Enthusiast II

Answered

Sonos Arc - Metallic Sound

1017 replies
128976 views

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?

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

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Scott - SonosAnswer

Sonos Product Management

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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ledzep1

Headliner II

Anyone getting the ‘tinny’ audio from new LG oled TV’s B9,C9, BX or CX? Mine does and its a B8. Wondering if it effects the new TV’s too, although i suspect its nothing to do with that but still....

Had my ARC a week, and sound to me is fine on LG CX, none of this harsh brightness talked about on here. Only watched TV and movies though so far.

I used an iPhone SE (2016) to tune trueplay.

Whatever this issue is I hope Sonos can solve it for everyone, but for me I don't get this issue, unless my hearing is bad!

Certainly blows my Yamaha YSP2700 away in terms of sound quality.

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phollin2

Lyricist III

Interesting to see others observations regarding programme “type”.

I too watched “Dark” on Netflix in Atmos and it sounded fantastic…. but News programmes etc are where I have noticed the issue with very harsh sibilance.

especially as a lot of news nowadays seems to involve a lot of people Skyping which then isn’t recorded in good quality. Arc seems to magnify this in a way that makes it hard to listen to.

I find it so odd how many people have reverted back to older (playbar) or cheaper (beam) devices (me included) and found the sound better compared to the arc. This can’t be right surely?

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oriboaz

Prodigy I

Sonos: any updates on this issue?

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dhewitt

Lyricist III

Is anyone having the same issue with the sub connected as well? & if so does is it the same or does it help with the tinnyness? I have a sub connected and still experiencing exactly the same.

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oriboaz

Prodigy I

Is anyone having the same issue with the sub connected as well? & if so does is it the same or does it help with the tinnyness? I have a sub connected and still experiencing exactly the same.

I have the sub (gen 2) and two sonos ones connected. It does not help with the harsh sounds and over exaggerated SSSS sounds. I am hoping for a fix. For now, this is a big problem.

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Danio1137

It sounds disturbing, waiting for my sub to pair with my Arc. At the same time I have read about so many who think it works when sub takes over the sub work. How can it be so different!

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oriboaz

Prodigy I

It sounds disturbing, waiting for my sub to pair with my Arc. At the same time I have read about so many who think it works when sub takes over the sub work. How can it be so different!

There are two separate issues. The sub is fantastic with the low frequencies. I do not have any problems with muddy or problematic bass. This thread, and the problem I am experiencing is with overly exaggerated high frequencies, or lack of midrange. Many TV characters are constantly “shrieking” and “hissing”, for lack of a better term.
(I find there is a difference between different shows or movies. Some shows are better mixed, in which case the problem is less bothersome. Perhaps this is related to how the AGC is configured on the Arc?)

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Pieter89

Lyricist I

Been following this topic for a while, as it took a couple of weeks before my Arc + Sub arrived.

The posts made me quite nervous, but now after 2-3 weeks of using the setup with my LG 55 C9 i can honestly say that i am extremely satisfied with the sound! There is no metallic sounds or harsh voices at all. Music is warm and clear, movies and series sound amazing, especially those with atmos.

My dad has a Playbar, and i currently feel that one is slightly warmer/nicer for music, but the Arc blows the playbar out of the water with movies and series.

Config details: Trueplayed with an Ipad Air (2019). EQ settings are -3 (Bass) and -3 (Treble) with Sub audio volume at -4 (yes i live in an appartment building)

Edit: I know this topic discusses a problem with the Arc, but i feel it is important to highlight that not all Arc’s have this issue, as this topic made me extremely nervous for no reason in the end.

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sebas1509

Enthusiast II

Been following this topic for a while, as it took a couple of weeks before my Arc + Sub arrived.

The posts made me quite nervous, but now after 2-3 weeks of using the setup with my LG 55 C9 i can honestly say that i am extremely satisfied with the sound! There is no metallic sounds or harsh voices at all. Music is warm and clear, movies and series sound amazing, especially those with atmos.

My dad has a Playbar, and i currently feel that one is slightly warmer/nicer for music, but the Arc blows the playbar out of the water with movies and series.

Config details: Trueplayed with an Ipad Air (2019). EQ settings are -3 (Bass) and -3 (Treble) with Sub audio volume at -4 (yes i live in an appartment building)

Edit: I know this topic discusses a problem with the Arc, but i feel it is important to highlight that not all Arc’s have this issue, as this topic made me extremely nervous for no reason in the end.

I think this is a person to person problem. I used to say what are people talking about? But tried going to some content suggested and I hear the issue mentioend here the thing is it doesnt bother me much. I also dont listen to a ton of music on my 5.1 system. But for example, yesterday listening to the new taylor swift songs I can tell how her voice sounds weird. Like a bit harsh. Honestly itdoesnt bother me and if you add the sonos ones in surround full mode they basically mask this.

But I can tell how some people would dislike the sound signature of the bar alone due to it being a bit harsh. I only tuned with iphone XR. Also, for movies or TV it really sounds good and I dont have complaints

P

Pieter89

Lyricist I

Been following this topic for a while, as it took a couple of weeks before my Arc + Sub arrived.

The posts made me quite nervous, but now after 2-3 weeks of using the setup with my LG 55 C9 i can honestly say that i am extremely satisfied with the sound! There is no metallic sounds or harsh voices at all. Music is warm and clear, movies and series sound amazing, especially those with atmos.

My dad has a Playbar, and i currently feel that one is slightly warmer/nicer for music, but the Arc blows the playbar out of the water with movies and series.

Config details: Trueplayed with an Ipad Air (2019). EQ settings are -3 (Bass) and -3 (Treble) with Sub audio volume at -4 (yes i live in an appartment building)

Edit: I know this topic discusses a problem with the Arc, but i feel it is important to highlight that not all Arc’s have this issue, as this topic made me extremely nervous for no reason in the end.

I think this is a person to person problem. I used to say what are people talking about? But tried going to some content suggested and I hear the issue mentioend here the thing is it doesnt bother me much. I also dont listen to a ton of music on my 5.1 system. But for example, yesterday listening to the new taylor swift songs I can tell how her voice sounds weird. Like a bit harsh. Honestly itdoesnt bother me and if you add the sonos ones in surround full mode they basically mask this.

But I can tell how some people would dislike the sound signature of the bar alone due to it being a bit harsh. I only tuned with iphone XR. Also, for movies or TV it really sounds good and I dont have complaints

Well i have also been listening to the new Taylor Swift album quite alot, and also here i do not find her voice weird or harsh at all. Maybe it's because my Treble is at -3? Or the combination with the Sub?

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