How to connect the Sonos Ace to a Sonos soundbar

It was only a matter of time before Sonos graced the world with a pair of noise-canceling headphones. For years, the company has been revered for its wireless speakers, soundbars, and other AV peripherals, which brings us to the release of the Sonos Ace. These ANC cans offer a comfortable fit, excellent performance, and a very cool feature called TV Audio Swap.

About as literal as it sounds, TV Audio Swap lets you listen to whatever audio is being routed through a Sonos soundbar, be it the Sonos Arc, Sonos Beam (Gen 1 and 2), or Sonos Ray, with your Sonos Ace headphones. Of course, both devices will need to be set up properly for this ability to work, so we went ahead and created these step-by-step instructions to get your Sonos gear linked up.

How to set up and use TV Audio Swap

The feature that allows you to link and share audio between your Sonos Ace headphones and a Sonos soundbar is called TV Audio Swap. Here's how to set it up:

Step 1: To get things started, grab whatever phone or tablet you have the Sonos app installed on. If this is the first time you’ve opened the app, you’ll also need to create a Sonos account.

Step 2: Once you’re logged in, go ahead and tap the System Settings gear icon at the top-right corner of the screen.

Step 3: Select the Sonos Ace headphones from the list of registered Sonos devices.

Step 4: Scroll to the bottom of the settings panel and tap Add TV Audio Swap.

Step 5: Tap the Set Up button that appears, then pick your Sonos Arc, Beam, or Ray soundbar from the list of devices. If one of these soundbars is the only Sonos soundbar you own, you can just tap Continue.

Step 6: At this point, TV Audio Swap should be activated. Go ahead and test by putting on a movie or show. If all sound is coming out of your Sonos Ace headphones and you can control the volume of the onscreen content using the cans, you’re in good shape!

How to send audio back to a Sonos soundbar

When you’ve had your fill of headset audio, sending audio back to your Sonos soundbar couldn’t be easier, and there are actually two methods:

Step 1: If you don’t feel like popping into the Sonos app, just press and hold the main Content Key on the right ear cup of your Sonos Ace headphones. Doing so will automatically send sound back to your Sonos soundbar.

Step 2: You can also reverse the TV Audio Swap using the Sonos app. Simply open the app and tap the yellow Swap Back button. As long as you’ve been playing sound to the Sonos Ace, this button should be visible.

Step 3: If sound is already playing through the Sonos soundbar, the Swap Back option will be replaced with a white Swap button, which will route sound to your Sonos Ace headset. You can also use the Sonos app to enable and disable Spatial Audio and head tracking for the Sonos Ace.

What Sonos soundbars use TV Audio Swap?

Sonos' TV Audio Swap feature is available for the Sonos Arc, Sonos Beam (Gen 1 and 2), and Sonos Ray.

Is Sound Swap the same as TV Audio Swap?

In a way, yes. Sound Swap and TV Audio Swap are wireless Sonos features that allow you to instantly share audio between two different Sonos speakers. Here's where they differ, though: Sound Swap is only for Sonos Roam speakers, and TV Audio Swap is only for Sonos Ace headphones and the Sonos Arc, Beam, and Ray soundbars.

In the case of Sound Swap, when you press and hold the play/pause button of the speaker, the Sonos Roam device will grab audio from a nearby Sonos speaker or speaker group.

How do I connect the Sonos Ace to a Bluetooth device?

Whether you’re an iOS devotee or Android fan, you’re going to want to learn how to pair your new Sonos Ace headphones to your favorite Bluetooth-enabled mobile devices. Luckily, we have an entire guide to walk you through the process, complete with its own set of answered FAQs.