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Sonos Arc - Metallic Sound

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R

What a relief for me to stumble across this topic. I thought I was the only one thinking the Arc was such an expensive disappointment… Sounding really flat, distorted base from 40% volume and up, weird soundstage from the rears (2x One’s). Truplayed with a iPhone Xs.

I’ll follow this thread.

Is there any form of recognition or acknowledgement from Sonos yet? Definitely returning the Arc within 30 days when there is no solution available.

A
Userlevel 2
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I am also coming from the beam, and the arc is a substantial improvement, but I will say it’s certainly a ‘brighter’ presentation, but I see this as aiding overall clarity, not a reduction in richness at all

This is what the rtings graphs show. The high frequency cut off for Playbar and Beam shows a score of 7.5, where as the Arc shows a score of 9.8. So this means you are hearing high treble frequencies on the Arc that you may not have heard on the Beam/Playbar, depending on how good (old?) your ears are at this frequency?

Well my 36 year old ears may have deteriorated slightly!, but for anyone to experience the beam sounding in any way ‘better’, there’s something seriously wrong with those units

yea I upgraded from the beam myself, granted my Arc came after the bass fix so I can’t speak to that but this thing sounds amazing. I was worried seeing all these negatives, im glad for me it was not an issue. It does make me wonder though if some of them are just defective and maybe need replaced?

What is the build number of your device? I’ve only heard March so far. 

Can’t see how the build number correlated to date? Mine is 58177280 for ref

K
Userlevel 3
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I have the arc since release date. From the beginning I find the voice (like watching news, talk shows) very tiny. Like the arc is only using the small tweeter and not the midrange drivers.

I was hoping to get used to it but I’m not. For comparison I bought a Denon DHT-S716H a 3.0 soundbar about the same size and price of the Arc. 

This confirmed my suspicion: while the Arc is much better than the Denon on soundstage, bass, clarity etc, the Denon is much, much better on voices, much richer and fuller.

This proves to me there is something wrong with the Arc. 

it’s a real shame I really really want to keep the Arc, but if this problem is not fixed In my return window , I have to send ik back. 
 

Sonos please fix this! It’s a pity that this is ruining a potential great product. 

 

 

Have you tried with trueplay off and loudness off? My experience is it is an improvement to tinnyness with certainly trueplay off … still not right but better


trueplay on or off makes a tiny tiny difference. Not noteworthy. 

S
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For the people having this issue I am very curious can you record some TV or movie audio where it sounds bad? especially if you also have a Beam or playbar and do a comparison. I watched a youtube review video the other day from an audio installer and he played audio back to back from playbar and arc and i didnt notice this issue.

C
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I find conversations regarding Trueplay and retuning etc. bizarre to be honest.  With it switched off (like it has to be for a huge amount of users who use Android), the Arc should not be exhibiting any of the issues being so widely reported.

Trueplay is to adjust the sound according to the room/environment it is in, not to fix fundamental problems.  There may be issues with tuning on specific devices’ microphones (quite ironic given the reasons for Trueplay only being supported on Apple devices) - but with it switched off these sorts of issues with bass etc. really shouldn't be there.

If you switch it off and have the problem then there is a huge issue.

And I am in this category of being an android user. I was disappointed from the very start with the sound of my Arc. I had tried adjusting the bass/treble with undesirable effects and then by borrowing my nephews iPhone to 'trueplay' the bar it did improve the sound quite dramatically. Unfortunately though it remains  hardly any better than my old 5 year old, £130, samsung 2.1 system it replaces, in fact for growling bass and loudness the Samsung was way better! 

This is my first dive in to the Sonos ocean and after glowing reviews I believed I was going to get a cinema experience and so I should at £800! All the Sonos fans seem to think it is okay to have a broken speaker, perhaps you may have a sub and play 1s and you believe, maybe because you have invested so much time and money in to their ecosystem, that Sonos will repair this broken soundbar. For me spending another £1000 to get that (and still some lambast the Arc with that setup) is crazy. It would be like buying a Ferrari with a 1.0 litre eco engine and saying but to get the best from it you need to upgrade and spend over double what you paid for it in the first place to make it what it should be (Actual costs exaggerated)! 

From what I'm reading everyone was happy with their previous Sonos products and I have heard some that sound great, that's what I was expecting (and more) from the Arc, how underwhelmed and disappointed I am. Yes I can send it back, but before I do I want to make sure the next £800 I spend on a soundbar isn't broken. 

 

This is where I was with the Arc.  Out of the box I expected more.  

I retuned it twice.  But I didn’t adjust the EQ. Because I instinctively felt that if I had to make adjustments to the sound just to make it comfortable to listen to, then maybe a lot needed fixing.

 

I was also of the opinion that only by shelling out for the sub and surrounds would I achieve the immersive effect I was looking for.

 

C
Badge +1

I think there are a few issues going on here;

 

  1. There appears to be an issue with trueplay. Lacking low end and sharp highs and also the balance of the surrounds seems way out. Ive had to drop mine to -9. On my beam i had to drop them to -6. 
  2. There appears to be an issue with frequency response when air playing music from an iOS device. proven by playing a song through apple music from an apple tv there is a wide frequency response and then when playing straight from the phone its all thin (this could be because the apple tv is encoding to DD5.1)
  3. There also seems to be some issues with non DD5.1 or Atmos content through the TV also having a strange frequency response.

So based on this i would say there’s an issue with how the ARC divides frequencies with 2.0 source material and also how it performs its true play tuning.

Well put! 

It makes sense that music will sound different when played back via AirPlay (stereo) vs an Apple TV (Dolby Digital) as you have implied - for one thing, DD has separate channels which will be sent to different drivers, most notably LFE. A more accurate comparison would be to set the Apple TV to output digital stereo and then compare with AirPlay. 

 

Regarding the users in this thread with issues of frequency response - I think it’d be worthwhile toggling TruePlay tuning to “off” to see if the same issues are just as present. (Someone previously said something along the lines of it not making sense that TruePlay could introduce the issue which is not all that logical IMO; given that it’s essentially creating a custom EQ response curve of course it could introduce EQ response issues!) 

Surely if the issue is happening with trueplay on or off it is not an issue with trueplay? This thing sounds mostly horrible no matter what i do or change.

That was my point, yes - I hadn’t seen people confirm whether their devices still sounded bad with TruePlay disabled.  

K
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@kenwk123 Thanks.  I did tune walking just around the sofa/sitting area but not sitting completely just from a seated position in one place for the 2nd part of the tuning.  I’ll try that next.  The Q90,  nothing worked for me with that sub issue and it was just too annoying to keep reconnecting.  Also had a different issue with Vudu going black screen everytime I used it.  I did notice a few screen “blackouts” yesterday while changing between inputs on the TV...wondering if it’s just a blip because of eARC (but that’s another thread to investigate).  (If you don’t mind sharing, what did you end up going with for sound and is Hamilton better now?! lol)

 

 

I have not purchased any soundbars yet as I am still waiting for Vizio and Klipsch bars.    In the mean time I am changing my entire stereo system so I have something to mess around with.

M

I’ve submitted the diagnostic reference 1985465114. I’ll contact support tomorrow and see what they say.

C
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I true played twice using an iPhone X, the first time I had some setup issues with the arc so decided to redo whilst ensuring to wave above the arc and this yielded a massively better result. Overall sound is more than satisfactory and miles ahead of the beam, though curiously deactivating the sub makes the arc sound pretty terrible, so not sure what this is about as its phenomenal with sub and surrounds

I commented about that on my dedicated thread about TruePlay, https://en.community.sonos.com/troubleshooting-228999/trueplay-tuning-a-variety-of-speakers-playbar-arc-beam-with-newer-iphones-results-in-tinny-sound-6843248

 

I agree that waving the affected iPhones directly over the Arc or esp. the side tweeters results in making the TruePlay tuning sound a bit better, but that’s just a workaround of forcing the iPhone to sample a bunch of treble from small tweeters. It compromises the overall fidelity of TruePlay tuning and still doesn’t sound as “correct” as TruePlay tuning with an unaffected device like a 2nd gen iPad Pro.

K
Userlevel 3
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RTINGS said in there review something the same:

Sonos Arc soundbar is just okay for dialogue and TV shows. It has a dedicated center channel for accurate reproduction of voices, which is great. It also has an overall bright sound signature which can help dialogue stand out, although some may feel like there's not enough bass. 

 

 

D
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This is where I was with the Arc.  Out of the box I expected more.  

I retuned it twice.  But I didn’t adjust the EQ. Because I instinctively felt that if I had to make adjustments to the sound just to make it comfortable to listen to, then maybe a lot needed fixing.

 

I was also of the opinion that only by shelling out for the sub and surrounds would I achieve the immersive effect I was looking for.

 

There must be a fair few of us in this boat. I've heard such good things about Sonos but I'm not sure what they have released here is fixable without spending money. I had so many hopes of not having a sub woofer on my floor anymore (and let's face it, nearly all reviews said I wouldn't)! 

Did you purchase a different brand in the end? 

K

Just updated app and Arc/sub to 12.0.5, reran Truplay and no change. Trusting in Sonos to address this as I purposely passed the return window and am getting anxious. Not an exaggeration, I have to run at -10 treble just to not be uncomfortable listening to this thing. So disappointing to be nearly 3 months in on something I preordered and still experiencing awful sound. 
 

As an aside, I was at my friend’s again this weekend and envying the warm, rich sound from his Playbar. Even without a sub. I’d take that over this Arc/sub setup hands-down right now. It’s that much of a difference. 

T

Jumping in late here and way to much to read… Bottom line, is it worth purchasing the Arc to replace my Beam? Outside of this thread, the reviews I’ve found all make it sound like the Arc is the shit. This thread though makes me think it’s shitty. I’m lost. 

If you have a pair of surrounds and a sub to pair with the Arc then you will not be disappointed. The Arc by itself was terrible at launch, both opinion and fact. But things have improved. The bass issue is 95% resolved, it only crops up in the most obscure places at volumes too high when it is unpaired with a sub and surrounds.  The metallic issue is also mostly fixed, but has been narrowed down to an issue with Trueplay on certain iPhone models. I started a thread here about it, with a video link for a deeper explanation.  

TL:DR: As of Jan 2020 the Arc is a great HT purchase IF you are also pairing it with  surrounds and a sub.

I was once a user who wanted to return my Arc that I preorded, as of now I am  90% happy with my Sonos purchase.  (still burned by no DTS, yes I am one of those guys).

 

 

O
Userlevel 4
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In my opinion everything just sounds very shrill. No matter how many times I trueplay (and I have tried with three different devices). It’s not that it creates sounds that aren’t there, it just that it emphasizes some high pitched sounds, and it drives me crazy. 
Arc has been a great commercial success for Sonos, and I am happy for them that it is. However, as a Sonos fan, I am disappointed with my Arc’s sonic performance. I am just not enjoying listening to TV. 
I keep hoping for a software update that will fix this. This is really bothering me. 
(And, as usual, it pains me that I see no indication from Sonos that they are looking at this. @Scott - Sonos, please give us some assurance.)

Krishma M
Userlevel 5
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Hi folks. The issue with the muddy or bottoming out bass from the Arc in a stand-alone configuration (no satellites or Sub) is no longer occurring. If your system is up to date and still the same issue we need to troubleshoot as normal. I’d suggest checking with the content (TV, Music in Sonos app) if it’s the same. If wall-mounted, does removing the speaker from the wall bracket and setting it on a credenza or table improve the issue? Is Trueplay configured on the Arc? Try to enable/disable Trueplay, if there would be any different. Is the Bass EQ setting flat or adjusted in some way? If it’s all the same after playing around, try to reboot the Arc or reset to its factory settings. If the issue still persists, call 800-680-2345 from Monday to Friday from 10 am to 9 pm EST for further steps and resolution. We’re always here to help. Thanks for the patience! 

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V

I was also experiencing bad (metallic) sound from arc+sub, and was just about to deliver it back when I configured trueplay using a newer iPhone. I had previously configured it through a 2 year old iphone and older iPads. Now it sounds as good as I was expecting it to sound.

C
Userlevel 6
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free to air tv is sounds average and has a lot sibilance issues. 

Not sure what free to air you refer to? I’m in UK, Freeview SD (Stereo) sounds ‘average’ vs Freeview HD (DD 2.0) sounds way better.

 

BMF
Userlevel 5
Badge +13

What a relief for me to stumble across this topic. I thought I was the only one thinking the Arc was such an expensive disappointment… Sounding really flat, distorted base from 40% volume and up, weird soundstage from the rears (2x One’s). Truplayed with a iPhone Xs.

I’ll follow this thread.

Is there any form of recognition or acknowledgement from Sonos yet? Definitely returning the Arc within 30 days when there is no solution available.

Yes, Sonos have said they are looking at these issues, the bass issue was reported as their priority.

 

Other issues mentioned on this thread are going to be looked at, they have been asking for diagnostic reports to assist.

M
Userlevel 5
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12.0.2 just came out, installing now

M
Userlevel 5
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@Krishma M Do you know if this issue is still being looked into by Sonos Tech? Thanks

A
Userlevel 2
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I true played twice using an iPhone X, the first time I had some setup issues with the arc so decided to redo whilst ensuring to wave above the arc and this yielded a massively better result. Overall sound is more than satisfactory and miles ahead of the beam, though curiously deactivating the sub makes the arc sound pretty terrible, so not sure what this is about as its phenomenal with sub and surrounds

I commented about that on my dedicated thread about TruePlay, https://en.community.sonos.com/troubleshooting-228999/trueplay-tuning-a-variety-of-speakers-playbar-arc-beam-with-newer-iphones-results-in-tinny-sound-6843248

 

I agree that waving the affected iPhones directly over the Arc or esp. the side tweeters results in making the TruePlay tuning sound a bit better, but that’s just a workaround of forcing the iPhone to sample a bunch of treble from small tweeters. It compromises the overall fidelity of TruePlay tuning and still doesn’t sound as “correct” as TruePlay tuning with an unaffected device like a 2nd gen iPad Pro.

Maybe so, obviously I haven’t tried on an older device, but I can’t say I’m hearing an overly ‘bright’ midrange deficient presentation in any way, which perhaps is more worrying; as surely points to a hardware problem on certain batches?

C
Userlevel 6
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12.0.2 just came out, installing now

No System Update though.

Trueplay Update ?

A
Userlevel 2
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Has anyone who is reporting issues tried a different HDMI cable? 
Just curious if a high end cable may be a solution for some. 
 

S
Userlevel 2
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Watched Lord of the Rings (Fellowship) last night and it was horrible. Piercing. Couldn’t hear voices. 
 

Haven’t returned my quite yet. Waiting on the update.

P
Userlevel 4
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I’ve added a sub as I can’t bear the muddy bass any longer but still have this nasty tinny ness… driving me nuts. 

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