What's Sonos Ace and how did we get here? With Adib Mehrabi, Director of Innovation at Sonos

Summary

Innovators, a Best Buy powered show, explores the Sonos Ace headphones with director of innovation, Adib Mehrabi. The discussion highlights the headphones' comfort, sleek design, and multifunctional microphones for noise cancellation and calls. Mehrabi explains the product's integration with Sonos home systems for a seamless audio experience, emphasizing the brand's design philosophy of elegance, simplicity, and timelessness. The episode showcases the extensive testing and user-focused approach behind the portable, high-quality audio innovation.

Takeaways

• 🎧 The Sonos Ace headphones are designed for comfort with memory foam padding and a sleek, non-bulky headband.
• 🔊 They feature noise-canceling technology with microphones covered by a mesh to reduce wind noise during calls.
• 🎨 The headphones have a minimalistic design with a matte finish and come in black and soft white color variants.
• 🔗 The yoke design is internal to avoid trapping hair and to enhance durability against breakages.
• 🧊 The memory foam cushions are replaceable, ensuring longevity and comfort for users with different ear shapes.
• 📡 The headphones have eight microphones for telephony, active noise cancellation (ANC), and voice assistance.
• ⚙️ The control scheme includes multifunction buttons for core features like play, transport, volume control, and a dedicated ANC button.
• 🔄 Sonos Ace integrates with Sonos home theater systems for a seamless transition between loudspeaker and headphone audio.
• 🔁 The product design philosophy emphasizes elegance, simplicity, and timelessness, aiming to create objects that are loved and displayed in homes.
• 🌐 Sonos has expanded from home audio systems to portable solutions, aiming to fill every aspect of life with sound.
• 🧪 Extensive product testing includes hardware verification, listening tests, and user research to refine the product before launch.

Q & A

What is the name of the show that Bradley Hasemeyer is hosting?

The show is called Innovators powered by Best Buy.

What product is being discussed in the show?

The product being discussed is Sonos Ace headphones.

Who is the director of innovation at Sonos and what is his role in the discussion?

Adib Mehrabi is the director of innovation at Sonos, and he is there to talk about the innovation within the company and the Sonos Ace headphones.

What is special about the padding on the Sonos Ace headphones?

The padding on the Sonos Ace headphones is made of a material similar to memory foam, which provides comfort and enhances the user experience.

What is the purpose of the microphone meshes on the Sonos Ace headphones?

The microphone meshes serve a dual purpose: they contribute to the design aesthetic of the headphones and help mitigate wind noise during calls.

How does the headband design of the Sonos Ace differ from traditional headphones?

The headband of the Sonos Ace has a sleek design that hugs the head without appearing bulky, and it features a matte finish.

What is the 'yoke' in the context of the Sonos Ace headphones?

The 'yoke' refers to the mechanism that connects the headband to each of the two ear cups on over-ear headphones. In the Sonos Ace, it is intentionally designed to be less visible and more integrated into the ear cups for aesthetic and functional reasons.

Why are the ear cushions on the Sonos Ace headphones designed to be removable?

The ear cushions are designed to be removable because they are prone to wearing out and need to be replaceable for maintenance purposes.

How many microphones does the Sonos Ace headphones have and what are they used for?

The Sonos Ace headphones have a total of eight microphones, which are used for telephony, active noise cancellation (ANC), and ensuring clear audio for calls.

What is the purpose of the multifunction buttons on the Sonos Ace headphones?

The multifunction buttons on the Sonos Ace headphones are designed to provide key functionalities such as play, transport controls, volume adjustment, answering calls, and switching between ANC modes, without cluttering the design with too many buttons.

How does the Sonos Ace headphones integrate with a Sonos home theater system?

The Sonos Ace headphones, when used at home with a Sonos home theater system, can connect via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to the Sonos Soundbar, allowing for a feature called TV audio swap, which lets users seamlessly transition between listening out loud and having a personal listening experience on the headphones.

What is the significance of the Sonos brand name being a palindrome?

The significance of Sonos being a palindrome is that it reads the same forwards and backwards, and it also works aesthetically with the product design, as the logo can be oriented in any direction on the speakers.

How does Sonos approach product design and what philosophy guides it?

Sonos approaches product design with the philosophy of elegance, simplicity, and timelessness, aiming to create objects that persist in their elegance over time and are loved by users, fitting well into their homes.

What was the motivation for Sonos to move from home audio systems to portable speakers?

The motivation for Sonos to move into portable speakers was to extend the sound experience that users love in their homes to other aspects of their lives, allowing them to take the Sonos sound experience wherever they go.

What kind of testing does Sonos perform on their products during development?

Sonos performs various types of testing during product development, including hardware verification testing such as drop testing and oven testing, as well as extensive listening tests with multiple rounds of feedback and adjustments to perfect the sound quality.