Enthusiast II

Answered

Sonos Arc - Metallic Sound

1017 replies
128989 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.

S

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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D

dhewitt

Lyricist III

Ok I fixed it! So I trueplay tuned again but this time I did not move around the room. I just sat in my tv viewing spot and moved the phone around. And perfection!

and this was with an iPhone XS

To clarify, what issue has it fixed for you?

Doing trueplay from the couch only

I think they were asking - what issue did you previously have, which has now been fixed by redoing trueplay from the couch?

Poor frequency response (no bass, tinny highs, no punch)

poor special separation.

Bad sub and surrounds mix

I have just tried this trueplay in seating position and this is by no way a fix for the metallic sound from the voices we are all having, in fact it did nothing. I’m glad it did something for you, but that does for sure not fix this issue at all.

I think it proves though it’s clearly a trueplay tuning issue. It’s the way the frequencies are interacting in the room and how the information is being received and processes.

Not sure i agree with this as trueplay is an added feature not a repair for bad sound. We shouldnt be having these such big issues with trueplay enabled or not.

Completely disagree. Every single sound system needs to be tuned for the space it’s in. No sound system will sound great without being correctly eq’d. And that’s what trueplay is. EQ. The EQ field in the Sonos app is not a room equalising feature, it is there to colour the sound to your liking. If you like more bass or treble than what trueplay sees as ideal then you can colour to your liking.

I get that, but i have had multiple lower end soundbars before which obviously dont have the metallic sound and sounded a lot better than the arc. Maybe your issue is different to mine but the issue i am having is not a trueplay issue, it a fault with either software or hardware. Trueplay will most definetly better the sound to your surroundings but i have never heard a soundbar with tinny sound like this regards to room calibration or not. Something is missing from the sounbar itself, its like one of the speakers are not working.

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Bjmort

Avid Contributor I

Without trueplay engaged there is definitely no metallic sound in mine, it sounds muffled if anything without a correct trueplay tuning.

after my first day of tuning I had a very trebly sharp sounding system. Very unpleasant.

if you only have the “metallic” sound after tuning and if the arc sounds more muted and muffled without trueplay then I say it’s a trueplay issue.

If your arc is all metallic before any tuning I’d say it may be a faulty unit perhaps.

H

Hughesy75

Lyricist II

Hi all

Haven’t got my Arc yet as it’s on backorder.
But I have been keenly following this and other threads with interest.
Thought I’d share these videos by Peter Pee on YouTube. They may already be posted on here.
He measures the frequency response of the Arc using different devices to show the effects.
The video also discusses the issues people are experiencing with metallic sound, due to boosted treble after a truplay.
Appreciate this will be very subjective to the individual listener and their surroundings.
But thought it may help to show why they think it’s happening, and some of the things that can be tried to improve it.
Im certainly not suggesting there is no underlying issue or potential faulty units in circulation.
This is just something I’ll be using as a guide on setup, that may help someone out now. 🙂

Ultimately, if I experience similar listening discomfort after attempting to resolve through settings or Truplay device. It’ll be going back before the returns window expires. 😂

Good Luck

D

dhewitt

Lyricist III

Without trueplay engaged there is definitely no metallic sound in mine, it sounds muffled if anything without a correct trueplay tuning.

after my first day of tuning I had a very trebly sharp sounding system. Very unpleasant.

if you only have the “metallic” sound after tuning and if the arc sounds more muted and muffled without trueplay then I say it’s a trueplay issue.

If your arc is all metallic before any tuning I’d say it may be a faulty unit perhaps.

Its metallic before and after trueplay, have had a replacement arc and its the same. So annoying, im keeping hold of it only in the hope sonos sort it. I know what you mean about muffled sound before trueplay and can slightly tell the difference after trueplay but its hard to distinguish as the metallic sound is so vibrant & takes over any other frequencies.

B

Bjmort

Avid Contributor I

Hi all

Haven’t got my Arc yet as it’s on backorder.
But I have been keenly following this and other threads with interest.
Thought I’d share these videos by Peter Pee on YouTube. They may already be posted on here.
He measures the frequency response of the Arc using different devices to show the effects.
The video also discusses the issues people are experiencing with metallic sound, due to boosted treble after a truplay.
Appreciate this will be very subjective to the individual listener and their surroundings.
But thought it may help to show why they think it’s happening, and some of the things that can be tried to improve it.
Im certainly not suggesting there is no underlying issue or potential faulty units in circulation.
This is just something I’ll be using as a guide on setup, that may help someone out now. 🙂

Ultimately, if I experience similar listening discomfort after attempting to resolve through settings or Truplay device. It’ll be going back before the returns window expires. 😂

Good Luck

Yeah I watched all of his videos yesterday.

it also depends of the individual phone too!

I tuned mine with an iPhone XS and mine is perfect now. I think it has more to do with the position in the room which you tune than the phone model.

A

arpatil1Author

Enthusiast II

Just got Bose 500 soundbar with the sub 500 for the same price as Arc. There’s no competition whatsoever. Music is miles better, fuller dialogues and sub-bass is awesome, thanks to the sub (compact sub that doesn’t overpower apartment and annoys neighbors). Movies and music both shine. Those who live in apartments and don’t want a Sonos sub, and having sound quality issues could consider this option. ONLY if you don’t care about Atmos.

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dhewitt

Lyricist III

@Krishma M @Scott - Sonos

Was the latest update this week meant to fix metallic sound issues?

J

jkozlow3

Enthusiast II

@Krishma M @Scott - Sonos

Was the latest update this week meant to fix metallic sound issues?

According to Sonos, there are no issues. Lol

C

cowieson

Lyricist III

@Krishma M @Scott - Sonos

Was the latest update this week meant to fix metallic sound issues?

According to Sonos, there are no issues. Lol

Based on what, exactly? That contradicts their input in this thread.

K

Kirbz252

Lyricist III

Just got Bose 500 soundbar with the sub 500 for the same price as Arc. There’s no competition whatsoever. Music is miles better, fuller dialogues and sub-bass is awesome, thanks to the sub (compact sub that doesn’t overpower apartment and annoys neighbors). Movies and music both shine. Those who live in apartments and don’t want a Sonos sub, and having sound quality issues could consider this option. ONLY if you don’t care about Atmos.

I sold my 500 over the weekend and replaced it with an Arc. Compared to the Bose, the Arc has a massive soundstage, which was a sore point that always used to bug me with the 500. Everything was tightly localised to under my TV. The bass response comparing bars alone is night and day with the Arc. Everyone has different taste preferences, so good to hear you are enjoying your setup.

In regards to the metallic sound, I had read this thread extensively before purchasing the Arc. Day one I had exactly what has been described above. Harsh treble, thin midrange and weak bass. I Trueplayed the bar using my 3 year old iPhone X. Admittedly, it has the usual ‘pocket fluff’ buildup in the mic.

The next morning I re-ran Trueplay with a 2018 iPad Pro (3rd gen 12.9”). The difference is remarkable. No harsh sibilance and midrange is full again. Previously, I was running -7 treble and noticed all of the ‘metallic sound’ comments. Now, the bar is at 0 Treble and -3 Bass sounding wonderful.

There is definitely something odd going on with device specific Trueplay. Mic ports tend to fill with dust which would invariably lower treble response measurements.

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