Sonos TruePlay arrives as a free update

Setting up speakers in a way that ensures audio or music sounds as good as possible can be a very frustrating endeavour, especially if you don’t have a lot of experience.

Trueplay can now only be enabled using Sonos’ iOS app, but an update for Android is in the pipeline. Of course even if you’ve got the cash to splash on high-end wireless speakers and subscription music, you might not be able to afford a dream home with ideal acoustics.

The free software update allows Sonos owners with iOS devices (such as an iPhone or iPad) to precisely tune their speakers without the need for specialised equipment or complicated training. “The original PLAY:5 now features Trueplay, so a speaker that was released more than six years ago is going to have its best year yet after it was discontinued”. To begin the process, the app will first check for ambient noise.

It’s not that Sonos wants to exclude non-Apple fans, it’s simply that iGadgets offer a standardised speaker and audio processing while these can be hit and miss with third-party Android and Windows Phone devices. According to Sonos’ description of Trueplay, “Trueplay uses your smartphone’s microphone to map the acoustics of the room your speaker is located in”. It only takes a minute and once you’re done you don’t need an iGadget again unless you need to recalibrate after moving the speakers or making dramatic changes to the room. It’s easy to flick Trueplay on and off to hear the difference. Once you setup Trueplay, you can easily adjust the equalization settings to fit your preferences. With reliable wireless strength and elegant aesthetics, Sonos speakers can now be placed anywhere in a house – from under a kitchen cabinet to the corner of a bathroom – and still sound great. If your speakers are positioned in locations where output is likely to be sub-optimal – behind sofas, under beds or on the floor in the corner of a room, Trueplay measures the existing audio output and rebalances the speaker EQ to enhance your listening. With a constant investment in software and services, Sonos is improving the experience customers have with music in the home for years after they buy it.