Enthusiast II

Answered

Sonos Arc - Metallic Sound

1017 replies
128977 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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Doozeruk

Lyricist III

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.

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sebas1509

Enthusiast II

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.

1- You can easily find someone with an iphone borrow their phone for 10 mins and trueplay. (now is more difficult due to covid I know)

2- You are confused by the “issue” at hand. It isn’t that theres an issue that trueplaying fix. It is quite the opposite. Some users are reporting that truplaying is incorrectly tuning the profile and making high pitch voices and sounds sound harsh and “tinny” and Ssssss to be quite annoying to the ear (siblance).

Keeping truplay off means more muddled sounds and voices and no room correction so forego the “virtual surround” and atmos adjustment.

Room correction is a very good and high end feature for soundbars and systems. Even home theater receiver system use it and need it (they provide a mic you move around). Sonos system is easier and simpler **but** you need an iphone (refer to point 1) Theyd have to develop this to account for multiple mics used on multiple androids that release on multiple flagships cycles every year and dramatically change components in the process. Not saying it couldnt be done but it adds considerable complexity to keep truplay constat for all with tens of phone models (keep in mind this goes through the years) so every year it would be 3 or 4 samsungs, 2 or 3 pixel phones, 2 or 3 LGs, 3 or 4 iphones etc. Edit: and then you would probably complain your samsung A isnt supported but the S is or the S is but the note isnt. Or the note is but the galaxy fold isnt etc

C

CyberCelt

Contributor I

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.

D

Doozeruk

Lyricist III

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?

O

oriboaz

Prodigy I

My two cents:

There are definitely problems with the Arc. I still have faith that Sonos will fix them.
Once fixed, I expect to run trueplay once, and not touch the EQ settings, as I have before with other Sonos products.
The sub is transformational. It completely transforms the listening experience from “good” (once the Arc problems are fixed) to “amazing”. I, too, balked at its cost, but once I heard it, I haven’t looked back.

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CuzFeeshe

Enthusiast I

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.

Contributor I

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.

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sjw

Local Superstar

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.

1- You can easily find someone with an iphone borrow their phone for 10 mins and trueplay. (now is more difficult due to covid I know)

2- You are confused by the “issue” at hand. It isn’t that theres an issue that trueplaying fix. It is quite the opposite. Some users are reporting that truplaying is incorrectly tuning the profile and making high pitch voices and sounds sound harsh and “tinny” and Ssssss to be quite annoying to the ear (siblance).

Keeping truplay off means more muddled sounds and voices and no room correction so forego the “virtual surround” and atmos adjustment.

Room correction is a very good and high end feature for soundbars and systems. Even home theater receiver system use it and need it (they provide a mic you move around). Sonos system is easier and simpler **but** you need an iphone (refer to point 1) Theyd have to develop this to account for multiple mics used on multiple androids that release on multiple flagships cycles every year and dramatically change components in the process. Not saying it couldnt be done but it adds considerable complexity to keep truplay constat for all with tens of phone models (keep in mind this goes through the years) so every year it would be 3 or 4 samsungs, 2 or 3 pixel phones, 2 or 3 LGs, 3 or 4 iphones etc. Edit: and then you would probably complain your samsung A isnt supported but the S is or the S is but the note isnt. Or the note is but the galaxy fold isnt etc

Presumably this is replying to me - but I am well aware of the reasons for Android not having Trueplay (hence my comment on the irony on seemingly different results from the iOS devices that do use a ‘known’ mic standard - that also get tested before being included in the Sonos software (it’s often added some time after the devices’ release.))

Regarding confusing the issue, I’m really not. You don’t think there are users with issues that they should not have that are being improved by Trueplay? As I say, this option that is not a realistic option for all should not be viewed as a solution.

I’m really starting to think there is either something wrong with the Arc design or a huge batch of them. If it was something more basic like the DSP part of the software was changed between all of the reviews and the final public release then Sonos could have restored that profile much quicker, even as an interim….

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Viljavi

Avid Contributor I

I read this forum since the arc premiere because I have the same problem. With no warmth in the sound, unbearable highs not to mention the sssss. After the update the problem is still there. This update has not fixed anything in my case. I'm going to exchange my arc for another one, I'm still on time. But if this is not fixed I return everything. By the way I have arc, sub and two sonos 1 rear and it still sounds just as bad. I come from the playbar, with sub and 2 one, no point of comparison.

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