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Sonos este o companie americană, lider în domeniul tehnologiei audio, cunoscută mai ales pentru sistemele audio wireless, multiroom, revoluționare, care facilitează streamingul de muzică și de alte tipuri de conținut, în întreaga locuință. Compania continuă să inoveze, creând boxe wireless, sisteme home theater, căști, componente de arhitectură audio și soluții audio integrate, pentru acasă, ce revoluționează modul în care oamenii ascultă și se conectează la sunet.

Raise your hand if this has happened to you: You’re listening to music on your Bluetooth headphones at home and you get up for a snack — only to lose your connection somewhere between your home office and kitchen. This is an all-too-common experience, though it inadvertently doubles as a real-life test of Bluetooth range.

Prior to 2016, most consumer Bluetooth connections topped out at a range of around 30 feet (10 meters) — probably not enough to cover an entire park or backyard, or the floor plan of a large house. But the launch of Bluetooth 5.0 changed the game, nearly doubling Bluetooth’s range. The latest iteration, Bluetooth 5.4, makes for an even more stable connection at the outermost edges of that range.

Of course, the Bluetooth range of a speaker or headphones usually can’t be pinned down to a precise measurement, as it varies depending on interference from objects, walls, passersby, and even electromagnetic fields. Let’s take a look at why this is the case, and what your best options are for optimal range.

Bluetooth is a relatively short-range wireless technology used to connect Bluetooth-compatible devices. It’s not meant to connect two Bluetooth devices across great distances. Rather, it’s most often used to connect peripheral devices (headphones, speakers, keyboards, etc.) to phones, tablets, or laptops.

With that said, recent advancements in Bluetooth technology have significantly expanded the range of a Bluetooth connection. Generally speaking, devices outfitted with Bluetooth version 5.0 and higher can maintain a connection over a relatively vast range of up to 800 feet under ideal conditions.

A newer iteration, Bluetooth 5.4, was launched in 2023 but is currently available on only a few devices, such as 

Bluetooth devices use ultra-high frequency (UHF) radio waves to communicate with each other. These radio waves enable easy device pairing without using the internet, but they can also fall victim to various types of interference.

A Bluetooth signal doesn’t have much trouble passing through most solid objects, though some solids are friendlier to Bluetooth than others.

Dense materials (e.g. brick and concrete) and materials with high electrical conductivity (e.g. metal and tinted glass) can be harder for Bluetooth radio waves to pass through. It’s much easier for Bluetooth waves to pass through non-conductive, low-density materials like plastic, wood, glass, and drywall.

Bluetooth devices operate in the 2.4 GHz frequency band — the same band used by a host of other wireless devices including WiFi networks, cordless phones, and microwaves. As you might imagine, the 2.4 GHz band can get pretty crowded, especially in areas where an especially high number of devices are being used simultaneously, like hospitals and busy city streets. In these places, you may experience some additional limitations in the range of your Bluetooth signal.

The good news? Bluetooth has evolved to (at least partially) overcome these limitations. Bluetooth 5.3 rolled out a new approach to channel classification, which is the process by which a Bluetooth device evaluates the quality of the radio channels available to it, then chooses the best channel to use for transmission.

In previous versions of channel classification, only the 

 device (e.g. the phone or the laptop) performed channel classification. But in Bluetooth 5.3 and higher, both the central device and

 device (e.g. your headphones) perform channel classification, resulting in a channel selection that’s optimal for both devices and not just one.

Bluetooth 5.0 and higher can also sniff out and squash any frequency impedances that happen at the edges of the 2.4 GHz band — one reason why the music you listen to on Sonos Ace sounds crystal-clear compared to what you’ve come to expect from earlier Bluetooth versions.

The lower the battery on your Bluetooth device, the lower its ability to transmit signals over long distances. So, be sure to keep your device optimally charged, and 

prioritize battery life when shopping for a new pair of headphones

Updates in Bluetooth 5.3 and 5.4 have resulted in more efficient power consumption and battery life. Sonos Ace, which uses Bluetooth 5.4, has up to 30 hours of battery life with 

 enabled — and up to three hours of playback with just a three-minute charge.

Have you ever noticed that your Bluetooth range shrinks during a rainstorm? This has to do with water, another substance that can seriously interfere with a Bluetooth signal. There’s more water in the air during a storm, or during particularly humid weather, so your Bluetooth range may suffer in such conditions.

With that said, your Bluetooth speaker should still function just fine in most weather conditions. That’s why we’ve built our 

Low-grade materials can also lead to a low-grade connection. For example, a cheap battery that can’t hold its charge will lead to a persistently weak signal. And a cheap plastic casing can easily crack open, allowing water and other signal-blocking elements to seep in.

But it’s not just materials; it’s design, as well. A lot of engineering goes into the best Bluetooth products, enabling them to withstand the elements and stay out of their own way. This is the case with 

, which is rated IP67 waterproof and dustproof for optimal performance even when you’re outdoors.

Person listening to black Sonos Ace headphones at an outdoor cafe

Bluetooth technology has a lot to recommend. It’s portable, enables fast and easy connections, and newer versions boast a pretty astounding range. Bluetooth also works in places where it can be difficult to get a WiFi connection, such as the middle of a park or on a long run with headphones. A small class of Bluetooth headphones can even support lossless audio, which was previously thought to be unattainable with a Bluetooth connection.

But! If you want continuous sound in your living space with audiophile-level quality, Bluetooth isn’t the best answer. A 

 with a WiFi connection can offer higher bandwidth and data transfer rates than Bluetooth, enabling 

 without compression. WiFi also has a more extensive and reliable range than Bluetooth and better supports 

, which gives you more flexibility in positioning 

Sonos portables and headphones bring Bluetooth to life

It used to be that using Bluetooth meant prioritizing convenience and portability over sound quality. While you’ll still get the absolute best sound quality from a WiFi system, Sonos portables and headphones bring Bluetooth 

 than ever before. With portable speakers like Move 2 and Roam 2, you’ll get amazing acoustics and exceptional clarity no matter which room (or field, or beach, or hiking trail) you listen in.

Person listening to Sonos Ace headphones at the park

What Is the Bluetooth Range for Speakers and Headphones?

Though some listeners prefer their shelves of vinyl and stacks of CDs, most music libraries now exist in digital file formats that are more convenient to store and easier to access on the go. But it’s not particularly helpful to simply describe an audio file format as “digital” because that can mean different things — and different levels of sound quality. Audio files in fact come in multiple formats, and not all of these formats are made equal.

One of the major differences between audio file formats relates to a process called 

. As its name implies, compression makes file sizes smaller. This can be useful for saving storage space on a hard drive, but it can also have consequences for the quality of the original audio recording.

The compression process essentially reduces the amount of data contained in an audio waveform, and this loss of data may result in noticeable loss of quality to the listener. Some audio file formats that undergo this 

 type of compression include MP3, AAC, and Ogg/Vorbis.

 diminish audio quality. Some newer compression technologies manage to shrink the file size while retaining all of the audio information from the original recording; audio files that undergo this type of compression are known as 

Finally, there are audio files that undergo no compression. These 

 audio files are generally much larger in size, but they avoid the audio quality issues that plague some compressed formats.

. Let’s dive deeper into each type and explore some common examples.

Lossy audio files are compressed in such a way that some of the original recording’s fidelity is lost. You may find it strange that 

 would prefer a lossy audio file to one that retains all of the richness and complexity of an uncompressed file. But lossy files tend to take up much less bandwidth and storage space, which makes them a good compromise for music-streaming services.

And before you think “lossy” automatically means “bad quality,” consider whether your ears will even notice the difference. Many people find it difficult to detect any difference between CD quality (16 bits/44.1 kHz) and higher bitrate standards, which some lossy file formats technically achieve. If it makes no difference to your ears, it makes sense to opt for a smaller file size when possible.

On that note, let’s look at four lossy audio file types you may come across.

The MP3 audio file format became immensely popular in the early 2000s. At the time, it was among the most efficient ways to get an audio track from a CD and store it on a digital hard drive or on a “burned” CD. The MP3 file format is much smaller than that of an uncompressed CD audio track.

MP3s were revolutionary for their time and led to a huge leap forward in portable listening, as they were the basis for early digital audio players. You may even still have some MP3s stored on your hard drive, but the format is lossy and some people may be able to pick out the difference between an MP3 and a CD-quality track.

AAC stands for Advanced Audio Coding, which is another lossy coding standard used in audio track compression. AAC quality doesn’t rise to the level of 

 but it is a step up from the MP3, delivering better quality at a comparable file size.

Though perhaps not quite as ubiquitous as the MP3, the AAC format is everywhere and you’ve probably encountered it yourself. It was the preferred format of the iTunes music store and continues to be available on AAC-compatible devices.

OGG is a versatile and open-source multimedia compression technology. You may have heard of Ogg/Vorbis, which is an OGG format typically used for audio compression. Spotify frequently uses this format for its streams.

Though lossy, OGG audio files retain pretty good sound quality. Their size and quality are both advantages over other lossy compression formats, and they are widely used for streaming audio over the internet.

WMA is short for Windows Media Audio — a hint that this is a proprietary format developed by Microsoft. Though it achieves slightly better quality than MP3, the lossy WMA format is not widely compatible with non-Microsoft devices and thus has limited utility.

Person seated in a chair listening to a white Era 300 placed on a console

 are those that are compressed in such a way that the quality of the original recording essentially stays intact. In other words, no discernible aspect of the audio is lost in the process of compression.

Just be aware that “lossless” does not mean uncompressed. A lossless track is still compressed, though it uses a data algorithm to retain all of the original recording’s quality. Lossless quality generally equates to about 16 bits/44.1 kHz or higher, which means it sounds at least as good as a CD.

Below are some of the most common lossless file types.

FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec. A “codec” is basically a process that compresses and decompresses digital files, so the name here basically says it all: This was developed as a free way to achieve lossless compression.

Many audiophiles consider FLAC the gold standard of digital audio formats, as it achieves a much smaller size than a raw uncompressed audio file without sacrificing any discernible audio quality.

ALAC stands for Apple Lossless Audio Codec. It was developed by Apple as a lossless successor to AAC. The company currently offers its entire Apple Music catalog in ALAC resolutions ranging from CD quality to higher.

There is indeed a lossless alternative to the lossy Windows Media Audio format mentioned above. It isn’t as common as FLAC and Apple’s ALAC, and it doesn’t stand out in terms of compression efficiency or audio quality. With that said, this WMA format does offer a lossless audio experience to (primarily) Microsoft users.

Person outdoors listening to Soft White Sonos Ace headphones

As the name suggests, uncompressed audio files do not undergo any type of compression. This means that there is no data lost in the process of compression, and every aspect of the original recording is preserved.

Many audiophiles hold uncompressed file types up as the holy grail of digital audio, but these file types come with a few of their own disadvantages. For one, they tend to be quite large; if you store a ton of uncompressed files locally, you’ll likely need additional hard drive space. Their cumbersome size also means it may be difficult to find truly uncompressed files on many streaming services.

Let’s check out three of the most common uncompressed audio formats.

WAV (Waveform Audio File Format) is a hi-res audio format used for encoding CD audio data. Though WAV files can technically store compressed data, they are typically used for uncompressed audio.

WAV files are known for their excellent sound quality, but they’re also notorious for their very large file sizes.

AIFF, or Audio Interchange File Format, is similar to WAV in many ways. (In fact, it was developed by Apple around the same time Microsoft and IBM were developing the WAV format.)

AIFF audio files are comparable to WAV files, and both are generally compatible with Microsoft and Apple systems. But AIFF files are rare and suffer from large file sizes, so you probably won’t see them much.

The DSD (Direct Stream Digital) format is another one that’s popular among audiophiles. It aims to capture the original analog waveform in a way that replicates what you might hear coming out of a high-quality record player. Though beloved among a small subset of listeners, DSD hasn’t caught on with the mainstream and uncompressed DSD files are simply too large to make sense for internet-dependent streaming applications.

At the end of the day, the audio file type you use is only as good as the equipment you play it on. If you don’t plan to invest in a hi-fi sound system with quality components, it might not matter whether you use an MP3, AAC, or lossless audio file format.

 isn’t as unattainable as you may think. With a premium speaker like 

, you’ll be more likely to discern the differences between lossy and lossless audio quality.

From there, the file format you choose depends mostly on how you listen to music. If you mostly stream music but want the best quality possible, look for services that feature FLAC and ALAC encoding. If storage space isn’t an issue and you play mostly files from your CD library, WAV could make more sense.

Of course, it helps to be honest with yourself about how much quality really matters. Some people are just fine with lossy formats, and sometimes the convenience of smaller file sizes outweighs any difference in audio quality.

Experience multiple audio formats with Sonos

At this point, you may be wondering what audio formats Sonos supports. Our 

 include many of the formats mentioned in this guide. This includes high-quality lossless and uncompressed audio encoded using FLAC and ALAC, with a maximum bit depth ranging from CD quality to higher.

White Five next to a walnut turntable placed on a console

Beginner's Guide to Audio File Types (And Which to Use)

Perhaps you’ve noticed a recent uptick in music streaming services advertising “lossless audio.” As technology improves, more of these services have been able to improve their song libraries by supporting higher-resolution formats. That’s good news for the millions of music lovers who have adopted streaming as their go-to means of listening to music. But to take full advantage of this shift, it helps to know what lossless audio actually is and whether your preferred streaming service actually supports it.

Lossless audio can be a confusing term, especially since so many streaming services are now beginning to offer tiers or packages that distinguish between “lossy” and “lossless” file formats. The idea is that lossless audio means higher quality, and this is generally true — though it helps to understand the 

 before you rush to upgrade your audio setup.

Let’s define lossless audio and walk through what you need to listen to it at home.

The term “lossless audio” describes compressed 

 that retain all of the audio information from the original recording. This is in contrast to “lossy audio,” which describes compressed file formats that delete some of the original audio information.

It’s important to note that both lossless and lossy audio files go through a process called compression, which involves shrinking the size of the file so that it takes up less storage space. Compression certainly has its benefits — it makes files easier to store locally and requires less internet bandwidth for uninterrupted streaming. But the compression process can result in the loss of some audio data, which some people may be able to detect as inferior quality.

What’s lost in a “lossy” audio file?

To understand what’s lost in a “lossy” file, it helps to know how sample rate and bit depth work. Together, these two measurements tell us something about a digital audio file’s sound quality.

 Digital audio files take a certain number of snapshots of a recording’s original soundwave, then stitch these together to form a reproduction of the original recording. The more snapshots taken, the higher the sample rate — and the higher the sample rate, the higher the quality.

It also helps if each of these snapshots is capturing the entire soundwave, or just a portion of it. Digital recordings that capture more of the range between loud and quiet are said to have a higher 

Combine a high-enough sample rate with a high-enough bit depth, and you get a compressed digital reproduction that’s basically indistinguishable from the original recording. In other words, you get “lossless audio.” But if the compression process favors a lower sample rate and bit depth in favor of a smaller file size, it may result in a “lossy” audio file.

Person doing yoga in front of a white Beam placed under a tv

Lossless audio is already available on a number of popular streaming services. Apple Music, for example, touts a proprietary lossless audio compression technology called 

. Amazon Music subscribers can also find lossless audio at two tiers of quality: 

High Definition and Ultra High Definition

Both Apple Music and Amazon Music define “lossless audio” as starting at CD quality (or 16-bit). You may not think of CDs as the most cutting-edge technology, but standard CD quality audio was originally determined to be high enough that the human ear could not detect a difference between CD quality and the original recording. 

 show that some people may be able to hear beyond that with training, but if you’re looking for the shortest path to lossless audio, consider dusting off your old CD collection.

Is lossless audio better than regular audio?

The short answer is yes. Lossless audio offers a better and richer sound experience than lossy audio alternatives, which have become the “regular audio” standard thanks to the rise of streaming services.

But for the best listening experience, nothing beats a quality speaker. The difference between an Apple ALAC file and an Amazon Ultra High Definition file is relatively small, but your cell phone’s built-in speaker won’t do either of them justice. To really benefit from lossless audio technology, you’ll need equipment that can handle it.

What do I need to listen to lossless audio?

Lossless audio is much more attainable than it used to be, and a quality speaker or headphones should be all you need. Since lossless audio covers a wider range of frequencies than lossy audio, your speakers should be able to handle frequencies within the full range of human hearing (generally 20 Hz to 20 kHz).

You can even listen to lossless audio wirelessly with Sonos products. Our 

Yes, though this hasn’t always been the case. It’s exceedingly difficult to transmit audio data over Bluetooth without at least a bit of compression, so most Bluetooth speakers and earbuds don’t support lossless audio. Sonos Ace is among a relatively small class of headphones that can achieve lossless audio with a Bluetooth connection. For other headphones and speakers like 

, Bluetooth can still deliver impressively clear sound, though you’ll want to connect via WiFi for the best audio experience.

Person lounging outdoors while listening to Soft White Sonos Ace headphones

You may have heard of other terms used to describe high-quality audio, but how do terms like “hi-fi” and “spatial audio” relate to lossless? Let’s take a look.

Because the term “lossless” relates specifically to digital file compression, lossless audio typically describes audio formats that don’t lose any of the original signal in the process of compression. You’d describe an audio coding format such as Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) as “lossless,” but you wouldn’t use the term to describe, say, a set of premium speakers.

, or hi-fi for short, usually describes a full system or setup that’s capable of reproducing audio from the original recording with a high degree of exactness. So, a hi-fi setup would include speakers, an 

, or hi-res audio for short, is related to lossless audio but not exactly the same.

Above, we mentioned that compression can result in a lossy audio file or a lossless audio file. 

But an audio file does not need to be compressed at all

. Uncompressed formats can support even higher bit depths and sampling rates than some lossless audio formats.

The term “hi-res audio” tends to bucket together lossless and uncompressed formats that achieve a certain sound quality — typically superior to that of a CD.

 describes an immersive, three-dimensional listening experience that makes you feel as if sounds are coming from all directions. Spatial audio technologies like 

 add the sense of height to audio playback that more closely reflects how you hear sound in real life. This can be an impressive feature of a 

Lossless audio has become a buzzy topic in recent years, as people have realized that even the best sound systems can’t compensate for lossy streaming quality. The good news is that more and more streaming services are debuting their own lossless formats, and we may be fast-approaching a day when lossless audio compression becomes the norm. To prepare yourself for that eventuality, upgrade to a Sonos 

 that can support lossless audio quality over WiFi.

Parent and child making crafts while listening to a black Move 2

What Is Lossless Audio — And How To Stream It at Home

We know that too many of you have experienced significant problems with our new app which rolled out on May 7, and I want to begin by personally apologizing for disappointing you. There isn’t an employee at Sonos who isn’t pained by having let you down, and I assure you that fixing the app for all of our customers and partners has been and continues to be our 

We developed the new app to create a better experience, with the ability to drive more innovation in the future, and with the knowledge that it would get better over time. However, since launch we have found a number of issues. Fixing these issues has delayed our prior plan to quickly incorporate missing features and functionality.

Since May 7, we have released new software updates approximately every two weeks, each making significant and meaningful improvements, adding features and fixing bugs. Please see the 

 for detailed information on what has been released to date.

While these software updates have enabled the majority of our customers to have a robust experience using the Sonos app, there is more work to be done. We have prioritized the following improvements in our next phase of software updates:

Improving the stability when adding new products

Implementing Music Library configuration, browse, search, and play

User interface improvements based on customer feedback

Improving overall system stability and error handling

Improving Alarm consistency and reliability

Restoring edit mode for Playlists and the Queue

We plan to continue releasing new software updates on a bi-weekly cadence. With each release, we will share 

 and what we’re working on next in our 

We deeply appreciate your patience as we address these issues. We know we have work to do to earn back your trust and are working hard to do just that. I am always open to your feedback, you can find me via email at 

Two people using the Sonos app to control their Sonos system

Update on the Sonos app from Patrick

A speaker amplifier, or “amp” for short, is an electronic device that boosts an audio signal’s power to a level that can be heard through speakers or headphones. Some form of a speaker amp is necessary regardless of whether you’re playing music from a turntable, a laptop, or a CD player. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll need to invest in a standalone amp, as many amps these days are built into the speakers themselves.

In this guide, we’ll review the basics of speaker amplification and help you decide if you need an amp for your setup.

To explain the job of a speaker amp within the context of a home audio setup, let’s start with an example of what an audio signal can sound like 

If you play a vinyl record before connecting or turning on your speakers, you’ll notice a faint sound of music emanating from the turntable itself. Sometimes referred to as “needle talk," this sound is actually the vibration of your record player’s stylus as it runs along the record’s groove. Without amplification, this vibration can sound high-pitched and whisper-quiet. Before you can enjoy it as music, it must be converted into an electrical signal and made louder. Much louder.

A speaker amp is the device responsible for boosting — or 

 — this electrical signal so that it can be heard from your speakers as music. Think of an amp as the muscle of your audio setup, taking a weak signal from your audio device and pumping it up to a level that can drive your 

So, the speaker amplifier’s primary job is to increase the volume of your audio. But an amp has other responsibilities, too. It helps to regulate the level of power supplied to your speakers so they don’t get pushed beyond their limits and damaged. An amp can even shape your sound in various ways, from reducing distortion to adjusting the audio signal’s tone and frequency to suit your preferences (a process known as equalization, or EQ).

A speaker amplifier works by taking a weak electrical signal from your musical source — like a turntable or CD player — and increasing its 

. Amplitude is a measurement of a sound wave’s strength, with higher amplitude sound waves creating louder sounds and lower amplitude sound waves creating quieter sounds.

Once the audio signal is amplified, the amp sends it to the speakers. The powered signal then creates vibrations in the speaker cone, which generate sound waves that your ears hear as music.

What Is the Bluetooth Range for Speakers and Headphones?

Beginner's Guide to Audio File Types (And Which to Use)

What Is Lossless Audio — And How To Stream It at Home

Update on the Sonos app from Patrick

What Is a Speaker Amplifier (And Do You Need One)?

How to Hear Dialogue Better When Watching TV Shows and Movies

The Ultimate Guide to Wearing Headphones

Things To Consider When Choosing New Headphones

Which Is Best: Over-Ear vs. On-Ear vs. In-Ear Headphones

How Do Noise-Canceling Headphones Work?

Active vs. Passive Speakers: Which Is Best For Your Home?

What Is Phase on a Subwoofer (And How To Adjust It)

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