The Sonos Ace have one of my favorite wireless features — and its not the ANC

1 week ago 1

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It's 1am — the rest of the house is sound asleep. Yet, despite the impending early morning and long day of work, I remain awake, staring at the TV.

After all, my binge-watch of "HomeTown Cha Cha Cha" isn't over yet, and I've got three quarters of an episode to watch.

But, thanks to my Sonos Ace, no one is awake to hear my midnight TV session. And it's all thanks to the ace hidden up my best headphones sleeves —the audio handover mode.

It might just be one of my favorite inventions ever on a pair of headphones, and I learned recently that I actually can't live without it.

Audio handover

Sonos Ace atop the carry case on a wooden table

The feature in question is called "TV Audio Swap", and it lets the Sonos Ace take over from your Sonos soundbar, like the Arc Ultra, when you don't want to disturb the rest of the house. For me, it's been utterly instrumental in making sure that I don't annoy the people I live with whenever I want to watch some TV or watch a movie.

It's easy to set up and use — it's in the settings menu. You slide a switch, tell the app which soundbar you'd like it to work with, and you're away. When you want to watch TV with your headphones, just press and hold the control slider on the headphones. One audio confirmation later, you're all hooked up and listening to your TV audio over your headphones.

It's one of the few features I haven't really had any issues with at all over the course of my ownership of both my Arc Ultra and my Sonos Ace. I've used it to watch everything from political question time shows that follow elections to Nascar races at three in the morning and movies that need massive sound at stupid o'clock, when I should really in be in bed.

Personal spatial audio

Sonos Ace headphones in soft white worn by Mike Prospero

The way that the TV audio swap feature was sold to me when I first chatted with Sonos was a "personal home cinema."

That's because it uses the virtual surround of the headphones to make your movies sound like a cinema, or a fully equipped Sonos Arc Ultra setup. The Sonos Ace were already my favorite spatial audio headphones, so to use them for movies felt like a good side step.

It's super impressive. The headphones do a great job of taking a spatial audio mix and making it sound like it's all around you. Space battles in Star Wars that surround you in action, car chases that make you feel like you're in the thick of it, and soundscapes that place you directly into the action.

It's not quite as good as a cinema, obviously. You don't get the rumble of subwoofers, for example. But it's more than enough to have a great time when you don't want to wake anyone up.

One of the coolest parts is the TrueCinema feature. That uses the TruePlay mapping of your space, and then makes a virtual surround version in your headphones. It's loads of fun, and if you've got a Sonos surround already set up it can make things feel more seamless.

I can't live without it anymore

When I went to use my Sonos Ace a couple of weeks ago, they wouldn't start up. "Kaput," I believe the Germans would put it. They simply wouldn't power up. The battery had completely drained, and they wouldn't charge. "Bereft of life, it rests in peace."

Of course, it happened just as I wanted to watch a movie before bed, when everyone else was already getting 40 winks. I was gobsmacked — what was I going to do?

For the next few days, I was unable to watch my surround sound at a decent enough volume. I had to slum it with low volume. No spatial audio, just low volume and no bass. Incredible sadness, queue the tissues and the red wine.

It was my time without the Sonos Ace that made me realize how much I use the feature. Thankfully, I was quickly able to get myself another pair, but it highlighted how important it has become in my TV watching.

More headphones and soundbars should do this

Sonos Ace headphone in black outside in the reviewer's garden

Look, I know I'm very lucky. Not everyone has or can afford the $449 for the Sonos Ace, as well as a compatible Sonos soundbar. It's a lot of money to ask for a feature, and I would love to see it come to some more affordable option.

I'm thinking it'd be like a way to connect your Sony headphones to your Sony soundbar, no matter how much you've paid for either. As both headphones and soundbars become a more expected part of people's audio setups, it would be excellent to see them work together more.

But for now, you'll need to spend at least $800 on the Sonos Ace and a Sonos soundbar.

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Tammy and her generous collection of headphones have found a new home — Tom's Guide! After a two-and-a-half-year stint as iMore's resident audiophile, Tammy's reviews and buying guide expertise have more focus than ever on Tom's Guide, helping buyers find the audio gear that works best for them. Tammy has worked with some of the most desirable audio brands on the planet in her time writing about headphones, speakers, and more, bringing a consumer focussed approach to critique and buying advice. Away from her desk, you'll probably find her in the countryside writing (extremely bad) poetry, or putting her screenwriting Masters to good use creating screenplays that'll never see the light of day.

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