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Sonos Arc - Metallic Sound

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S
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Can someone please test out The Office S4 Ep.19 at 30:30 when Michael sings Goodbye Toby. I am getting crackling/popping static sound pretty much through out the entire song. Is anyone else experiencing this?

Yikes! I confirm. i get crackling sounds. sounds pretty bad. 

I submitted the form and diagnosis . It is terrible, Beam never did this. If bass and this doesn’t get straightened out by my return window this thing is going bye bye. Arc should cost $499 even that is pushing it. How can a product be released like this. Such a fail.

I just tried this…. I could hear it clearly at higher volume.  Then I lowered the volume quite a bit and got near the speaker… I could still hear some popping/crackling.

THEN I went in the bedroom and pulled up the Beam and tried it…. and I could still hear the crackling.  Granted, it was more difficult to hear because the Arc is producing a greater dynamic range, but it was clearly there.

THEN I pulled out my Bose headphones, plugged them into my iPad, and did the same thing… I could clearly hear the popping/crackling.

I think the popping and crackling to an extent is part of the original soundtrack.  The joke is that he’s screaming into the microphone enough the tax their PA equipment.

I’m thinking in this case maybe the arc is doing a terrific job reproducing popping and crackling of PA equipment in a soundtrack.

I will test this further but I hear this not just at that part, that is where it’s consistent and exaggerated. This happens all the time. Pop here pop there i feel like something is wrong always lol

O
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Has anyone experienced this issue, exchanged for a new Arc, and felt that the issue was improved with a new unit? Local Best Buy has offered to replace mine, but I am wondering if it’s affecting all units or just some. To echo many other people here, it literally sounds like the center channel/tweeter has a serious problem on my Arc. All dialogue sounds like S’s are super harsh/way over pronounced, as if someone is hissing into their mic. Don’t know if I should bother exchanging it, or just wait it out until Sonos addresses the issue via firmware update. 

I really hope it’s a firmware issue. Your description is very apt. In my country I would have to go through hoops before someone would exchange the unit. 

D

Hi.

Are there any figures on how many have problems, sent back or received new ones?  How big is the problem and how many may have been sold?  if anyone knows :-)

S
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Interesting I can’t listen now as it’s late but intrigued o compare in the morning! 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hXBHZAPA5uQi2H3wpYD8gHJkS5IwCcVL/view?usp=drivesdk
 

here is the drive movie one. I expect you to venmo me for ruining my newtflix algorithm;) haha

 

oh well This one I did turn up higher had to disable limit 60 percent I had. I can’t hear anything awful the bass like sounds a bit weird like clubby. But in the sonos one it sounded similar. 
I do agree it’s not the strongest bass or like as thumpy as you’d like wirh this type of club music.  But it certainly doesn’t sound like shit 

 

That’s so not how this song should sound like lol. I do listen to this song quite often ( Being an Indian). Balance is off by miles. But hey, this is a $799 soundbar that’s not made for Music. So it’s fine.

The netflix song you mean? I mean obviously this is the first time I’ve heard this song but having the “balance off” doesn’t mean the speaker is broken. If you can give me the name of the song I can try playing it on my sonos one to check “what it is supposed to sound like” then again, maybe to you the sonos one is also not good? Not sure. I do have a homepod but I boxed it since I’m gifting it.

 

I didn’t love the homepod music performance as I said before, but I recognize the bass is  punchier.

The song is called Makhna. Like you said, speaker doesn’t have to be “broken” to have the balance off. It just indicates how poor and unfaithful the sound reproduction is.
 

Never said Sonos Ones are bad, so don’t put words in my mouth for the sake of argument. They are actually pretty good, just a tad bright for me. I already had a HomePod with 360 degrees sound, so I couldn’t justify keeping them only for music.

Anyway-  Just grab any decent pair of headphones/earphones and listen to the song.

having said this, I think I am gonna sign off from the thread now. It’s pretty clear you love your Arc while I think it’s bad at that price. No point in proving anything to anyone further. 

To those who are having issues, I hope Sonos really solves them unlike the muddy bass problem where they said they are still working on the issue and now just declared out of nowhere that there’s no problem now without pushing any update.

I didnt meant to say you said the ones are bad I said “maybe” because I didnt know. I will stream it to the sonos one later.

Again I recognize the arc isnt the best speaker for music. But I do love it for movies and tv. I have the 5.1 setup though, so I am usually less affected by this. But I think some people still hate the arc even with 5.1 setup

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

M
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Anyone do any AB testing with sources? I just went back and forth between my iPhone8s and MacBook Pro, both via Airplay2 and get totally different sound profiles, specifically on the high end. The playback from my MacBook Pro was overly bright and exaggerated on the high end. 

K
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BTW: accoustics isn't the only possible problem. RTINGS just updated there review with the latest firmware and it is still not good….. 

Smilja

Thanks I hadn’t seen that. Hopefully they come up with something in the next couple of weeks.

 

 

And you still haven’t read it.

»And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space, Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.« (›Windmills Of Your Mind‹ [1967]. Music by Michel Legrand ; English lyrics written by Alan & Marilyn Bergman)
P
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I have been trying to organise a return of my arc for over a week. I have emailed them 3 times to chase it - twice getting a generic response asking if they have solved the problem to my satisfaction (with no other reply or action) and once apologising saying the ‘return has been stuck in the system’ and that they will be in touch to tell me how to proceed with the return (that was 3 days ago). 

I get things are bit tougher with COVID but this seems a bit odd doesn’t it ???

I also returned a sub to them, which was received by them at the end of June but I am still waiting for a refund. I have emailed them and have had no response. Is their customer service usually this bad???

 

I tried too to no avail. I thought I could chat to return it, but no and then they said go online, but that did not work. Just call and get ready to be on hold for a loooong time :/

Good luck. I just brought mine to UPS ….

It’s a joke - I have been trying to sort an exchange THEY agreed since last Monday 6th July. It asked if I wanted an advance delivery and to leave card details and I would have it within 5 working days! Monday 12th still heard nothing so chased them and it was lost in the system apparently but still heard nothing and if it’s not hear by Monday it will be over 14days and they will bill be for a second Arc as you only have 14days to return since raising the exchange it’s a joke this company has gone from hero to zero in about 6 weeks… SONOS READ THIS - YOU SOLD ME SOME JUNK - YOU ACKNOWLEDGES IT WAS JUNK NOW FOLLOW THROUGH AND REPLACE IT WITHOUT ME BEING OUT OF POCKET FOR YOUR MISTAKE!!!

Just found out that they have also stopped monitoring support@sonos.com as I am dealing with my return. Only option is to call them and wait hours hoping somebody would pick up. One of the WORST support I have dealt with. Laying off majority of support staff after releasing much anticipated product in the history of the company speaks a lot.

I’m starting to think there is a case to report them to trading standards and maybe watchdog for this diabolical service here in the uk

C
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BTW… this morning I did another Trueplay with my iPhone X.  I deliberately moved my arm all the way up and down and stayed a few feet from the Arc and moved back and forth around the room.  The results went back to sounding great again.  Metallic sound went away.  Midrange returned to a nice warm sound.

I probably will not touch it again.

P
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I’d agree with this. I’ve watched a few things and the arc was impressive (films with Atmos, dark on netflix). But I think truly horrendous and shrill were unfortunately much more common for general viewing. 

S
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Based on my experience Trueplay makes a huge difference to the sound profile for good or bad. It took multiple Trueplay attempts (trying different ways) but eventually I got the sound I'm happy with.

There are multiple variables for doing Trueplay so my advice would be to try it few times. Searching this forum would get you few advices.

My suggestion to Sonos for simplifying Trueplay and making it more seamless is- include/sell a mic like few other companies do to use for Trueplay tuning. And put up a separate guide to Trueplay the soundbars as the standard way of roaming around the whole room didn't give me the best results for Arc.

P
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I have been trying to organise a return of my arc for over a week. I have emailed them 3 times to chase it - twice getting a generic response asking if they have solved the problem to my satisfaction (with no other reply or action) and once apologising saying the ‘return has been stuck in the system’ and that they will be in touch to tell me how to proceed with the return (that was 3 days ago). 

I get things are bit tougher with COVID but this seems a bit odd doesn’t it ???

I also returned a sub to them, which was received by them at the end of June but I am still waiting for a refund. I have emailed them and have had no response. Is their customer service usually this bad???

 

I tried too to no avail. I thought I could chat to return it, but no and then they said go online, but that did not work. Just call and get ready to be on hold for a loooong time :/

Good luck. I just brought mine to UPS ….

It’s a joke - I have been trying to sort an exchange THEY agreed since last Monday 6th July. It asked if I wanted an advance delivery and to leave card details and I would have it within 5 working days! Monday 12th still heard nothing so chased them and it was lost in the system apparently but still heard nothing and if it’s not hear by Monday it will be over 14days and they will bill be for a second Arc as you only have 14days to return since raising the exchange it’s a joke this company has gone from hero to zero in about 6 weeks… SONOS READ THIS - YOU SOLD ME SOME JUNK - YOU ACKNOWLEDGES IT WAS JUNK NOW FOLLOW THROUGH AND REPLACE IT WITHOUT ME BEING OUT OF POCKET FOR YOUR MISTAKE!!!

Just found out that they have also stopped monitoring support@sonos.com as I am dealing with my return. Only option is to call them and wait hours hoping somebody would pick up. One of the WORST support I have dealt with. Laying off majority of support staff after releasing much anticipated product in the history of the company speaks a lot.

I’m starting to think there is a case to report them to trading standards and maybe watchdog for this diabolical service here in the uk

It does seem a bit odd doesn’t it? To send out a product as bad as the arc is disappointing enough but then to go completely silently when people try to exercise their right to a refund / exchange is even worse. I had wondered if they are delaying as they hope an update will fix the issue… The number of returns they are going to get is going to cost them... but that doesn’t explain why I’m waiting 3 weeks for a refund on a returned sub ???  Even just an email saying we are struggling with customer service due to COVID would appease me. 

V
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Also - for what it’s worth - the bass issue (when not using a sub) is better than it was but certainly NOT 100% fixed….

 

I don’t have an issue with the metallic sound - but I have no doubt some people do.

Exactly. The bass issue was fixed by Sonos but people still are complaining about it. When Sonos “fixes” the metallic sound “problem” many people will still hear it and never be satisfied.

 

Well…. people are still complaining about the bass b/c it’s not fixed. Not all the way. This isn’t a matter of perception.

Sonos has acknowledged they’re working on the metallic sound issue...soooo I don’t think that’s a matter of perception either.

 

 

It’s pretty simple:

Sonos said the bass issue has been fixed. But people are saying it hasn’t been fixed or, according to you, it hasn’t been fixed “all the way”. Therefore those people won’t ever be happy with the bass from the Arc. They have the option to live with it and pray for another “fix” or return it and get something they will be happy with.

In the future, IF Sonos says the metallic sound issue has been fixed, some people will say they still hear it and it hasn’t been fixed. Therefore those people won’t ever be happy with the sound from the Arc. They have the option to live with it and pray for another “fix” or return it and get something they will be happy with.

I think some people here should just return it and use their hard-earned money and get something they will be happy with so they can enjoy watching movies and listening to music again without complaining about it.

You enter a forum to give your opinion of a problem that does not affect you ... I would like you to have it and that at home you would have invested in more sonos speakers ... we would see if you say it so lightly, you would put it into practice. It is noted that for speaking from ignorance they do not charge in the forums.

S
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Reading the above, there is some irony here, we have a scene that is supposed to sound terrible, and the Arc reproduces these ‘terrible’ sounds and they sound ‘terrible’ ? I would argue that is not an ideal test.

In my last comment I said it doesn’t just happen there, did you miss that part? It is possible that the parabolic mics they use on the show give off that feedback and the Arc exaggerates it.

C
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Anyone do any AB testing with sources? I just went back and forth between my iPhone8s and MacBook Pro, both via Airplay2 and get totally different sound profiles, specifically on the high end. The playback from my MacBook Pro was overly bright and exaggerated on the high end. 

Interesting.  Did you check whether it sounds the same on your iPhone between AirPlay2 and Sonos app?  Also, whether the EQ is turned on in AirPlay2 on the iPhone or the Mac?

S
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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! 

Hi @Krishma M , can you please provide some detailed information about the fix for the mentioned issue?

What firmware or software upgrade "corrected" the bass and metallic issues?

There are any relations with Trueplay?

Hope you can clarify the community about your statement.

 Thanks and best regards

 

hello, @Krishma M 
thanks for responding. This is the metallic sound or exaggerated highs thread. So I’m not sure why you responded with a muddy bass issue response. I am also not sure why others here mentioned muddy bass.

 

i asked about the exaggerated highs issue. This was acknowledged previously here by @Scott - Sonos snd we were told the engineering team was investigating. 
 

Its been radio silence and look at the number of comments. Now I ask for an update and you respond with a copy paste statement from another thread? I feel a bit dissapointed if I’m honest.

 

i would have expected sonos to make an official response to this since we were asked to provide feedback and submit content. And never heard anything again.

 

i ask everyone circling to muddy bass issues please use the other thread. These are totally separate issues not sure why anyone would asi about them together like the previous post before mine. 

S

Really glad to have found this thread. I just bought an Arc and was surprised by the poor audio quality. My older setup a pair of honest stereo speakers (AudioEngine A5s). At first setup, the was arc seemed sub-par in almost all respects, especially vocals. 
 

I followed one of the suggestions above - set arc pass through to auto in my LG B8 TV settings, and changed the hdmi cable. Happy to report that the sound quality has improved massively.

I
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I am also noticing similar sound issues on arc soundar i.e. distorted bass at high volume and voice goes very thin during movie. Additionally music quality is not great vs sonos one speakers. I believe expected software fix is for distorted bass but not for other reported issues.  Also can software fix address so many issues which we are experiencing or it is soundbar speakers?

You know, the Beam did not have any of these issues...

A
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This is a personal experience and wanted to share here, I was as fed up as everyone here, and before returning, decided I will give one more try with Sonos tech support and managed to reach them through chat. I spoke about both the muddy bass issue and the harsh metallic tone (treble) issue. We did the usual diagnosis and then a few tweaks done from the support agent. I guess he did a resetting of my EQ, restarted my Sonos arc, and then we did the trueplay configuration again. 

There was not much difference and I was not happy. So the agent requested me to send 20 seconds of files with different sources. (I am yet to do this). All this happened on Friday

On Saturday, I do not know what miraculously happened since there was no software update or any other action taken but my Arc sounds different now for good. The music and sound are much better, nicer, and crisp. 

PS: I have not tested movie source/content from TV (ARC/eARC) since my TV stopped working. My experience is with Airplay/Youtube Premium is the music source. 

I am still wondering and thinking if it could be a placebo effect but then even my wife felt today the system sounded way better. 

If anyone else has a similar experience, pls do share. Cheers 

I had a similar one after turning off the electricity for the night and listening the next day.  It sounded better until I raised the volume really then the problems came back.

Interesting will try to turn on the volume high in the morning and report back. This seems to be something to do with the hardware than the software issue. I guess Sonos just do not want to admit and recall at this moment with descending economy 

C
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Reading the above, there is some irony here, we have a scene that is supposed to sound terrible, and the Arc reproduces these ‘terrible’ sounds and they sound ‘terrible’ ? I would argue that is not an ideal test.

In my last comment I said it doesn’t just happen there, did you miss that part? It is possible that the parabolic mics they use on the show give off that feedback and the Arc exaggerates it.

I would agree…. there are several possibilities here.  One is that there are recording imperfections that better quality speakers and dynamic separation reveal.  This was a big complaint when CD’s originally came out and exposed limitations of records.  The ‘hiss’ was gone and suddenly you could hear these things.  Also, with the “brighter” sound on the Arc maybe you can hear things that you can’t hear on the beam.

Another possibility is that there are still some sound reproduction/translation issues in the Arc that need to be adjusted.  Obviously with more speakers and the directional abilities a lot had to be re-done on the Arc.

Testing the same soundtrack at low volumes and higher volumes to see whether the imperfections are still there is one way to see.  If the exact same sounds are reproduced at all volumes it’s clearly in the recording or in the way the sound is being translated, which means it probably isn’t an imperfection in the hardware.

Also, I have no way of hearing what you are hearing.  I can hear popping/crackling in that part of the office but it may not be exactly what you are hearing.

S
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Hello all,

While we are aware that some are experiencing or have experienced audio issues with their Arc,we are working on it but I do not have an update for you at this time.

If you are experiencing a thin, tinny quality in your audio that I see that some are describing as “cheap radio” sound, I would encourage you to test playback through a streaming music service of your choice and then make an audio or recording on your mobile phone or camera. Then reach out to us directly so that we can log the issue and evaluate the units on an individual level.

For those that have already exchanged your units, did this resolve the audio quality issue? 

The replacement unit isn’t as bad but the issue is still there.

 

V
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Sebas with all due respect ... I do not understand why you only fear in this forum and in the one of the low to contradict people who are not working well and to say a thousand and one wonders of your team. I see that you are very happy with it ... I think they have already told you once. You should open a thread to praise your sound equipment and let people here who are not happy express themselves without having a reply from you ... I think what you want to achieve is that the problems of this forum do not take it seriously that has to take it. Do not take it the wrong way but the only thing you get is to reduce the problems of this thread. And be careful that you provide solutions but it is clear that it is not for you without knowing or how it sounds to him, it seems to me that you are making a mistake. Sorry for my English.
C
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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? 

Well, after previously owning an LG SJ9Y I decided sound bars aren’t for me.  So I sacrificed the simplicity and minimalist style of the Arc in favour of a Marantz NR1710 amp and QAcoustic speakers.

B
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Hi folks. We all know that some of us here are still experiencing problem with the Arc and our team are still working with all the reported issue and should be fixed via a future software update.
For now, if the S2 app and speakers are updated, try the basic steps like checking with different contents (TV, Music in Sonos app). 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 ET for further steps and maybe proceed with replacement as we all want you to enjoy your Sonos products.

Thank you so much for your patience and understanding.  We and the community are always here to help

Hi Krishma,

First, thank you for periodically responding and making it clear this issue is still being worked on. I really hope that is truly the case. I worry that recent silence from people who have complained previously (like myself) is not taken as evidence the problem is fixed; so it’s important to hear these updates. 

Personally, I am still unsatisfied with the mid-range response of the arc, but I’ve been able to live with it after re-tuning trueplay using an iphone 6 (originally used a 10” iPad Pro (2019)) and only moving the phone slightly while staying seated in the primary listening position. I do not use the wall mount, and am in a medium-to-large space with flat standard-height ceiling. 

You mention reseting to factory settings, is there some reason to believe this is important? Do you have any way to provide more information about what the engineering team is trying, and when we might see a possible fix, even if just in beta?

Thanks.

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