Dissapointing Atmos on Arc

I’ve pretty much forgotten about the overhead element of ATMOS now really. I spent a while trying to ‘hear’ it and just put it in the box marked Emperors New Clothes after a couple of months. I’m not a massive watcher of ‘helicopters and explosions’ movies anyway. Am I disappointed with the Arc at the heart of a setup? Absolutely not. 
 

I have 2 Sonos setups in my house. Both systems are identical with Gen 2 sub, and Sonos Ones as rears. Living room is Arc, wall mounted below an LGCX 55. Kitchen/den is Based around a Beam with a trusty old dumb but great HD Toshiba 42” with Apple TV gen 4 (not 4K). 
 

the ARC based system is superb. I’ve battered it with endless Movies and documentaries throughout lockdown. After about a year of pandemic, (which is probably 3 years of normal viewing!) it still surprises me amd makes me smile a lot. Initially, I missed that what I’d now refer to as boxy centre speaker feel I’d had from previous stuff like the Beam and a Cambridge audio system I’d run for a while. But after a while, I came to love its natural and more open delivery of dialogue and its spread of sound. It’s for those who like the subtle elements more than the action movie stuff. Don’t get me wrong, It’s knockout at Marvel stuff and the aforementioned ‘helicopters and explosions’ but a drama with spoken word and ambient outdoor scenes are, for me, where it sucks you in. What I like most is that if I watch something like The Dig, I don’t think about the sound, it just draws me in. (Incidentally, I have an appreciation of the British comedy drama ‘Uncle’ which has some of the best recorded dialogue out there.  Its not one you hear quoted a lot but try it!).

But hey, this was supposed to be about ATMOS!

whilst I don’t hear overhead much, i tend to find the zones that Atmos creates super impressive, even if it doesn’t seem to do anything ‘upward’. The Netflix series about F1 ‘Drive to Survive’ is a good example. It has the usual cars zooming around you in a ‘post-production created’ way but it also gives the feeling that you’re in a bubble of sound more than being equidistant between a few speakers in corners. And I think this is the overlooked element of Atmos. It’s subtle way of placing you in the scene should get more credit on the Sonos setup to counterbalance it’s justified criticism for lack of upward involvement. I never dislike the Arc system and on some stuff, especially the more ambient stuff, it really is a great setup that delivers its skills in a very well rounded way rather than shouting them at you like many of the bash bang boom systems do (probably from one of those helicopters). it’s one of those items I never regret spending the money on because it’s already well in credit with me for how it’s helped me enjoy films and documentaries. 

for what it’s worth, I quizzed a pal who is a high end AV installer for big houses and wealthy clients. He adds Sonos to them a lot for smaller rooms where convenience and remaining budget precludes a bespoke tailored setup like in the main room or cinema. He reckons the only way to hear Atmos is to have physical speakers above in the ceiling of a custom system. He was happy I’d felt the same amd he’s stopped selling the ATMOS element of the Arc for this reason. He rates it but not for the ATMOS delivery. This was reassuring as I asked him about it after a few months of trying to hear it. 

 The Beam system also deserves a mention. The only variable is the sound bar and you get that more ‘centre speaker’ feel with dialogue but it’s still a sweet sweet setup that I’m glad I kept. It doesn’t have the more gentle front detail of the Arc and isn’t as immersive but it’s never dissapointing. And here’s the thing….. I don’t care about the Atmos. If some teenagers boot me out of the front room and I have to continue watching Drive to Survive next door, I don’t think twice about the Atmos; just the different, warmer tonality and more boxy voices which aren’t unpleasant. It’s just closer to other more familiar 5.1 setups. 
 

And my final point (if you haven’t nodded off)…. Music. Well, the Arc never gets it completely right. It’s mainly because I like rock music. I grew up on hi-fi like big British speakers with Leak and Quad amps. If you whack AC/DC’s Back in Black through some massive woolly Brit boxes it’s like you’re at Donington Monsters of Rock. On the Arc it’s more like being at Legoland with the kids and it’s on in the background. I can’t get it to kick enough. Its loud, it’s accurate, it’s balanced and it’s so detailed you can hear stuff you haven’t heard in 30+ years of some albums but beefy it isn’t. It’s so accurate and precise, it’s too clinical. I can make it sound great with, say, Cars by Gary Newman cranked or Election Day by Arcadia and it’ll bring some subtly and detail to Jeff Buckley’s Grace but it won’t make Clutch sound ….. well…. Like Clutch!  
 

And that’s where the Beam plays it’s ace card. It’s much better for rock! Cranked up, it’s got some warmth and a few more imperfections. In both cases, the sub lifts anything (if you dial it down a little by say -1 or -2 so it doesn’t dominate) but when I dig out the Dad Rock, the Beam kind of wins! I’d still prefer an old-school hi-if though. But I didn't buy either predominately for music (my Audio Technica headphones can save me there). but for my kind of visual media, even though I can’t pin-point a single instance of ATMOS anywhere, I wouldn’t have anything else in a small or medium size room then the Arc setup. Still love it 1 year (3 COVID years) in. 

@jimbo_hippo Have you installed the latest firmware update for the Arc? Sonos recently added the ability to adjust the height audio level on the Arc. It has made a HUGE difference in the ability to hear the height channels when watching Dolby Atmos content.

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/5041?language=en_US

That’s interesting. I’ll have a play with that! But perhaps the fact that a tech nerd like me hasn’t fiddled with it yet because I’m just soaking it all up without it says something GuitarSuperstar! I love a good mess with some tech yet my Sonos setups are probably the least fiddled with items I own. That says something. To me!

thanks. Will report back when I’ve had a play. 

I never heard any of the atmos-effects coming from above on my Arc + Sub + 2xones. 

I have a flat concrete ceiling with hard-paint, so it should be perfect for bouncing sound. 

When using the new height-adjust, I can hear the height-channel being turned up and down on the Arc in front of me, but nothing from above. 

I have 9ft ceilings made from plaster/board or something and can easily hear the height affects once I turn the height volume up in the S2 app.

What I do know about atmos is that you should never hear the height affects in front of you - the fact that you are hearing them in front of you means there is two things you need to check: 1) Make sure you are not sitting too close to the Arc and 2) Raise the ARC to the same level as your ears