Sonos Arc Height Channels

Nice work, Sonos! I have the Height Audio turned up to +10 and I already notice a huge difference with the height channels. MUCH more convincing!

Thanks for the feedback, @GuitarSuperstar!

On another note, if anyone has noticed the occasional missing space (that we can’t edit back in - we’ve tried), we have reported the issue to Insided.

I figured out a trick to edit the space back in. After you edit the space, type at least one letter at the end of the post. Then delete the letter and Save Changes. The space should remain.

I just updated the S2 App. Where is the slider for the height channel volume located? I don't see it anywhere. Thanks

Hi @Shimmer BFF 

If you did a manual update, that was just the app - you’ll need to do another manual update for the system. Then, you’ll see it next to surround level in the Arc’s settings under System.

Thanks for the info. I requested this update a long time ago via emailing theCEO. Do you notice a big difference in height effects?

Yes, there is a VERY noticeable difference. Adding this feature will be a game-changer for the Arc.

Anybody recommend good test material for tweaking the new setting?

Does increasing the volume to the height channels apply more wattage to the upfiring drivers?

And can you only increase the volume of the height channels when listening to Atmos? Do they only play with Atmos?

A Dolby Atmos demo disc on Blu-ray is the best way to test, but not many people have access to these discs or use a Blu-ray player.

But you can download this Dolby Atmos 5.1.2 test tones MP4 file and put it on a USB flash drive and play it through your TV:

https://amp.reddit.com/r/sonos/comments/hc21uu/dolby_atmos_512_test_video_file_download_link/

Hi @Shimmer BFF 

Yes - Wattage is Voltage multiplied by Current (Amps), and as the voltage goes up (it’s the voltage variance that “draws” the sound waveform), so does the wattage (it’s not quite this simple, but close enough).

Also yes - without an Atmos stream playing, there are no vertical channels.

Glad to see this has been added, would like to see centre channel optimisations like this as well.. Sometimes feel I need to up that now and again as voices can be to quiet, even with speech enhancement on.

Not sure that would have the intended effect as the center channel is not exclusive to voices.   You might very well be turning up the volume for sounds that distract from the voice as well.

If Sonos ever decided to add this feature, I can see them only allowing users to increase the center channel level a few notches from 0 to +3 because of how much it could ruin the balance of the soundbar.

When the volume slider for the height channels are increased to a +10 are they significantly louder than the other drivers in the Arc?

How loud it sounds will be dependent on how tall your ceilings are. For most people, +10 will be too loud and overpower the other drivers of the Arc. But if you have really high ceilings, I could see how a +10 setting would be necessary. I have 8 ft ceilings and I have mine set to +5 or +6.

Yes! Up to about +5 the height channels blend in with the other channels, at +7 it becomes noticeable that height is louder than the rest and +10 the height channels overpower the other channels.

My question is what is correct? What does dolby reccomend, should height channels blend in, be louder or be overpowered??

And my ceiling is 9ft

Ok I got the answer.

according to the official Dolby Atmos installation guide, the Height sound level should be at the same perceived sound pressure level at your seated position as the other channels are.

so that means the Height channel should not be so loud that it overpowers the others.

but it's hard to get the right level you need some specific Atmos content to do this and finding the right sound in a movie is hard.

luckily I came across this, it's a 5.1.2 Atmos system setup test file https://www.heimkino-atmos.de/.cm4all/uproc.php/0/Trailer/Dolby%20Atmos/dolby-test-tones_5_1_2.mp4?_=15dddc34420&cdp=a

you download and play it, it will make individual sounds slowly from each channel - it gives more than enough time to play with the volume sliders and the goal is to achieve the same or similar sound to your ears from each channel.

for me that ended up being +5 on the height channel volume slider, I also did -2 on the surround volume slider because it was louder than the other channels due to being closer to my ears than others 

I’ve settled on +3 for height and -5 for surrounds for now. 
 

+4 on my set made the vertical sounds more pronounced but artificially so in my perception. +3 is more balanced

Wow wow wow. Game changer. Well done.

I did the update to 3.1, see the new selection on S2 for the height volume, but found it does not change or vary the height sound, even though my S2 app does register I am playing a Dolby Atmos Movie. Sonos please make it work. 

@bobmatt What specific Dolby Atmos content are you watching and what device are you watching it from? How far are you sitting from the Arc and how far is the Arc from the ceiling? Are your ceilings flat and without any obstruction like a ceiling fan?

Wait! What?

I have my Sonos set to update automatically, the app says my system is up to date. Version 13.1.

There is no height control. 

What am I missing?