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Sonos Arc Muddy/Bottoming out Bass

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1406 replies

M
Userlevel 5
Badge +7

Do you guys really think Sonos is going to add a bunch of additional EQ settings and/or separate volume controls for the different drivers in the Arc?  I don’t see this as a likely scenario, but maybe I’m wrong.  Sonos tends to take the Apple style approach of “it just works” with less available configuration vs. the highly configurable and complicated approach.

I think it’s much more likely that Sonos tweaks the sound themselves with software updates vs. exposing a whole bunch of EQ controls which 99% of their customers don’t want to mess with.

Yeah I get where your coming from. I do also think that is the way Sonos will go, but I would still like a bit more control over the soundbar. Was watching a film last night with the mother-in-law and although me and my partner found the dialogue ok, she was struggling to hear some speech, so having the option to up it would be great.

B
Userlevel 2
Badge +2

Do you guys really think Sonos is going to add a bunch of additional EQ settings and/or separate volume controls for the different drivers in the Arc?  I don’t see this as a likely scenario, but maybe I’m wrong.  Sonos tends to take the Apple style approach of “it just works” with less available configuration vs. the highly configurable and complicated approach.

I think it’s much more likely that Sonos tweaks the sound themselves with software updates vs. exposing a whole bunch of EQ controls which 99% of their customers don’t want to mess with.

I think it’s worth requesting finer-grained EQ.  They can put it in an “Advanced” section for folks who are interested.

J
Userlevel 4
Badge +1

Do you guys really think Sonos is going to add a bunch of additional EQ settings and/or separate volume controls for the different drivers in the Arc?  I don’t see this as a likely scenario, but maybe I’m wrong.  Sonos tends to take the Apple style approach of “it just works” with less available configuration vs. the highly configurable and complicated approach.

I think it’s much more likely that Sonos tweaks the sound themselves with software updates vs. exposing a whole bunch of EQ controls which 99% of their customers don’t want to mess with.

I think it’s worth requesting finer-grained EQ.  They can put it in an “Advanced” section for folks who are interested.

Yeah, I’m not disagreeing with you.  But I’m not holding my breath either.

M
Userlevel 3
Badge +1

Do you guys really think Sonos is going to add a bunch of additional EQ settings and/or separate volume controls for the different drivers in the Arc?  I don’t see this as a likely scenario, but maybe I’m wrong.  Sonos tends to take the Apple style approach of “it just works” with less available configuration vs. the highly configurable and complicated approach.

I think it’s much more likely that Sonos tweaks the sound themselves with software updates vs. exposing a whole bunch of EQ controls which 99% of their customers don’t want to mess with.

I think it’s worth requesting finer-grained EQ.  They can put it in an “Advanced” section for folks who are interested.

While interesting and I would enjoy a better EQ, I do think this helps the issue I am having with the Arc. In the current state, it is incapable of reproducing lower frequencies that the Beam can. Since rooms have now come into the situation - I have put the Beam and Arc next to each other in the same room and in every single case, I have no issues with the Beam and the Arc bottoms out. 

I guess where a lot of us are at right now is wondering that maybe Arc just doesn’t sound that good. Perhaps it was built in a way that only works well when paired with a sub. If that is the case, then no amount of EQ or updates to the internal software are going to fix the physics of the speakers and the design. I really hope that isn’t the case, but at this point would rather just know. I love my Beam for music and movies, was hoping for more with the Arc. 

D
Userlevel 4
Badge +2

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.

Really bad during the intro to Top Gun... During Danger Zone. (both streaming or from the new 4k bd release). 

Well under 50% vol. 

Used the linked form to submit info / diagnostics 1285309378

FYI.. I've noticed this during both music and movies. Multiple sources. 

Scott E. 

B
Userlevel 2
Badge +1

Do you guys really think Sonos is going to add a bunch of additional EQ settings and/or separate volume controls for the different drivers in the Arc?  I don’t see this as a likely scenario, but maybe I’m wrong.  Sonos tends to take the Apple style approach of “it just works” with less available configuration vs. the highly configurable and complicated approach.

I think it’s much more likely that Sonos tweaks the sound themselves with software updates vs. exposing a whole bunch of EQ controls which 99% of their customers don’t want to mess with.

Yeah I get where your coming from. I do also think that is the way Sonos will go, but I would still like a bit more control over the soundbar. Was watching a film last night with the mother-in-law and although me and my partner found the dialogue ok, she was struggling to hear some speech, so having the option to up it would be great.

Did you try the speech enhancement button?

E
Userlevel 4
Badge +5

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.

Really bad during the intro to Top Gun... During Danger Zone. (both streaming or from the new 4k bd release). 

Well under 50% vol. 

Used the linked form to submit info / diagnostics 1285309378

FYI.. I've noticed this during both music and movies. Multiple sources. 

Scott E. 

That’s the exact Atmos test I used and my Arc has no issues (even above 50%).  That’s why I think there is a hardware aspect to this.

M
Userlevel 3
Badge +1

I spent some time doing more listening to music and watched a movie over the weekend. Every single song I listen to has a garbled low end. It’s like the speaker is incapable of reproducing the frequencies. It’s in every single kick drum on anything modern. I can listen to all the same content without issue on my Beam, Bose Soundlink without issue. Only the arc. That is also with those units in the same physical space. Even noticed it on the opening scene of “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood”. When the stand up bass kicks in on the theme intro, it bottoms out. 

I just can’t understand how anyone could listen to this speaker and not hear the issue. It did seem a little less pronounced with loudness off, but still there

S
Userlevel 5
Badge +10

Do you guys really think Sonos is going to add a bunch of additional EQ settings and/or separate volume controls for the different drivers in the Arc?  I don’t see this as a likely scenario, but maybe I’m wrong.  Sonos tends to take the Apple style approach of “it just works” with less available configuration vs. the highly configurable and complicated approach.

I think it’s much more likely that Sonos tweaks the sound themselves with software updates vs. exposing a whole bunch of EQ controls which 99% of their customers don’t want to mess with.

Sonos isn’t going to do that nor should they. Imagine the chaos of customers fiddling with something like that. If you want eq like that you should not be buying a soundbar. 

P
Userlevel 4
Badge +4

Are anyone else's posts being ‘vetted’ before posting never had this before on here????

 

Getting this when discussing certain things ‘Your post has been submitted. It will be published after a review by our moderators.’

Smilja

@pyro225, Your post got caught by the spam filter. Happens to me a lot.

»And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space, Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.« (›Windmills Of Your Mind‹ [1967]. Music by Michel Legrand ; English lyrics written by Alan & Marilyn Bergman)
S
Userlevel 5
Badge +10

Do you guys really think Sonos is going to add a bunch of additional EQ settings and/or separate volume controls for the different drivers in the Arc?  I don’t see this as a likely scenario, but maybe I’m wrong.  Sonos tends to take the Apple style approach of “it just works” with less available configuration vs. the highly configurable and complicated approach.

I think it’s much more likely that Sonos tweaks the sound themselves with software updates vs. exposing a whole bunch of EQ controls which 99% of their customers don’t want to mess with.

I think it’s worth requesting finer-grained EQ.  They can put it in an “Advanced” section for folks who are interested.

While interesting and I would enjoy a better EQ, I do think this helps the issue I am having with the Arc. In the current state, it is incapable of reproducing lower frequencies that the Beam can. Since rooms have now come into the situation - I have put the Beam and Arc next to each other in the same room and in every single case, I have no issues with the Beam and the Arc bottoms out. 

I guess where a lot of us are at right now is wondering that maybe Arc just doesn’t sound that good. Perhaps it was built in a way that only works well when paired with a sub. If that is the case, then no amount of EQ or updates to the internal software are going to fix the physics of the speakers and the design. I really hope that isn’t the case, but at this point would rather just know. I love my Beam for music and movies, was hoping for more with the Arc. 

Ding, ding, ding….works well only with sub. 

M
Userlevel 3
Badge +1

Do you guys really think Sonos is going to add a bunch of additional EQ settings and/or separate volume controls for the different drivers in the Arc?  I don’t see this as a likely scenario, but maybe I’m wrong.  Sonos tends to take the Apple style approach of “it just works” with less available configuration vs. the highly configurable and complicated approach.

I think it’s much more likely that Sonos tweaks the sound themselves with software updates vs. exposing a whole bunch of EQ controls which 99% of their customers don’t want to mess with.

I think it’s worth requesting finer-grained EQ.  They can put it in an “Advanced” section for folks who are interested.

While interesting and I would enjoy a better EQ, I do think this helps the issue I am having with the Arc. In the current state, it is incapable of reproducing lower frequencies that the Beam can. Since rooms have now come into the situation - I have put the Beam and Arc next to each other in the same room and in every single case, I have no issues with the Beam and the Arc bottoms out. 

I guess where a lot of us are at right now is wondering that maybe Arc just doesn’t sound that good. Perhaps it was built in a way that only works well when paired with a sub. If that is the case, then no amount of EQ or updates to the internal software are going to fix the physics of the speakers and the design. I really hope that isn’t the case, but at this point would rather just know. I love my Beam for music and movies, was hoping for more with the Arc. 

Ding, ding, ding….works well only with sub. 

That may well be the answer, but it doesn’t make any sense. Beam (I own) has good enough low end and doesn’t bottom out - it’s not going to wow anyone for movies, but really pretty decent. Playbar (I hear) has better low end than the Beam, good playback for movies and music. Arc - most expensive soundbar - no low end. Sub required. It just doesn’t make sense to come out with a flagship product that is less than the functionality of the previous two products. 
If that’s the case, I’ll return and get a Playbar before they’re gone

D

So I have had several email exchanges asking about the set up, what it's mounted on, room set up and the various sources used. It hadn't made any difference ans there doesn't seem to an answer to the logical argument of the playbar being extremely good without a sub so why is it the arc bottoms out where the playbar performs well. The response I got was this:

 

Hi Dipen, 

Thank you for your reply regarding 01926589.
 

Thanks for the description. We wished to make sure there was nothing environmental that was creating sound echo at lower frequencies. 

Please be aware when the bass EQ is increased, the lower frequencies will be higher relative to mid and high frequencies. When increasing the volume there will be less comparison between the mid and high frequencies. Depending on how the song was mastered, as well as with the bass EQ settings being high, this can create a less than ideal bass experience.

As we only have two EQ settings we do a bit more underwater for bass and treble normalization with each of our products depending on the purpose of it. For example, we want to make sure you are able have good bass without need to change the EQ settings and also have clear speech recognition when using the Sonos Arc with the TV.

I'm also happy to feed this back internally as an improvement point. 

One option you can test is Trueplay as it sets the settings based on the room and the speakers used. I have includes instructions below:
1. Reset the EQ settings as per: Settings > System > Lounge > EQ > Reset
2. Use Trueplay via: Settings > System > Lounge > Trueplay

 

I just don't know whether it's hardware or software related especially as there are a few that have reported no issues with the same music/time stamp. I just can't justify spending another £700 for a subwoofer especially when the Playbar was more than capable without it.

 

@Scott - Sonos really need give customers a feel for whether this is hardware or software related otherwise you'll get a flood of returns as customers will fear the worse. 

G
Userlevel 1
Badge +2

Didn’t think I was having as many problems as everyone else but I noticed my first bass flub/pop while watching ‘the nun’ iTunes purchased viewing source from 4K Apple TV. 
 

TV is an LG OLED B9 connected to eARC (HDMI 2), volume at dunno 30%, connect to my Arc is two One SL and Gen 2 sub.

The scene in question occurs at the 35:53 mark or so with the sound of thunder in the background. Dolby atmos is working. 
 

bass is set at +4

treble at -3

sub at +2 

loudness on

trueplay one (I believe I need to retune since I haven’t done so since the last update)

and if it matters surrounds set at +2 for tv

also filled out one of those google documents forms that was linked to on this post.

 

F
Userlevel 2
Badge +1

Didn’t think I was having as many problems as everyone else but I noticed my first bass flub/pop while watching ‘the nun’ iTunes purchased viewing source from 4K Apple TV. 
 

TV is an LG OLED B9 connected to eARC (HDMI 2), volume at dunno 30%, connect to my Arc is two One SL and Gen 2 sub.

The scene in question occurs at the 35:53 mark or so with the sound of thunder in the background. Dolby atmos is working. 
 

bass is set at +4

treble at -3

sub at +2 

loudness on

trueplay one (I believe I need to retune since I haven’t done so since the last update)

and if it matters surrounds set at +2 for tv

also filled out one of those google documents forms that was linked to on this post.

 

You defo need to retune trueplay after update the difference is night and day.

Since I added sub there has been no issues for me.

Even without sub its better than before but not fully fixed.

M
Userlevel 3
Badge +1

Yet another review - “so much bass”. I swear he has a different Arc than me
 

 

M
Userlevel 3
Badge +3

Yet another review - “so much bass”. I swear he has a different Arc than me
 

 

You literally can hear the distortion in his video when he is playing the music...

M
Userlevel 3
Badge +1

Finally got an email from a supervisor, which asked me to update my system since they already have “addressed” this issue and if I am still having issues post “fix” that I should submit diagnosis. 

 

Hey Sonos - this is unacceptable. I have had two chat sessions, both of which are recorded, where I’ve already both confirmed that I have updated and still have issues AND on which I have submitted diagnostics - and I’ve even contributed on the google form you submitted. Please read resources that you already have, then reach out with meaningful information. You’ve been largely silent on all of this and to get a message like this after waiting 10 days is beyond disappointing. 

B
Userlevel 5
Badge +4

Finally got an email from a supervisor, which asked me to update my system since they already have “addressed” this issue and if I am still having issues post “fix” that I should submit diagnosis. 

 

Hey Sonos - this is unacceptable. I have had two chat sessions, both of which are recorded, where I’ve already both confirmed that I have updated and still have issues AND on which I have submitted diagnostics - and I’ve even contributed on the google form you submitted. Please read resources that you already have, then reach out with meaningful information. You’ve been largely silent on all of this and to get a message like this after waiting 10 days is beyond disappointing. 

 

I received the same email and replied back with the same information about already being updated, etc. 

Initially I was excited thinking they released another updated last night but then re-read the email more carefully and was disappointed.  

It’s bizarre that I have probably 2-3 email threads with them and this was the last reply I received which was the first email I sent.  The others have been replied to by ‘managers’ who have said they continue to work on the fix and understand it’s not completely resolved.  The other included the links for the Google form to submit examples/diagnostics.

I’ll continue to send them examples and diagnostic reports for now.  It’s very concerning though.

A
Userlevel 6
Badge +6

Finally got an email from a supervisor, which asked me to update my system since they already have “addressed” this issue and if I am still having issues post “fix” that I should submit diagnosis. 

 

Hey Sonos - this is unacceptable. I have had two chat sessions, both of which are recorded, where I’ve already both confirmed that I have updated and still have issues AND on which I have submitted diagnostics - and I’ve even contributed on the google form you submitted. Please read resources that you already have, then reach out with meaningful information. You’ve been largely silent on all of this and to get a message like this after waiting 10 days is beyond disappointing. 

 

I received the same email and replied back with the same information about already being updated, etc. 

Initially I was excited thinking they released another updated last night but then re-read the email more carefully and was disappointed.  

I’ll continue to send them examples and diagnostic reports.  It’s very concerning though.

They are just killing time by replying out of their cheat sheet. Standard responses. They haven’t even acknowledged the metallic sound/hollow dialogues issue yet. I am thinking about just returning everything and wait until I can have enough space for a true 5.1 AVR setup.

P
Userlevel 4
Badge +4

No there is a new app update 12.0.2 came out last night going to test shortly

A
Userlevel 6
Badge +6

No there is a new app update 12.0.2 came out last night going to test shortly

App update, not firmware update. No change in sound.

P
Userlevel 4
Badge +4

No there is a new app update 12.0.2 came out last night going to test shortly

App update, not firmware update. No change in sound.

But have you tried re trueplaying now as that’s plausible in the update 

A
Userlevel 6
Badge +6

No there is a new app update 12.0.2 came out last night going to test shortly

App update, not firmware update. No change in sound.

But have you tried re trueplaying now as that’s plausible in the update 

Somebody from the Sonos team would have posted here about the update then. I don’t think this app update is for fixing the sound.

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