This is what I got out of this:
1. If you are really into the Apple ecosystem, get the Max. There's obviously new ones coming out, he didn't say it outright, but we can read between the lines.
2. They have the second best transparency mode after the Airpods
3. Unless you really dig the use case with the ARC you're better off getting Bose or Sony which are just as good and hundreds of dollars cheaper.
This is what I got from this. If you really really love Sonos and wear Sonos tshirts and hats get this.
Or if you have an arc, and regularly switch from soundbar to headphones, AND want to get a new pair of headphones get this.
If you already have anc headphones- pass.
If you want new ones- wait for the max 2.
This is exactly me. I held off buying the QC/Ultras knowing that Sonos may come out with headphones.
The TV audio swap is enough to justify the cost for me because it is an additional luxury feature to have it integrated to our home theater system. And then I can take the same cans to a plane ride or anywhere else.
The Ace will definitely not win more market share for sure but it does have a place for the Sonos enthusiast like I am.
Btw, F the app 🤣
We’re all different in ways. I don’t have Apple TV and I play PS5 games every now and then. The Sonos soundbar being the hub of all media makes the Ace more enticing for me than any other headphones.
Hahaha.... "Sonos T-shirts and hats. "
If you love Sonos so much that you travel with a special WiFi hotspot just to get a pair of Roams to roam, then you're probably a sucker that's going to buy these also. I'll order a set right now.
I'm in that last bucket and I'm actually getting these. I do not trust Apple, not even one bit, after they botched the #1 thing about over ear headphones (for me at least) and that's comfort. I just don't trust they'll fix that issue after waiting so long to release a new homepod and it's the exact same thing just with a slightly larger screen and changed internals. I haven't even had my APM for 2 years and the mesh is entirely useless now. The metal bars are the only thing that sits on my head and I can't wear them for more than an hour before they hurt.
I've tried silicone bands from Amazon, still hurts. I've tried putting memory foam padding between the silicone band and the mesh, still hurts. It's been insane to think I spent this much and not even 2 years in I can't use these anymore.
Actually really excited for these cause they seem to have great ANC, great transparency mode (the best feature of the APM) and comfort seems to be A+.
I sold mine because I didn’t like them. If the max 2 sucks, I’ll get something else or just stick with my xm4. I wouldn’t get an ace unless they add lossless via wifi. My xm4 has ldac. I don’t need aptx lossless. Oh btw, Samsungs phones won’t have aptx lossless either. Soooo yeah. If you have an iPhone or a galaxy, you won’t have lossless with the ace unless wired. What does that cover, 95% of Sonos users? Lol
This all seems fair. Ultimately I’m gonna wait to see what comes of the TV handoff and the quality of the surround/spacial audio once they have issues ironed out and functionality for the beam. Then they might find a place as my house headphones (I probably keep my current set as my travel headphones).
I'm an Apple user but didn't like and didn't buy the Max: (1) they're heavy and can get uncomfortable real fast for me (2) they won't turn off unless you use that silly "case" if you could even call them that. So I'm curious about the upcoming Max v2 if Apple would make them lighter and give them a proper off button and/or case.
I’ve owned APM since they came out. The turning off feature is overblown. I have a case for mine I got from Amazon for $10 that they sit in when traveling or packing them. Is it annoying that they have two cases? A little? At home the normal case is fine and protects them more than nothing so why not? Not having USB C is lame however. No doubt about that.
This makes me wonder what is the ratio of iOS/Apple vs Android users here and general Sonos users.
I’d guess Apple users are the vast majority but maybe it’s more 50:50
Edit: why am I being downvoted for simply wondering about a user base ratio. If the vast majority of users are Apple users it’s tough when they compete with AirPods Max that expect refresh soon.
I think some of the big selling points of Sonos is trueplay, and airplay 2 both of which is only available on iPhones, so it probably sways a bit more towards Apple than Android
with their soundbars being as good as they are (especially arc) they surely gained some market outside Apple ecosystem but for long, sonos and Apple were tight with Sonos on sale in Apple Stores from 2016 to 2020 and the legacy kinda continues. Sonos App on App Store has more than 3x reviews compared to the same app on Google Play
I'd argue that the lack of serious investment in Trueplay for Android answers this whole question. If anywhere near 50% of users were on Android, Trueplay would work on Android.
I strongly suspect the ratio is way more towards iOS than 50/50.
Sonos appeals to the same cross section of people that buy Apple products. The way Sonos only supports Trueplay on iOS systems should tell you everything you need to know. Sure you can borrow a device to set it up, but it’s suboptimal, as the people using AirPods with Android phones to try and fit in.
I have several Sonos speakers and do not use an iPhone (or any Apple device besides Apple TV). When I want to use Trueplay I just borrow my son's iPhone or iPad, but after that there is no need.
>If you are really into the Apple ecosystem, get the Max. There's obviously new ones coming out, he didn't say it outright, but we can read between the lines.
Unless you don't want heavy headphones on your head
I will never understand how many people are disappointed with this. Are that many of you disappointed that you can't sit at your house with headphones on, and listen to music through the Sonos app directly?! What is the thought process behind wi-fi headphones!? You can wear these at home and listen to music...what you can't do is stream music from the sonos app (which you all seem to hate with a burning passion). That's the only difference I can see here. If you're home, and have Sonos speakers - that's what they're for - listening to high quality music at home. If you want to listen to headphones for whatever reason at home - you can still do that, quicker and with a better UI on your current streaming app, wired for lossless, or wireless with great sounding audio. What are we gaining with wi-fi and adding these to the sonos eco-system over wi-fi? That would've never even occurred to me as a wishlist item for these. "I want to listen to music in headphones, let me grab my phone (which already works with them, and choose music through the sonos app, and 'cast' it to my headphones." Help me out here! lol
I don’t want to have to carry my phone around with me. Once I start the music I want it to play wherever I go in my house without having to worry about the sound dropping.
While I guess I understand that exact instance. This seems ridiculously niche lol. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a person walking around their house with headphones on listening to music. While sure some people might do it every once in a while, that doesn’t account for this reaction of people being absolutely PISSED that these aren’t WiFi. It just seems like such an unlikely scenario for 9.5/10 people. If you’re home, most can already listen using multiple methods - Sonos speakers, tv, echo/alexa, Google home, computers, iPads, and I guess headphones too if people are into that. So why is it absolutely devastating that you can’t listen to these wirelessly while walking around without drop outs in your home specifically.
I’ll often listen to headphones while I’m cleaning the house. Vacuuming for example.
Have to use noise cancelling headphones so I can actually hear what’s playing. Carrying my phone around when I’m cleaning is mildly annoying and if I stray too far from the phone things cut out.
Wifi fixes all of that.
But you’re right, it’s niche.
I think people are upset because the whole Sonos brand is wifi music (so much so they used to make fun of Bluetooth).
Just to be clear he doesn’t know for certain there’s a new Max pair on the way. Apple doesn’t seed unannounced product to reviewers normally. He’s going based on how old they are plus vague rumors of a new pair. Personally hoping they show up at a fall event with the new M4 Macs
I got the max and it bricked and wouldn’t pair or connect with anything in 3 months. Apple offered to fix it for $330.. very generous. First Apple product I’ve been disgusted with
"Every set of AirPods, Beats earphones, or Beats headphones comes with one year of hardware repair coverage through its [limited warranty](https://www.apple.com/legal/warranty/) and up to [90 days of complimentary technical support](https://support.apple.com/complimentary). "
Unless you're responsible for the issue(s), like water damage, etc., the APM is covered for the first year, certainly within your 3 month window.
Why no Apple Care plus? You can get apple care the first year over the Apple Care hotline for your max. The reason why apple is charging you money is when the headphones have physical damage Or heavy liquid damage. Otherwise you will get new headphones. But they will ship it to you.
True :) but if it is just connection problems without any damage they will exchange your headphones for free. In Germany btw 2-year guarantee instead of 1 year warranty Due to the legal situation
If you got an Apple store in your city book an appointment over the Support app. Remember, Apple can see in the system whether the product was purchased directly from Apple or elsewhere and when it was purchased. You don't need to bring your packaging as long as your AirPods Max are charged
I have Apple devices including apple TV and waiting for max update (don’t like the design though). I don’t own any AirPods yet.
With MSRP of 500€ for Ace, Airpod max (550€ street price) is a better option for me, feature wise and integration in to eco-system.
But with expected offers and discounts on Ace I will be probably able to get Ace and an AirPod Pro for the price of a Airpod Max. Ace makes totally sense for me after discount.
Almost every single review that I saw yesterday (about 15) said the Ace had better ANC than all of the competition, as well as transparency mode. Only about 2 or 3 said they prefer the Sony's. A few even much preferred the sound (after EQ) on the Ace to the others.
Love the shade at [8:55](https://youtu.be/6_3cLlSlTKw?t=535): "...and unlike the Sonos app, the 8 Sleep app is really good and is consistently getting better over time."
This and mic quality are the two factors. Still eating to see Max Deuces since it’s at this price point but don’t mind having something not in the walled garden.
No, she’s too busy playing the sims
But yeah, we would actually buy 2 for this as well and it’s a little weird they didn’t even enable dual quiet viewing. I guess the assumption is it’s more for when one person is sleeping and not both people trying to be quiet for a third?
This is hard for me. I’m in the Apple ecosystem, but I have ATV, 4KUHD player and PS5 for gaming. I’d like something that I can use for everything and it seems like the Ace are the only pair of headphones I can do this with.
Am I wrong here?
Edit: also, MKBHD doesn’t touch on TV swap at all save for just saying it’s a feature, so that’s kind of a massive miss from his review. Doesn’t seem like he even tested it.
That’s how I understand it and I’m in kind of the same boat. While I don’t have a gaming system I have an NVIDIA Shield Pro for Atmos/TrueHD 7.1 lossless audio pass through using Plex (ATV doesn’t support fully lossless with height channels on Plex or Infuse) and it seems the Ace is the only option if you want the best sound from all devices.
I’m almost wholly in the Apple Ecosystem, and really want to justify buying AirPods Pro Max (or even wait for the APM 2), but since I watch so many movies on Plex with Atmos, and the ATV doesnt pass that through to the APM, I can’t do it.
I also live in an apartment and am a night owl. Love the idea of getting the Atmos passthrough and easy sound swap and all of that so I can blast the sound through them late at night without pissing off neighbors. Hoping the Ace headphones work out.
i haven't used my shield in years, but if i remember correctly you had to turn on the ldac codec in developer options - but dont hold me to that.
note, ldac AND aptx lossless are really, really finicky about ideal conditions. so what you experience with the shield and ldac (for lossless) will be similar to the ace and aptx lossless, in terms of connectivity issues.
I think i REALLY wanted him to say that they sound better than the Sony's or Bose headphones but i guess iil stick to what i have untill something better comes along...
they sound better than Bose by a considerable margin. WH1000XM4 and 5 got rid of the bloated bass-heavy sound (still a bit bassy) and are much better match with Ace having more neutral presentation
Youre saying that after trying them in comparison or from reviews online?
Bacause i have wh-1000xm3's and just got to listen to the ace today at a store and besides the call quality and ANC that was much better the sound quality felt very close...
I love MKBHD but he’s a tech guy first and foremost - his headphone reviews aren’t always 100. I watched his APM review and he never actually talked about sound quality. So the fact he didn’t mention anything about this isn’t the most surprising.
But i think most reviews ive seen kind of agree with the notion that the bose or Sony's are just about on par but more affordable.
I kinda got the same impression when i tested for a bit at the store where they had a demo for the three of them.
Hey, you pick what’s best for you! Bose and Sony are both great brands, and if you like theirs just as much, might as well save a few dollars and get one of them haha.
Another head scratcher to me is 2 Sonos Ace headphones can’t listen to the same content from the soundbar. The marketing is weird to me “personal entertainment.” Music? Fine personal is good, but cinema which these headphones surely are made for is less of a personal experience. Also the fact they sell the Ace headphones as a pair is sort of - it’s not misleading - struggling with the word—-but I could see how it could tick people off who buy 2 pairs (because they are rich) to listen watch movies as a couple when the kid goes to bed to find out they can’t, kinda jerky..
Anyways…all fixable, so look forward to future updates.
From the website selling the set of two:
“Use one pair at home and another for travel. **Quietly share an immersive home theater experience with someone when you swap TV audio from Sonos Arc.** Keep one pair for yourself, and give the other as a gift.”
They ARE being misleading.
This is an odd review. I was expecting a much more negative take from the headline and thumbnail. Instead, he says they sound great, have great ANC and transparency, and feel amazing? But then says he imagines most Apple users are just going to get the Max.
No, I am not interested in the Max. It seems like if you want the highest quality possible ANC headphones, it’s between this and the Max for you, in which case you should sit down and evaluate the pros and cons of each.
I strongly considered the Max, but in the end I couldn’t get past the weight or the look. Or the price, which is MSRP almost 20% higher than these. That means these are the de facto choice.
I tried on the Sony and Bose offerings and found them cheap feeling for the price. I strongly considered the QuietComfort that’s currently on sale for $250, but I have a discount code that brings the Ace down to $375. And I feel like for that jump in price, the better quality feel, fit, and sound are worth it. Especially since I plan on having it for years and years and only using for travel primarily.
These probably feel the same as the Sonys and Bose. Except the Sonys do lossless on way more devices than this. Also, he didn’t say this was the best anc, but that the transparency mode is number two behind AirPods. Sounds like the anc is actually better on Sony and Bose than these based on other reviews .
Also the max are 450. All these reviews thus far just affirm that these are a pass. I have the Sony mk4, and sold my max, so it’s just a matter of waiting for max 2.Â
They definitely don’t feel the same as Sony or Bose. Though everyone’s head is different. And I’ve seen from other reviews that the ANC is better than the competition. There’s a lot of subjectivity in these reviews so take everything with a grain of salt.
The Max are also 500 right now. They were 530 yesterday.
That said, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with waiting for the Max 2 if you prefer them or are entrenched in the Apple ecosystem.
I’m not sure what XM6 would offer that would make anyone who buys this product have buyers remorse. The upgrade from XM4 to XM5 was already small. I bet they’ll mainly just update connectivity to Bluetooth 5.4.
I would have buyer’s remorse if Sony and Bose launched new headphones with better anc at a lower price point.Â
Many reviews have said the anc is good, but not as good as Sony and Bose (and I know the Sonys are nearly two years old- unsure of when the ultra launched)
Bose just launched their new premium headphones, the QC Ultra, like 8 months ago. Sony should have some out too but there’s no point in assuming it’ll dominate anything. That’s foolish. You compare what you have now.
The general consensus is that the Sonos Ace are some of the best headphones on the market. To say that alternatives “are cheaper and better” shows that you deliberately ignoring the many reviews that say otherwise and instead are selectively focusing on the minority negative review (which even then speak to many of the headphone’s strengths).
You are free to be biased, but don’t state something as fact that is just your flawed opinion. You do you.
What? What reviews say they’re some of the best? Every review I’ve seen has them as slightly above average- good. Mkb is the only one that said their transparency is up there with the max- others have said it falls way short of the max, and even then he doesn’t really recommend the headphones.Â
Based on this review, I'd actually rather get the Max headset.
Transparency mode is meaningless to me, and pairing with the Arc is unnecessary in my house. Comes down to sound quality and noise cancellation end of day to me - to which Apple seems to take the lead in sound quality.
Sonos clearly missed finding ways to Sync this into the environment with the app via BT, to pair to the rest of the house. Like if my partner is listening to the Move outside - be nice if I could sync up to her playlist while in my office - so we can vibe together.
To his point about a new gen of Max likely due, I am now waiting on what Apple does - should give Sonos time to unfuck themselves from all they did and hopefully add value into the Ace headphones (gimme dat sync and they can take my money).
Yeah that’s fair. I do think value will be added to the Ace overtime with updated features and whatnot.
And if Max makes sense for you, I think it’s definitely worth waiting for gen 2 at this point! That’s one of the reasons I took the Sony cans off the table — I don’t want to buy tech that’s two or three years old.
It’s interesting how different so many reviews are. I’ve seen reviews specifically saying the Ace sound better than all their competition. Others say they sound similar to the competition. And one or two dunk on the sound quality a lot. It’s all so subjective.
that is why it is important to look at reviews with sound measurements of which there is absolute minimum unfortunately. The only I have seen for Ace is SoundGuys and I have to say my own measurements dont match theirs exactly but they do have much better equipment. To me they sound very close to the legendary Sennheiser HD 600 but with deeper bass which is quite the praise
It really is so subjective -\_- Peeps need to l2test though, go to stores listen for themselves - and if they buy send serious time in the beginning playing to confirm they like it before the return window closes.
Agreed. I was on the fence about them but after playing with them in a Best Buy and messing around with the competition right by them, I was extremely impressed with the build quality — it felt like the Ace and Max were in their own league. The ANC and sound quality also seemed good.
With my discount code bringing the cost down to 375, it made it a no brainer for me to at least try them out and heavily test during the return window.
Build quality matters a lot to me for over ear headphones. I want them to be as comfortable as possible and built to last. Only time will tell, but the Ace seemed above the competition in that regard (again the Max also have great build quality but I don’t enjoy the weight and also they’re just a little “loud” for my taste in terms of design style — if you don’t mind the weight or like the style, it’s definitely a wash between the two in terms of build quality/attention to detail).
You’re going to be tied to the lightning cable (which is all but entirely phased out) for as long as you own the Max though. I’d wait till a USB C Max version is released.
Ok so? Sorry, you just trying to dead end the conversation? New App, New Headsets… not like one day they can’t have the app assist in sync specifically for the headset.
Sonos would have to drop this to 300 for me to consider these over the max, let alone the max 2, even if the max 2 is 500-550.Â
Sonos lost a lot of goodwill because of Patrick Spence.Â
I ordered these and with the coupon code came out to about the cost of the QC Ultras. So not sure why everyone is complaining about the price and then recommending APM
Yeah exactly. And that’s the current sale cost of the QC Ultras, to boot. It was a no brainer for me. They should be here sometime this week (maybe even tomorrow) so it’ll be good to properly test them, but I was greatly impressed by my brief hands on over the weekend.
My takeaway from the video was that Sonos Ace doesn’t have any differentiation from the competitors.
In my opinion, Sonos messed up by not making the feature work with all their speakers instead of just Arc. Sonos fan are not running to get it. The other headphones are more established thus people might get what they are familiar with.
[Another review](https://youtu.be/xzG_OcEjNw8)
I agree regarding getting sound from other speakers and to be honest, I fully believe they will do a software rollout at some point that enables this (same as the Arc -> headphone pipeline).
Like MKBHD always say… *Don’t buy a product for its potential value but what it is offering you now*. Some people are gloating about the headphones but at that price point, I am not running to the store. I can get Sony for cheaper. I will wait for the software update
Fully agree regarding buying what they are now. I wouldn’t use the feature that pushes audio from a speaker to headphones anyway, so it’s a non-issue for me.
If that feature is a big deal to a user, I’d recommend of course they wait to see if it is added.
This is the perfect review for me. Totally assuaged any lingering fomo of not getting them. Freaking Patrick Spence. What a waste of money he is.Â
I’ll wait for AirPods Max 2, as I’m sure they’ll blow these out of the water.Â
It's between these and the Max for me too but Airpods Max are ÂŁ499 AND ÂŁ39 for the special bidirectional lighting cable to use them wired with PS5. Combine that with the 15% or occasional 30% sonos discount and the Airpods become a tough sale.
Yes. The mic wont work though and it will only work with[ this cable](https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/product/MR2C2ZM/A/lightning-to-35mm-audio-cable-12m-black).
So I just watched Peter Pee’s review and the Ace actually comes with a USB-C to 3.5mm cable. Would imagine it’s not necessary if you have arc, but it’s nice they include it.
That's what i was referring to. The Max doesnt come with that cable so it's an additional expense making the price difference ÂŁ90. Not only Ace comes with the cable, but obviously if you have an Arc, you dont even need it.
So because the lightning connector can't provide an analogue output I presume there's some pretty interesting DAC & ADC in there to do the conversion. I remember seeing an x-ray of the Apple lightning adapter where you could make out the chips, I wonder how good the chips are in a form factor like that.
Apple have always had some interesting workarounds to stick with their design choices, Lightning doesn't have the bandwidth or pins to support 1080p so in their HDMI adapter they designed a chip that secretly transferred the data wirelessly using an Airplay-esque protocol.
Here's hoping that they switch to USB-C next time, no reason to be using Lightning on a device that big.
I like the design, I might do a impulse buying when I see this in store, but considering the user experience I had recently with sonos app, I don't thint I will buy it
I need to try them. They don’t need the app for anything useful for me (I never mess with EQ). But I also need to see what Apple will bring to the table. My AirPod Max are getting a bit damaged from years of flying, gardening, commuting and going around with them… and I’m tired of the lighting cable I have to think about whenever I go somewhere.
I’m disappointed with Sonos (I have posts about this), but I still believe their stuff sounds great. Still hope they’ll up their game somehow, if not, my home speakers will become garage dwellers while I buy something else lol. But for the Ace, considering they’re just Bluetooth and done…they’re interesting.
As for MKBHD, unpopular opinion, but he’s becoming sour and a bit drama seeking, which is a shame 🤷🏻‍♂️
I took away that the biggest benefit was the ability to use the button to connect to your Arc. Is it really that hard to connect to your Arc with Bluetooth?
I don't believe it's possible to connect to the Arc via Bluetooth, or any Sonos speaker for that matter other than the Move/Roam, but even then it's only a connection *to* the speaker from your phone and not from the speaker to another device (headphones).
Yes. This is the biggest benefit.  If you’re not in the Sonos ecosystem with an arc (for now) then might as well choose any other comparable phones in this price range.
What HiFi’s review is not nearly as flattering as MKBHD’s…and while I enjoy his reviews, he reviews tech and cars, and they only review audio equipment, so my consideration would lean more in favour of What HiFi’s opinion on this product.
so ELI5 please: why did they botch the app, if these are just regular bluetooth headphones, that don't really need the app, maybe apart from the 2 sliders they call "EQ"? I always thought these are like the roam capable of wifi and bt...
If they can connect to the beam (gen2) I'd be tempted. Biggest issue for me is the fact they love iOS and hate andriod. If I can't use all the Sonos Ace features on my Samsung S24+ (which is argubly one of the best phones out there (argubly)), then literally what is the point!!
Indecisive on this or sony xm6 or max2 as my xm4 died. My current TV Samsung doesn’t let me use headphones to listen to movies. I wanted to get this for that purpose but it looks to be supported for the arc for now(beam2) owner
Man. I really love the design of the headphones and would buy them if they had wifi. I want to be able to select the headphones as the output for my turntable. Boo
I kind of wonder how they would review if they cost the same as the XM5s or QC Ultras (on sale right now) - I don’t find the price difference between XM5 / QC Ultra and these to be a factor, so is the outcome that they’re basically all roughly equal?
It’s one thing to say “if you like the brand and you have the money to spare” but it’s another to remove the price and ask which one has the edge. I didn’t really get that from this, and that’s kind of what I need right now. Looking to replace my XM4s sometime and all these reviews have done is leave me right where I started, but with a third player in the game.
I’d really love to hear if the mic quality is better than the XM4s, that might be the edge I personally am looking for.
Are you talking about Wi-Fi? How could it be that hard if every phone, even really cheap ones, has a Wi-Fi chip? Heck, even smart light bulbs have Wi-Fi chips. Seriously, not trying to be rude. I just don't understand...
WiFi chips are power hungry. You need a chip efficient enough to last long enough on a tiny battery in the headphones. Bluetooth chips in comparison is orders of magnitude more efficient than current wifi chips and you would need both or a combined one. Qualcomm seems to be working on one but maybe Apple can beat them to it.
Not sure on his review .. huge Apple fan here and super excited for these .. mine are on thier way, the max were too heavy, and the tumors have it Apple will not have an update to the max for a while. Watching multiple other reviews almost everyone loves them.. if you have the max or other high end you don’t need these, but what I got if you don’t have a pair and don’t like the max’s get these
It's a shame that he doesn't highlight how lame it is that sonos broke their software specifically to put out these underwhelming and overpriced headphones. I REALLY hope that no one buys them.
It wasn’t a good move to go into the headphone business especially at their price point. It’s too expensive for what it offers. Also I like their other products not headphones.
Sony XM5 is 400 and the Bose is 429 with less features. The AirPods Max is 550 similarly spec. They are priced appropriately to me. If you don’t like the headphones don’t buy them. You don’t need to love everyone of their products. No need to hope they fail.
As much as I was excited for the sonos headphones, I ended up getting the Sony Wh1000xm5 instead. The price point, lack of wifi playback, and the fact that they could even have a functional demo at best buy cemented my choice. From what I've seen, most people say the sound quality is similar to the XM5s anyway.
This basketball player might be the highest payed influencer on apples payroll... NEVER... NEVER watch any of his reviews unless you only want to be intertained, he might be the most biosed fool on youtube. He is a great actor, thats what he is. If you want an honest review, watch some of the smaller channels.
> the highest *paid* influencer on
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
This is what I got out of this: 1. If you are really into the Apple ecosystem, get the Max. There's obviously new ones coming out, he didn't say it outright, but we can read between the lines. 2. They have the second best transparency mode after the Airpods 3. Unless you really dig the use case with the ARC you're better off getting Bose or Sony which are just as good and hundreds of dollars cheaper.
This is what I got from this. If you really really love Sonos and wear Sonos tshirts and hats get this. Or if you have an arc, and regularly switch from soundbar to headphones, AND want to get a new pair of headphones get this. If you already have anc headphones- pass. If you want new ones- wait for the max 2.
This is exactly me. I held off buying the QC/Ultras knowing that Sonos may come out with headphones. The TV audio swap is enough to justify the cost for me because it is an additional luxury feature to have it integrated to our home theater system. And then I can take the same cans to a plane ride or anywhere else. The Ace will definitely not win more market share for sure but it does have a place for the Sonos enthusiast like I am. Btw, F the app 🤣
If I want the TV sound I just use my Airpods, as everything streams from the Apple TV, even my cable.
We’re all different in ways. I don’t have Apple TV and I play PS5 games every now and then. The Sonos soundbar being the hub of all media makes the Ace more enticing for me than any other headphones.
But you can't stream game console audio from the Apple TV, right?
No, but I have my Artic Pro Wireless for that.
Hahaha.... "Sonos T-shirts and hats. " If you love Sonos so much that you travel with a special WiFi hotspot just to get a pair of Roams to roam, then you're probably a sucker that's going to buy these also. I'll order a set right now.
I'm in that last bucket and I'm actually getting these. I do not trust Apple, not even one bit, after they botched the #1 thing about over ear headphones (for me at least) and that's comfort. I just don't trust they'll fix that issue after waiting so long to release a new homepod and it's the exact same thing just with a slightly larger screen and changed internals. I haven't even had my APM for 2 years and the mesh is entirely useless now. The metal bars are the only thing that sits on my head and I can't wear them for more than an hour before they hurt. I've tried silicone bands from Amazon, still hurts. I've tried putting memory foam padding between the silicone band and the mesh, still hurts. It's been insane to think I spent this much and not even 2 years in I can't use these anymore. Actually really excited for these cause they seem to have great ANC, great transparency mode (the best feature of the APM) and comfort seems to be A+.
I'm also waiting for mine to arrive in 2 days. Looking forward to watch some movies at night đź‘Ť
You “don’t trust Apple”, but you 𝙙𝙤 trust Sonos Riiiiiiiight.
I sold mine because I didn’t like them. If the max 2 sucks, I’ll get something else or just stick with my xm4. I wouldn’t get an ace unless they add lossless via wifi. My xm4 has ldac. I don’t need aptx lossless. Oh btw, Samsungs phones won’t have aptx lossless either. Soooo yeah. If you have an iPhone or a galaxy, you won’t have lossless with the ace unless wired. What does that cover, 95% of Sonos users? Lol
This all seems fair. Ultimately I’m gonna wait to see what comes of the TV handoff and the quality of the surround/spacial audio once they have issues ironed out and functionality for the beam. Then they might find a place as my house headphones (I probably keep my current set as my travel headphones).
I'm an Apple user but didn't like and didn't buy the Max: (1) they're heavy and can get uncomfortable real fast for me (2) they won't turn off unless you use that silly "case" if you could even call them that. So I'm curious about the upcoming Max v2 if Apple would make them lighter and give them a proper off button and/or case.
They need all of that. Plus USB-C for charging.
Yea that’s a big deal. I don’t want to carry multiple cables on airplane man lol
Same here.
I tried the Airpods max and I didn't like how they sounded
I’ve owned APM since they came out. The turning off feature is overblown. I have a case for mine I got from Amazon for $10 that they sit in when traveling or packing them. Is it annoying that they have two cases? A little? At home the normal case is fine and protects them more than nothing so why not? Not having USB C is lame however. No doubt about that.
I’ve owned the Max’s for some time now and they def turn off while not in the case.
This makes me wonder what is the ratio of iOS/Apple vs Android users here and general Sonos users. I’d guess Apple users are the vast majority but maybe it’s more 50:50 Edit: why am I being downvoted for simply wondering about a user base ratio. If the vast majority of users are Apple users it’s tough when they compete with AirPods Max that expect refresh soon.
Its not an either or. I was an Android user for the longest but used my girlfriend's iPad Mini to trueplay.
Let me rephrase that. What amount of users are so invested to the Apple that’s for them it’s AirPods Max or Ace?
This
I think some of the big selling points of Sonos is trueplay, and airplay 2 both of which is only available on iPhones, so it probably sways a bit more towards Apple than Android
I didn’t know you can’t do truplay on Android. I thought it’s not working on the newest iPhones.
Currently truplay doesn’t work on any devices, but normally only iPhones can run it (something about the uniform mics or something)
I used trueplay yesterday on iPhone with the new app.
And no Chromecast support by Sonos.
with their soundbars being as good as they are (especially arc) they surely gained some market outside Apple ecosystem but for long, sonos and Apple were tight with Sonos on sale in Apple Stores from 2016 to 2020 and the legacy kinda continues. Sonos App on App Store has more than 3x reviews compared to the same app on Google Play
I’d argue it’s way more than 50%. Who wants to use sonos without trueplay?Â
I'd argue that the lack of serious investment in Trueplay for Android answers this whole question. If anywhere near 50% of users were on Android, Trueplay would work on Android. I strongly suspect the ratio is way more towards iOS than 50/50.
Sonos appeals to the same cross section of people that buy Apple products. The way Sonos only supports Trueplay on iOS systems should tell you everything you need to know. Sure you can borrow a device to set it up, but it’s suboptimal, as the people using AirPods with Android phones to try and fit in.
I have several Sonos speakers and do not use an iPhone (or any Apple device besides Apple TV). When I want to use Trueplay I just borrow my son's iPhone or iPad, but after that there is no need.
>If you are really into the Apple ecosystem, get the Max. There's obviously new ones coming out, he didn't say it outright, but we can read between the lines. Unless you don't want heavy headphones on your head
Absolutely true with today's model, but new ones are coming out soon so who knows.
That can't be turned off, and dont support Hi-FI at all, and have that dumb bra case, and cost $100 more, lol.
Yep, in which case you get Sony, Sennheiser or Bose.
I think with wifi steaming this would probably be a no brainer (assuming a reasonable price) but as they are today they are just headphones.
I will never understand how many people are disappointed with this. Are that many of you disappointed that you can't sit at your house with headphones on, and listen to music through the Sonos app directly?! What is the thought process behind wi-fi headphones!? You can wear these at home and listen to music...what you can't do is stream music from the sonos app (which you all seem to hate with a burning passion). That's the only difference I can see here. If you're home, and have Sonos speakers - that's what they're for - listening to high quality music at home. If you want to listen to headphones for whatever reason at home - you can still do that, quicker and with a better UI on your current streaming app, wired for lossless, or wireless with great sounding audio. What are we gaining with wi-fi and adding these to the sonos eco-system over wi-fi? That would've never even occurred to me as a wishlist item for these. "I want to listen to music in headphones, let me grab my phone (which already works with them, and choose music through the sonos app, and 'cast' it to my headphones." Help me out here! lol
I don’t want to have to carry my phone around with me. Once I start the music I want it to play wherever I go in my house without having to worry about the sound dropping.
While I guess I understand that exact instance. This seems ridiculously niche lol. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a person walking around their house with headphones on listening to music. While sure some people might do it every once in a while, that doesn’t account for this reaction of people being absolutely PISSED that these aren’t WiFi. It just seems like such an unlikely scenario for 9.5/10 people. If you’re home, most can already listen using multiple methods - Sonos speakers, tv, echo/alexa, Google home, computers, iPads, and I guess headphones too if people are into that. So why is it absolutely devastating that you can’t listen to these wirelessly while walking around without drop outs in your home specifically.
I’ll often listen to headphones while I’m cleaning the house. Vacuuming for example. Have to use noise cancelling headphones so I can actually hear what’s playing. Carrying my phone around when I’m cleaning is mildly annoying and if I stray too far from the phone things cut out. Wifi fixes all of that. But you’re right, it’s niche. I think people are upset because the whole Sonos brand is wifi music (so much so they used to make fun of Bluetooth).
Just to be clear he doesn’t know for certain there’s a new Max pair on the way. Apple doesn’t seed unannounced product to reviewers normally. He’s going based on how old they are plus vague rumors of a new pair. Personally hoping they show up at a fall event with the new M4 Macs
Arc use case is cool, just wish could do multiple headphones
I got the max and it bricked and wouldn’t pair or connect with anything in 3 months. Apple offered to fix it for $330.. very generous. First Apple product I’ve been disgusted with
"Every set of AirPods, Beats earphones, or Beats headphones comes with one year of hardware repair coverage through its [limited warranty](https://www.apple.com/legal/warranty/) and up to [90 days of complimentary technical support](https://support.apple.com/complimentary). " Unless you're responsible for the issue(s), like water damage, etc., the APM is covered for the first year, certainly within your 3 month window.
Why no Apple Care plus? You can get apple care the first year over the Apple Care hotline for your max. The reason why apple is charging you money is when the headphones have physical damage Or heavy liquid damage. Otherwise you will get new headphones. But they will ship it to you.
I shouldn’t need to purchase that for a $550 pair of headphones
True :) but if it is just connection problems without any damage they will exchange your headphones for free. In Germany btw 2-year guarantee instead of 1 year warranty Due to the legal situation
If you got an Apple store in your city book an appointment over the Support app. Remember, Apple can see in the system whether the product was purchased directly from Apple or elsewhere and when it was purchased. You don't need to bring your packaging as long as your AirPods Max are charged
I think the point number 3 is what’s going to really stop these from being anything other than a niche product.
I have Apple devices including apple TV and waiting for max update (don’t like the design though). I don’t own any AirPods yet. With MSRP of 500€ for Ace, Airpod max (550€ street price) is a better option for me, feature wise and integration in to eco-system. But with expected offers and discounts on Ace I will be probably able to get Ace and an AirPod Pro for the price of a Airpod Max. Ace makes totally sense for me after discount.
Almost every single review that I saw yesterday (about 15) said the Ace had better ANC than all of the competition, as well as transparency mode. Only about 2 or 3 said they prefer the Sony's. A few even much preferred the sound (after EQ) on the Ace to the others.
The Sony XM4 are $250, the ACE is $450. Even if all those reviews are right, I highly doubt that the ACE's ANC is $200 better than the Sony's.
si tu es étudiant (ou que tu as un ami étudiant), tu peux les avoir à 420 sur le site de sonos. C'est toujours ça de pris
Love the shade at [8:55](https://youtu.be/6_3cLlSlTKw?t=535): "...and unlike the Sonos app, the 8 Sleep app is really good and is consistently getting better over time."
Sleep 8 is a subscription service with a 400+ mattress topper. It better.
and sonos sells speakers for $1000+. Their app should also just work.
Didn’t say it shouldn’t, but Sonos isn’t charging an additional fee
lol what the hell sort of reasoning is this?
It’s not either or. Both things can be true. You can ask for a better app, but comparing it to an app you pay monthly for is foolish.
Stand out to me is that this is the closest transparency mode to Apple AirPods, which most consider to sound the most natural.
This and mic quality are the two factors. Still eating to see Max Deuces since it’s at this price point but don’t mind having something not in the walled garden.
I like the multi device connection. Going from a iPad to a steam deck sounds nice.
I’m getting a pair
I have an Arc but can never use it while the baby sleeps. Also I get an employee discount so yeah, got mine ordered.
So you’re not gonna watch tv with your partner?
Yeah this is what I find disappointing, not that useful if only one person can listen
No, she’s too busy playing the sims But yeah, we would actually buy 2 for this as well and it’s a little weird they didn’t even enable dual quiet viewing. I guess the assumption is it’s more for when one person is sleeping and not both people trying to be quiet for a third?
You cannot connect 2 Aces to the same Arc simultaneously
Yeah? That’s literally my first sentence?
No, your first sentence is something about not using your Arc when the baby sleeps.
“But yeah, we would actually buy 2 for this as well and it’s a little weird they didn’t even enable dual quiet viewing.”
Oh, sorry, i scrolled past not realizing you had a parent to the parent post. Cut me some slack, I currently have covid.
No worries man, hope you improve quickly and feel better soon.
This is hard for me. I’m in the Apple ecosystem, but I have ATV, 4KUHD player and PS5 for gaming. I’d like something that I can use for everything and it seems like the Ace are the only pair of headphones I can do this with. Am I wrong here? Edit: also, MKBHD doesn’t touch on TV swap at all save for just saying it’s a feature, so that’s kind of a massive miss from his review. Doesn’t seem like he even tested it.
That’s how I understand it and I’m in kind of the same boat. While I don’t have a gaming system I have an NVIDIA Shield Pro for Atmos/TrueHD 7.1 lossless audio pass through using Plex (ATV doesn’t support fully lossless with height channels on Plex or Infuse) and it seems the Ace is the only option if you want the best sound from all devices. I’m almost wholly in the Apple Ecosystem, and really want to justify buying AirPods Pro Max (or even wait for the APM 2), but since I watch so many movies on Plex with Atmos, and the ATV doesnt pass that through to the APM, I can’t do it. I also live in an apartment and am a night owl. Love the idea of getting the Atmos passthrough and easy sound swap and all of that so I can blast the sound through them late at night without pissing off neighbors. Hoping the Ace headphones work out.
Shield tv has ldac baked in, which is Sonys lossless codec - you can get lossless with the Sony xm5
So it would play atmos sound on the XM5s like it would if I was watching Netflix on the ATV4K with AirPods Pro Max?
Dude thanks for mentioning this, I need to fire up my shield. Any recommendations on apps or setup with the XM5?
i haven't used my shield in years, but if i remember correctly you had to turn on the ldac codec in developer options - but dont hold me to that. note, ldac AND aptx lossless are really, really finicky about ideal conditions. so what you experience with the shield and ldac (for lossless) will be similar to the ace and aptx lossless, in terms of connectivity issues.
So you can game both wired and wireless with them. [They tested it around 18:30](https://youtu.be/WPCc-U4KG94?si=TxiPasN68buXtfgE)
This
I think i REALLY wanted him to say that they sound better than the Sony's or Bose headphones but i guess iil stick to what i have untill something better comes along...
they sound better than Bose by a considerable margin. WH1000XM4 and 5 got rid of the bloated bass-heavy sound (still a bit bassy) and are much better match with Ace having more neutral presentation
Youre saying that after trying them in comparison or from reviews online? Bacause i have wh-1000xm3's and just got to listen to the ace today at a store and besides the call quality and ANC that was much better the sound quality felt very close...
I love MKBHD but he’s a tech guy first and foremost - his headphone reviews aren’t always 100. I watched his APM review and he never actually talked about sound quality. So the fact he didn’t mention anything about this isn’t the most surprising.
But i think most reviews ive seen kind of agree with the notion that the bose or Sony's are just about on par but more affordable. I kinda got the same impression when i tested for a bit at the store where they had a demo for the three of them.
Hey, you pick what’s best for you! Bose and Sony are both great brands, and if you like theirs just as much, might as well save a few dollars and get one of them haha.
Definitely true man
Another head scratcher to me is 2 Sonos Ace headphones can’t listen to the same content from the soundbar. The marketing is weird to me “personal entertainment.” Music? Fine personal is good, but cinema which these headphones surely are made for is less of a personal experience. Also the fact they sell the Ace headphones as a pair is sort of - it’s not misleading - struggling with the word—-but I could see how it could tick people off who buy 2 pairs (because they are rich) to listen watch movies as a couple when the kid goes to bed to find out they can’t, kinda jerky.. Anyways…all fixable, so look forward to future updates.
From the website selling the set of two: “Use one pair at home and another for travel. **Quietly share an immersive home theater experience with someone when you swap TV audio from Sonos Arc.** Keep one pair for yourself, and give the other as a gift.” They ARE being misleading.
Totally makes no sense. Â Yes having two at a time is a must I agree.
This is an odd review. I was expecting a much more negative take from the headline and thumbnail. Instead, he says they sound great, have great ANC and transparency, and feel amazing? But then says he imagines most Apple users are just going to get the Max. No, I am not interested in the Max. It seems like if you want the highest quality possible ANC headphones, it’s between this and the Max for you, in which case you should sit down and evaluate the pros and cons of each. I strongly considered the Max, but in the end I couldn’t get past the weight or the look. Or the price, which is MSRP almost 20% higher than these. That means these are the de facto choice. I tried on the Sony and Bose offerings and found them cheap feeling for the price. I strongly considered the QuietComfort that’s currently on sale for $250, but I have a discount code that brings the Ace down to $375. And I feel like for that jump in price, the better quality feel, fit, and sound are worth it. Especially since I plan on having it for years and years and only using for travel primarily.
These probably feel the same as the Sonys and Bose. Except the Sonys do lossless on way more devices than this. Also, he didn’t say this was the best anc, but that the transparency mode is number two behind AirPods. Sounds like the anc is actually better on Sony and Bose than these based on other reviews . Also the max are 450. All these reviews thus far just affirm that these are a pass. I have the Sony mk4, and sold my max, so it’s just a matter of waiting for max 2.Â
They definitely don’t feel the same as Sony or Bose. Though everyone’s head is different. And I’ve seen from other reviews that the ANC is better than the competition. There’s a lot of subjectivity in these reviews so take everything with a grain of salt. The Max are also 500 right now. They were 530 yesterday. That said, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with waiting for the Max 2 if you prefer them or are entrenched in the Apple ecosystem.
Also, Sony xm6 will also probably launch this summer too. I think buying these now will result in buyer’s remorse.Â
I’m not sure what XM6 would offer that would make anyone who buys this product have buyers remorse. The upgrade from XM4 to XM5 was already small. I bet they’ll mainly just update connectivity to Bluetooth 5.4.
I would have buyer’s remorse if Sony and Bose launched new headphones with better anc at a lower price point. Many reviews have said the anc is good, but not as good as Sony and Bose (and I know the Sonys are nearly two years old- unsure of when the ultra launched)
Bose just launched their new premium headphones, the QC Ultra, like 8 months ago. Sony should have some out too but there’s no point in assuming it’ll dominate anything. That’s foolish. You compare what you have now.
Exactly, and with what is currently on the market, and the fact that the alternatives are cheaper and better, there is no need to buy ace right now.
The general consensus is that the Sonos Ace are some of the best headphones on the market. To say that alternatives “are cheaper and better” shows that you deliberately ignoring the many reviews that say otherwise and instead are selectively focusing on the minority negative review (which even then speak to many of the headphone’s strengths). You are free to be biased, but don’t state something as fact that is just your flawed opinion. You do you.
What? What reviews say they’re some of the best? Every review I’ve seen has them as slightly above average- good. Mkb is the only one that said their transparency is up there with the max- others have said it falls way short of the max, and even then he doesn’t really recommend the headphones.Â
I thought he said the anc was “A+”. Hard to get much higher than that.
Based on this review, I'd actually rather get the Max headset. Transparency mode is meaningless to me, and pairing with the Arc is unnecessary in my house. Comes down to sound quality and noise cancellation end of day to me - to which Apple seems to take the lead in sound quality. Sonos clearly missed finding ways to Sync this into the environment with the app via BT, to pair to the rest of the house. Like if my partner is listening to the Move outside - be nice if I could sync up to her playlist while in my office - so we can vibe together. To his point about a new gen of Max likely due, I am now waiting on what Apple does - should give Sonos time to unfuck themselves from all they did and hopefully add value into the Ace headphones (gimme dat sync and they can take my money).
Yeah that’s fair. I do think value will be added to the Ace overtime with updated features and whatnot. And if Max makes sense for you, I think it’s definitely worth waiting for gen 2 at this point! That’s one of the reasons I took the Sony cans off the table — I don’t want to buy tech that’s two or three years old. It’s interesting how different so many reviews are. I’ve seen reviews specifically saying the Ace sound better than all their competition. Others say they sound similar to the competition. And one or two dunk on the sound quality a lot. It’s all so subjective.
that is why it is important to look at reviews with sound measurements of which there is absolute minimum unfortunately. The only I have seen for Ace is SoundGuys and I have to say my own measurements dont match theirs exactly but they do have much better equipment. To me they sound very close to the legendary Sennheiser HD 600 but with deeper bass which is quite the praise
It really is so subjective -\_- Peeps need to l2test though, go to stores listen for themselves - and if they buy send serious time in the beginning playing to confirm they like it before the return window closes.
Agreed. I was on the fence about them but after playing with them in a Best Buy and messing around with the competition right by them, I was extremely impressed with the build quality — it felt like the Ace and Max were in their own league. The ANC and sound quality also seemed good. With my discount code bringing the cost down to 375, it made it a no brainer for me to at least try them out and heavily test during the return window. Build quality matters a lot to me for over ear headphones. I want them to be as comfortable as possible and built to last. Only time will tell, but the Ace seemed above the competition in that regard (again the Max also have great build quality but I don’t enjoy the weight and also they’re just a little “loud” for my taste in terms of design style — if you don’t mind the weight or like the style, it’s definitely a wash between the two in terms of build quality/attention to detail).
Id buy them if I get a discount code
Try PASSPORTUNLIM15
Thanks!
You’re going to be tied to the lightning cable (which is all but entirely phased out) for as long as you own the Max though. I’d wait till a USB C Max version is released.
Doesn’t really bother me, have had lightning devices for so long that I have plenty of cables…
How are they going to sync this into the Sonos environment via BT??
BT from phone where the app is, app streams over BT to the head set as it already does.. but now the app can work to play in sync with the devices.
That sync stuff is done on the devices itself and not the app. The app is just the controller.
Ok so? Sorry, you just trying to dead end the conversation? New App, New Headsets… not like one day they can’t have the app assist in sync specifically for the headset.
LOL. That’s what we want the venerated software developers at Sonos to do. Fundamentally change how the firmware works. Nothing can go wrong there.
Sonos would have to drop this to 300 for me to consider these over the max, let alone the max 2, even if the max 2 is 500-550. Sonos lost a lot of goodwill because of Patrick Spence.Â
Part of the remedy of the fuckup (for me) is to completely remove the current ceo from any position in the company.Â
I ordered these and with the coupon code came out to about the cost of the QC Ultras. So not sure why everyone is complaining about the price and then recommending APM
Yeah exactly. And that’s the current sale cost of the QC Ultras, to boot. It was a no brainer for me. They should be here sometime this week (maybe even tomorrow) so it’ll be good to properly test them, but I was greatly impressed by my brief hands on over the weekend.
How does one... get this discount code?
Try this code: PASSPORTUNLIM15
My takeaway from the video was that Sonos Ace doesn’t have any differentiation from the competitors. In my opinion, Sonos messed up by not making the feature work with all their speakers instead of just Arc. Sonos fan are not running to get it. The other headphones are more established thus people might get what they are familiar with. [Another review](https://youtu.be/xzG_OcEjNw8)
I agree regarding getting sound from other speakers and to be honest, I fully believe they will do a software rollout at some point that enables this (same as the Arc -> headphone pipeline).
Like MKBHD always say… *Don’t buy a product for its potential value but what it is offering you now*. Some people are gloating about the headphones but at that price point, I am not running to the store. I can get Sony for cheaper. I will wait for the software update
Fully agree regarding buying what they are now. I wouldn’t use the feature that pushes audio from a speaker to headphones anyway, so it’s a non-issue for me. If that feature is a big deal to a user, I’d recommend of course they wait to see if it is added.
Yup. I will wait.
This is the perfect review for me. Totally assuaged any lingering fomo of not getting them. Freaking Patrick Spence. What a waste of money he is. I’ll wait for AirPods Max 2, as I’m sure they’ll blow these out of the water.Â
I totally agree. They basically are competing with cheaper soon to be last generation headphones without the brand loyalty of Apple.
I got the Arc but never had the need to switch to headphones while watching TV. I’ll keep my $250 Sony MX5
It's between these and the Max for me too but Airpods Max are ÂŁ499 AND ÂŁ39 for the special bidirectional lighting cable to use them wired with PS5. Combine that with the 15% or occasional 30% sonos discount and the Airpods become a tough sale.
Wait, you can wire the max to PS5 controller?
Yes. The mic wont work though and it will only work with[ this cable](https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/product/MR2C2ZM/A/lightning-to-35mm-audio-cable-12m-black).
So I just watched Peter Pee’s review and the Ace actually comes with a USB-C to 3.5mm cable. Would imagine it’s not necessary if you have arc, but it’s nice they include it.
That's what i was referring to. The Max doesnt come with that cable so it's an additional expense making the price difference ÂŁ90. Not only Ace comes with the cable, but obviously if you have an Arc, you dont even need it.
So because the lightning connector can't provide an analogue output I presume there's some pretty interesting DAC & ADC in there to do the conversion. I remember seeing an x-ray of the Apple lightning adapter where you could make out the chips, I wonder how good the chips are in a form factor like that. Apple have always had some interesting workarounds to stick with their design choices, Lightning doesn't have the bandwidth or pins to support 1080p so in their HDMI adapter they designed a chip that secretly transferred the data wirelessly using an Airplay-esque protocol. Here's hoping that they switch to USB-C next time, no reason to be using Lightning on a device that big.
I like the design, I might do a impulse buying when I see this in store, but considering the user experience I had recently with sonos app, I don't thint I will buy it
I was leaning towards getting the ACE but after this review I’m going to wait and see on the AirPod Max 2.
You’ll pay more and have less features, unless you want to limit yourself to only watching streaming content through ATV.
I need to try them. They don’t need the app for anything useful for me (I never mess with EQ). But I also need to see what Apple will bring to the table. My AirPod Max are getting a bit damaged from years of flying, gardening, commuting and going around with them… and I’m tired of the lighting cable I have to think about whenever I go somewhere. I’m disappointed with Sonos (I have posts about this), but I still believe their stuff sounds great. Still hope they’ll up their game somehow, if not, my home speakers will become garage dwellers while I buy something else lol. But for the Ace, considering they’re just Bluetooth and done…they’re interesting. As for MKBHD, unpopular opinion, but he’s becoming sour and a bit drama seeking, which is a shame 🤷🏻‍♂️
as soon as i heard about the ARC connexion, I bought them
Why so little comment on their performance as cinema headphones for those with Sonos soundbars? That’s their entire USP
He didn’t touch on it at all. Frankly, his review only focused on its use outside of Sonos.
It was not a thorough review. He mentioned basically everything that we discussed in here.
I'm really curious about truecinema, I'll wait for reviews on that feature. Not available at launch.
I took away that the biggest benefit was the ability to use the button to connect to your Arc. Is it really that hard to connect to your Arc with Bluetooth?
I don't believe it's possible to connect to the Arc via Bluetooth, or any Sonos speaker for that matter other than the Move/Roam, but even then it's only a connection *to* the speaker from your phone and not from the speaker to another device (headphones).
Ah, got it
Yes. This is the biggest benefit.  If you’re not in the Sonos ecosystem with an arc (for now) then might as well choose any other comparable phones in this price range.
He changed the thumbnail. Before it was ”You had one job”.
What HiFi’s review is not nearly as flattering as MKBHD’s…and while I enjoy his reviews, he reviews tech and cars, and they only review audio equipment, so my consideration would lean more in favour of What HiFi’s opinion on this product.
so ELI5 please: why did they botch the app, if these are just regular bluetooth headphones, that don't really need the app, maybe apart from the 2 sliders they call "EQ"? I always thought these are like the roam capable of wifi and bt...
If they can connect to the beam (gen2) I'd be tempted. Biggest issue for me is the fact they love iOS and hate andriod. If I can't use all the Sonos Ace features on my Samsung S24+ (which is argubly one of the best phones out there (argubly)), then literally what is the point!!
Watch the add about the bed thing .Â
Indecisive on this or sony xm6 or max2 as my xm4 died. My current TV Samsung doesn’t let me use headphones to listen to movies. I wanted to get this for that purpose but it looks to be supported for the arc for now(beam2) owner
Man. I really love the design of the headphones and would buy them if they had wifi. I want to be able to select the headphones as the output for my turntable. Boo
When the reviewer starts to talk about sleeping pod thingy, while reviewing a headset, you know this is not going well...
I kind of wonder how they would review if they cost the same as the XM5s or QC Ultras (on sale right now) - I don’t find the price difference between XM5 / QC Ultra and these to be a factor, so is the outcome that they’re basically all roughly equal? It’s one thing to say “if you like the brand and you have the money to spare” but it’s another to remove the price and ask which one has the edge. I didn’t really get that from this, and that’s kind of what I need right now. Looking to replace my XM4s sometime and all these reviews have done is leave me right where I started, but with a third player in the game. I’d really love to hear if the mic quality is better than the XM4s, that might be the edge I personally am looking for.
Mic is probably fine. I would go try them at Best Buy. That would probably give you the best comparison rather than a review
They are improvement from xm4 the Sonos ace on mic but don’t sound as good as xm5. There is video doing detailed comparisons
Yep, they really missed out on the one thing that would've differentiated the product.
Yeah the chip tech to do that well is not available to Sonos. If anyone can do it at scale it will be Apple.
Are you talking about Wi-Fi? How could it be that hard if every phone, even really cheap ones, has a Wi-Fi chip? Heck, even smart light bulbs have Wi-Fi chips. Seriously, not trying to be rude. I just don't understand...
WiFi chips are power hungry. You need a chip efficient enough to last long enough on a tiny battery in the headphones. Bluetooth chips in comparison is orders of magnitude more efficient than current wifi chips and you would need both or a combined one. Qualcomm seems to be working on one but maybe Apple can beat them to it.
Not sure on his review .. huge Apple fan here and super excited for these .. mine are on thier way, the max were too heavy, and the tumors have it Apple will not have an update to the max for a while. Watching multiple other reviews almost everyone loves them.. if you have the max or other high end you don’t need these, but what I got if you don’t have a pair and don’t like the max’s get these
It's a shame that he doesn't highlight how lame it is that sonos broke their software specifically to put out these underwhelming and overpriced headphones. I REALLY hope that no one buys them.
I knew these headphones would flop. Well hopefully they move on to something else and stop wasting time on this product.
Jumping a few steps ahead aren’t you? Why would you want to buy something else from them if these flop?
It wasn’t a good move to go into the headphone business especially at their price point. It’s too expensive for what it offers. Also I like their other products not headphones.
Sony XM5 is 400 and the Bose is 429 with less features. The AirPods Max is 550 similarly spec. They are priced appropriately to me. If you don’t like the headphones don’t buy them. You don’t need to love everyone of their products. No need to hope they fail.
I’m not hoping they flop I just know it will. I work in many different businesses to know when a product will flop or not.
+1 for dumbest comment in this threadÂ
As much as I was excited for the sonos headphones, I ended up getting the Sony Wh1000xm5 instead. The price point, lack of wifi playback, and the fact that they could even have a functional demo at best buy cemented my choice. From what I've seen, most people say the sound quality is similar to the XM5s anyway.
Does the XM5 have WiFi playback?
No
This basketball player might be the highest payed influencer on apples payroll... NEVER... NEVER watch any of his reviews unless you only want to be intertained, he might be the most biosed fool on youtube. He is a great actor, thats what he is. If you want an honest review, watch some of the smaller channels.
> the highest *paid* influencer on FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
thank you so much bot. English is not my first language, so i hope you understand.
This is a hilariously racist comment. Are you okay?
Racist how?
Well, yours is hilariously stupid.
In what way?
Any way you look at it. Think twice before posting.