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Sonos Arc - Metallic Sound

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O
Userlevel 4
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To be vocal: I still find Arc to be too sibilant. I have started watching the movie “the Firm” on Netflix, and all “S” sounds are very harsh to my ears. I do hope that Sonos is working on this, and that the engineers keep an eye on this thread.

I appreciate the support staff looking at this thread, but I am starting to get worried that the responses are mostly “canned” responses. In fact, many of the support’s staff responses are rehashes of the same information over and over again. I don’t know what sort of visibility they have to the engineers, but the answers given to us here by the new support staff are not satisfactory. 
 

What I would really appreciate, and would go a great deal towards alleviating my concerns, is for someone from the Sonos engineering team (not support staff) to chime in here. Let us know, for example, that they have actually identified a problem. Let us know if they have a hunch on what the problem is. Let us know that some beta software is in the works to address this, etc. 

I say all this as a big Sonos fan. I love my Sonos devices, and have them around the house. I like to boast to my friends about my wonderful setup. But, with the way Sonos has been handling the rollout of Arc with its multiple problems (harsh sounds, sounds cut outs that people are reporting, LPCM), I am starting to feel disappointment. I have a lot of credit towards Sonos, but lately they have been doing little to regain and maintain it.

Spot on! I’ll really evaluate my next purchase of sonos products the next time. I’ve invested a lot but lately ive been worried how sonos is handeling things..or not handeling actually 🙄

O
Userlevel 4
Badge +6

To be vocal: I still find Arc to be too sibilant. I have started watching the movie “the Firm” on Netflix, and all “S” sounds are very harsh to my ears. I do hope that Sonos is working on this, and that the engineers keep an eye on this thread.

I appreciate the support staff looking at this thread, but I am starting to get worried that the responses are mostly “canned” responses. In fact, many of the support’s staff responses are rehashes of the same information over and over again. I don’t know what sort of visibility they have to the engineers, but the answers given to us here by the new support staff are not satisfactory. 
 

What I would really appreciate, and would go a great deal towards alleviating my concerns, is for someone from the Sonos engineering team (not support staff) to chime in here. Let us know, for example, that they have actually identified a problem. Let us know if they have a hunch on what the problem is. Let us know that some beta software is in the works to address this, etc. 

I say all this as a big Sonos fan. I love my Sonos devices, and have them around the house. I like to boast to my friends about my wonderful setup. But, with the way Sonos has been handling the rollout of Arc with its multiple problems (harsh sounds, sounds cut outs that people are reporting, LPCM), I am starting to feel disappointment. I have a lot of credit towards Sonos, but lately they have been doing little to regain and maintain it.

B
Userlevel 2
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Hi folks. We all know that some of us here are still experiencing problem with the Arc and our team are still working with all the reported issue and should be fixed via a future software update.
For now, if the S2 app and speakers are updated, try the basic steps like checking with different contents (TV, Music in Sonos app). If wall-mounted, does removing the speaker from the wall bracket and setting it on a credenza or table improve the issue? Is Trueplay configured on the Arc? Try to enable/disable Trueplay, if there would be any different. Is the bass EQ setting flat or adjusted in some way? If it’s all the same after playing around, try to reboot the Arc or reset to its factory settings. If the issue still persists, call 800-680-2345 from Monday to Friday from 10 am to 9 pm ET for further steps and maybe proceed with replacement as we all want you to enjoy your Sonos products.

Thank you so much for your patience and understanding.  We and the community are always here to help

Hi Krishma,

First, thank you for periodically responding and making it clear this issue is still being worked on. I really hope that is truly the case. I worry that recent silence from people who have complained previously (like myself) is not taken as evidence the problem is fixed; so it’s important to hear these updates. 

Personally, I am still unsatisfied with the mid-range response of the arc, but I’ve been able to live with it after re-tuning trueplay using an iphone 6 (originally used a 10” iPad Pro (2019)) and only moving the phone slightly while staying seated in the primary listening position. I do not use the wall mount, and am in a medium-to-large space with flat standard-height ceiling. 

You mention reseting to factory settings, is there some reason to believe this is important? Do you have any way to provide more information about what the engineering team is trying, and when we might see a possible fix, even if just in beta?

Thanks.

Krishma M
Userlevel 5
Badge +13

Hi folks. We all know that some of us here are still experiencing problem with the Arc and our team are still working with all the reported issue and should be fixed via a future software update.
For now, if the S2 app and speakers are updated, try the basic steps like checking with different contents (TV, Music in Sonos app). If wall-mounted, does removing the speaker from the wall bracket and setting it on a credenza or table improve the issue? Is Trueplay configured on the Arc? Try to enable/disable Trueplay, if there would be any different. Is the bass EQ setting flat or adjusted in some way? If it’s all the same after playing around, try to reboot the Arc or reset to its factory settings. If the issue still persists, call 800-680-2345 from Monday to Friday from 10 am to 9 pm ET for further steps and maybe proceed with replacement as we all want you to enjoy your Sonos products.

Thank you so much for your patience and understanding.  We and the community are always here to help.

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D
Userlevel 1
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@Krishma M @Scott - Sonos @Ryan S 

Krishma, Scott, we didn't seem to get a reply from our last comment. Could you please find out for us if this metallic sound issue is likely to be fixed anytime soon or even at all? The bass issue was fixed very promptly after it was reported and this is certainly not the case for this issue, i understand different problems can take longer to rectify, but i want to know if im pointlessly hanging onto my arc in the hope of a fix and it never comes or is not expected for months, my return window is soon about to end so a prompt response would be great.

i understand it may take some time to chase this with the relevant people but on behalf of everyone with this issue we would really appreciate if you could find out what is going on. This soundbar does not sound right to me at all.

Thanks.

 

@Krishma M @Scott - Sonos ??????????????

B
Userlevel 1
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So I originally thought that tuning from my couch only made this perfect but after a week of critical listening I noticed it was lacking in the low mids so I spent some more time over the weekend tuning and now have got it to a really good position where I actually have the EQ set to 0 and 0 and the sub also on 0. 
 

from what I can gather, if I go too close to the walls of the room, it seems to pick up too much bass and therefore drops the bass and low mids which is boosting the highs. 
 

I got the best result using an iPhone XS tuning my entire room (also going into the adjoining kitchen), does ding the last 25% or so of tuning time sitting on the couch but always staying around 3-4 feet away from the walls at all times. 

L

@sillysharma thanks for the suggestion, I’ll check out that video and see if it helps!

S
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@LittleStes I spent several hours today re-tuning to get a better sound from the Arc because of my specific obsession with wanting a warmer sound from Hamilton in Disney+.  A few things that immensely helped my sound today was moving the Arc to the front edge of my TV stand (more for Atmos-specific firing) and the way I did the Trueplay tuning...I followed Peter Pee’s reco on YouTube (“How to place the Sonos Arc for best Atmos effect”) towards the end he talks about how to hold the phone/iPad mic when tuning and following that really helped my sound be much fuller. I do hear some places where the vocals are still bright and a little bit of the “ssss” effect but none of that comes through when testing with Avengers Endgame wormhole battle scene or with Mad Max Fury Road on 4K Blu-Ray, just Hamilton (and I can more than live with that for now).   After re-tuning, I only use EQ to pull treble to -2 (probably more personal preference) and it sounds much better to me.  Now if only we could have a speaker-specific EQ...

L

I purchased the ARC because of the terrific sound of the beam for music and movies. I really liked the highs that the beam produced and the clarity was unmatched by any of the other sound bars I have used. The ARC also sounds phenomenal but I have not yet been able to get the EQ setting correct. The highs still sound brilliant but I am not getting the warm tones in voices that I had with the beam. The only way to achieve this is to turn off true play on my ARC (always used it on the beam). The problem is that without Trueplay, the sound loses some “brilliance” in the high end and doesn’t sound as crisp. Hoping that a software update can help with Trueplay to keep the warmth in voices but also provide the super clean highs. 

K
Userlevel 1
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@kenwk123 Thanks.  I did tune walking just around the sofa/sitting area but not sitting completely just from a seated position in one place for the 2nd part of the tuning.  I’ll try that next.  The Q90,  nothing worked for me with that sub issue and it was just too annoying to keep reconnecting.  Also had a different issue with Vudu going black screen everytime I used it.  I did notice a few screen “blackouts” yesterday while changing between inputs on the TV...wondering if it’s just a blip because of eARC (but that’s another thread to investigate).  (If you don’t mind sharing, what did you end up going with for sound and is Hamilton better now?! lol)

 

 

I have not purchased any soundbars yet as I am still waiting for Vizio and Klipsch bars.    In the mean time I am changing my entire stereo system so I have something to mess around with.

S
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@kenwk123 Thanks.  I did tune walking just around the sofa/sitting area but not sitting completely just from a seated position in one place for the 2nd part of the tuning.  I’ll try that next.  The Q90,  nothing worked for me with that sub issue and it was just too annoying to keep reconnecting.  Also had a different issue with Vudu going black screen everytime I used it.  I did notice a few screen “blackouts” yesterday while changing between inputs on the TV...wondering if it’s just a blip because of eARC (but that’s another thread to investigate).  (If you don’t mind sharing, what did you end up going with for sound and is Hamilton better now?! lol)

 

 

K
Userlevel 1
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@kenwk123 Read this whole thread and your comment re: hollow Hamilton on Disney+ is exactly how I’m feeling. I’ve had Arc + Sub + 2 SLs (Atmos-enabled via Sony TV) for 2 days and I’ve tuned 5x both with iPhone XS and iPad mini 2 to try and figure out why the orchestra doesn’t have fullness/richness and feeling of enveloping you with sounds.  There is some hissing with the “s” in different scenes as well which is slightly lessened by playing with treble.  Avengers Endgame wormhole battle scene sounds much better, dialogues are still slightly bright (Thor talking to Captain America, etc.) and I want to chalk it up to the recording of Hamilton.  BUT I had a Samsung HW-Q90R previously and that sounded MUCH better (returned b/c of sub disconnecting all the time) so I’m not convinced it’s just the way it was filmed as another user in this thread mentioned it may be. Any other workarounds that have helped improve your experience with specifically Hamilton? 

Well I returned mine but in general if u do true play don’t walk around the room. Instead try to wave the phone around where u r sitting when listening.  Also re:q90, u must adjust the 5ghz channel or risk interference with wireless sub.  Anyway good luck on trying to tune the Arc.  

S
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@kenwk123 Read this whole thread and your comment re: hollow Hamilton on Disney+ is exactly how I’m feeling. I’ve had Arc + Sub + 2 SLs (Atmos-enabled via Sony TV) for 2 days and I’ve tuned 5x both with iPhone XS and iPad mini 2 to try and figure out why the orchestra doesn’t have fullness/richness and feeling of enveloping you with sounds.  There is some hissing with the “s” in different scenes as well which is slightly lessened by playing with treble.  Avengers Endgame wormhole battle scene sounds much better, dialogues are still slightly bright (Thor talking to Captain America, etc.) and I want to chalk it up to the recording of Hamilton.  BUT I had a Samsung HW-Q90R previously and that sounded MUCH better (returned b/c of sub disconnecting all the time) so I’m not convinced it’s just the way it was filmed as another user in this thread mentioned it may be. Any other workarounds that have helped improve your experience with specifically Hamilton? 

V
Userlevel 2
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Also - for what it’s worth - the bass issue (when not using a sub) is better than it was but certainly NOT 100% fixed….

 

I don’t have an issue with the metallic sound - but I have no doubt some people do.

Exactly. The bass issue was fixed by Sonos but people still are complaining about it. When Sonos “fixes” the metallic sound “problem” many people will still hear it and never be satisfied.

 

Well…. people are still complaining about the bass b/c it’s not fixed. Not all the way. This isn’t a matter of perception.

Sonos has acknowledged they’re working on the metallic sound issue...soooo I don’t think that’s a matter of perception either.

 

 

It’s pretty simple:

Sonos said the bass issue has been fixed. But people are saying it hasn’t been fixed or, according to you, it hasn’t been fixed “all the way”. Therefore those people won’t ever be happy with the bass from the Arc. They have the option to live with it and pray for another “fix” or return it and get something they will be happy with.

In the future, IF Sonos says the metallic sound issue has been fixed, some people will say they still hear it and it hasn’t been fixed. Therefore those people won’t ever be happy with the sound from the Arc. They have the option to live with it and pray for another “fix” or return it and get something they will be happy with.

I think some people here should just return it and use their hard-earned money and get something they will be happy with so they can enjoy watching movies and listening to music again without complaining about it.

You enter a forum to give your opinion of a problem that does not affect you ... I would like you to have it and that at home you would have invested in more sonos speakers ... we would see if you say it so lightly, you would put it into practice. It is noted that for speaking from ignorance they do not charge in the forums.

G
Userlevel 7

Also - for what it’s worth - the bass issue (when not using a sub) is better than it was but certainly NOT 100% fixed….

 

I don’t have an issue with the metallic sound - but I have no doubt some people do.

Exactly. The bass issue was fixed by Sonos but people still are complaining about it. When Sonos “fixes” the metallic sound “problem” many people will still hear it and never be satisfied.

 

Well…. people are still complaining about the bass b/c it’s not fixed. Not all the way. This isn’t a matter of perception.

Sonos has acknowledged they’re working on the metallic sound issue...soooo I don’t think that’s a matter of perception either.

 

 

It’s pretty simple:

Sonos said the bass issue has been fixed. But people are saying it hasn’t been fixed or, according to you, it hasn’t been fixed “all the way”. Therefore those people won’t ever be happy with the bass from the Arc. They have the option to live with it and pray for another “fix” or return it and get something they will be happy with.

In the future, IF Sonos says the metallic sound issue has been fixed, some people will say they still hear it and it hasn’t been fixed. Therefore those people won’t ever be happy with the sound from the Arc. They have the option to live with it and pray for another “fix” or return it and get something they will be happy with.

I think some people here should just return it and use their hard-earned money and get something they will be happy with so they can enjoy watching movies and listening to music again without complaining about it.

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
D
Userlevel 4
Badge +2

Also - for what it’s worth - the bass issue (when not using a sub) is better than it was but certainly NOT 100% fixed….

 

I don’t have an issue with the metallic sound - but I have no doubt some people do.

Exactly. The bass issue was fixed by Sonos but people still are complaining about it. When Sonos “fixes” the metallic sound “problem” many people will still hear it and never be satisfied.

 

Well…. people are still complaining about the bass b/c it’s not fixed. Not all the way. This isn’t a matter of perception.

Sonos has acknowledged they’re working on the metallic sound issue...soooo I don’t think that’s a matter of perception either.

 

 

G
Userlevel 7

Also - for what it’s worth - the bass issue (when not using a sub) is better than it was but certainly NOT 100% fixed….

 

I don’t have an issue with the metallic sound - but I have no doubt some people do.

Exactly. The bass issue was fixed by Sonos but people still are complaining about it. When Sonos “fixes” the metallic sound “problem” many people will still hear it and never be satisfied.

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
D
Userlevel 4
Badge +2

Also - for what it’s worth - the bass issue (when not using a sub) is better than it was but certainly NOT 100% fixed….

 

I don’t have an issue with the metallic sound - but I have no doubt some people do.

V
Userlevel 2
Badge +2

For those of you who are still hearing the “metallic” or “tinny” sound from the Arc, more than likely it will not change anytime soon or at all. Most people who own the Arc are happy with the way it sounds, including myself. If you personally hear a “metallic” sound and it bothers you, it will probably ALWAYS bother you, and you will never reach a point where you are completely satisfied with your sound bar. For most of you, it’s probably best to just return the Arc before your return window has closed rather than wait for something that may never come.

For your information ... the metallic sound that is spoken in this forum is recognized by sonos.

G
Userlevel 7

For those of you who are still hearing the “metallic” or “tinny” sound from the Arc, more than likely it will not change anytime soon or at all. Most people who own the Arc are happy with the way it sounds, including myself. If you personally hear a “metallic” sound and it bothers you, it will probably ALWAYS bother you, and you will never reach a point where you are completely satisfied with your sound bar. For most of you, it’s probably best to just return the Arc before your return window has closed rather than wait for something that may never come.

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
D
Userlevel 1
Badge +2

@Krishma M @Scott - Sonos @Ryan S 

Krishma, Scott, we didn't seem to get a reply from our last comment. Could you please find out for us if this metallic sound issue is likely to be fixed anytime soon or even at all? The bass issue was fixed very promptly after it was reported and this is certainly not the case for this issue, i understand different problems can take longer to rectify, but i want to know if im pointlessly hanging onto my arc in the hope of a fix and it never comes or is not expected for months, my return window is soon about to end so a prompt response would be great.

i understand it may take some time to chase this with the relevant people but on behalf of everyone with this issue we would really appreciate if you could find out what is going on. This soundbar does not sound right to me at all.

Thanks.

 

P
Userlevel 4
Badge +4

I’ve added a sub as I can’t bear the muddy bass any longer but still have this nasty tinny ness… driving me nuts. 

S
Userlevel 4
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@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. 

Some people either don’t know how to read, don’t want to or are trolls spreding misinformation. Reps did indeed say the ****muddy bass**** issue was corrected before. BUT they also said the engineers were now looking into the metallic sound tinny center channel issue….. then again don’t feed the trolls

Edit: Guess what thread we are on? ;) 

S
Userlevel 4
Badge +4

@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. 

Some people either don’t know how to read, don’t want to or are trolls spreding misinformation. Reps did indeed say the ****muddy bass**** issue was corrected before. BUT they also said the engineers were now looking into the metallic sound tinny center channel issue….. then again don’t feed the trolls

A
Userlevel 6
Badge +6

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 looked at the Bose 700 with sub before I bought the Arc. Had my dealer set them up side by side and played the same content on both for comparison. Sound being what it is, highly subjective, to the individual I can share that to my ears the Arc was the hands down choice on all front. Soundstage being much wider than the Bose. Then add the fact the Bose is not a smart bar made the decision even easier for me. 
At the end of the day I’m happy that you’ve found a solution that works for you, your room and your ears. You’re personal satisfaction is all that matters. Enjoy!!!

Right. Sound is indeed highly subjective and room setting affects it quite a lot (for eg. Arc did not have any wider soundstage than my 500 as my living room is an open-concept). But Bose soundbars do have AirPlay 2, Bluetooth, assistant functionality, room correction, good EQ (adjusting the center channel volume is a big plus), etc. Which smart function do you think it’s missing?

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