Feature Request: Center Channel Volume and Tuning on Arc


Userlevel 6
Badge +6

Can we get the ability to tune and control the volume of center channel independently (like surround audio) in a 5.1 setting?  If we get this feature, we won’t have to turn the volume up just to hear the dialogues clearly. 

Bose app already offers such feature for their soundbars. 


47 replies

Userlevel 6
Badge +17

HI @arpatil1.

Thanks for the great feedback and idea.

I would be morethan happy to send this to our engineering team. However, I would also like to set your expectation that we do not have any turn-around-time for the feature request to be addressed. However, I would like to recommend subscribing to this thread and keep an eye out for any announcement on our announcement thread for any updates that might be released or have already been released.

 

Please do not hesitate to reach out if you still have further issues or concerns.

Thanks,

Userlevel 2

Dear Sonos, 

 

I would like to support Arpatil's suggestion.

I just have the arc but have to constantly adjust volume for movies. 

Should be a basic feature.…

 

Please make it so 

 

Thanks

Ruben

Userlevel 1

Dear Sonos-

 

yes please, this would be a great feature to have as I’m twitching to want to turn it up during dialogue all the time!

Userlevel 2

Yes we need that feature of center channel volume ASAP!!

Userlevel 2

this would be an amazing feature to have !! speech enhancement doesn’t work nearly as well as i would have thought.. 

Userlevel 3
Badge +4

Can we get the ability to tune and control the volume of center channel independently (like surround audio) in a 5.1 setting?  If we get this feature, we won’t have to turn the volume up just to hear the dialogues clearly. 

Bose app already offers such feature for their soundbars. 

I couldn’t agree more with this suggestion.  Its my biggest issue with the system

Userlevel 5
Badge +11

Are the sound settings all OK

 

e.g. Switch loudness off for Arc, Audio Out settings on TV/Box?

Userlevel 5
Badge +11

And Trueplay’ed. This cleans the sound up appreciably - gets rid of extraneous bass.

Userlevel 1

yes please center channel adjustment!! speech enhancement does something with the sound...surround movies have dialogue in the center channel anyway so would be great if you could raise or lower only the center channel!

Userlevel 1

I am getting to the point where I may need to return the arc. The center channel / voice stuff is driving me bonkers, especially with Disney+. 
 

the voice enhance feature does nothing. 
 

Please add center channel adjustment to the app ASAP 

Userlevel 2

Yes.. .  I repeat that.. .!

 

We need a volume control for the center channel.

In that way, we would be able to adjust allcomponents relative to each other.

 

In my case, the left and right channels are too low in volume, compared to the center, after i did the trueplay adjustment. The overall sound though is just right.

Userlevel 1

This is a game breaking missing feature for me as well. I’m using the Amp combined with 2 Ones in surround. The audio is great except for the volume of the phantom Center. I need to have “night mode” on otherwise the voice channel is barely audible. “Improve speech” makes voices a bit better understandable, but in many cases also makes voices sound like they are spoken though a tin can. 
 

so +1 for a center channel volume feature!

Userlevel 7
Badge +16

Plenty have asked for this on the Playbar, nothing was ever done. Don't hold your breath..

Have to agree.night mode literally does nothing. Speach enhance nothing. Either i turn my volume way up, so that i have to scramble for my remote every couple minutes when i get blown out of my chair with how load the sound is, or i cant hear what anyone is saying. We need a way to adjust the sound like every other sound system out there. I spent a lot of money to have bare bones soind options that can only be adjusted if you are dumb enough to own an applephone.

Userlevel 7

Have to agree.night mode literally does nothing. Speach enhance nothing. Either i turn my volume way up, so that i have to scramble for my remote every couple minutes when i get blown out of my chair with how load the sound is, or i cant hear what anyone is saying. We need a way to adjust the sound like every other sound system out there. I spent a lot of money to have bare bones soind options that can only be adjusted if you are dumb enough to own an applephone.

Night Sound works great on my Sonos Arc. I use it all of the time when I want to keep the volume consistent.

Userlevel 1

Checking in with the same issue.  It is ruining the Sonos experience not only for me but my friends and family who encounter the deafening special effects sounds while speaking voices are but a whisper.

It surprises me that a company with the reputation of Sonos would leave this obvious problem unsolved.

Userlevel 7

@Anubisjeff This problem is not unresolved. The Night Sound and Speech Enhancement features do a great job fixing the problem.

Have to agree ...

Night Sound works great on my Sonos Arc. I use it all of the time when I want to keep the volume consistent.

 

i have this issue with night mode on, and speech enhancement turned on. when toggling them on and off there is no difference between the settings at all. this issue is not resolved and there needs to be away to change the level of each channel like you can on a cheap speaker system. why did i drop this much money on something that has ZERO customization...

That makes it sound as if your soundbar isn’t receiving a full Dolby Digital (separate 5.1) signal, but instead a stereo signal from your TV. The only way those Sonos modes work is on a true Dolby Digital or Dolby Atmos signal. 

Userlevel 7
Badge +22

What is your controller showing for the incoming sound format?

Userlevel 7

Night Sound and Speech Enhancement work with a stereo signal too. I use Night Sound every night when I watch the news and YouTube videos in stereo. YouTube ads are significantly louder with Night Sound turned off.

Interesting. Is it as much on the stereo feed as it is on a Dolby Digital feed? I’m not at home to do any testing.

Userlevel 7

Interesting. Is it as much on the stereo feed as it is on a Dolby Digital feed? I’m not at home to do any testing.

To my ears, I would say the dynamic range compression using Night Sound is comparable between a stereo source and Dolby Digital source. But because multichannel audio tends to have a much higher dynamic range than stereo (especially if it is lossless audio like Dolby TrueHD), I would guess the amount of compression would need to be much more with Dolby Digital.

Userlevel 1

Where is this at? Has anyone at SONOS provided any information or feedback?

Userlevel 7

Where is this at? Has anyone at SONOS provided any information or feedback?

Night Sound and Speech Enhancement can be enabled on the Now Playing screen in the Sonos app.

Night Sound: https://support.sonos.com/s/article/1948?language=en_US

Speech Enhancement: https://support.sonos.com/s/article/4796?language=en_US

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