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nathanpratt
Contributor I
November 13, 2021

Dialogue difficult to hear on arc

I know multiple people have this same issue but none of the other solutions seem to be working for me. I just started using my sonos arc and while the quality is excellent for music and for louder sounds, it is very difficult to hear dialogue. The dialogue in movies sounds flat for lack of a better word. I used the speech enhancement and night mode settings with movies and while the dialogue is slightly improved, it is still not ideal. I have a sonos arc, sub and 2 sonos one set up for surround. 

 

Does anyone have any other ideas about how to improve dialogue audio? I love the soundbar other than this one issue.

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    7 replies

    GuitarSuperstar
    Lead Maestro
    November 13, 2021

    What type of audio are you getting from the Arc? Have you performed Trueplay tuning? If you are seated close to the surround speakers, you might adjust the Surround Audio TV Level setting lower so it will be easier to hear the audio from the Arc.

    "Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
    nathanprattAuthor
    Contributor I
    November 13, 2021

    Unfortunately I don't have any iOS products to use trueplay. I think that would be best way to optimize. I didn't try turning down the surround yet that's a good idea. 👍thx

      Airgetlam
      Airgetlam
      November 13, 2021

      You haven’t responded to the first question. Most frequently, people with complaints about hearing dialog properly come from people who are sending only a stereo signal to their system, which doesn’t have a ‘center’ channel. This can be an issue with the TV, but more often is an issue with the device feeding the TV.

      Bruce
      GuitarSuperstar
      Lead Maestro
      November 13, 2021

      Unfortunately I don't have any iOS products to use trueplay. I think that would be best way to optimize. I didn't try turning down the surround yet that's a good idea. 👍thx

      Find a friend or relative with an iOS device and ask them if you can borrow it for 15 minutes. You only need to perform Trueplay tuning once.

      Here is a list of iOS devices that do NOT support Trueplay tuning:

      https://support.sonos.com/s/article/3222?language=en_US

      "Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
      Simmz
      Prodigy I
      November 13, 2021

      Yeah as guitar said. Try get an ios device. It fixed my problems trueplay, but likewise I feel your pain that it even requires it to be done on a £900 device.  

      Stanley_4
      Stanley_4
      Grand Maestro
      November 13, 2021

      I’ve done all the fixes and I’m looking at 5.1 signals so it isn’t that the center is unused. I do have the speech enhancement on and I’ve tried night mode on and off. Turning down the Sub and Surrounds has minimal impact on the two systems that have them and I have the same issue on the one that doesn’t.

      A fix that was suggested that I haven’t tried yet is to use a couple of the spouses throw pillows to further mute the left and right speakers. I may be reduced to this.

      NielsNL
      Lyricist I
      November 14, 2021

      Came hear to register and reply to this topic.
       

      I am enjoying my new Arc/Sub/One SL’s, but the quality of dialogue when watching normal TV in Stereo (2.0/2.1 audio) is surprisingly poor. It sounds tinny and flat on the Arc — it’s hard to follow even with speech enhancer on. Would like some extra control here.

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