Two weeks to SONOS 6.0, four weeks to PLAY:5
by Volker Weber
Sonos lifted an embargo today, so we can finally tell you that Sonos 6.0 is due in two weeks. It will come out Nov 10, and it brings Trueplay Tuning to your existing PLAY:1, PLAY:3 and PLAY:5. When you calibrate your players, they will play a swooping sound and you measure with your iPhone or iPad microphone while waving it around in your room. No Android at this time (or ever?) because you need to know the microphone to make this work. What does it do? It measures reverb and frequency response. Then it adjusts the sound output to match your room. Trueplay Tuning is most pronounced with PLAY:1 and PLAY:3, especially when the speakers are placed in a corner. I have also had a case where two PLAY:1 and a SUB were too bass heavy. Once I tuned all my rooms, they sound the same. Within the speakers' capabilities, of course, but before Trueplay Tuning, they were very different. You can switch from the new profile to the factory preset and back. If I would have to describe the effect, it sounds like you pulled back a curtain.
The new PLAY:5 ships two weeks later, on Nov 25. I expect that supplies will be limited. Sonos always has great difficulties ramping up the production. The agency offered to send me a loaner for two weeks, and I told them to keep it. There is a snowball's chance in hell that I would have returned it. And they don't have enough PLAY:5 to let this happen. Do you need to replace your existing PLAY:5? No. But the new PLAY:5 is without a doubt the best speaker Sonos has made so far. It is strong, loud, all the way down to deep bass and it projects a very wide soundstage, much like PLAYBAR does. Don't know which one to get, PLAYBAR or PLAY:5? Simple answer: you get PLAYBAR, because you want to connect it to your TV and you want to play music on it. If you are just after the music, get the PLAY:5.
If you need a new PLAY:5 by Xmas, I would pre-order now. $499 USD, $549 CAD, $749 AUS, €579 Euro and £429 Pounds. Everyone else, just relax. Your Sonos speakers will sound a whole lot better in two weeks. For free. Don't you love that?
Comments
Completely agree - the difference with Trueplay is stunning.
"it sounds like you pulled back a curtain" is exactly, what I thought.
Any news about Apple Music integration in Sonos 6.0?
No, it's not in 6.0. Sonos says by the end of the year. And I think that will mean a working beta before the year's end. But I don't really understand why Apple Music appears so important. Is there anything in Apple Music that Spotify does not already do better?
Siri Integration and Privacy
about apple music:
I want to start my trial of 3 month apply music only if I can also use it with sonos.
until then: I will continue to use deezer (from last years sonos promotion... i will pay for deezer the first time in december. i think.)
Trueplay seems to be available for the sonos speakers only. Why not for amp?
I have discussed this before. In the PLAY series of speakers, Sonos knows exactly what is going on. They have one amp per driver and they know the characteristics of the driver. They know how much is too much. That's why you can play them at 100% for hours on end. With the CONNECT and CONNECT:AMP they have no idea what is going on. They don't know your speakers, your speakers have analog crossovers, etc. The magic sauce doesn't work. And it might destroy your components.
Sounds reasonable, however, every AV Processor is doing pretty much the same with e.g. Audyssey in combination with any sort of speakers attached. Or something Linn built: http://www.linn.co.uk/music-systems/technology/space-optimisation .
Agreed. TruePlay has been amazing when I applied it to my Kitchen and Bathroom Play1's. It's pretty awesome to go from room to room and hear the same track reproduced the same way - minus echo and booming bass. Everyone will definitely enjoy the effects of TruePlay. And the Play5 - gorgeous speaker. Fantastic sound no matter what orientation you choose.
can we expect further hardware updates in the new design anytime soon, say for the playbar or sub?
and can somebody explain to me, why the stick with older wireless standards (b and g only)? i know, newer doesn't necessarily have to mean better, just trying to understand...
Unlikely. But do I know? No.
Sonos advances very carefully. So far they have not left a single ZonePlayer behind. Even the original ZP100 still works. Certain features need 5 GHz, for instance surround sound with Playbar, but generally, they just keep stuff going.
I had thought my flat was filled completely with sonos speakers. Thanks to Trueplay I can enjoy another Play:1 in my small bathroom (where it had too much bass before ).
Now the controller just needs some kind of intelligent playlist / track suggestion service and it would be perfect.
You have enough Sonos players when you run out of power outlets. ;-)
I believe next year will be a good year for Sonos software.
I was very excited for TruePlay, but the removal of Audible support makes this a non-starter for me. Quite disappointing. https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/223
.."Is there anything in Apple Music that Spotify does not already do better?"
Well, I am not to sure about that as I am not really familiar with Spotify, there are however several niceties in Apple Music that took me quite some time to discover.
For instance: you can build a playlist with any music you like and dowload the songs on your device in order to play them ofline. You could even ask a DJ pro to do it for your upcoming party and share the link with you with a text or a mail message and than get ready to play the music at your convenience. Sounds cool to me..
Look forward to using this feature on my upcoming new Play:5 :-)
Hum.. I checked and I should have better kept quite..
The exact same feature is available to Spotify premium user indeed.
Sorry, my bad
So I bought the old Play:5 12 weeks ago, when Sonos "adjusted" its price. I had to pay more and was willing to do so, but some weeks later with the announcement of the new Play:5 I felt slighlty annoyed.
Now, still with some days left from Sonos' 100 day return policy, I wonder if it would make sense at all to return the old one and buy a new one? Can anybody comment on this, did anyone have a chance to do a direct comparison?
