Sonos Arc flat sound and no life in non Atmos.

D
Userlevel 4
Badge +4

Hi,

 

I am having terrible problems with my Arc, I really am concerned it’s faulty. My set up is arc, sub and two ones through Apple TV. 
 

Anything in Atmos sounds great but everything else is terrible! When playing something in 5.1 and the app reporting 5.1 hardly any sound comes from the surrounds or bass even with music and effects. I have had to turn it up to 15 to get anything from them and even then it’s flat. If I compare it directly to the beam and 2 ones I have on another room with the same content the surround audio is much louder and immersive?!! Is anyone else experiencing this issue?

 

i find it just flat and lifeless for anything but Atmos content?

i also found that when watching something in Atmos yesterday the speech kept popping too?

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21 replies

W
Userlevel 4
Badge +4

Same here.

I don’t get Atmos at all because of my TV (Ofcourse not Sonos fault) but, it seems something is seriously wrong with the latest update. My setup is Arc, Sub (gen2) en 2 Play:1’s.  The Arc replaced my Playbar which sounded great. Now it seems I’m suffering from all the (known) problems that come with the Arc or maybe the S2 app. There is almost no bass (even with Sub), volume is much lower than before, and doing Trueplay with my iPhone XS makes the sound very “metalic/thinny”. Really not happy right now. I’m heavily invested in Sonos, so I hope this get’s resolved soon, else i see no other option than to return the Arc. Which would be a shame, cause I was seriously thinking about upgrading my TV to get the full experience. :frowning2:

 

Paul A
Userlevel 6
Badge +17

HI @Whistler and @danielkea.

Thanks for reaching out to us about your concern.

I would recommend with you the following steps to be done for us to better understand what is going on with the Sonos Arc.

  • Play Music on the Sonos Arc and submit a diagnostic.
  • Watch regular video/movie like cable or any non Atmos video/movie and submit a diagnostic. (TV source only)
  • Watch video with Atmos and and submit a diagnostic. (in TV app Only like Netflix, Youtube, Amazon Prime, etc..)
  • Watch video with Atmos and and submit a diagnostic. (from Cable Box  Only like Apple TV, Cable Box, Blueray player, Xbox, etc)

These steps would allow us to clearly understand and make comparisons to be able to understand Sonos behavior. 

Please let me know if you still have further questions or concerns.

Thanks,

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D
Userlevel 4
Badge +4

This rely concerns me as it appears you do not know what the issue is, I am not a beta tester but rather a consumer of an expensive sound bar so expect not to have to perform such actions to get it to work. I think I am going to return. 

Paul A
Userlevel 6
Badge +17

Hi @danielkea.

Thanks for the response.

These information being asked and being recommended are necessary since only through gathering enough data through submitting a diagnostic are we able to understand how and why the Sonos system behaves the way it is not supposed to. 

I may also want to recommend getting in touch with our technical support team for a more in-depth troubleshooting steps to possibly resolve your concern.

Please let me know if you still have further questions or concerns.

Thanks,

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D
Userlevel 4
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As requested:

  • Play Music on the Sonos Arc 2140641305
  • Watch regular video/movie Apple TV 234048197
  • Watch video with Atmos built in 1770794556
  • Watch video with Atmos Apple TV 1264664141
D
Userlevel 4
Badge +4

Just to add the atmos sounded great on Apple TV, atmos was ok on built in tv, sound on non atmos tv was awful and the music was flat! I REALLY think it must be faulty?

Paul A
Userlevel 6
Badge +17

Hi @danielkea.

Thanks for the immediate feedback and for the diagnostics submitted.

I would like to share with you some information common on all the diagnostics submitted.

  1. All of them shows the Sonos Arc at the time the diagnostics were submitted to be at volume level 2 which means that it is very low.
  2. All of the diagnostic shows Sub at the time the diagnostics were submitted to be at volume 1.
  3. All of the surround speakers at the time the diagnostics were submitted to be at volume 1 as well.

These could be the indication why we are unable to hear anything out of your Sonos speakers.

Please try to adjust the volume on the Sonos app and let me know how ti goes.

Thanks,

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D
Userlevel 4
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Yes I had it on low as my partner was on a meeting call, I assure you I am aware how to turn the volume up I was more hoping the diagnostics would help show a difference between atmos and non atmos content. 

Paul A
Userlevel 6
Badge +17

Hi @danielkea.

Thanks for the immediate response.

Based on the diagnostic submitted, the Sonos Arc is receiving intermittent signal from the source. I would suggest unplug the HDMI cable from both the TV and the Sonos Arc and plug them back in while TV is turned off. I would also suggest updating the TV firmware along with the Apple TV 4K firmware and reboot the entire system including Sonos.

I would also like to recommend going reading through this topic as one of the Sonos community member was able to make it work with Apple TV 4K.

Please let me know how it goes. We are always here to help out.

Thanks,

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T

If you TV is passing LPCM (like newer LG  Oleds) for 5.1 then you will get 2 channel stereo from the Arc. Change the source, like you Apple TV to output non multichannel pcm audio in non Dolby atmos content by setting it manually to Dolby 5.1 in non atmos content.  I learned this from another thread on here regarding the Apple TV. So there may be a better explanation on this forum than the one I gave. 

D
Userlevel 4
Badge +4

I think you have misunderstood, atmos works fine. No issues and it is working...it’s the rest of the audio. 

T

I understand your issue. In non atmos content the ATV sends LPCM to the Sonos. The Sonos arc does not support LPCM so it outputs 2 channel stereo sound. So you are missing allot of the channels. Try messing with the Apple TV audio settings to see if this improves. I know of people turning off Atmos manually in non atmos content and forcing 5.1DD. You are far from the 100th person to bring up the issues with ATV and The Arc. 

 

Edit: the Arc can read the ATV output for atmos just fine in the MAT container. Just not LPCM (multichannel pcm) for 5.1, non-atmos content.  Let us know if you go into the audio settings and change things around. 

D
Userlevel 4
Badge +4

Thanks for the help, even 5.1 sounds awful really as have toggled in the past. I have the same set up in another room minus the arc for a beam and the beam set up with the same content through the same device (Apple TV) just sounds BETTER which really should not be the case of a 349 sound bar bs a 799 sound bar. 

W

Already found a solution for this problem? I just bought an ARC with Sub3 and I find the sound quality very poor. Flat sound out of the TV and Airplay streams. Netflix Atmos sounds better, but it completely lacks suround effects...

I

My ARC is just a few hours old - but, I’m very disappointed.  I go right the way back to Year One of Sonos, and have about 10 rooms worth of kit, but the ARC is awful, even the Beam in the bedroom sounds better.

I’m not that bothered by Atmos, as we don't watch that many films - the TV sound is ‘ok’, but the music is just awful.  

Guess I will have to reconnect my old speakers to the ZP80 for music, and keep the ARC for TV, but it does mean lots of clutter

 

 

J
Userlevel 1
Badge

HI @Whistler and @danielkea.

Thanks for reaching out to us about your concern.

I would recommend with you the following steps to be done for us to better understand what is going on with the Sonos Arc.

  • Play Music on the Sonos Arc and submit a diagnostic.
  • Watch regular video/movie like cable or any non Atmos video/movie and submit a diagnostic. (TV source only)
  • Watch video with Atmos and and submit a diagnostic. (in TV app Only like Netflix, Youtube, Amazon Prime, etc..)
  • Watch video with Atmos and and submit a diagnostic. (from Cable Box  Only like Apple TV, Cable Box, Blueray player, Xbox, etc)

These steps would allow us to clearly understand and make comparisons to be able to understand Sonos behavior. 

Please let me know if you still have further questions or concerns.

Thanks,

I see this generic response every time someone addresses the terrible sound quality of the arc. The fact of the matter is SONOS scamed us on the arc it is an over priced extremely well marketed P.O.S. rip off and i do not believe SONOS has any intention of correcting the terrible sound quality of the ARC. 

G
Userlevel 7

@Jimothy I just watched Mission Impossible: Fallout on Blu-ray in lossless Dolby TrueHD/Dolby Atmos, and it sounded incredible playing out of my Sonos Arc/Sub/Play:1s setup.

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
J
Userlevel 1
Badge

@Jimothy I just watched Mission Impossible: Fallout on Blu-ray in lossless Dolby TrueHD/Dolby Atmos, and it sounded incredible playing out of my Sonos Arc/Sub/Play:1s setup.

Im watching netflix and it sounds atrocious. Cant make out a single word. I have the exact same setup. Has sounded terrible for the past 7 months i have owned it. 

J
Userlevel 1
Badge

Sounds like im listening to my laptop turned up really loud only worse dialogue.

Airgetlam

Have you tried to submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this problem, and called Sonos Support to discuss it, or posted the diagnostic number here for a Community Moderator to pick up?

There may be information included in the diagnostic that will help Sonos pinpoint the issue and help you find a solution.

When you speak directly to the phone folks, there are more options available beyond just the diagnostic analysis.

Bruce
G
Userlevel 3
Badge +4

@Jimothy I just watched Mission Impossible: Fallout on Blu-ray in lossless Dolby TrueHD/Dolby Atmos, and it sounded incredible playing out of my Sonos Arc/Sub/Play:1s setup.

Im watching netflix and it sounds atrocious. Cant make out a single word. I have the exact same setup. Has sounded terrible for the past 7 months i have owned it. 

Same issue with dialogue from many sources, but then action noises are too loud so forever turn it up and down.  Its a PITA, they need an update to sort out the central speaker in the arc for dialogue.  Would also be good to turn up the upward firing speakers as its very, very, rare I hear any of them working.  The gear should be awesome and you can see the potential is there its just if sonos want to do anything about it as they are selling these by the boat load.

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