When Sonos launched its first-ever wireless headphones, the Ace, last year, it came bundled with high expectations. The promise? A Sonos-grade listening experience outside the living room, complete with spatial audio modes that would rival home theater setups. Yet one marquee feature, TrueCinema mode, was conspicuously absent at launch. Users were told to expect it “later in the year,” only to wait well beyond that timeline. Now, after months of anticipation, Sonos has delivered a significant firmware update that brings TrueCinema to the Ace — along with several other enhancements that elevate the headphone experience in unexpected ways.

TrueCinema is Sonos’ spatial audio calibration system for headphones, analogous to TruePlay on their speakers. At launch, TrueCinema was touted as a way to adapt surround-sound processing to your specific room acoustics, making it feel as if speakers envelop you even when you’re wearing headphones. The technology requires collaboration between a Sonos soundbar (for generating calibration tones) and the Ace’s built-in microphones (to pick up the reflections and your listening position). Once sonar-like sweeps from the soundbar interact with walls and surfaces, the Ace interprets the results and tailors the 3D spatial audio rendering to mimic a multi-speaker setup in your room.

Implementing room-aware spatial audio in headphones is no small feat. Sonos originally hinted at TrueCinema availability late last year, but delivering robust calibration that works across countless room shapes, sizes, and furnishing styles proved complex. Precise timing between soundbar output and headphone mic input, signal processing to compensate for head movements, and ensuring battery life and latency remain acceptable likely contributed to the extended development cycle. The wait appears to have led to a more polished implementation, which Sonos describes as “tuning” similar to TruePlay, but specifically optimized for headphone listening positions and real-time head tracking nuances.

Another area Sonos has steadily improved is TV Audio Swap — the feature that lets you route your Sonos soundbar’s audio to Ace headphones for private listening. Initially, this was limited to the high-end Arc soundbar and only on iOS devices. Last August, Sonos broadened support to include Beam and Ray soundbars, plus Android compatibility. This latest update goes further: you can now connect two pairs of Ace headphones at once. In practical terms, two people can watch TV together late at night without disturbing others in the house — a setup that has obvious appeal for couples with differing sleep schedules or households with varied viewing habits.

Sharing audio wirelessly in this way involves a delicate dance: the soundbar must maintain low-latency, synchronized streams to multiple headphones, while ensuring audio quality doesn’t dip below expectations. Sonos’ solution appears to manage this gracefully, opening up new use cases: imagine family members each customizing volume and EQ to personal preference, yet staying in sync with the on-screen action.

At launch, Ace’s ANC performance was solid but not groundbreaking. With this update, Sonos claims a leap from approximately 74% noise reduction to around 88%, bringing the Ace into contention with leaders like Apple’s AirPods Max, Sony’s XM5/XM6, and Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra. The secret sauce? Adaptive ANC that monitors the fit in real time. If hair, glasses, or hats disrupt the seal, the system dynamically compensates for sound leakage to maintain consistent cancellation.

Behind the scenes, such improvements rely on advanced feedback loops: headphone microphones constantly sample ambient noise and leakage, feeding algorithms that adjust the cancellation signal in milliseconds. The result is ANC that not only blocks more noise but does so more intelligently, adapting to subtle changes in fit and environment.

Beyond media consumption, the Ace update also targets voice calls. Sonos has enabled high-resolution audio for calls, promising clearer, more detailed voice reproduction. In tandem, a new SideTone feature feeds a touch of the user’s own voice back into their ears when ANC is on, which helps reduce the “deadened” effect some experience during calls with noise cancellation engaged. By hearing a bit of themselves, users feel more present and natural in conversations, an often-overlooked aspect of headphone design.

Such refinements demonstrate that Sonos aims for the Ace to be an all-day companion: whether you’re binge-watching a series, tuning out distractions in a busy café, or taking a work call on the go, the headphones adapt to each scenario.

The firmware update is rolling out globally via the Sonos app. For those eager to install immediately, a manual check can expedite the process:

1. Open the Sonos app on your smartphone.
2. Navigate to Settings, then scroll to the Headphones section and select Sonos Ace.
3. Under About → Software Updates, tap “Check for Updates” and follow the prompts.

Ensure your Sonos soundbar’s firmware is also up to date before attempting TrueCinema calibration. The process involves sitting in your typical listening position, putting on the Ace, and allowing the soundbar to emit calibration sweeps. It takes mere seconds but unlocks the room-aware spatial audio.

Sonos has built its reputation on multi-room speakers with intuitive software and robust wireless syncing. Entering the headphone market was a natural extension, but also a bold move: headphones demand different engineering approaches, from battery management to Bluetooth latency and microphone performance. By layering in features like TrueCinema and TV Audio Swap, Sonos leverages its existing ecosystem (soundbars and app) to differentiate the Ace from other premium headphones. The long delay of TrueCinema suggests the company prioritized getting it right over shipping an incomplete promise. Now that it’s here, the Ace feels more cohesive as part of the Sonos family.

With the Ace now feature-complete, attention turns to potential hardware revisions and future software enhancements. Could Sonos add head-tracking for dynamic spatial audio? Might there be deeper integration with streaming services for 3D audio metadata? While nothing official is announced, the company’s commitment to significant post-launch upgrades bodes well. Owners can expect continued refinements, possibly around battery longevity optimizations or even new sound profiles tailored for music genres.

For those who held off on the Ace pending TrueCinema, the wait appears justified. Sonos has delivered a polished spatial audio feature, bolstered ANC, and flexible TV listening options that align with its ecosystem strengths. While other headphone makers offer spatial modes, Sonos’ room calibration approach stands out for making headphone listening feel less isolated and more “in the room.” Combined with improved call quality and dual-listener support, the Ace now offers a fuller package. If you already own an Ace, updating is a no-brainer. For prospective buyers, the Ace merits consideration alongside competitors, especially if you’re invested in Sonos soundbars or crave an immersive movie-watching experience on headphones.