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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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My replacement Arc went back today for a refund. It’s been replaced with another beam (already had sub and two ones). I’m happy with this set up and saved some cash. Butttttt… a few hours after dispatch I’ve been sent an invite to beta test upcoming update to the arc. I’m curious as to whether this will improve things… anyone tried it?

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I would have thought Beta Testers would be under an Non Disclosure Agreement, so if anyone had tested it they may not be able to report anything.

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My replacement Arc went back today for a refund. It’s been replaced with another beam (already had sub and two ones). I’m happy with this set up and saved some cash. Butttttt… a few hours after dispatch I’ve been sent an invite to beta test upcoming update to the arc. I’m curious as to whether this will improve things… anyone tried it?

When you say a new update for sonos arc, it will be a new software update, right?
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My replacement Arc went back today for a refund. It’s been replaced with another beam (already had sub and two ones). I’m happy with this set up and saved some cash. Butttttt… a few hours after dispatch I’ve been sent an invite to beta test upcoming update to the arc. I’m curious as to whether this will improve things… anyone tried it?

When you say a new update for sonos arc, it will be a new software update, right?

It said a few changes to the arc, so yes I guess that means a software update 

So after a night's mixed viewing I can definitely still hear an issue with the sound from the Arc and so can the OH now.

When OH came to mine we watched Coronation Street, audio was fine, voices front and central nice and clear. Lucifer on prime was fine. Watched Fatal Attraction on iTunes and there were scenes that the audio was off. There's a club scene when the affair starts that went really loud (OH complained I was deaf), then during a meal scene I struggled to hear the conversation. The voices were low but ambient background sounds were loud, it was like the director had the window open and mic outside whilst filming.


It's the same issue I've had before where I've struggled to hear the conversation, with vocals not being front, center and clear 

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So after a night's mixed viewing I can definitely still hear an issue with the sound from the Arc and so can the OH now.

When OH came to mine we watched Coronation Street, audio was fine, voices front and central nice and clear. Lucifer on prime was fine. Watched Fatal Attraction on iTunes and there were scenes that the audio was off. There's a club scene when the affair starts that went really loud (OH complained I was deaf), then during a meal scene I struggled to hear the conversation. The voices were low but ambient background sounds were loud, it was like the director had the window open and mic outside whilst filming.


It's the same issue I've had before where I've struggled to hear the conversation, with vocals not being front, center and clear 

This is a different issue than the metallic sound in this thread. Be aware that many films are intentionally mixed so that the voice channel is weaker than other channels. I suggest you do some A/B testing: try to listen to the scene, from the same source, with (good) headphones on. See if the problem persists there. If it does, then the problem is with the source material. However, if with headphones the voice is clear and background is weak, than there may be a problem with your Arc set-up. 

(Also: make sure that the Arc is receiving a Dolby signal and not something else. The Apple TV defaults to outputting LPCM audio, which the Arc cannot support yet. This results in a subpar stereo mix, rather than surround sound. The Apple TV has a setting to force Dolby Digital sound, which will sound markedly better).

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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.

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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. 

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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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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? 

Most Arc owners will disagree with you. As stated there are very few owners who aren’t satisfied. Sound being highly subjective I won’t argue that yours sounds horrible to “you”. If it does do yourself and the rest of us a favour and sell it or return it. You’ll feels so much better with something else. 

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Beagle  de alberta, If it bothers you so much that this person tries to fix your problem, please do not enter this forum, live their life and do not bother. I don't know what you're doing even here ... are you still here? You do not contribute anything friend.

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Beagle  de alberta, If it bothers you so much that this person tries to fix your problem, please do not enter this forum, live their life and do not bother. I don't know what you're doing even here ... are you still here? You do not contribute anything friend.

I don’t have an issue with my Arc. Like 99% of owners mine is spectacular. 
if mine wasn’t performing to my liking I would change it. I wouldn’t go on a forum and complain about it constantly. 
Yes, I’m still here and not going anywhere. 
The solution is if you’re unhappy with the product then replace it. Why punish yourself?

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Well, very easy ... I think that since you are not nostradamus, it is difficult for you to know how much money people who have a problem have invested in the sonos brand, people do not want to sell everything and lose money. I don't really care how much you have invested, in case you feel like saying so now. This forum in the title says very clearly what is happening. Until you arrived, people have tried to contribute, even the people who work for you. As for you ... I will not waste any more time ... do not distort the forum thanks.

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Well, very easy ... I think that since you are not nostradamus, it is difficult for you to know how much money people who have a problem have invested in the sonos brand, people do not want to sell everything and lose money. I don't really care how much you have invested, in case you feel like saying so now. This forum in the title says very clearly what is happening. Until you arrived, people have tried to contribute, even the people who work for you. As for you ... I will not waste any more time ... do not distort the forum thanks.

clueless

 

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Glad it's working good for u. 10 pages back and you can see that the Sonos team has sort of acknowledged the problem and looking at a fix. Let's hope the upcoming beta testing is able to address the concerns raised here.

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@Krishma M @Scott - Sonos  please give us an update we haven’t heard anything in weeks. Have you confirmed this issue?

is there an update coming! When? Weeks?

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Hi folks. The issue with the muddy or bottoming out bass from the Arc in a stand-alone configuration (no satellites or Sub) is no longer occurring. If your system is up to date and still the same issue we need to troubleshoot as normal. I’d suggest checking with the content (TV, Music in Sonos app) if it’s the same. 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 EST for further steps and resolution. We’re always here to help. Thanks for the patience! 

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Hi folks. The issue with the muddy or bottoming out bass from the Arc in a stand-alone configuration (no satellites or Sub) is no longer occurring. If your system is up to date and still the same issue we need to troubleshoot as normal. I’d suggest checking with the content (TV, Music in Sonos app) if it’s the same. 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 EST for further steps and resolution. We’re always here to help. Thanks for the patience! 

Only if there’s was a difference between muddy bass and exaggerated highs LMFAO

Hi folks. The issue with the muddy or bottoming out bass from the Arc in a stand-alone configuration (no satellites or Sub) is no longer occurring. If your system is up to date and still the same issue we need to troubleshoot as normal. I’d suggest checking with the content (TV, Music in Sonos app) if it’s the same. 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 EST for further steps and resolution. We’re always here to help. Thanks for the patience! 

Hi @Krishma M , can you please provide some detailed information about the fix for the mentioned issue?

What firmware or software upgrade "corrected" the bass and metallic issues?

There are any relations with Trueplay?

Hope you can clarify the community about your statement.

 Thanks and best regards

 

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Hi folks. The issue with the muddy or bottoming out bass from the Arc in a stand-alone configuration (no satellites or Sub) is no longer occurring. If your system is up to date and still the same issue we need to troubleshoot as normal. I’d suggest checking with the content (TV, Music in Sonos app) if it’s the same. 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 EST for further steps and resolution. We’re always here to help. Thanks for the patience! 

Hi @Krishma M , can you please provide some detailed information about the fix for the mentioned issue?

What firmware or software upgrade "corrected" the bass and metallic issues?

There are any relations with Trueplay?

Hope you can clarify the community about your statement.

 Thanks and best regards

 

hello, @Krishma M 
thanks for responding. This is the metallic sound or exaggerated highs thread. So I’m not sure why you responded with a muddy bass issue response. I am also not sure why others here mentioned muddy bass.

 

i asked about the exaggerated highs issue. This was acknowledged previously here by @Scott - Sonos snd we were told the engineering team was investigating. 
 

Its been radio silence and look at the number of comments. Now I ask for an update and you respond with a copy paste statement from another thread? I feel a bit dissapointed if I’m honest.

 

i would have expected sonos to make an official response to this since we were asked to provide feedback and submit content. And never heard anything again.

 

i ask everyone circling to muddy bass issues please use the other thread. These are totally separate issues not sure why anyone would asi about them together like the previous post before mine. 

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Hi folks. The issue with the muddy or bottoming out bass from the Arc in a stand-alone configuration (no satellites or Sub) is no longer occurring. If your system is up to date and still the same issue we need to troubleshoot as normal. I’d suggest checking with the content (TV, Music in Sonos app) if it’s the same. 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 EST for further steps and resolution. We’re always here to help. Thanks for the patience! 

 

This thread has nothing to do with the muddy bass (though that IS still an issue) - perhaps instead of just copy pasting the same response you can actually do something useful?

I’d suggest actually reading the thread you are responding to...and then “gasp” answer the actual questions or provide an accurate response.

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Hi folks. The issue with the muddy or bottoming out bass from the Arc in a stand-alone configuration (no satellites or Sub) is no longer occurring so meaning with or without satellites and Sub should work perfectly now and that was fixed by the update on July 7th (build 58.1-78210).

We have another investigation with the Sonos Arc that our engineers are currently working on. That is for the customers reporting poor performance in the center channel / mid-range audio. Resulting in thin, tinny voices with sharp treble and harsh "S" sounds. Music played via TIDAL and Apple Music on the Apple TV 4K also have sharp/tinny voices whereas the instruments sound ok. Voices sometimes sound muffled, contained, not very forward but when they hit the highs and "S"s it is again too harsh.  I’m now tagging this thread with that current investigation so we can keep you all posted about it. We greatly appreciate your patience and understanding. We’re all doing our best here to catch up with all your concern and provide the best experience we can give to all our customers. Please let us know if there’s anything else we can help you with.

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Wow

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Hi folks. The issue with the muddy or bottoming out bass from the Arc in a stand-alone configuration (no satellites or Sub) is no longer occurring so meaning with or without satellites and Sub should work perfectly now and that was fixed by the update on July 7th (build 58.1-78210).

We have another investigation with the Sonos Arc that our engineers are currently working on. That is for the customers reporting poor performance in the center channel / mid-range audio. Resulting in thin, tinny voices with sharp treble and harsh "S" sounds. Music played via TIDAL and Apple Music on the Apple TV 4K also have sharp/tinny voices whereas the instruments sound ok. Voices sometimes sound muffled, contained, not very forward but when they hit the highs and "S"s it is again too harsh.  I’m now tagging this thread with that current investigation so we can keep you all posted about it. We greatly appreciate your patience and understanding. We’re all doing our best here to catch up with all your concern and provide the best experience we can give to all our customers. Please let us know if there’s anything else we can help you with.

Good to know a staff from SONOS pointed out the issues and told us the engineers are working on it. :) Actually I’m fine with my setup now but of course we all want it to be better! Thanks Krishma!

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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? 

Most Arc owners will disagree with you. As stated there are very few owners who aren’t satisfied. Sound being highly subjective I won’t argue that yours sounds horrible to “you”. If it does do yourself and the rest of us a favour and sell it or return it. You’ll feels so much better with something else. 

As you can see begle there is a problem in arc, not that it is not for us sonos arc ... something is wrong. It's not that we have high expectations and you don't ... the problem exists and they have recognized it. What sonos does is contribute to the problem and not say that if you don't like the sound, give it back and stop bothering. I repeat ... some of us don't like what we hear ... keep that in mind

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