Immersive sound/spatial audio continues to be the driving force behind advancements in the consumer audio market. An enhancement to regular surround sound, immersive sound adds height channels into the mix to create a soundfield that completely envelops the listener. Immersive sound is being pushed in music streaming services like Tidal, Apple Music and Amazon Music. The technology is appearing in soundbars, receivers, home speakers, headphones... even in cars. Sony went as far as developing their own immersive sound format - 360 Reality Audio - to compete with market leader Dolby Atmos.
While you can listen to Dolby Atmos and other immersive audio formats through headphones, the effect is much more realistic and impactful when listened "out loud" through speakers. And that's where Sonos comes in.
Today, Sonos unveiled its new ERA 300 ($449). it's a wireless speaker that supports Dolby Atmos immersive surround from a single speaker cabinet. The ERA 300 uses 6 amplifiers, 2 woofers and four directional tweeters to project sound to the front, left, right and above the listener in order to create a real immersive surround experience. The Sonos ERA 300 integrates seamlessly into a Sonos whole home music system, allowing you to play the same music in individual rooms or all over the house right from the Sonos app on your phone or tablet.
The ERA 300 is mainly intended for music listening as its support for Dolby Atmos immersive sound is currently limited to the Amazon Music Unlimited service, played back from within the Sonos app. Sonos announced that Apple Music will also be supported with Dolby Atmos immersive sound later this month (March 28), so that opens the selection to thousands more music tracks in Dolby Atmos (with an Apple Music subscription, of course).
For standard stereo music listening on the ERA 300, you can access any of several dozen streaming apps from within the Sonos app including TIDAL, Spotify, Deezer, QoBuz, TuneIn Radio, Pandora, Apple Music and many more. The ERA 300 also includes a far-field microphone for access to Amazon Alexa and to Sonos' own "Sonos Voice Control" system for voice controlled access to your digital music and streaming apps. Google Assistant support, which was present in many previous Sonos products, is not available here. But if you have an earlier Sonos speaker with Google support, you can use that to play music on the ERA 300.
Sonos isn't actually the first to market with a Dolby Atmos-capable wireless speaker. Amazon released the first one-piece wireless speaker with Dolby Atmos immersive sound - the Echo Studio - in 2019. The Echo Studio featured a concept similar to the Era 300 - multiple speakers bouncing sound from walls and ceiling in order to create immersive surround sound. But the Echo Studio was mostly limited to the Amazon eco-system and its industrial design was not terribly exciting.
Earlier this year Apple released an updated version of its HomePod wireless speaker. It, too, supports Dolby Atmos immersive sound from a single speaker, or even more immersive sound when you synch up a pair of them in stereo. Also, the HomePod can work with an Apple TV 4K streaming box to support Dolby Atmos immersive sound not just from music services like Apple Music, but from video streaming services like Netflix and Apple TV+. But the Apple HomePod doesn't have real height channels. It uses electronic processing and psychoacoustics to virtualize the height effects in order to create the illusion of sound coming from above. And while this may be good enough for many listeners, it's not the ideal way to listen to immersive sound.
Like most Sonos speakers, the ERA 300 can be combined with another ERA 300 for a stereo pair. Also, the ERA 300 supports a direct line input so you could plug in just about any audio or video device with a line level output. Using the line input requires an optional adapter ($19) from Sonos which converts the units USB-C port to a 3.5mm audio jack. The ERA 300 also supports Bluetooth.
If you want to do Dolby Atmos immersive surround sound with movies and TV shows, in addition to music, then your best option from Sonos is one of their Dolby Atmos-capable soundbars: the flagship ARC soundbar ($899) or the more compact Sonos Beam Gen 2 ($399). These soundbars can play Dolby Atmos immersive sound tracks from Amazon Music, but they also support Dolby Atmos immersive sound from video streaming apps like Netflix, Disney+ and HBO Max. Just connect the sound bar to your Smart TV or streaming box with a single HDMI cable, and you're good to go.
The cool thing about the new ERA 300 is that it can also serve as a rear-channel speaker for a Sonos ARC or Sonos Beam (Gen 2), turning the ARC playbar into a full-fledged 7.1.4 channel system or the Beam Gen 2 into a 5.1.4-channel system. When used in a pair as surround speakers, the ERA 300 includes both the rear channel information and the rear height channels which bounce sound from the ceiling for maximum immersive effects.
At $449/each, the ERA 300 is a bit pricey to be used as a rear channel speaker in a surround system, but for Sonos fans who wants the best, most immersive sound reproduction, the Sonos ARC, matched with a Sonos Sub and a pair of ERA 300s should be a truly impressive sounding system.
The company also unveiled the ERA 100 ($249), a smaller wireless speaker for home which will replace the Sonos One in the lineup. The ERA 100 can create stereo sound from a single small cabinet or be paired with a second Era 100 for a true stereo soundstage. It can also be used as a rear channel speaker with the Sonos ARC or Beam, but without the up-firing height speaker of the ERA 300. Like the ERA 300 the ERA 100 also supports line-in via the Sonos line-in adapter as well as direct Bluetooth connections.
Both the Era 300 ($449 USD) and the Era 100 ($249 USD) will be available globally on March 28, 2023.
Related:
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