Transfer Roam’s audio to another Sonos speaker in your network
When Sonos first introduced it in 2021 to provide the Roam Bluetooth speaker, it was the second Sonos speaker that had Bluetooth functionality.
The first was Sonos Move, which was taken over by Sonos Move 2 in September 2023, but Roam saw his successor arrive in May 2024.
Bluetooth functionality is no longer a unicorn feature for modern Sonos speakers, but both the Sonos Era 100 and Sonos Era 300 speakers offer it.
The Sonos Roam always had a slight advantage over Sonos’ movement and other speakers in the Sonos portfolio, but it has a feature called Sound Swap. This is everything you need to know about sound swaps. It’s about how it works, what speakers are compatible, and more.
What is Sonos Sound Swap?
The Sonos Sound Swap is a feature launched in 2021 with the original Sonos Roam and is now available for both Sonos Roam and Sonos Roam 2.
You can transfer your music and audio play to the nearest Sonos speaker with your Sonos Roam or Roam 2 and continue listening when you get home.
The Sonos Roam or Roam 2 must use Wi-Fi and you will need to hold the Play/Pause button for about 5 seconds.
This will transfer it to the closest compatible Sonos speaker, rather than grouping it with its speaker. The latter is another feature that can be performed by pressing the Play/Pause button on the Sonos speaker and bringing it to an existing group.
However, with Sound Swap, the idea that you can enter from the garden with a Sonos Roam or Roam 2 allows you to hold the Play/Pause button for 5 seconds.
How does Sonos Sound Swap work?
Press and hold the Play/Pause button on your Sonos Roam or Roam 2 to inspire other Sonos speakers on your network to emit ultrasound frequencies.
You won’t hear this sound in your human ears, but Sonos Roam and Roam 2 pick it up with their microphone and they use the frequency to identify which Sonos speaker is closest to signal strength.
Music is transferred from the Sonos Roam or Roam 2 to the nearest speaker in about 5 seconds.
It is important to press and hold the Play/Pause button on Roam or Roam 2 beyond the first sound you hear. This first sound will occur after about 3 seconds, so it should be held for about 5 seconds.
The first sound is to group the Roam or Roam 2 with a group of Sonos speakers that are already playing in your home. To move Roam’s music to another Sonos speaker, you need to keep the Play/Pause button for a few seconds, rather than the other way around.
What kind of speaker I’ll do it Sonos sound swap work?
Sonos Sound Swap is currently only compatible with Roam and Roam 2.
For some reason, Sonos does not include it in your Sonos Move or Move 2. It also didn’t add it to the Sonos Ace headphones, even though the features made sense for the product again.
With Sonos Ace, there is a feature called TV Audio Swap, which means transferring music between Sonos Ace and Sonos Arc Soundbar, rather than transferring the audio from the Sonos Ace headphones to other Sonos speakers on the system.
What speakers do not work with Sonos Sound Swap?
Most Sonos speakers work with Sonos Sound Swap, emit superfluidity sounds and receive audio playing from Roam or Roam 2, but there are incompatible couples.
The following speakers are not available with Sonos Sound Swap.
- Sonos Play: 3
- Sonos Play: 1
- sponge
- Sonos Connect
- Sonos Connect: amp
- Sonos Boost
Sonos Sound Swap FAQ
Sonos uses ultrasound sound technology to identify the closest compatible speakers. Roam or Move emits high frequency tones (which humans cannot hear) to find the Sonos speaker that is closest to swapping.
Yes, both Roam or Move and the target Sonos speakers must be connected to the same Wi-Fi network.
The system prioritizes Nearest speaker For forwarding. If you want to further target specific devices, consider adjusting the speaker placement or manually selecting playback in the Sonos app.
