Sonos Ace Ultra add system-wide audio sharing, with caveats

Sonos’s Ace Ultra headphones keep the original Ace’s understated design, comfortable fit, tactile buttons and Content Key volume slider. They cost $449 at release, the same price as the original Ace at launch; the original model now costs $349.

The main change is headphone linking, which lets listeners transfer music from any Sonos speaker or speaker group to the headphones and back using Wi-Fi. The feature also works with audio entering the Sonos system from sources such as a record or CD player. Sonos says headphone linking is in “early access.”

The transfer can take more than one button press, and sending audio back returns it to the nearest speaker rather than the speaker or group that was playing before. Users must use the Sonos app to add it back to a speaker group, and the headphones cannot be grouped with speakers.

Wi-Fi audio through headphone linking is currently lossy, despite Wi-Fi’s bandwidth advantages for hi-res and lossless audio. Sonos senior director of product management Andrew Sutherland told The Verge that the company is focusing on a reliable experience using high-quality, lossy-compressed stereo audio. Sonos has not said how long early access will last.

The Ace Ultra support lossless audio over Bluetooth with aptX Lossless and a compatible device, or over USB-C. Wired USB-C and 3.5mm connections top out at 16-bit/48kHz, so they do not provide high-resolution audio. The review also notes that the original Ace’s launch limits on TV audio transfer have since been fixed.