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App says ARC playing Atmos but it doesn’t sound like it

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I just bought a Sonos Arc to replace the Playbar. My current set up is Arc, Sub, Sonos 1 & One SL as surround speakers.

After switching over to the ARC I can't really tell a huge difference from the Playbar. It sounds good, but so did my Playbar. I've tried some Atmos movies through my 4k firestick. When playing atmos movie my Sonos 2 app is telling me it's playing Atmos (movies through HBO Max). I changed a setting on my tv which allowed the Atmos designation to show up on my Sonos 2 app. The fire stick also is set for best sound available.

I’ve moved the ARC so it's about 4” below the tv and in front. It's about 5 feet from the ceiling (flat). ARC is about head level when sitting on couch which is about 8’ away or so. I tried true tuning. I've even played with the Highs setting for the Arc and never noticed anything by doing that.

Do I need to unpair my rear speakers and just do speaker and sub? I’m not sure if im missing something here. Im disappointed that the sound quality doesn't really feel upgraded considering the price I paid for a new Sonos Arc compared to the Playbar I used to have.

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N

Naekyr

Enthusiast II

Well, it’s official: I AM getting sound out of the upward firing speakers on the ARC; I can hear it when I bend over & put my ear close. So WHY oh why am I NOT getting overhead sound? I thought about getting a pair of ERA 300’s since they supposedly support Dolby Atmos, too, but they would only recieve rear sound signals, so IF they did produce overheard sound I would assume it would be minimal at best. I give up. Thanks to everyone who tried to help. This is a great community.

thats good, if you've identified the upfiring drivers are working, then we can love to the next potential issues.

the most likely reason you don't hear anything even when switching the height channel audio from minus 10 to plus 10 is because:

The audio is getting blocked: Make sure there is no furniture or objects above the soundbar that can block the audio - some people put their soundbar inside a shelf and it blocks the audio from exiting the shelf, some put it under the TV in a position where the TV blocks the sound - the upfiring audio travels in about a 45 degree angle from the soundbar

Another issue can be your ceiling: Either the ceiling is too high, or the ceiling is not flat, or the ceiling is made from a sound absorbing material. The best type of ceiling for Atmos is a normal or low ceiling height, a flat ceiling and a wood/board type material. The worst ceilings are high ceiling, vaulted ceilings and ceiling with sound deadening materials

And the 3rd and last potential issue is your seating position. You may be sitting too close or too far from the soundbar, you should experiment to see if moving position might help. In my experience if I sit just two feet too far or too close I won't hear overhead effects, that's how crucial seating position with upfiring speakers

Airgetlam

I think you’re missing the other option, that a standard non-Atmos signal has been encoded in an Atmos container, and isn’t carrying all the correct data. I used to have this issue with pre-season football games where the encoded signal in the Dolby Digital carrier was only stereo. Extraordinarily frustrating.

Bruce

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