Rumors that Sonos will launch its personal headphones are heating up once more: in keeping with Procotol, the corporate simply acquired T2 Software, a Bluetooth audio startup.

T2 Software has reportedly been engaged on the LC3 codec and Bluetooth LE Audio, a brand new wi-fi commonplace anticipated to enhance sound high quality whereas decreasing vitality consumption. These are applied sciences meant for wi-fi audio merchandise; particularly, headphones.

Stopping wanting outright revealing his intentions of releasing headphones, Sonos’s VP of world advertising and marketing and communications Pete Pedersen wrote in a LinkedIn post that the corporate is trying to find a advertising and marketing company to assist launch “a new category” of product for what would be the “most ambitious projects in our history.”

If this mysterious new class is headphones, Sonos might leapfrog its competitors by introducing a pair with Bluetooth LE Audio and the LC3 codec. Not solely are these requirements meant to enhance sound high quality, however they assist broadcasting indicators to a number of endpoints, so you may stream the identical music to a number of headphones, very like how one can play a track by a number of Sonos wifi audio system. The LC3 codec additionally guarantees to enhance pairing and voice assistant integration.

As The Verge identified, the Bluetooth SIG has a nifty comparison tool that allows you to take heed to a track whereas switching between completely different codecs at varied bitrates. I encourage you to attempt it with headphones on. I’m no sound engineer, however when listening by my Bose 700 headphones, the LC3 codec at 96 kbps sounded about nearly as good as SBC (its predecessor) at 248 kbps and the non-encoded 1,536 file. Dropping SBC all the way down to 192 kbps muddies the audio the place LC3 sounds effective till you drop to 64 kbps.

Sonos was first rumored to be making a pair of headphones again in 2019 when Bloomberg reported that over-the-ear headphones have been in “early development stages” however might launch in 2020. Sonos was anticipated to focus on the high-end market with a pair that would price round $300. However, the years rolled by with none announcement, and the one reassurance we obtained got here by the use of a patent filing. Recently, nonetheless, a German patent software dated August 2021 was uncovered that implies Sonos’s rumored headphones could operate over wifi along with Bluetooth. Using wifi might allow even higher sound high quality, however energy consumption and connectivity pose challenges.

Sonos has not too long ago been within the highlight for its monetary troubles throughout the covid-19 pandemic and for its feud with Google, which has seen the 2 corporations buying and selling one lawsuit for one other. Should Sonos enter the headphone market, the impartial client audio producer will compete in opposition to the likes of Apple, Bose, and Sony.