‘We’ve applied a lot of our learning and expertise from soundbars to headphones’: Sonos product manager on creating Ace

The Indian Express’ Anuj Bhatia spoke to Scott Fink, Distinguished Product Manager, Sonos, about the long-awaited push into the headphones market with the Ace.

Scott Fink, a Distinguished Product Manager at Sonos, has been with the company since 2011. Fink has been heavily involved in the development of Sonos’ many products including the Arc, Playbar, Playbase, Sub, and Beam systems. (Image credit: Sonos)

Here are the edited excerpts from the interview with Fink:

Q. For years, rumours of Sonos entering the headphone market dominated the internet, but with no confirmation from the company, they quickly died down. Now the highly anticipated Ace headphones are official and are coming to India. Why did it take so long for Sonos to launch a pair of over-the-ear headphones?

Fink: We always have a lot of products in development, and we launch them when we believe they are ready. In the case of the Ace headphones, we have been working on them for years, but there are a couple of specific challenges with headphones. Obviously, we are the experts in sound, as you can see with our speakers and other products, so we were able to apply much of that knowledge and expertise to the headphones right away. However, comfort is something we didn’t have any experience with.

Unfortunately, most people don’t wear our subwoofers. So, that was one of the challenges we had to overcome, and we had to become experts in comfort, conducting extensive testing to create something as comfortable as the Ace. I think a lot of people consider the Ace to be the most comfortable headphones on the market today, and we are very proud of that. But that level of comfort didn’t happen by accident — it took years of building that expertise.

Q. The Ace headphones look different, with a design that is timeless and classic, yet modern. They also feature a super-lightweight frame, an adjustable headband, and replaceable ear cups that use magnets. Could you tell us the story behind how the design you always intended was achieved?

Fink: We apply our design language across our entire portfolio, and that doesn’t mean all of our products need to look the same. Instead, we try to use the same ingredients and philosophies in our designs. We avoid superfluous design elements that exist just for the sake of appearance. Rather, we want the form, shape, and design of our products to make them easier to use, and maximise performance. For example, the Ace headphones feature ear cushions made of memory foam, but if you remove them, you’ll notice that the ear cup isn’t flat — it’s angled.

The reason for this is that the shape of your ear is naturally angled on your head. This allows us to keep a low-profile ear cup that looks sleek because people typically don’t want large, bulky things sticking out from the sides of their heads. We design it to follow the geometry of your head and ear, minimising space. This is a case where form follows function, allowing headphones to look great while keeping your ear comfortable and sound right at every stage of use.

Sonos Ace have 40mm custom dynamic drivers and eight mics for noise control and voice targeting. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)

Q. Have you considered making the Ace’s design modular?

Fink: I think the ear cushions are a great example of modular design based on what we have learned as both consumers of headphones and as a company with 1,800 people. Obviously, we use headphones ourselves, but also, in our research, we have found that ear cushions are often the first point of failure for a pair of headphones, as they are the main point of contact. So, one of the things we have done is make the ear cushions easily replaceable. If they wear out, you don’t have to buy a whole new pair of headphones. In that sense, yes, it is a modular design. I am not sure if we would extend this further in the future, but it’s a great example of how we try to make sustainable and responsible choices with our design today.

Q. Sonos has years of experience with audio technology from multi-room speakers and soundbars. With the Ace, was the intention to mimic how your speakers sound, or did you aim to create a pair of headphones that sound completely different from your speakers from an acoustic standpoint?

Fink: Over the course of developing audio products at Sonos, one of our North Stars is to recreate the artist’s intent. For example, the way an engineer records a Game of Thrones episode, Mad Max: Fury Road, or the latest Adele track is very specific in their studio. We collaborate with these creators across music, TV, and film to have them listen to early prototypes of the products we are working on. They provide feedback on what sounds right, and more importantly, what might sound a little off or needs to be changed.

Our engineers work with this feedback in real-time. For instance, a creator might say that a certain frequency doesn’t sound right or that the positioning of an explosion isn’t accurate. Our audio engineers then adjust the tuning accordingly and ask if the changes have improved accuracy or made things worse. This iterative process is integral to developing all of our products. We followed this approach for the Sonos Ace, as well as for our other products like the Arc, and all our soundbar and subwoofer products. It’s a pervasive part of our sound development process at Sonos.

The premium headphones include detachable magnetic ear cushions. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)

Q. How does Sonos test products like the Ace headphones and the Arc soundbar? Do you have a secret lab or a facility where testing takes place?

Fink: What’s interesting about audio, and something I have learned over my 20 years working on audio products, is that it’s part science and part art. On the science side, we use state-of-the-art anechoic chambers, which are essentially a room designed to eliminate echoes and one of the quietest places on Earth. We use these chambers to accurately measure the acoustic performance of our products. We can measure things acoustically and also use lasers and a Clipple machine to scan the surface of our transducers for any mechanical distortions.

On the art side, even with precise measurements, achieving the desired sound can be challenging. That’s why we involve creators in the tuning process. We have a soundboard of these experts who help us tune our products using the content they are familiar with. We also conduct extensive internal and external beta testing with hundreds, if not thousands, of customers. By the time we launch a product, it has undergone rigorous testing by Sonos experts, feedback from our soundboard, and countless hours of testing customers.

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