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Sonos Arc - Metallic Sound



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Userlevel 4
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@Jean C.  Couldn’t people just stream the songs from their device via Airplay and confirm that the Arc sounds metallic/tinny and take the display out of the equation altogether?

Userlevel 5
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@BMF, ​​@arpatil1 & @shane_sd,

CEC can come into play if it is somehow blocked or preventing the Arc from receiving the correct audio codec. 

That the ARC status had been consistently reading as blocked/inactive/disabled tells me that something might be amiss in how the Tv is communicating to the Arc.

The quickest way to remedy this would be to completely reboot the TV and then see what format the TV is passing on via the HDMI/ARC or preferably eARC port. 

If your TV doesn’t support eARC, try setting the TV audio format to Dolby Digital+ and see if it makes a difference. 

Userlevel 5
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Hello @CuzFeeshe,

Thank you for the diagnostic report and welcome to the Sonos Community by the way.

Does your X Box One or TV have an eArc port?

Can you test the Arc directly from the X-box to see if the harshness continues?

  

Userlevel 6
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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.

Harshness goes when truplayed with older iPhones. But dialogues are still hollow. It doesn’t feel like the center channel has 2 woofers and 1 tweeter. The balance between highs and mids just isn’t there.

Also, my CEC is on. Zero chance that it’s affecting sound quality. 

Userlevel 5
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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.

Userlevel 2
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Hello All,

Sorry for the delay, I have only just now been able to review this thread and taken a quick cursory glance at the half dozen or so diagnostics submitted (thank you for those).

The one commonality that I’m seeing on all of these reports is that the ARC status on the Arc (I know) is either disabled, blocked, or inactive. 

Have you examined the CEC settings on your TVs (and for good measure made sure that the Arc is in the HDMI/ARC port)?

If you do a full reboot of your TV (unplugging it fully from power/plugging it back in) change anything in the audio settings or quality?   

 

Hi all! This is my first post. I found this thread after searching the web to see if others were disappointed with their new Arc’s. My new Arc replaced a Beam in my home theater system. The primary reason I was replacing the Beam was because of how it handled music. I was never happy with it. The highs were just too harsh/thin/brittle for my ears. I don’t experience this with the Play 5 in my office at all. I realize these products are tuned for specific roles but I also owned the Playbar which was fantastic with music. 

 

I believe the product should sound good without extra processing, just like my Play 5 does, but I’ve done everything to try and improve the sound of my Arc with no success. I have Trueplay tuned several times, adjusted EQ and Loudness, with no success. I also believe our ears need several days to adjust to a new sound. I gave the Arc several days and I’m still not happy. I don’t believe I have an improvement over my Beam for music which is wild. I’m at the point where I’m ready to start a return. 

 

With that said, thanks for chiming in Jean. I’m hoping a solution is possible before my return period expires. To your question about whether or not CEC settings are configured properly, what I’m hearing from the community is that we all feel like something is missing overall. A harshness or “thinness” is there. With that said, I’ve tried turning CEC on and off and there is no improvement. I’m happy to help in any way I can. 

Userlevel 3
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@Jean C. 

Here is a diagnostic after playing the Dolby Atmos demo above on XBox One.

704248715

Userlevel 5
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Hello All,

Sorry for the delay, I have only just now been able to review this thread and taken a quick cursory glance at the half dozen or so diagnostics submitted (thank you for those).

The one commonality that I’m seeing on all of these reports is that the ARC status on the Arc (I know) is either disabled, blocked, or inactive. 

Have you examined the CEC settings on your TVs (and for good measure made sure that the Arc is in the HDMI/ARC port)?

If you do a full reboot of your TV (unplugging it fully from power/plugging it back in) change anything in the audio settings or quality?   

Userlevel 4
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@Jean C. I’m a bit different here… I’m new to the forum, have just replaced a $5000 full dolby atmos/surround system with the Arc (in order to appease my wife by simplifying the living room)…. and for some reason have zero problems.  Sounds amazing.

HOWEVER, I was playing around with the Dolby Atmos app on my XBox One, which has Atmos demos in it, and found a single demo that seems to highlight a harsh, metallic sound in the sibilance of the woman narrators voice that I didn’t hear in my prior system.  Mind you… this is the ONLY example I’ve had with my Arc so I thought it might be helpful.

  • What is the source of the media that is being played (TV app, external streaming device, cable, broadcast, DVD/DVR)?   XBox One.
  • What volume lever do you experience the issue?  Almost all volumes
  • Is the Arc wall-mounted?  No
  • If wall-mounted, does removing the speaker from the wall bracket and setting it on a credenza or table improve the issue? N/A
  • Is Trueplay configured on the Arc? Yes

In order to replicate, add the “Dolby” app onto an XBox One, and under “Demo Content” choose “Atmos Explainer”.  The highs in the sibilance are pretty harsh.

Id advice you take a diagnostic report shortly after playing this content (less than a few mins) and inclyde it in your report

Userlevel 3
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@Jean C. I’m a bit different here… I’m new to the forum, have just replaced a $5000 full dolby atmos/surround system with the Arc (in order to appease my wife by simplifying the living room)…. and for some reason have zero problems.  Sounds amazing.

HOWEVER, I was playing around with the Dolby Atmos app on my XBox One, which has Atmos demos in it, and found a single demo that seems to highlight a harsh, metallic sound in the sibilance of the woman narrators voice that I didn’t hear in my prior system.  Mind you… this is the ONLY example I’ve had with my Arc so I thought it might be helpful.

  • What is the source of the media that is being played (TV app, external streaming device, cable, broadcast, DVD/DVR)?   XBox One.
  • What volume lever do you experience the issue?  Almost all volumes
  • Is the Arc wall-mounted?  No
  • If wall-mounted, does removing the speaker from the wall bracket and setting it on a credenza or table improve the issue? N/A
  • Is Trueplay configured on the Arc? Yes

In order to replicate, add the “Dolby” app onto an XBox One, and under “Demo Content” choose “Atmos Explainer”.  The highs in the sibilance are pretty harsh.

Userlevel 5
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Any news on this issue yet? Has anyone spoken to support directly on the phone and had an indication a fix is in the works ?

@Jean C. any update.

thanks

Userlevel 1

Please Sonos hear us out help us to get more complete EQ settings. Most of us will be very satisfied. 

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I don’t know if I’d want to buy this much in hardware from a company that just axed a large number of people that might have been supporting said hardware.

Userlevel 2
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Are you listening, Sonos?

PS: I submitted my diagnostics a long time ago.

No, they are not listening. It’s quite sad :(

Userlevel 6
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Are you listening, Sonos?

PS: I submitted my diagnostics a long time ago.

Userlevel 4
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Has anyone tried doing full reset on arc and then re-trueplaying? I just did and it sounds considerably better and for the first time the bass from arc alone was impressive, beforehand was flat and over trebly, as soon as the arc came back online before I even trueplayed or added sub/surrounds It sounded completely different. I done the update last week too so god knows what’s going on, but might be worth a go for some people?


Can anyone else confirm this? I’ve received an RMA and updated the speaker right after I unpacked it. The issue is not gone for me.

I have done a bit more digging hence the edit seems the surrounds were helping a bit with the bass!! Apologies for that but it is definitely sounding better than it has before, tbh I thought it soundedvbetter before the latest update 

I agree up until 50% the old update sounded far better to my ears. Above that was obviously horrible. Now we seem to have the crippled release...

Has anyone tried doing full reset on arc and then re-trueplaying? I just did and it sounds considerably better and for the first time the bass from arc alone was impressive, beforehand was flat and over trebly, as soon as the arc came back online before I even trueplayed or added sub/surrounds It sounded completely different. I done the update last week too so god knows what’s going on, but might be worth a go for some people?


Can anyone else confirm this? I’ve received an RMA and updated the speaker right after I unpacked it. The issue is not gone for me.

I have done a bit more digging hence the edit seems the surrounds were helping a bit with the bass!! Apologies for that but it is definitely sounding better than it has before, tbh I thought it soundedvbetter before the latest update 

Userlevel 1
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Mine sounds thin and harsh I have the complete 5.1.2 system. Increasing bass and setting the sub to -2 and treble to -8 I could just pass it as an ok system but it gives me a headache every time I watch a 2 hr movie because of the harsh treble. Dialogues are thin so it’s just bass and treble not mid range.

 

i might return it if they don’t update and fix this soon.

Userlevel 4
Badge +5

Has anyone tried doing full reset on arc and then re-trueplaying? I just did and it sounds considerably better and for the first time the bass from arc alone was impressive, beforehand was flat and over trebly, as soon as the arc came back online before I even trueplayed or added sub/surrounds It sounded completely different. I done the update last week too so god knows what’s going on, but might be worth a go for some people?


Can anyone else confirm this? I’ve received an RMA and updated the speaker right after I unpacked it. The issue is not gone for me.

.

  • What is the source of the media that is being played (TV app, external streaming device, cable, broadcast, DVD/DVR)?  

         - TV app Netflix, Amazon Prime, Tidal,   

           Spotify,Youtube 

 

  • What volume lever do you experience the issue?

          Above 40%. Testet it at 80% got even worse

 

  • Is the Arc wall-mounted? 

          Yes 

 

  • If wall-mounted, does removing the speaker from the wall bracket and setting it on a credenza or table improve the issue?

          No it has the same problems

 

  • Is Trueplay configured on the Arc?

         Yes. 

 

 

          Diagnostic number : 1453398813

 

Userlevel 4
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I realize this is for a different problem but if Sonos looks at arc muddy/bottoming out bass related topic as well as post build 58178180 there are multiple examples of arc owners experiences.

There answer to me for both issues was rma I said it hardware they ignored my question and proceeded to start the process.

Userlevel 3
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I realize this is for a different problem but if Sonos looks at arc muddy/bottoming out bass related topic as well as post build 58178180 there are multiple examples of arc owners experiences.

Userlevel 2

@zztop610 @TomMcNally any chance you guys could submit the survey from Jean C above and diagnostics to Sonos? Seeing if we can give them enough data to get a fix in place.  Thanks!

Think I will return my Arc and go back to the Beam. After sitting in front of it I really can’t hear £800 sound quality, really think the Beam sounded better. Been disappointing from day one, will maybe think about trying out the second iteration or later down the line when they actually update their flawed product.

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