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arpatil1
Enthusiast II
June 17, 2020
Answered

Sonos Arc - Metallic Sound

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?

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    Scott - SonosAnswer
    Sonos Product Management
    July 2, 2020

    Hello everyone. I’m a product manager at Sonos. Thank you for sharing your experiences with Arc. The development team is monitoring this community and listening to your feedback. 

    As we do with all Sonos products, we’ll continue to improve the experience for Arc through numerous software updates into the future. Last week we issued our first update (12.0.1) to fix a bug some customers were experiencing with low-frequency distortion at higher volumes. 

    If you have specific music tracks or timestamps for TV shows and movies that you want to bring to our attention, please use this form. It is helpful if you can submit a diagnostic when you’re listening to the content. Instructions for doing so can be found here.

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    antx
    Lyricist III
    July 12, 2020

    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 

    lzy1987
    Enthusiast I
    July 12, 2020

    Im surprised that there's still no official response from Sonos. If I knew this was the sound quality I am getting, I probably go with a beam & sub combo instead of the Arc.

    CuzFeeshe
    Enthusiast I
    July 12, 2020

    Im surprised that there's still no official response from Sonos. If I knew this was the sound quality I am getting, I probably go with a beam & sub combo instead of the Arc.

    Clearly some are having an issue with the sound from the Arc…. some on this thread have found that retuning after the software fix solved their problem, others have found that they still were not happy and returned it.

    rtings.com did an unfavorable review, however other review sites have tested the audio and given the sound top honors.

    I was following this thread before my Arc arrived and I was worried, however I have had an almost completely good experience so far.  I don’t find it overly bright - I find that it has better treble response then the Beam (which I have in a separate room).  I am VERY sensitive to exaggerated sibilance, but I haven’t really noticed any personally (except in a single Atmos all-vocal video on the Xbox one).

    I don’t know if there’s anything Sonos can say in response at this point.  I would hope they would visit rtings.com and work with them as a control to improve the experience.

    My only advice is that you can give it a shot and purchase it.  If you’re unhappy you can return it and get a Beam, which is also a fantastic device…. or try another brand.

    TomasKV
    Lyricist III
    July 12, 2020

    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 the same problem with the metallic sound. I did disable WIFI connection in the SONOS app. Ars restarted and the problem is solved. Sound is perfect. Of course solution is not to disable Wifi connectuion but the restart of ARC.

    Smilja
    Smilja
    July 12, 2020

    @TomasKV, Is the Arc your only Sonos device? If there are more Sonos devices I strongly advise you to re-enable the WiFi module on the Arc.

    »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)
    arpatil1Author
    Enthusiast II
    July 12, 2020
    1. Best Buy Arc sounds better than Amazon Arc
    2. Called Sonos support- wasn’t happy and but, the Arc fixed itself the next morning.
    3. Electricity went off and Arc is fixed when it came back on.
    4. Disabled wifi and now, the Arc sounds good now.

    Please tell me you people are joking, right? 

      jkozlow3
      Enthusiast II
      July 12, 2020
      1. Best Buy Arc sounds better than Amazon Arc
      2. Called Sonos support- wasn’t happy and but, the Arc fixed itself the next morning.
      3. Electricity went off and Arc is fixed when it came back on.
      4. Disabled wifi and now, the Arc sounds good now.

      Please tell me you people are joking, right? 


      Haha…

       

      Well, #1 can be explained by defective hardware at least.

      arpatil1Author
      Enthusiast II
      July 12, 2020

      @Danio1137

      I will certainly do not. If there isn’t an answer/ software fix from Sonos in the next week or so I am done with Sonos. 

      The arc is my first sonos product. Was planning for more. But looks like Sonos is a no-go. 

      @knafets I have decided to go with KEF Q150s and Q250C when they go on sale. I should able to grab a good receiver (with all codec support, AirPlay2, assistant goodies) from accesories4less. The only downside I see is running wires which is not hard to do and they are also easier to hide. You will be amazed at how many better options you will get with the money you pay Sonos or Bose.

        Smilja
        Smilja
        July 12, 2020

        DO NOT disable the WiFi module on the Arc. Has nothing to do with sound quality, but Sub and Rears will no longer work!

        »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)
        TomasKV
        Lyricist III
        July 12, 2020

        @TomasKV, Is the Arc your only Sonos device? If there are more Sonos devices I strongly advise you to re-enable the WiFi module on the Arc.

        I did enable Wifi again and Arc sound still very good.

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