Did you notice the sign of Trueplay in your Sonos speaker specifications? What does that really mean? How important is Trueplay for Sonos speakers? If you have one or more Sonos speakers at home, you will be pretty familiar with the word. Here is everything about the same.
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What is Sonos Trueplay?
Sonos Trueplay is a feature found in Sonos speakers known to enhance its sound quality. The USP of Sonos Trueplay is it allows Sonos speakers to be kept anywhere without affecting the sound.
Trueplay allows tuning the sound of speakers irrespective of where it is placed. It enables Sonos speakers to be kept anywhere, no matter the size of the room and layout. Even if it is kept in a cupboard or crooked corner, it will throw out the most suitable sound. Through Trueplay, Sonos speaker can analyze the various acoustic factors of the room like size, décor, furnishings, layout that can affect the sound quality.
Sonos Trueplay works upon adjusting the sound according to the ambiance and does not expect the listener to adapt the surroundings according to the speaker.
How Does Sonos Trueplay Work?
The way sound reflects and hits your ears, depending on the walls, furnishings, and the room’s layout. This is the reason some sounds are pitched higher than others.
However, Trueplay defies this. It works in a way to not allow your surroundings to ruin your sound experience. For this, it takes the help of the microphone of an iOS device (yes, this means you cannot experience Trueplay on Android devices). The microphone detects the distribution of sound waves around the space and reflects the same with the help of an acoustic profile.
Trueplay then, with the help of equalizers and filtering techniques, correct the frequencies shown over acoustic profile and produce them just how the song’s artist would have wanted it to be. Also, it adjusts the sound by throwing the sound to the tweezer and woofer accordingly. Sonos speakers are fitted with multiple tweezers and woofer inside placed at different positions. The sound is produced by making sure the right woofer, tweezer, or amplifier is used to throw the sound as per the acoustic factors.
What Do You Need To Tune Sonos Trueplay?
To be able to tune Sonos Trueplay over Sonos speakers, you necessarily need an iOS device. It could be any iOS device that runs on iOS 7 and above. It could be an iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch.
If you have no iOS device in your home, you will have to find a friend or relative that has one. Trueplay isn’t compatible with Android and Windows, and there is a solid reason. Sonos is making Trueplay accessible through Android devices but is taking it long as Android devices manufactured by different companies react differently. For example, there is a lot of variation in microphones. Also, the same Android phone on different carriers behaves differently.
How To Use Sonos Trueplay?
Sonos Trueplay can be used with the help of the Sonos app. The Sonos app installed on your mobile device should be updated to the latest version. If you cannot see a Trueplay option, perform a software update from the Sonos app itself.
For this, go to Settings and follow Online updates under it. Then, perform an online update if available.
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Which Sonos Speakers Are Compatible With Sonos Trueplay?
Mostly all Sonos speakers are compatible with Sonos Trueplay. Only Sonos Port and Sonos Connect are not supported as they are not actually smart speakers but Wi-Fi network streamers.
Also, when used as stereo pair, all Sonos speakers, surround speakers, or sub, support Trueplay. Sonos Amp and Sonos Connect: Amp in-wall or in-ceiling architecture speakers powered by Sonance also support Trueplay. They also support Trueplay when used as a surround speaker in a home theatre setup.
Sonos Move and Sonos Roam are one step ahead of all other Sonos speakers that support Trueplay. These two are capable of tuning Trueplay automatically without setting them up i.e., both of these speakers support Auto Trueplay. Auto Trueplay works over Wi-Fi and even Bluetooth from 9th March 2021.
Your portable speakers can adapt to Trueplay automatically over Wi-Fi, and you can immediately feel the difference in the sound quality. You can disable auto Trueplay through the Sonos app to enable or disable Auto Trueplay, follow on Sonos app, Settings> Systems> choose the portable speaker (Move or Roam)> Trueplay> Auto Trueplay tuning.
To enable Auto Trueplay, the microphone on your Sonos product should be turned on.
How Do You Set Up Trueplay?
Setting up Trueplay on Sonos speakers is super easy. The process takes about three minutes and requires no special knowledge. All you need to do is:
- Open the Sonos app (updated)
- Go to Settings > room Settings
- Tap on the speaker or room you want to tune. The untuned speakers or rooms are marked with red dots alongside.
- Tap on Trueplay tuning, and the Sonos app will start instructing you to complete the process
It will first take you to watch a demo video and then start the tuning process that takes about a few minutes. It will ask you to:
- Keep your space free from any sort of noise
- Move your ios device up and down and around
- Move around in the room
What Differences Are Sonos Trueplay?
Sonos Trueplay may or may not make any difference depending on the room. For example, if your speaker is already kept at a good place, Trueplay may not make any changes in sound.
Also, Trueplay displays the changes made and mentions if the changes made are big or minimal. If there are negligible changes made, Sonos also provides the option to turn the Trueplay off. Thereafter, you can also choose to make the sound quality changes yourself using the equalizer settings.
Just remember, if you replace your Sonos speakers, you will have to tune it with Trueplay again to make it sound better.
See more: Sonos Troubleshooting – How to Fix the Most Common Sonos Problems
Tips For Ensuring A Good Tuning
Some certain tips and tricks can help in tuning the speakers better. Also, the Sonos app directs you well when setting up Trueplay. Here are some of the tips that can help you tune your Sonos product better:
- Make sure there is minimal to no noise
Your room should be quiet, and there should be no unnecessary noise that can affect the tuning process. Though Sonos is smart enough to cancel usual household noises and even dog barking, keeping the room from your end would be helpful.
- Move around room
You should move around the room, covering every nook and corner with the iOs device in hand. If you have a small room, focus on being in the area where you mostly listen to your music.
- Move your device
The iOS device in your hand should be moved appropriately. Do not move your device too fast, as this will make it difficult for the device microphone to catch and calibrate. Instead, make small movements as instructed on the video in the Sonos app.
- Do not change volume during tuning
Changing volume while the tuning is still on will hamper the calibration. You should keep the volume a bit low than usual before you start tuning, as, during tuning, the sound emitted by the speaker is increased. Instead, you should stop the tuning process anytime by tapping on the x button displayed at the bottom of the screen.
- Tuning with the help of Equalizer EQ
If you are not satisfied with the tuning of the speaker after Trueplay, you can choose to perform your tuning with the help of EQ. This enables you to adjust the bass, treble, loudness, and balance of the sound.
You can adjust the EQ in Sonos through the Sonos app itself. You can do so either through the Sonos mobile app or through PC as well.
For iOS and Android mobile devices follow:
- Open the Sonos app
- Go to Settings and tap on systems
- Choose the room or speaker you want to tune
- Press on the EQ option. You will then be able to adjust the treble, bass, etc through the sliders.
For Mac or Pc:
- Open the Sonos app
- Go to either Settings menu or Preferences menu
- On the MAC, you need to go to the Preference menu from the Sonos drop-down menu at the top left of the screen.
- On another Windows PC, you go to the Settings menu by clicking on Manage from the top of the window.
- Click on EQ Setting s and select the speaker that requires tuning.
In the Equalizer settings, the Bass refers to adjusting the low frequency sound like a kick drum.
Treble refers to high-frequency sounds like the sound of guitar and vocals.
A balance should be adjusted when they are more than one speaker i.e., for stereo sound output. Through it, you can adjust and balance the volume of speakers kept at the left and right.
Loudness is simply to hear the low frequency sounds clear enough even at low volumes.
- Returning your speaker
Sonos suggests returning your speaker after it has been replaced or even changed from vertical to horizontal and vice versa.
Also, you need to retune it if you add another speaker to your current setup. You can also think of retuning your speaker if, after performing Trueplay calibration for the first time, the change isn’t up to mark or desirable.
To retune your Sonos speaker, in the Sonos app, follow Setting > Systems > select room/speaker > Trueplay >Retune.
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FAQs:
Is Sonos Trueplay Worth Doing?
Sonos Trueplay is worth it and should be done on every of your Sonos speaker. You can visibly see the difference yourself if you feel your Sonos speaker isn’t performing well. If you have an iOS device at home (either iPhone or iPad), there is no reason not to perform Trueplay when available for free.
Does Sonos Trueplay Work With Android?
No, Sonos Trueplay does not work with Android. It works only through selected iOS devices. Sonos is working upon making Sonos Trueplay work with Android, though.
Do I Really Need To Use Trueplay To Calibrate Sonos?
Calibrating Sonos with Trueplay is optional. However, for best practices, you should use Trueplay as it only takes a few minutes to complete the process and really changes the sound quality.
Does Using Trueplay Make Sonos Sound Better?
Yes, Trueplay does make Sonos sound better, but not in all cases (especially when the Sonos speaker is already kept in the best environment). Sonos says during the bets process, only 50% of the speakers saw the change.
Is Trueplay Worth The Trouble?
It is worth the trouble. However, if you do not have an iOS device, try toggling on/off Trueplay through the Sonos app, and you would feel the difference.
Can Trueplay Tune Old Sonos Speakers?
Yes, Trueplay work with all Sonos product for free. You can tune old Sonos speakers as well with a firmware update.
Why Doesn’t The Sound Change After Adjusting Trueplay? How To Fix!
If you think there is an undesired change in sound after Trueplay you can retune your Sonos speaker by following Settings> system> Select room/speaker> Trueplay> Retune.
Preceding this, you can also try to reduce the background noise, do not adjust the volume of the speaker, move around the room as directed, and move the iOS device around the room in slow movements.
Conclusion
To sum it up, if you have a Sonos product and get a hand on any of the iOS devices (like iPad and iPhone), you should perform Trueplay on your Sonos product to make it sound better. The process takes just a few minutes and is easy to perform with the help of the Sonos app. /it directs the user well on how to set up Trueplay.