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Sonos Arc - Metallic Sound



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Hello all,

I can appreciate your frustration with any ongoing audio quality issues you are having with your Sonos Arc.

If you have updated your Sonos software and are still having issues, the questions that @Smilja linked to are still highly relevant. To work out a solution for this we will need some data from those of you that are experiencing this mid-range audio quality issue. This information will help us determine if this is an isolated or widespread experience and if it is due to hardware or software.     

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

Amazon prime app, sky q, Netflix

  • What volume lever do you experience the issue?

Up to 50% volume

  • Is the Arc wall-mounted?

No on wooden table

 

  • Is Trueplay configured on the Arc?

Yes but made it worse, lowered the Bass and general dynamic of the soundbar

A diagnostic confirmation number from your system while the Arc is playing is key to getting the right information to work towards a solution. You can find information on submitting a diagnostic report here.

If possible, please make a photo where Arc is located and reply to this along with your diagnostic confirmation number. 

Diagnostic number; 1242438100 Sky Q 5.1

Diagnostic number:1511790228 Sky Q Atmos

 

@Jean C. please find my response above, thanks for your help

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I’m leaning towards sources causing this issue and how they were recorded.

Nope. Although some sources are better than others, with the Beam the same sources sounded less sibilant and less harsh. 

Userlevel 2

**Updated edit**
 

So I think I figured it out. Spent a lot of time on this.

Its as if the “virtual surround sound” is tuned too high. Think about a cheap sound bar and you select the “virtual surround button.” It creates a “room filling” sound but this also why people are explaining the sound is irritating especially with music. You hear too much of it thus missing out on the warmth and depth of mods. I suspect people with a large room where sound doesn’t bounce off walls don’t have this problem which explains the differing view points.

 

Even when I pair the sub and surrounds I still feel like the arc is trying to do too much electronically to fill the room. Let the speaker do the talking and back down the algorithm for emphasizing “virtual surround sound” 

This does not explain why the vocals are tinny. Center speaker is till direct, facing you. there is no virtual surround with the speech.


 

Tuned with an iPhone X and iPad Pro 11. Both sounded tiny.

Tuned With an old iPhone 7 and sounded much better.

side note: I think the arc TRUEPLAY accounts for ceiling height? I Seemed to have much better results staying close to the arc and listening room instead of walking all around the entire room. (I.e. kitchen area) 

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I’ve been following this and other “ARC not working” threads for quite some time.  Recently my ARC finally arrived and it sounds great!  I have it integrated with a SUB Gen 2 and 1 SLs for surround.  It has replaced my old Playbar/SUB/Surrounds. 

I did the trueplay tuning with an old gen 1 iPad Pro.  I made a series of measurements first with the Playbar and then with the ARC.  I did this on the 25th July - which I believe is before the 12.0.3 update.

I am not hearing any of the problems that people are reporting and it definitely is better for dialog than the playbar.  I have not listened at super-high volumes (certainly less than 50%).  Music also sounds good.

Here are the measurements I made with REW. 

First a comparison of the two full systems with sub in place and trueplay on.  As you can see from the two curves, the ARC if anything has a flatter frequency response than the playbar.  The playbar peaks badly above 10kHz.  Note that I tuned the Playbar with the same iPad Pro but at least two weeks earlier (so it is just possible that Sonos has changed the way trueplay analysis methods in the meantime).  And I definitely have NOT got the two curves mixed up!!

 

 

Next is a comparison of the ARC out of the box with the playbar.  no SUB or trueplay.  Here you can definitely see that it was trueplay that has caused the playbar to have a stronger response above 10kHz.

 

 

Finally ARC vs Playbar no SUB but with trueplay ON.

 

My listening tests bear out these measurements.  I’m not hearing any of the harsh  sounds or poor midrange I was fearing.  I am very happy. :relaxed:

Quit confusing the issue with facts!

Userlevel 4
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Watched Lord of the Rings (Fellowship) last night and it was horrible. Piercing. Couldn’t hear voices. 
 

Haven’t returned my quite yet. Waiting on the update.

Return it. It’s crap. Will never work for you. 
Mine, on the other hand has been fantastic and it’s no issues with connectivity or Atmos content. 
You’re a very small minority of unhappy buyers. The Arc continues to be sold out everywhere with few complaints. Not sure exactly what the expectation was but if you want it to sound like a $40,000 home theatre set up then start saving your money to buy a $40,000 home theatre. 

No we don’t we want something that sound as good as the playbar which is 7years old! This fails that in every way except Atmos. Do you ever run yours with bass at 50% plus? Or do you just have a sub? 

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Honestly, my $120 Vizio sound bar beats the Arc in all respects, except when playing Dolby Atmos media.

 

This is not a preference issue - the sound coming out of the Arc is not correct. 

Below that level it is absolutely marvelous, i am just stumped by drastic change in sound signature at higher volumes.

No Arc for me, i am talking about a recently purchased single Five for the living room. I do, however, have a full HT setup with Beam in the other room and didn’t experience something like since for years of having it.

Thank you very much for the tips!

Ah sorry I thought because of the thread title here, it was a Sonos Arc you were referring too - my bad.

I see now that you have another thread on the go with Sonos Staff, so hope you get the answers you’re looking for.🤞

@Krishma M

“Hi folks! Just to let you know that we have received the reports and working on resolving this. We’ll surely let you know once the fix has been done. Appreciate all your patience. If you any other concerns, please let us know. Thanks!” 

 

So, what is status of this after 4 months and calling Sonos Support, indication is not on list of any problems known?

 

Thank you.

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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 

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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.

 

Yes I have read it and fully understand. 

The problem is that we are end consumers not beta testers. What I purchased, so far, is a very average, but very expensive, soundbar… are you suggesting I should be happy to wait through various software updates for them to get it right ???

 

 

 

Userlevel 2

I am still messing with it before having to return. last night turned off Trueplay and it got better but still not right. Still metallic on voices and am hearing a very narrow front presentation. No real width to the sound. Not even up to my old cheap Vizio as far as sound stage.

Returned my arc and ended up buying a Sony ST5000 instead. Couldn’t have been happier. Crisp highs and pin point spatial sounds in Atmos. It’s not nearly as plug-n-play as Sonos and has a clunky remote, but hey, no more waiting for OTA updates to fix audio bugs. 

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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? 

 

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 :-)

 

Sure, Sonos is in the know but they won’t tell you. Customers don’t have access to such information.

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@Krishma M

“Hi folks! Just to let you know that we have received the reports and working on resolving this. We’ll surely let you know once the fix has been done. Appreciate all your patience. If you any other concerns, please let us know. Thanks!” 

 

So, what is status of this after 4 months and calling Sonos Support, indication is not on list of any problems known?

 

Thank you.

I would also like to know if anything is being done about this.  It is a very common problem.  Surely boosting dialogue in the arc is a fix that can be done.  I still can't believe I have to keep adjusting volume on pretty much everything I watch.  Yes I have doe trueplay, yes I have reset the router and yes I have tried speech enhancement and night mode. 

There is also a thread in av forum with similar complaints.

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Just a follow-up to my last comment. I have noticed that the dialog sounds more metallic when playing a movie in Atmos. It's also more pronounced on certain apps. For instance. Disney + has a really big problem with low audio. It sounds like they are over compressing the audio. So I have to turn the volume up +10 more than on other apps. There is a big difference in the dialog with too much treble when playing a Disney + Marvel or Star Wars movie in Atmos. There is still a small treble problem when playing the same movie in Dolby Digital plus, without atmos. The metallic sound is reduced when not using Atmos. So far the majority of audio problems seem to be from certain apps, especially disney +.

I'm curious what streaming apps are people in this thread using to test the Arc? 

Are there more who had the courage to send back and dare to buy a new Arc?  is that the way to solve it maybe I should look into it.

I sent mine back with 5 days to go.  Sticking with my Playbar for now, but I just ordered a B&O Beosound Stage.   From reviews I've read everyone seems to really love it.  Quite pricey though.

Will be interesting to see how it fares to current top tier soundbars. My only concern is that it favors wall-mount vs TV stand.

No support for DTS-X and from what I can see mediocre reviews. They say it doesn’t need a sub and hopefully it doesn’t because there isn’t an option to add one. $2250 CDN is major hooch for a sound bar. I hope it works for you and I can understand some people’s frustration with the ARC. Not sure what the right answer is for those who are unhappy. There are thousands of positive reviews of the ARC from the general public, most of the professional reviewers seem to like it. Peter Pee on YouTube seems to like it although admittedly it’s not perfect. I believe there will be more updates that will make the ARC what it was meant to be. I’ve also read that the Playbar had a rocky start when it was introduced. It appears Sonos work to make it better worked. I’m a first time Sonos owner. I want to add more Sonos equipment to my home but I will admit that is on hold for now. My setup of the ARC, Gen 3 sub (just added it yesterday after returning my Gen 2 to Best Buy) and two one SL’s is impressive as it sits. Had some friends over yesterday and they were very impressed with what they heard out of this set up. I admit I had a higher expectation of Sonos and while I am impressed I expect better and believe it will be improved on. 

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Im looking at selling my Sonos setup. just getting fed up with the poor sound of the ARC, yes the sub is great and the rears are very active ( we do need some upfiring speakers tho!) The ARC just lacks that immersive feeling for me and its just so tinny sounding still.. I had a Samsung q90r before and thats on a different level when watching movies...

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The Arc sounds much better in movies to my ears than the Playbar. It has a wider soundstage even if the actual atmos effects aren’t great.

 

Music playback sucks though. No two ways about it. It sounds tinny and totally lacking any punch even with the sub. The Playbar and Beam are infinitely better for music.

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Just curious are most people, specifically those with sibilance and harsh treble using Trueplay? I have a surround setup with the Arc + Sub + Play 1’s and I find the default EQ to not be bright at all and in fact a little flat and boring. Definitely not anything I would consider bright. Turning on and using Trueplay however with my iPhone X, wife’s iPhone XS or 2017 iPad results in a very bright and harsh sound. All bass (sub is great) and a lot of bright high end and not a lot of midrange or overall warmth in the sound. Retuning with my wife’s very old iPad Mini (probably like a 2014 model or so) however resulted in much better sound that I’m happy with it. 
 

This doesn’t just apply to the Arc. Trueplay results in a brighter, different sound with my other Sonos speakers too so I retuned them all with the old iPad Mini. I think the Arc soundstage just amplifies it even more. So I think the device used for tuning makes a difference which I didn’t believe at first when I read it here until I found one that worked well. 
 

If people are finding the non Trueplay default EQ overly bright though, can’t say I have that issue.

Has Sonos at least acknowledged this issue? I’m on the fence between Sonos Arc/Sub or LG Sn10yg. I’m not in a big rush so I’m willing to wait a month since its on back order anyway. Otherwise Ill get the LG and save some coin.

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Just an update on my end (I posted here a few days ago).  

After running trueplay with an iPad Air 2 (previously with latest iPad Pro 11”), I think the sound in the midrange improved, slightly less harsh and fuller, but still NOT where I’d like it to be. I have an iphone 6 sitting around I might try. I wish I had a professional mic to measure frequency response.

I can confirm that the issue definitely is present for streaming music and content via hdmi. I do not think it is related to the hdmi source (which is an LG C9 with earc enabled). Not sure where that idea originated. 

I have not had time to run a full diagnostic, but I can if it’s felt that information is actually helping. The thing is, I don’t see much reason to believe it is a ‘bug’ so much as the eq/tuning is just not resulting in a an accurate or pleasing sound. I feel you’d likely need a full range microphone recording to really diagnose. I’m hoping Sonos can potentially work with Rtings and/or other real-world testers to better understand what’s happening. 

I’m still seriously considering a return, and I’ve already had to caution friends who are thinking about diving into the Sonos ecosystem. There is still time to course-correct. 

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?)

Totally agree with this, just when you think you have it sounding right then watch something else it sounds terrible again.

Netflix seems to be the best for me

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My Arc arrived last night, and sadly I too am suffering from this issue.

Upon performing Trueplay calibration with an iPhone XS, and firing up the speaker for the first time, I was extremely disappointed to hear the miserable sound quality. It’s like the midrange is totally absent, and the treble/presence is harsh and extremely exaggerated -- cymbals sound almost like static, “s” sounds cut through everything else, etc. It also sounded like the “center channel” was missing… the sound seemed too directional out of the hard left and hard right, rather than uniformly filling the room.

Arc is setup standalone, with no other speakers.

We previously had a Beam in this room, and the sound from that was so much better... full midrange, warmth, perfect balance. Hard to believe an $800 speaker with such glowing audiophile reviews could be so miserable in person. If this can’t be fixed, I’m going to return this thing.

Here’s the thing though… I’m suspicious that this metallic treble sound and missing midrange is a Trueplay bug, or a compatibility issue with certain iPhone models doing the calibration, rather than a flaw with the speaker itself. I re-calibrated Trueplay using my wife’s iPhone 11, and the sound quality is much improved. It’s still not as good as the Beam… the midrange is still off, and it sounds like the center channel is still missing, but the trashiness of the treble is much improved.

I’m tempted to try recalibrating with an iPad, just to see what happens, but I’m afraid of making it worse and not being able to get it back. I wish I could save different Trueplay calibrations.

@Ryan S please let me know how I can help the Sonos team fix this issue!

 

Slightly disagree, the metallic treble sound u mentioned is already present even without Trueplay. While Trueplay calibration do give inconsistent result, i think the Sonos team should first focus on fixing the Arc to sound great out of the box.

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The more I hear someone trying to justify the Arc's poor sound quality and making excuses for Sonos ,the more it makes me angry.  There is really no good reason to put out a new product, have many complaints and returns but offer no explanation what is wrong and what can or cannot be fixed.  I believe it is a hardware issue and Sonos doesn't know exactly what to do about it.  If it was only a matter of tweaking Trueplay it would have been done by now.

Ok “bonedaddy” you say bad sound quality yet many Sonos customers are happy and reviewers give it glowing reviews. So Maybe theres something OFF here. some bad units? Some bad tuning? both? software bug? Manufacturing versions? I am not sure.

No one here is justifying bad sound quality. The issue is some people say its bad some others say its good. But you do you. I know this thread is about a specific issue. And that needs to be addressed it is not OK that so many users are having this issue. SONOS needs to step up. No one is defending them

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