Sonos Ace headphones deliver the living room experience, but at a price

NOTICE: Using headphones to watch TV is often a secondary choice depending on the circumstances. Take a tablet on a train, for example, or plug in a pair at home because it’s late at night and you won’t want to disturb those sleeping at your house.

While a good pair of headphones lets you hear what’s going on, allowing you to listen at higher volumes without disturbing others, the experience can also be one of disconnection. Wearing headphones while watching anything can be tiring, and the longer you watch, the more aware you are that you’re wearing headphones.

To combat this, there are several technologies available to make headphones more natural. Head Tracking is one such technology, available on several high-end headphones. This technology tracks head movements and adjusts sound so it appears to be coming from a single location, such as a TV screen or tablet.

With an extreme example, when watching TV sitting in my bay window, if I see someone walking my way and I turn right to look at them, head tracking means the sound moves so that it only comes into my left ear, mimicking how it would sound if the soundbar was playing audio.

I’m not going to sit around watching TV the wrong way, but Head Tracking also works with the more subtle, gentler head movements we all make when we’re “sitting.” The small changes to the audio keep what’s happening on the screen and what I can hear linked, making it seem like the audio is coming from the TV, removing the headphone disconnect normally introduced.

Spatial audio is another technology, designed to deliver a wider soundscape than traditional stereo headphones, making it feel less like you’re wearing a pair of headphones.

In the living room

While head tracking is a feature of a specific headset, spatial audio is slightly more complicated and relies on either virtually processing a traditional input track or a special spatial track designed to work with any helmet.

For example, Netflix supports spatial audio with any stereo device, including headphones, but it will only work with content that has a dedicated spatial audio track.

Although the number of shows and movies with this type of soundtrack is increasing, it is not as large a collection as those with a full surround soundtrack. And Netflix’s spatial audio tracks are distinct and different from the Dolby Atmos and 5.1 tracks provided by the service, so it’s not as pure an experience.

Currently, the spatial audio and final quality you get is limited by the hardware and applications you use.

In the living room

The Sonos Ace headphones work slightly differently thanks to TV Audio Swap. Rather than connecting to a TV, soundbar or streaming box via Bluetooth or a 3.5mm cable, they connect via Wi-Fi to a compatible Sonos soundbar. Currently, the Sonos Arc is the only soundbar supported, but the Beam and Ray soundbars will also be supported.

Working with a soundbar means that any input format is supported (DTS bar): stereo, PCM, 5.1 or Dolby Atmos. The native soundtrack is taken and transformed into a virtual surround sound track that is injected into the headphones.

This removes limitations that might otherwise exist, such as supporting spatial audio only on specific apps. In short, any source, whether it’s a set-top box, streaming stick, game console or Ultra HD Blu-ray player, will work without any configuration or settings specific required, using the original soundtrack as input.

With just one button to pair headphones with a soundbar, using Sonos Ace with a TV is incredibly simple and changes the dynamic of using headphones to watch in the living room.

Currently, Sonos’ spatial audio is a bit generic. Rather than precisely traced sound, say coming from behind you, spatial audio simply seems larger and more encompassing. This means that for a pure experience, a proper surround sound system with discrete rear speakers provides a more precise soundscape, but spatial audio is a clear step up from regular audio.

Sonos has promised an upgrade, with TrueCinema arriving later this year. This will adjust your headphones to suit your space, creating a complete virtual surround sound system that Sonos says is “so realistic you’ll forget you’re wearing headphones.”

This technology could be the upgrade that bridges the gap between a real system and a virtual system, reducing the trade-offs that need to be made.

An interesting upgrade?

Currently, limiting the need for a Sonos Arc means that using the Sonos Ace headphones in a living room is an expensive option; Even when the cheapest soundbars are supported, this type of setup isn’t cheap. For those who own competing soundbars or home theater systems, it would be difficult to justify the expense.

However, for those connected to the Sonos system for home theater, the Sonos Ace headphones offer an easier way to get all the content in a more immersive and comfortable way, without the typical constraints imposed by headphones.

While a system with discrete speakers provides a purer experience, the combination of simplicity, comfort and virtual surround technology that the Ace offers, designed specifically to operate in a living room rather than on the go, means that I find myself looking for them. headphones in situations where I would otherwise have to turn down the soundbar volume.