As the Sonos CEO stated - it takes "courage" 😂😂
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Hands-On With the New Sonos 'Ace' Headphones
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To be fair, the alarms are already back. Lots of other things (sleep timer, editing of playlists, editing of queue, ...) are not.
Still, I think not introducing the incomplete app as a different app and making it an update was a mistake. At least for me, it's the reason not to buy anything from Sonos in the foreseeable future. I have 8 speakers and would have preferred not to be unable to fall asleep while listening to music for a couple of months because Sonos wanted to release a new product and chose to ignore the existing customer base.
After the Sonos Ace announcement, I’ve decided to wait it out to whatever the Gen 2 Max end up being-small iteration or not.
The fact that I’ve got ATV’s scattered around the house that don’t need the soundbar to transfer to and from and get all the same goodness like Atmos was the clincher.
The fact that I’ve got ATV’s scattered around the house that don’t need the soundbar to transfer to and from and get all the same goodness like Atmos was the clincher.
Wait...
Doesn't act as a speaker in my sonos system for music? Sonos have lost their way.
Doesn't act as a speaker in my sonos system for music? Sonos have lost their way.
This is why many were hoping -- even convinced -- that the headphones would support Wi-Fi. Another fail on Sonos's part. A former fan, I'll never recommend Sonos to anyone again.
Same here. I have Sonos is pretty much every room. Absolutely love their hardware
I went from Bose QC35 headphones—so comfortable I forget I'm wearing them—to Beats Studio Pro—literal pain after 30 minutes of wearing.
Like, how hard is it for Apple to know—as a headphone maker—that comfort is the #1 priority? It doesn't matter how good it sounds or how long the battery lasts if it hurts to wear after 30 minutes. Not to mention they were super sweaty.
Clamp-force...weight...sweat...these are things Apple should be minimizing that Sony, Bose, etc understand to do.
This is one case where I wonder, WWSJD?
I have a Sonos system, and was sort of looking forward to what they might do to integrate headphones. Answer: not much I guess. It was always a marginal product for them, but I was at least hoping that they'd use wifi to connect to Sonos net so that you weren't always tethered to your phone. The audio switch feature with the TV is kinda neat, but not exactly game changing.
I guess I was hoping that they'd create a way to sort of blur the line between the headphones and the rest of your system. Maybe that's weird, but there's a similarity between headphones and a whole house system, in that whole house audio is more like a sea of music that you swim around in rather than a traditional sit in front of two speakers audiophile setup. The difference being that headphones are a solitary experience, whereas whole house audio is more social. So if Sonos were to go to Dolby and say look, we've got these integrated headphones that we're thinking about, so can you create an Atmos implementation that includes headphones as one of the speakers? What could they have done with that, mixing headphones with external speakers? Maybe the obvious answer is nothing, but when I heard that Sonos was looking at headphones some time ago, that's where my mind went.
Anyway, I'm not against these by any means - if they're great headphones then great. I guess we'll know more when the real reviews come out. It is a bit suspicious that they seem to have asked reviewers not to comment on audio quality.
I guess I was hoping that they'd create a way to sort of blur the line between the headphones and the rest of your system. Maybe that's weird, but there's a similarity between headphones and a whole house system, in that whole house audio is more like a sea of music that you swim around in rather than a traditional sit in front of two speakers audiophile setup. The difference being that headphones are a solitary experience, whereas whole house audio is more social. So if Sonos were to go to Dolby and say look, we've got these integrated headphones that we're thinking about, so can you create an Atmos implementation that includes headphones as one of the speakers? What could they have done with that, mixing headphones with external speakers? Maybe the obvious answer is nothing, but when I heard that Sonos was looking at headphones some time ago, that's where my mind went.
Anyway, I'm not against these by any means - if they're great headphones then great. I guess we'll know more when the real reviews come out. It is a bit suspicious that they seem to have asked reviewers not to comment on audio quality.
I don't know, weight and clamp force aren't everything. I have the Bose 700 headphones which are light and don't clamp but I still prefer my AirPods Max over them.
Plastic. Vegan leather is just plastic.
It's amazing how the petrochemical industry has managed to rebrand itself. They've somehow managed to imply both quality and social responsibility for a material that is neither.
Why does everyone need to point this out as if consumer products haven't used faux leather vinyl since the 1930's?
Is it just because they've switched to calling it vegan instead of one of the other countless euphemisms they've used for almost a century? What is it about that word that gets people going?
All while not mentioning that real leather is actually biodegradable and lasts longer.
Vegan leather = greenwashed plastic.
Well I'm glad you guys are here to end the myth that headphones are free of plastic.
I agree that "vegan leather" is just BS, but don't forget that the tanning process of real leather is quite dirty. I have seen tanneries and it's extremely dirty and toxic, they pollute enormous amounts of water and use a lot of energy.
"Vegan" implies that it is an ecologically responsible choice in material. It is far more misleading than past labels.
In most cases it is just plain ol' non-biodegradable plastic. Most companies that actually use environmentally friendly materials actually say what those materials are on their packaging. It is safe to assume that those who don't say what the material actually is are just using plastic and trying to greenwash it by calling it "vegan".
I think it's far more interesting that you guys are focused so much on the 'vegan' part of the name, rather than 'leather', which is the actual lie. Yeah, it's plastic, like, ya know, the rest of the headphones. You'd rather the reviews call it 'a soft to the touch, flexible vinyl, with a leather-like embossed pattern'? Seems wordy.
I mean, trust me, I've never met a vegan who couldn't give a lecture on leathers of all sorts, be it cow, nauga, or vegan. No one's being fooled by the word. Rather, it's a concise phrase that tells me exactly what the material is, which is oddly the exact same material that's been on every other pair of headphones I've owned in my life.
But *vegan* you know. Grumble, grumble.
I mean, trust me, I've never met a vegan who couldn't give a lecture on leathers of all sorts, be it cow, nauga, or vegan. No one's being fooled by the word. Rather, it's a concise phrase that tells me exactly what the material is, which is oddly the exact same material that's been on every other pair of headphones I've owned in my life.
But *vegan* you know. Grumble, grumble.
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Vinyl at least says what it is-- poly vinyl chloride. And "faux" is informative as well.
Vegan means it's a vegetation based product. Yes, petroleum is plant based, but plants from millions of years ago-- it seems like a pretty cynical stretch. Vegan has the connotation of being ethical and healthy in a way that plastic does not. Leather has an implication of quality and durability that these plastic replacements lack.
When I read "vegan leather", my initial belief is that this is something high quality, plant based, durable, and with low environmental impact. None of those beliefs turn out to be true-- and not in the "they were being descriptive and I just made a bad assumption" way, but in the "they intentionally chose deceptive language to hide the reality" way. Not only are they greenwashing their plastic, but they're diluting and changing the meaning of both "vegan" and "leather". As you point out-- there were already plenty of existing and more accurate ways of saying the same thing and they chose something else.
So what gets me going? I don't like being duped.
You gave two far less wordy alternatives: vinyl, and faux leather.
It didn't the first time. At least not me-- I had to figure out what plants "vegan leather" is made of to see if it might be as durable and flexible as actual leather. When I learned the plant was an ancient plankton stew, I had to check half a dozen sources to see if that could really be right. Yes, there are plant based "vegan leathers" but that industry just got destroyed by the plastics industry because people will now associate the term with what they find most often.
yep, and should be given that material's name.
The streaming from the Arc to the Ace is via WiFi. So it's possible more WiFi-based functionality will be added later.
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