Sonos supports Ultra HD audio from Amazon Music and Dolby Atmos Music, find compatible devices

Ultra HD is available on most Sonos S2 devices with a few exceptions, while Dolby Atmos Music is only available on Sonos Arc and Beam (Gen 2) soundbars.

After spoiling movie buffs with the addition of DTS Digital Surround support since late November, Sonos now caters to music lovers with support for Ultra HD audio from Amazon Music and Dolby Atmos Music. Additionally, for Amazon Music, the company has added a new icon on the "Now Playing" screen that indicates the audio quality of the streamed title.

Ultra HD and Dolby Atmos Music on Amazon Music

Sonos therefore now supports Ultra HD audio on Amazon Music, to listen to lossless audio up to 24-bit / 48 kHz, as well as Dolby Atmos Music.

Ultra HD is available on all Sonos S2 devices except Play:1, Play:3, Playbase and Playbar speakers. Dolby Atmos Music is limited to Arc and Beam (Gen 2) soundbars.

Two playlists to test

If you want to simply and quickly test Ultra HD audio and Dolby Atmos Music, the Sonos Sound Experience team offers two playlists on Amazon Music.

The first is simply called Ultra Hd Music On Sonos. It contains 27 titles including Lazarus by David Bowie and Hurricane by Kanye West. The second is simply titled Dolby Atmos Music On Sonos. It consists of 17 songs including Solar Power by Lorde and the 1 by Taylor Swift.

To stream these two playlists to Sonos, simply add them to your Amazon Music library, then stream them from the Sonos app (Browse > Amazon Music > My music > Playlists).

A badge that displays audio quality

Additionally, the audio quality of music on the "Now Playing" screen when listening to music on Sonos Radio HD and Amazon Music Unlimited is now clearly displayed via a badge.

In practice, the HD badge "indicates a lossless 16-bit stereo stream", while Ultra HD corresponds to "a lossless 24-bit stereo stream". As for the Dolby Atmos badge, it indicates “a song mixed and available in Dolby Atmos”.

By the way, those who wish to learn more about audio formats can consult the beginner's guide to Hi-Res audio written by the Sonos teams.

In its press release, Sonos states that Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers "have access to more than 75 million songs available in high definition (HD), more than 7 million songs in Ultra HD and a growing catalog of spatial audio". .

In a market increasingly saturated by numerous audio streaming services, Amazon Music has been able to create an audience over the years, in particular thanks to the link between Amazon Prime and the audio service of Amazon Music. Indeed, Prime subscribers benefit from a small section of the application for free, with Amazon Prime Music. On the other hand, to take advantage of the full potential of Amazon Music, you will have to take out an additional subscription. But is this necessary? How does it stand out from the competition? Read more

Source: Sonos press release