With the Sonos Ace headphones, one of the stand-out features is called TV Audio Swap, as I noted in my review of the headphones. Out of the gate, this feature only worked with the Sonos Arc, allowing for simple switching of the audio source from ‘phones to soundbar and vice versa. Now, Sonos has confirmed that the feature works with the Sonos Beam (Gen 2), Sonos Beam (Gen 1), and Sonos Ray soundbars as well.
At launch several months ago, TV Audio Swap worked only with the Sonos Arc soundbar, which is how I was able to test it. With this expansion, owners of the Sonos Beam and Ray soundbars can enjoy the feature as well.
How does it work? Once the headphones and the soundbar are paired, use the content key on the right earchip of the headphones or select the option in the Sonos app to instantly swap audio from the soundbar to the headphones. This might be late at night once the rest of the family goes to bed and you want to finish the action movie you’re watching. Or maybe it’s while your spouse or kids are in the same room and one person wants to watch TV while the others are enjoying quieter activities, like reading or doing homework.
Additionally, Sonos has confirmed that TV Audio Swap can now be set up and initiated from both Android and iOS devices.
To access the TV audio swap update, download the latest software release for the Sonos app. You’ll be able to enjoy Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos (with compatible audio sources) along with dynamic head tracking that keeps the action centered, even as you move your head from side to side. It’s quite impressive: I enjoyed binge-watching shows with the headphones, fully enveloped in the experience. It’s complemented by Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) that further tunes out distracting ambient sounds.
Learn more about the Sonos Ace in my detailed review, and check out this teaser unboxing video.