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arpatil1
Enthusiast II
June 17, 2020
Answered

Sonos Arc - Metallic Sound

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?

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    Scott - SonosAnswer
    Sonos Product Management
    July 2, 2020

    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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    David Croxson
    Producer I
    May 5, 2022

    I wonder if using eARC versus the Optical converter has any impact on this?  I’m using the optical at the moment because I haven’t got a spare HDMI on the TV.

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    David Croxson
    Producer I
    May 5, 2022

    So, all the reviews of the ARC are generally exceptional - all praising rich warm sound.  So what are we doing wrong?

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    Mitchellsx
    Renowned Enthusiast II
    May 6, 2022

    So, all the reviews of the ARC are generally exceptional - all praising rich warm sound.  So what are we doing wrong?

    I don’t know what they are hearing, all I can think is places like what hifi are paid reviews… Ive never felt the ARC has a rich warming sound and ive had mine a year and half.

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    David Croxson
    Producer I
    May 8, 2022

    Is the Beam any better in this regard?  I’m thinking of changing.

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    HiFiorDie12
    Lyricist I
    May 13, 2022

    So, all the reviews of the ARC are generally exceptional - all praising rich warm sound.  So what are we doing wrong?

    I don’t know what they are hearing, all I can think is places like what hifi are paid reviews… Ive never felt the ARC has a rich warming sound and ive had mine a year and half.

    I assure you that I am a simpleton, wannabe HiFi enthusiast that saves up my money in order to afford my sonos speakers and I truly enjoy the sound from my Arc. True that the Playbar sounded warmer to my ears but by no means is the Arc lacking in warmth which is a signature sound to Sonos as compared to BlueSound speakers. It all comes down to preference and as far as wireless HiFi speakers go I choose Sonos. I am not denying that others are having issues with their Arc’s so maybe a quality control issue exists? Maybe some do not care for the sound signature that Sonos offers? Maybe some source material being listened to is of poor quality? My whole family appreciates the sound and when friends and neighbors have stopped by they are impressed with what the Arc can do.

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      Marty in the UK
      Lyricist II
      June 22, 2022

      I just bought an ARC as an upgrade from the Beam Gen 1 and seem to be having the same issues. Hopefully someone can give me a definitive answer.

      regardless of trying to tune using Trueplay including sitting in the same place, not turning my iPhone upside down etc, I still can’t get a “warm” sound. The audio is very precise but seems to have a bright effect. Watching content with dialog from a man that I know has a deep warm voice, it sounds thin. It’s like using the tv speakers. Low bass noises are good but it just lacks mid range. I’ve changed the EQ bass and treble setting but nothing works.

      What am I doing wrong ? My old Beam had more warmth to the sound than the new Arc. Does it have to be “run-in” for a while to get the mid range working?

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      Ken_Griffiths
      Ken_Griffiths
      June 23, 2022

      I just bought an ARC as an upgrade from the Beam Gen 1 and seem to be having the same issues. Hopefully someone can give me a definitive answer.

      regardless of trying to tune using Trueplay including sitting in the same place, not turning my iPhone upside down etc, I still can’t get a “warm” sound. The audio is very precise but seems to have a bright effect. Watching content with dialog from a man that I know has a deep warm voice, it sounds thin. It’s like using the tv speakers. Low bass noises are good but it just lacks mid range. I’ve changed the EQ bass and treble setting but nothing works.

      What am I doing wrong ? My old Beam had more warmth to the sound than the new Arc. Does it have to be “run-in” for a while to get the mid range working?

      It’s difficult to comment without being able to hear it… So you maybe best to submit a system diagnostic and note or post it’s reference back here and then contact/chat with the Sonos Support Staff via this LINK and see if they can see any issues with the device.

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      Marty in the UK
      Lyricist II
      June 23, 2022

      I’ve sent the diagnostics. Here is the reference 1985465114.

      I’ll contact support tomorrow 

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      Marty in the UK
      Lyricist II
      June 23, 2022

      I’ve submitted the diagnostic reference 1985465114. I’ll contact support tomorrow and see what they say.

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      Marty in the UK
      Lyricist II
      June 24, 2022

      Decided to return the Arc and keep my Beam for now. At least until Sonos sort out the Arc sound or I decide to get a Bose or similar. Such a shame …..

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