Sonos Plays Up Software Tack With New Atmos-Enabled Sound Bar
Sonos is taking a software-driven approach to Dolby Atmos in the second-generation Beam sound bar launched Tuesday, Principal Product Manager Scott Fink told us on an embargoed call Friday. The next-gen Beam, which will replace the current model when inventories are depleted, doesn’t use upfiring speakers to deliver Dolby Atmos, unlike the $899 Arc that bowed last year, he said.
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The $449 compact speaker, $50 more than its predecessor, has the same speaker complement -- a center tweeter, four elliptical mid-woofers and three passive radiators -- but adds a processor that’s 40% more powerful, Fink said. More processing power is required for Dolby Atmos and Amazon Music’s Ultra High Definition audio, he said. Sonos plans to launch Ultra HD and Dolby Atmos Music later this year via Amazon Music, bringing 24-bit/48-kHz lossless audio to Sonos S2 speakers. More processing power also helps the speaker isolate dialogue, he said.
Fink described the speaker arrays in the Beam not as transducers but as software “that’s coordinating all the playback and interaction across the speakers” inside the sound bar. “By using all our speakers together,” he said, “we can efficiently and effectively direct sound in different parts of the room.” The Beam uses psychoacoustics: “Unlike a traditional sound bar, where an explosion happens on the left hind side of your screen, and the left speaker in your sound bar fires,” he said, Sonos uses all transducers to produce sound, even if it’s only coming from the left. “We’re using the speakers on the left to develop or build the sound toward the left, then using the speakers toward the center or the right to cancel out the sound in that direction,” Fink noted: The approach allowed audio engineers to steer sound “more precisely around the room.”
Beam (Gen 2) supports Dolby Atmos for home theater content via HDMI audio return channel or enhanced ARC but currently not DTS:X, a spokesperson told us. If a customer tried to stream DTS:X on Beam today, it would receive a stereo PCM signal from the source device, she said. When DTS Digital Surround launches, due this year, the Beam will receive a DTS Digital Surround 5.1 signal, she said.
Sonos downplayed the sound bar's voice control features, saying only that it can be controlled by “multiple voice assistants,” along with the Sonos app, TV remote, Apple AirPlay 2 and music service apps. Sonos acquired voice engine company Snips two years ago (see 1911220056). Fink had nothing to say about plans for the technology, saying he couldn’t comment on the company’s future roadmap.
The Beam uses near-field communication for setup, a process first used in the Roam portable speaker that launched in March (see 2103090046). The new Beam falls under Sonos’ upgrade program. Original Beam customers can receive a 15% off code for any Sonos speaker as part of the program, and don’t have to trade in products to do so, the spokesperson said. The company began taking preorders on its e-commerce site Tuesday, with availability Oct. 5.
On whether the $50 higher price tag is due to component price increases from suppliers, Fink said the Gen 2 Beam adds value. He declined to say where the sound bar is being manufactured. Sonos has had supply challenges, including with the Arc sound bar, which the Sonos website shows being available Oct. 22. On an August earnings call (see 2108120048), Chief Financial Officer Brittany Bagley referenced “pretty significant backlog numbers” as demand moves higher “with limited supply.”
Bagley attributed supply constraints to component shortages and costs vs. the company’s decision to move manufacturing to Malaysia from China two years ago to mitigate effects of Trump administration Section 301 List 4A tariffs. Sonos has delayed timing for when it will be fully up and running in Malaysia, where COVID-19 has affected production. The company is hoping the transition happens “at some point in FY 2022,” Bagley said, while it continues to manufacture in China.