos One's and pairing them as Stereo for just a lil more than only 1 HomePod, and Sonos work with most all Music Services, that's gonna be kinda hard to beat. I have two Play 1's that are paired as Stereo and I just love them and now that they work with Alexa I am well...just THRILLED!

This is what I’m thinking. As good as the Apple ecosystem is (for me personally), it’s all about getting bang for your buck.

 

[Foggydog]

One question I have is why isn’t anyone talking about all the other wireless speaker manufacturers. If you go to Crutchfield there are many many wireless speakers. Many are Bluetooth, but most are both Bluetooth as well as WiFi.
Also, many play from most of the streaming services available today.

 

[SigEp265]

I have an echo. We use it for comedy effect (I don’t know what else to use it for).

I use my alexa daily to turn on lights in the house and the TV, timers, etc. BUT she does tell jokes so there's that. LOL

 

[BMox81]

One question I have is why isn’t anyone talking about all the other wireless speaker manufacturers. If you go to Crutchfield there are many many wireless speakers. Many are Bluetooth, but most are both Bluetooth as well as WiFi.
Also, many play from most of the streaming services available today.

Yep, you're right - I've been looking at Yamaha's MusicCast setup as well as Sonos. The Yamaha products all have Bluetooth and Airplay as standard.

 

[Uofmtiger]

Yep, you're right - I've been looking at Yamaha's MusicCast setup as well as Sonos. The Yamaha products all have Bluetooth and Airplay as standard.

One of the tempting things about the HomePod is that it should be able to control Airplay 2 devices via Homekit/Siri. I am waiting to see which products I already own get updated with Airplay 2 before I do anything right now.

I have a Yamaha streamer (WXC-50) and being able to control it, my Denon receiver and AppleTVs via voice would be much more useful to my current setups than buying a whole new system.

My Yamaha has both Bluetooth and Airplay and I use both features quite often.

 

[jhurliman]

You mean my current Sonos speakers won’t work with AirPlay 2 and only for the new ones?!!!

AudioBridge is a Mac app that will add AirPlay capability to all local Sonos speakers: https://audiobridge.site/

 

[whsbuss]

AudioBridge is a Mac app that will add AirPlay capability to all local Sonos speakers: https://audiobridge.site/

Or you can use the Sonos app for mac.

 

[e-coli]

Yup ... needed my glasses! Also confirmed with Sonos live support chat as well. No specific release date as of yet.

Just to clarify, are existing Sonos products being software updated to include AirPlay 2 support?

 

[scouser75]

Will the One:

a) be Homekit compatible?

b) Will Siri be controlled directly on the One? or will it need to be controlled via the iphkn or iPad?

 

[The Game 161]

wonder if this will work for podcasts as well. Hope so as I'm more likely to use it for that than music.

 

[Jjayf]

Will the One:

a) be Homekit compatible?

b) Will Siri be controlled directly on the One? or will it need to be controlled via the iphkn or iPad?

I have seen no plans that Sonos will be HomeKit compatible.

There is little chance that Apple will let Siri out of the ecosystem.

 

[Shanghaichica]

wonder if this will work for podcasts as well. Hope so as I'm more likely to use it for that than music.

Yes I would really like to use it for podcasts. It doesn’t really work on the echo.

 

[scouser75]

I have seen no plans that Sonos will be HomeKit compatible.

There is little chance that Apple will let Siri out of the ecosystem.

Sonos has said Siri is coming in 2018. So that's almost a definite. But I wasn't sure of HomeKit compatibility.

And I've just gone and ordered a One for my wife - got a bit of a bargain so would have been silly to miss out on it.

Wife has an android. I have an iPhone. Sonos has said both Android Home and Siri support coming in 2018.

 

[Jjayf]

Sonos has said Siri is coming in 2018. So that's almost a definite. But I wasn't sure of HomeKit compatibility.

And I've just gone and ordered a One for my wife - got a bit of a bargain so would have been silly to miss out on it.

Wife has an android. I have an iPhone. Sonos has said both Android Home and Siri support coming in 2018.

It is most likely that Siri functionality on Sonos with AirPlay 2 will be on your iOS device. You will be able to say “hey Siri play Slayer in the kitchen and family room” Honestly, I’d love it if it happened as I’m getting a while home Sonos setup tomorrow, but we know Apple better than that.
Sonos is also introducing google assistant next year. They will be the first and only cross platform voice assistant device. Wow imagine if they had Siri also?

 

[scouser75]

It is most likely that Siri functionality on Sonos with AirPlay 2 will be on your iOS device. You will be able to say “hey Siri play Slayer in the kitchen and family room” Honestly, I’d love it if it happened as I’m getting a while home Sonos setup tomorrow, but we know Apple better than that.
Sonos is also introducing google assistant next year. They will be the first and only cross platform voice assistant device. Wow imagine if they had Siri also?

Excuse my silliness, but if Siri support is only on the idevices, what's the point in having A Sonos instead of an Echo (other than better sound quality)? I thought I'd be able to speak to the Sonos if my iPhone was in a other room.

Will Google Assistant be the same as Alexa as in full support? Or like Siri, pointless?

 

[Jjayf]

Excuse my silliness, but if Siri support is only on the idevices, what's the point in having A Sonos instead of an Echo (other than better sound quality)? I thought I'd be able to speak to the Sonos if my iPhone was in a other room.

Will Google Assistant be the same as Alexa as in full support? Or like Siri, pointless?

From what I’ve read, alexia on Sonos is not full support, like on the echo or dot. It can do basic skills. You get better functionality with Alexia by linking a dot to your Sonos system. Alexia may get more useful in later releases.

It’s a wait and see how functional google assistant will be as that is supposed to reside right in the Sonos environment like alexia does.

As far as why Sonos and not echo? Sound and build, functionality. My Sonos environment will include a connect and give me the ability to stream from my av receiver to all rooms.

The best solution if you are 100% Apple and want Siri right on the speaker is going to be the HomePod, but when you can buy two Sonos ones for slightly more than a single HomePod, it’s not worth it to me. I’ll use alexia or Siri with Apple Music over AirPlay 2 off my phone. I’m guessing Siri on Sonos is going to be similar to Siri on Apple TV 4gen.

 

[whsbuss]

From what I’ve read, alexia on Sonos is not full support, like on the echo or dot. It can do basic skills. You get better functionality with Alexia by linking a dot to your Sonos system. Alexia may get more useful in later releases.

It’s a wait and see how functional google assistant will be as that is supposed to reside right in the Sonos environment like alexia does.

As far as why Sonos and not echo? Sound and build, functionality. My Sonos environment will include a connect and give me the ability to stream from my av receiver to all rooms.

The best solution if you are 100% Apple and want Siri right on the speaker is going to be the HomePod, but when you can buy two Sonos ones for slightly more than a single HomePod, it’s not worth it to me. I’ll use alexia or Siri with Apple Music over AirPlay 2 off my phone. I’m guessing Siri on Sonos is going to be similar to Siri on Apple TV 4gen.

Agree about the sound quality on Sonos vs Echo. Yes the Sonos One is beta software for Alexa..... it work pretty well for light automation but music commands leaves a lot to be desired. Pandora only plays one song; saying "Alexa, Stop" only works 50% of the time; asking for a sports update returns "Here's your sports update" then nothing. I hate being a beta tester, but the sound quality is unmatched so streaming from their app works fine.

 

[scouser75]

Oh oh! I'm in trouble. I bought the One for my wife who will be using it the most. If voice control is going to be a pain, it may have to be returned (the One, not the wife!)

I'd love the homepod, but at £400 AND no chance of android compatibility (wife has android) it's a no-go.

Maybe I *should* return the wife..... all problems solved ;-)

 

[Uofmtiger]

Agree about the sound quality on Sonos vs Echo. Yes the Sonos One is beta software for Alexa..... it work pretty well for light automation but music commands leaves a lot to be desired. Pandora only plays one song; saying "Alexa, Stop" only works 50% of the time; asking for a sports update returns "Here's your sports update" then nothing. I hate being a beta tester, but the sound quality is unmatched so streaming from their app works fine.

Personally, I bought Dots and have them connected to speakers/systems I like. I almost bought a Sonos One for my girlfriend, but after reading this I am glad I didn't. I already get yelled at enough for tech issues with the stuff she owns now.

 

[scouser75]

A return seems likely having read some of these posts. I'll give it a try and if it doesn't work well I'll return and maybe get an Echo plus.

 

[scouser75]

What a bu**er! Gave wifey the One this morning. She was so happy. She then drops the bomb she'll by asking "I can connect this to my iPod (old school iPod), right?

Doh!!!!

Looks like I'm returning the bleeding thing!

 

[whsbuss]

A return seems likely having read some of these posts. I'll give it a try and if it doesn't work well I'll return and maybe get an Echo plus.

If I were not an Apple Music subscriber (which I listen to every day) I would have gotten the Echo as well. Commands work flawlessly, but Sonos beats it sound quality wise.