CEC is on for me, same as the Beam was… I use it all the time “Alexa, turn off the TV” (as my wife and daughter do not seem to understand that a TV can also be switched off as well as on….. but that is a different problem, that I doubt Sonos can fix 
)
Cant see why CEC would make a difference, but tested and the Arc still sounds more harsh than Playbar or Beam.
New app update and firmware update. Just updated
It’s so strange, why some have issues and some find it good.
Some people have ‘issues’ with soft sweet wine, and prefer a crisp dry. Some prefer processed cheese, others a mature Stilton. Apply same logic to sound.
True, but people have these harsh bright issues, my yamaha ysp2700 was I would say, warm sounding, the ARC to me is warm sounding as well.
For about a month it sounded fantastic to me… then earlier this week I performed a Trueplay after updating to the latest version and suddenly it sounded tinny, weak, and metallic to me. I did another trueplay and suddenly it sounded fantastic again - warm with a nice middle.
I think this is not a simple answer. The performance of the Arc is especially sensitive to position and shape of the room, and in addition trueplay obviously is sensitive to the device perception of what it’s hearing (a complex speaker array may be adding to this sensitivity, along with device mic characteristics).
There was a video posted above where a reviewer showed how much better the bass performance is with the arc without the sub when using the wall to push the sound back towards the listener… but many have the arc in front of the TV and so aren’t using the wall. Bass may be dissipating.
It would be great if the results of trueplay were displayed, and then the user had a band equalizer to make fine adjustments. It doesn’t go along with Sonos ‘simple’ philosophy, however it would alleviate confusion.
the highs being too high which sort of feels “harsh”.
Anyone else feels that Arc is over-emphasizing the highs with compromised mids?
Yes same here, I am glad I am not the only one. This will be hard to fix as I am guessing the ARC is purposely “tuned” in this way. Also I think a lot of ppl will not even notice this if they don’t have a reference point to compare with. (eg. stereo system or other soundbar).
I could not agree with this more. I cannot believe that all the media fawned over the Arc given this very noticeable issue. I will be saving the box and my old soundbar - if this is not fixed within the next 45 days, it will definitely be going back.
Can’t believe Sonos either did not notice this issue or thought that it sounded good.
Here also flat metallic sound and missing mid range. Voices sound very low and ambient much louder.
i turned off Trueplay, this made the flat sound worse
What I am experiencing is a harsh sound, with very pronounced “SSSSS” sounds throughout any video that is playing. It’s not that the arc is creating sounds that are not there --- it is just amplifying the SSSSS part. (I listened to the same video via a different speaker, such as the beam, and I can pick out the SSSSS, but it is much smoother and pleasant on the beam).
I get this problem over HDMI ARC from my TV and also when sound is pushed to Arc via airplay 2 directly via the Apple TV 4K.
I have tried trueplay tuning with various Apple devices: iPhone 11 Pro, iPad Air (latest generation), iPhone 6S. I’ve done various trueplay “dances”, neither of which seems to alleviate the problem. My system is a full 5.1 system, including a sub and two one SLs. The TV has HDMI ARC but not HDMI eARC, so all sound coming to Sonos Arc is Dolby Digital 5.1
I do hope that Sonos fixes this very soon! I love the Sonos brand, and until now I have been a fierce Sonos advocate. I am very hopeful that this is just a software issue and that very soon Sonos will be able to fix it!
Having read through this entire thread, I think I am experiencing this exact problem. I normally don’t browse product forums for fear of technology hypochondria, but I came looking to see if anyone else was hearing things - turns out it isn’t just me! For me it is especially noticeable with speech and has a combination of the following qualities:
- Overemphasised top end
- Clipping in mid to top end
- Lack of mid-tones
- Speech is sometimes louder or quieter than expected (not well balanced) - a bit like a five year old has been given the dynamic range compression slider
- “Crisp/chip packet scrunching”
- More noticeable when at higher volume levels
- I can hear a difference when TruePlay is turned off, but the Arc still experiences the above problems and I would describe the overall quality as worse without TruePlay.
I wondered if the Arc is enhancing any defects in the source material… as in any clipping or issues with the source is being enhanced by the overemphasised top end and not being masked due to the lack of mid-range.
Here is my setup:
- Sonos Arc running version 12.1
- Sonos rests on the glass “foot” of a desktop TV stand, and the TV stand rests on a heavy wooden media cabinet.
- eARC over HDMI
- LG C9
- TruePlay with iPhone 11 Pro Max
- Most content is played from Netflix and Amazon apps on the TV
Yesterday we watched “The Angriest Man In Brooklyn” and “Radioactive”, both of which exhibited the above issues. “The Angriest Man In Brooklyn” is not something I would recommend watching.
My initial setup was done very much as an inexperienced person would set it up - I plugged everything in, placed the Sonos where I wanted it, followed the TruePlay process like someone who hadn’t read 833 forum posts, and started watching TV.
Once the wife is awake and can tolerate loud noises, I will try a factory reset, TruePlay with an old iPhone 6s, and fiddling with the LG settings (I saw someone say Auto was better than Passthru).
This is a real shame - it took a while to convince my wife that upgrading from our Yamaha YSP-2200 was a good idea. I really wanted to love the Arc, it looks superb sitting in front of the TV. However I am finding listening to it a real embuggerance.
I am heartened that Sonos have been replying in this thread, I realise that software bugs do happen, I hope this can be fixed in software… but I bought my Arc from John Lewis and I will need to return it within a reasonable timeframe to be able to get a refund. I am concerned that that timeframe will be much shorter than the time available for Sonos to push a software fix.
that review is brutal, and accurate
Having the exact same issue. I believe there’s an issue with the Trueplay calibration when done via an iPhone (at least me and my husbands iPhone 11). Tries tuning with a first generation iPad Pro and the results were much better. That incredibly harsh, metallic trebly heavy sound is gone. Can anyone else see if this works better for them.
I’m really starting to believe that the Sonos S2 app needs to be corrected. it seems that people are having issues since the Sonos app update.
I agree. I updated from a Playbar to the arc and I like the the sound of the Playbar for music much more. The Playbar had a warmth with music. The arc sounds very “tinny”. Lacks the midrange and has no warmth. I have tried many configurations: Moving the sub, adjusting the loudness, equalizer etc. nothing has helped. I like the clear dialogue for movies but the harshness in the music has me wanting more.
I’ve played with my ARC+sub every way possible and the mids are still lousy with music. The Arc is tinny and hollow, sort of sounds like a 80-90’s portable stereo (not the boom box). It get’s worse the higher the volume, to get some sort of lower mids you have to turn it up, then the sound seems to get muddled like the ARC is overwhelmed.
Source seems to play a part; Music off my phone via AirPlay isn’t not good, music (XM, Amazon) through the Sonos app is eh, same with music off YouTube off my TV’s app. It’s a sound bar, I’m not expecting rattle the house music, but this is really poor, my truck’s OEM stereo sounds better, not kidding.
The ARC (w/sub) is pretty good with movies and tv shows, unfortunately not $800+$700 good. I wanted the clean wireless look in my house and could live with this being tv/movie only, but not at the cost. I’m going to return them and maybe if Sonos corrects this I’ll repurchase. A broader EQ would have been a help, but maybe that would have just shown a design problem instead of leaving people to wonder.
I would sincerely suggest anyone waiting for a 'fix' to move on, there is nothing to fix as this is how it is.
I don't like the sound either, it's horrible for music to my ears but this is how Sonos built the hardware and no amount of tuning with Truplay or software revisions is going to change that and life's too short to wait for something that'll never happen.
Upgraded from the beam in a 5.1 setup and the only content that sounds better is either stereo mix older tv/movie content or Atmos content (although not as much as I would expect).
Music is significantly inferior on almost every front even with the sub.
Truplay was run on an iPhone XS
So.... The question... Are all arc's affected, and is it just that some people don't mind or hear it (hard to believe) or are there units that simply sound better than other?
I am contemplating whether to get the arc or not, but I am unsure right now…
The fact that there is no more feedback from Sonos is worrisome to say the least, it makes me believe they're letting it be as it is, which means probably no arc for me.…
This is a problem, I have a beam with sub right now (and two one's as rears, and a five gen2 in the kitchen) but the beam just doesn't really does it for me in the music department. With the Arc now no longer being an option, there is no real alternative from Sonos right now....
This might mean i'd might have to say goodbye to Sonos altogether, I don't think there will be another soundbar added to the product line anytime soon....
@MJAhoud It is probably a combination of people just hearing things differently and/or being more sensitive to certain things. When you go shopping for components there are speakers and amps/receivers that can be bright or warm (why a lot of people liked tube amps), my component system had a warm receiver and warm speakers, it took a lot of shopping and some returning (internet was in it’s infancy then). Not every person is the same. There is a well know speaker company where the running joke used to be “No highs, no lows, it must be ****.”
The Arc is marketed as a sound bar for movies and part (if you wish) of a home theater system, it does that fairly well. It is not a full blown stereo meant to play a dance party. We have all become used to having a product do everything good (not great) that many become frustrated when something doesn’t do everything great and only does one thing well, in this case movies/tv. I could see the Arc being designed to be brighter in order to do dialog in movies. Also a lot of people just don’t know any better and will live with the hot new thing, you see this with certain brands of automobiles.
Either Sonos designed the Arc to be bright/harsh, the Arc sounded fine to them and they don’t see a problem, they realize there is a problem that affects a certain group of people and they don’t know how to fix it, or they just don’t care that a minority are bothered by it. They did however release a product with a bass issue, which they later fixed. A broader EQ may solve the problem for a majority of the minority that are complaining about harsh treble. Only being able to adjust the bass and treble is some pre-2000 car stereo crap.
I bet three 5’s, two 1’s, and a sub would be a outstanding all around 5.1 and music set up, but it’s not really possible or cost effective, and at that point you may as well go wired.
I drug two of my speakers and sub out to use for music and my gf is annoyed that they are “cluttering up” the room. lol
I’m not going to throw Sonos under the bus, the Arc (with sub) delivers what it is supposed to with tv/video, I won’t tell someone not to get one, I’m just really sensitive to bright/harsh highs. Heck, it’s probably just fine for music for most people! Look at all, the people running around with the earbuds that come with your phone and those things sound pretty lousy. It does a lot of things well and is lower profile, better than tv speakers by far, if it is worth the price is subjective. I’ll admit, it IS the best looking soundbar out there and it does work.
Obviously, every speaker sounds different and everyone experiences sound quality differently, but seeing the amount of post about this issue makes saying "a small amount of people have a problem" a little bit of an understatement. I choose Sonos after listening to playb5 gen 2 and a pair of one's because of the sound signature (tight and clean, with lots of detail). I would expect a company that advertises getting "the whole Sonos ecosystem" to at least try to unify that sound signature, as they have done with the playbar for example.... Ev
By the way, the arc is promoted as "The premium smart soundbar for TV, movies, music, gaming, and more", not just a TV soundbar...
I do hope this gets the same attention as the bass problem. The harsh sound is actually causing more discomfort to me than the muddy bass.
My family members have also feedback that the Arc sounds weird (i think they didn't want to say it's bad seeing how much I paid for it..)
All these magazines that gave this product a great review should be boycotted!!!!!
Come on, everyone, let’s keep our heads and our cool. This isn’t some conspiracy and lots of people, myself included, quite like our Arc setups. Which explains the website reviews and the overall quite glowing consumer reviews on Amazon and Best Buy.
The Arc is not a bad product despite the experiences some people have had / are having and we don’t need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. If you’re having issues with the Arc for whatever reason, I strongly recommend returning it and getting something you’ll be happy with. Life’s too short to live with bad sound. Or if you really, really want the Arc, then hold on to it and wait for Sonos to issue updates that may “fix” the issue or, better yet, return it, watch the boards, and re-buy it once things seem corrected to your satisfaction.
But all of this “these reviews must be paid,” “worst soundbar ever,” “let’s boycott magazines”…. this is all just bordering on silliness. We’ve all paid a lot for this gear and if you’re unhappy I get that. If I didn’t like my Arc or was experiencing terrible issues I would have already boxed mine up, sent it back, and been on the hunt for something else.
There are bigger problems in the world than this - and this is fixable one way or the other.
Had my ARC for about 5 months. Have trueplayed with iPhone 11, iPhone 6s and older iPad.. still find the ARC to bright and lack of mid.. I also have a sub and rears. I sometimes find my Beam has a better overall sound upstairs. The ARC just sounds too Tin can sounding what ever I do. I had a Samsung Q90r before and that sounded much better, The sub wasn’t as good but the bar itself was much better.
@Krishma M any update on this
My wife and I agree on this issue, I came from a Bose Soundbar 700. While I could notice more details in the movies, our first impression was that the sound is too thin and metallic like described in the post. I purchased 2x One SL and a Sub (gen 2) and I’m still debating if I should keep this system. I like the immersion it offers. I suspect based on the hardware available in the Sonos Arc a lot can be improved with software. Hopefully, we can get a more fuller sound. But I would definitely like to see are settings available in Bose where the CENTER CHANNEL can be adjusted just like the Bose SB 700. I think this could help with this issue by making speech more fuller. This is only for Movies and TV , not so much for music.
Hi All.
It’s a relief that Sonos has identified the bug that’s causing the bass distortion in Sonos Arc. Thank you @Ryan S for working with the Sonos Communty to identify the problem quickly.
Having said this, I believe that Sonos still needs more work to make the Arc sound as it was advertised. Currently, multiple people on Reddit including myself are reporting the highs being too high which sort of feels “harsh”. This improve the speech clarity and brings out details in the movies, but the warmth in speech is lost because the voices sound thin and metallic (for eg. actors I know having heavy voices don’t sound heavy). I was expecting the mid-range to be a lot better considering the Arc has 8 woofers.
I have tried TruPlaying twice without success (Turning TruPlay off produces muffled sound). Adjusting the treble also did not help much. Loudness turned on and off does not make a big difference either. May be, this is how the Arc is tuned?!
Anyone else feels that Arc is over-emphasizing the highs with compromised mids?
I also am having a huge issue with the highs being too emphasized. I have been measuring the performance of my Sonos Arc and am seeing a huge flat response in the range from about 375hz to 1khz. There is just nothing really there. No movement on a spectrum analyzer, and the sound lacks any warmth to it. I fiddled with the EQ settings and managed to get a slight gain in that range by turning down the Treble and turning up the Bass, but it overall is very, very cold-sounding. To listen to this for long periods of time is actually quite irritating. Podcasts and other streamed audio dialogue is painful. Sonos, can we get a fix for this ASAP?
Thanks!
Just an update on my end (I posted here a few days ago).
After running trueplay with an iPad Air 2 (previously with latest iPad Pro 11”), I think the sound in the midrange improved, slightly less harsh and fuller, but still NOT where I’d like it to be. I have an iphone 6 sitting around I might try. I wish I had a professional mic to measure frequency response.
I can confirm that the issue definitely is present for streaming music and content via hdmi. I do not think it is related to the hdmi source (which is an LG C9 with earc enabled). Not sure where that idea originated.
I have not had time to run a full diagnostic, but I can if it’s felt that information is actually helping. The thing is, I don’t see much reason to believe it is a ‘bug’ so much as the eq/tuning is just not resulting in a an accurate or pleasing sound. I feel you’d likely need a full range microphone recording to really diagnose. I’m hoping Sonos can potentially work with Rtings and/or other real-world testers to better understand what’s happening.
I’m still seriously considering a return, and I’ve already had to caution friends who are thinking about diving into the Sonos ecosystem. There is still time to course-correct.
I spoke with Sonos technical manager today. He said that Sonos is looking into the Bass issue. But wouldn’t confirm that they are looking into anything else. He said that the metalic sound and the high treble “non balanced” sound may just be how the arc is supposed to work. He didn’t quite say that but he would confirm it. He said if I don’t like the Arc sound that I should just return it and go back to the playbar. Which of course I can. He said they are destined differently and this may just be normal. He kept saying that in general Sonos will make updates to the software etc.
This is unfortunate. Why would they tune the Arc completely differently than the Playbar, Playbase, and Beam that came before it? It sounds so obviously worse. There’s nearly 200 replies in this thread alone about it. And worse yet for Sonos, it sounds cheap. But as we all know, it certainly wasn’t.
The experience I’ve had with the Arc is damaging my brand loyalty and the part that’s most upsetting is we are all being super vocal about the issue and doing everything we can to help Sonos recognize it, taking to the proper forums where they want to host the discussion, scheduling calls with Support after waiting weeks for an email response, but yet they are increasingly silent in even admitting there’s an issue. At the end of the day, it feels like no real progress has been made here.
Add me to the list of people with this problem.
New Sonos owner and not impressed, dialog in particular sounds terrible, too much emphasis on “S” sounds so a person can say.
“Sssonosss is sstill sssounding hissssy on viocessss”.
Have the full set, Arc sub, and 2x OneSL but my TV speaker actually reproduces voice more cleanly, why bother with this product when its so poor?
Below that level it is absolutely marvelous, i am just stumped by drastic change in sound signature at higher volumes.
No Arc for me, i am talking about a recently purchased single Five for the living room. I do, however, have a full HT setup with Beam in the other room and didn’t experience something like since for years of having it.
Thank you very much for the tips!
Ah sorry I thought because of the thread title here, it was a Sonos Arc you were referring too - my bad.
I see now that you have another thread on the go with Sonos Staff, so hope you get the answers you’re looking for.
Understandable…
Here you have it Sonos, this is the result of you’re “radio silence strategy”; customers returning the Arc…
I think the Sonos company released the S2 app and Sonos ARC to quickly before it was ready for prime time. I don’t remember this happening with the Sonos beam. And, I suspect this has something to do with COVID-19 in rushing the product out there, before it was ready.
