Sonos has released a major software update for its Ace wireless headphones that brings performance improvements and a feature that was originally supposed to be available late last year. The TrueCinema mode, which adapts the headphones’ spatial sound to your space and makes the virtual surround sound effect more convincing, is finally available, according to What Hi-Fi?
This feature is similar to Sonos’ TruePlay feature, which optimizes the sound of the company’s speakers by measuring the acoustics in a room with a smartphone that listens to how sounds bounce off walls and surfaces. With TrueCinema, the Sonos soundbar measures the room’s acoustics, and the Ace headphones’ microphones detect your exact listening position and adapt spatial 3D sound to make it seem as if the speakers are all around you.
The new software update also expands the headphone’s TV Audio Swap feature, which allows you to stream audio from a supported Sonos soundbar to Ace for private listening. This feature was originally limited to the Sonos Arc soundbar and required activation via iPhone or iPad. Last August, Sonos expanded TV Audio Swap compatibility to include the more affordable Beam and Ray soundbars, as well as Android devices. The Sonos update further expands the capabilities of TV Audio Swap so that it now works with two sets of Ace headphones at the same time, allowing two people to watch TV together without disturbing others.
Sonos says the Ace also benefit from improved active noise cancellation that adapts to how the headphones sit on your head. ANC now compensates in real time for sound leakage caused by hair, glasses, or hats that prevent Ace from creating a tight acoustic seal around your ears. During phone calls, the earbuds will also use high-resolution audio, and the new SideTone feature will add a little bit of your voice to the audio when ANC is on to make calls sound more natural.
