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Sonos Arc - Metallic Sound


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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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Best answer by Scott - Sonos 3 July 2020, 00:56

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Not sure why this problem is still not acknowledged by Sonos. That harsh treble is just present across all contents I played. 

Feels like I'm still using TV speaker but with better bass. I had occasions I was using TV speaker and I thought I was using the Arc.. that is how bad the sound is to me..

 

Izy1987: you're description of the problem is very recognisable. Could you describe you're room? Large open space, hard floor, etc…?

 

Fairly large living room. Square layout. Flooring not sure (feels like marble or granite).  No curtain or carpet. 

My room setup is not really optimal, but I do expect decent audio quality.

My desktop speaker costing 1/3 of the Arc's price performs better in the same environment.

 

Interresting, I also have a large livingroom (L-shaped) with hard flooring, getting a carpet in the living area this week.. 

 

I might try the Arc in my bedroom (small, carpet, curtains) to see if there is a difference. Of course this is no solution. The Arc is designed for large livingrooms, the Beam for small/medium. But it might lead to some explenation/insight. With a possible solution: better truplay tuning in large rooms?

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Fairly large living room. Square layout. Flooring not sure (feels like marble or granite).  No curtain or carpet. 

My room setup is not really optimal, but I do expect decent audio quality.

Can you try another Trueplay? I got best results just waving up and down along the sofa, rather than waving around whole room, make sure you remove iPhone cover and check mic for dust/fluff:

https://en.community.sonos.com/home-theater-228993/optimum-trueplay-6842990

 

 

 

So you did not move at all? You did all the tuning on 1 spot?

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So you did not move at all? You did all the tuning on 1 spot?

There are 2 steps, the first you hold the phone where you sit watching the TV, stationary, I think this is for the surround calculation.

The second step, I think for EQ,  Sonos App asks you to walk around the room waving the phone. I didn’t do this to get best results for me. I just waved the phone a foot above and below ear height along the sofa, back again, and repeat. I was keeping the phone moving slowly, but in a concentrated space, ie where your ears are most of the time. The iPhone speaker needs to hear the high frequencies, if it has a cover and/or there is dust/pocket fluff in Mic, it will affect Trueplay.

Carpet will help :)

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I just want to add that my initial true play attempts with iPhone Xs resulted in the harsh metallic unbearable sound signature. Even reducing treble didn’t help. When the Bass fix update arrived, I added sub and did Trueplay with iPhone 7. I am happy to report that the metallic sounds have all gone and my treble is back to 0. There is definitely something going on with the mic filters and how sonos is processing the Trueplay with different gains. Its been about 10 days and countless listening sessions and I am satisfied with the way its sounding for music and movies. It think its a Software issue and Sonos really need to test it with multiple iOS devices to see how the sound signature differs and compensate for the differences in Trueplay tuning.

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I just want to add that my initial true play attempts with iPhone Xs resulted in the harsh metallic unbearable sound signature. Even reducing treble didn’t help. When the Bass fix update arrived, I added sub and did Trueplay with iPhone 7. I am happy to report that the metallic sounds have all gone and my treble is back to 0. There is definitely something going on with the mic filters and how sonos is processing the Trueplay with different gains. Its been about 10 days and countless listening sessions and I am satisfied with the way its sounding for music and movies. It think its a Software issue and Sonos really need to test it with multiple iOS devices to see how the sound signature differs and compensate for the differences in Trueplay tuning.

I also turned with iPhone 7 and feel vocal’s are still way too harsh, definitely better than iPhone X tuning which is unbearable, but still very high pitched. This needs to be fixed ASAP. 
 

it feels like dialogue completely takes over the overall sound and just way too “in your face”, even with dialoge enhancement and loudness turned off.

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Hey Sonos! Can we get something more than a generic response? It’s your flagship product we are talking about. If you have forgotten- we are end consumers, not beta testers. So, fix your issues as soon as possible.

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12.0.2 just came out, installing now

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12.0.2 just came out, installing now

No System Update though. On top of that in About My System says Version 12.0.2 but at the bottom under Sonos System Info still says 12.0.1

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12.0.2 just came out, installing now

No System Update though.

Trueplay Update ?

Userlevel 3
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12.0.2 just came out, installing now

No System Update though.

Trueplay Update ?

No clue cause yet again Sonos has not provided any info...

Userlevel 6
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12.0.2 just came out, installing now

No System Update though.

Trueplay Update ?

No clue cause yet again Sonos has not provided any info...

Lets hope someone who is experiencing the ‘bright’ sound with their Arc can update their App, do another Trueplay and report back.

 

Userlevel 2
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Fingers crossed this helps. I have just installed the update and true played again. The trueplay felt like it took longer (I got to go around the room twice). Maybe they have updated that. Jury is out on whether it’s altered the sound profile...

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No change for me!!!!!!!Still harsh!!!!

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Upon the first trueplay attempt post update, the sonos app crashed after the “sit where you watch” phase of trueplay. I reran trueplay and it went through fine. In my experience, sound seems somewhat better, but still brighter than I would like.  
I look forward to further fixes and tweaks by Sonos. 

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I got my hands on an iPhone 7 this morning. I downloaded the Sonos S2 app and Trueplayed my room. 
 

The sound was definitely improved. It’s like the Arc took a step forward in presence. I use to describe its sound as “small.” Now not so much. It’s still silly bright but I’m not experiencing ear fatigue. 
 

Of course I hear they released an update and to my surprise, I had the updated app on the iPhone 7. So I’m not sure if they changed something or if the tune from the iPhone 7 is helping things. 
 

I’m very aware of the power of the brain, so I like to keep things flat (eq, loudness, sub off) as I’m evaluating the sound. I believe something has improved though I’m not sure if it’s the tune from an iPhone 7 or the update. 
 

I’m going to swap in the Beam for further reference. 

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No change for me!!!!!!!Still harsh!!!!

 

Same here! No noticeable difference

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I got my hands on an iPhone 7 this morning. I downloaded the Sonos S2 app and Trueplayed my room. 
 

The sound was definitely improved. It’s like the Arc took a step forward in presence. I use to describe its sound as “small.” Now not so much. It’s still silly bright but I’m not experiencing ear fatigue. 
 

Of course I hear they released an update and to my surprise, I had the updated app on the iPhone 7. So I’m not sure if they changed something or if the tune from the iPhone 7 is helping things. 
 

I’m very aware of the power of the brain, so I like to keep things flat (eq, loudness, sub off) as I’m evaluating the sound. I believe something has improved though I’m not sure if it’s the tune from an iPhone 7 or the update. 
 

I’m going to swap in the Beam for further reference. 

What phone did you use to TunePlay prior to the update?, it could just be your experience moving to an iPhone 7 rather than the update itself. (7 TunePlay performed significantly better than the X/Xs prior to the update in my experience, there is a clear issue with X/Xs which is immediately noticeable).

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I got my hands on an iPhone 7 this morning. I downloaded the Sonos S2 app and Trueplayed my room. 
 

The sound was definitely improved. It’s like the Arc took a step forward in presence. I use to describe its sound as “small.” Now not so much. It’s still silly bright but I’m not experiencing ear fatigue. 
 

Of course I hear they released an update and to my surprise, I had the updated app on the iPhone 7. So I’m not sure if they changed something or if the tune from the iPhone 7 is helping things. 
 

I’m very aware of the power of the brain, so I like to keep things flat (eq, loudness, sub off) as I’m evaluating the sound. I believe something has improved though I’m not sure if it’s the tune from an iPhone 7 or the update. 
 

I’m going to swap in the Beam for further reference. 

What phone did you use to TunePlay prior to the update?, it could just be your experience moving to an iPhone 7 rather than the update itself. (7 TunePlay performed significantly better than the X/Xs prior to the update in my experience, there is a clear issue with X/Xs which is immediately noticeable).

 

I’m using an original iPhone X.  It actually worked nicely for Trueplay tuning.

 

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I was on the phone yesterday with tech support and he had me send in the diagnostics from the Sonos app. He said it came back with some bad “bashes”, he would not elaborate, but obviously it is not performing like it should, but I still have a feeling this has nothing to do with the tinny lack of bass. I am afraid this is a hardware and not a software problem :( I am so bummed, I was really looking forward to this being a great speaker, but when I go back to my Playbar, which I still have, I get more bass and a fuller sound. I was doing my best to sell my wife on the fact that it would be great to have this new speaker which costs a lot, but alas, playing the Arc is not helping. And music through it is just awful! The dialogue on movies with the Arc is a bit better, but to loose the lows is a non starter. My setup has the sub and to Sonos Ones as well. 

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I was on the phone yesterday with tech support and he had me send in the diagnostics from the Sonos app. He said it came back with some bad “bashes”, he would not elaborate, but obviously it is not performing like it should, but I still have a feeling this has nothing to do with the tinny lack of bass. I am afraid this is a hardware and not a software problem :( I am so bummed, I was really looking forward to this being a great speaker, but when I go back to my Playbar, which I still have, I get more bass and a fuller sound. I was doing my best to sell my wife on the fact that it would be great to have this new speaker which costs a lot, but alas, playing the Arc is not helping. And music through it is just awful! The dialogue on movies with the Arc is a bit better, but to loose the lows is a non starter. My setup has the sub and to Sonos Ones as well. 

This is exactly my experience with the Arc.  I just regretfully sent it back to Sonos this morning.  My Playbar doesn't look as nice as the Arc but the sound is so much smoother and voices are way better too.  I just couldn't take the shrillness of the Arc any longer.  Of course I lost my discount code on the return….:tired_face:

 

My advice is to stay with the Playbar or Beam until this is sorted out. 

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I was on the phone yesterday with tech support and he had me send in the diagnostics from the Sonos app. He said it came back with some bad “bashes”, he would not elaborate, but obviously it is not performing like it should, but I still have a feeling this has nothing to do with the tinny lack of bass. I am afraid this is a hardware and not a software problem :( I am so bummed, I was really looking forward to this being a great speaker, but when I go back to my Playbar, which I still have, I get more bass and a fuller sound. I was doing my best to sell my wife on the fact that it would be great to have this new speaker which costs a lot, but alas, playing the Arc is not helping. And music through it is just awful! The dialogue on movies with the Arc is a bit better, but to loose the lows is a non starter. My setup has the sub and to Sonos Ones as well. 

This is exactly my experience with the Arc.  I just regretfully sent it back to Sonos this morning.  My Playbar doesn't look as nice as the Arc but the sound is so much smoother and voices are way better too.  I just couldn't take the shrillness of the Arc any longer.  Of course I lost my discount code on the return….:tired_face:

 

My advice is to stay with the Playbar or Beam until this is sorted out. 

I too talked to technical support yesterday. I got positive vibes that this issue will be fixed.l didn’t get a sinister report from  my diagnostic submission. The product has only been released since June-so surely Sonos can fix these problems!!

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I too am on the “this is a software issue that will be fixed”. I am also overly observant of audio issues at the moment.

However, what bothers me is the radio silence from Sonos. I really hope they will chime in to say that something is in the works! 

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I was on the phone yesterday with tech support and he had me send in the diagnostics from the Sonos app. He said it came back with some bad “bashes”, he would not elaborate, but obviously it is not performing like it should, but I still have a feeling this has nothing to do with the tinny lack of bass. I am afraid this is a hardware and not a software problem :( I am so bummed, I was really looking forward to this being a great speaker, but when I go back to my Playbar, which I still have, I get more bass and a fuller sound. I was doing my best to sell my wife on the fact that it would be great to have this new speaker which costs a lot, but alas, playing the Arc is not helping. And music through it is just awful! The dialogue on movies with the Arc is a bit better, but to loose the lows is a non starter. My setup has the sub and to Sonos Ones as well. 

This is exactly my experience with the Arc.  I just regretfully sent it back to Sonos this morning.  My Playbar doesn't look as nice as the Arc but the sound is so much smoother and voices are way better too.  I just couldn't take the shrillness of the Arc any longer.  Of course I lost my discount code on the return….:tired_face:

 

My advice is to stay with the Playbar or Beam until this is sorted out. 

I too talked to technical support yesterday. I got positive vibes that this issue will be fixed.l didn’t get a sinister report from  my diagnostic submission. The product has only been released since June-so surely Sonos can fix these problems!!

It was not sinister, he just said there were problems that showed up. I am not really sure that it is a software fix, although I wish that were true. I am feeling it is more a hardware issue. Yes, they were just released in June, but I am pretty surprised that after all the testing Sonos must have done on these...before June... that no-one said, hey, these sound flat and lackluster. Maybe we should do some more testing? ….

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Yeah. The audio on mine is very bright on most tv channels. It’s bright on my streaming device too.Not as bad on dvds.Music is very good.
lt is very disappointing considering what l paid for it. I have the subwoofer and a couple rear speakers too in my set up.

l don’t know what further testing we can do.l have only tuned mine with iPad.l will try with an iPhone.Tech support told me that it didn’t matter what device you used.

 

Userlevel 6
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Yeah. The audio on mine is very bright on most tv channels. It’s bright on my streaming device too.Not as bad on dvds.Music is very good.
lt is very disappointing considering what l paid for it. I have the subwoofer and a couple rear speakers too in my set up.

l don’t know what further testing we can do.l have only tuned mine with iPad.l will try with an iPhone.Tech support told me that it didn’t matter what device you used.

 

Tech support doesn’t know anything apart from fixing standard issues. Truplay on my setup with an iPad Pro 2017 is much better than Xs. If I add +6/+7 treble to my current sound profile, I get the same sound I had before with Xs Truplay. I am still struggling to like the dialogues. I really hope the fix is coming, but lack of clear communication from the Sonos team on top of asking for the same diagnostics and questions, again and again, is not helping.

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