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Sonos Arc Muddy/Bottoming out Bass

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B
Userlevel 5
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Updated the app to 12.0.3 and confirmed the hardware build changed to 58179200 from 58178180. 

Tested a few of the problematic clips noted in this thread and what I previously noticed the issue with and did not notice any changed to the muddy bass sound.  Not sure what changed in this update but for me at least, the issue still continues. 

did you retune? I noticed a big change after retuning. Also are you talking about movies or songs when you mean muddy bass? I honestly think that was greatly improved in the previous update

I will have to re-tune and see.  I mean muddy bass as it was originally reported in this thread.  The only time I heard improvement was after the initial release of the Arc with the beta update that was then released to the public shortly after.  I agree it was greatly improved a while back but I don’t hear any adjustments in the most recent update that makes me say, ‘Wow, that sounds significantly better’.  Personally I don’t hear any real adjustment in the movie clips I’ve watched to where I think to myself...’They fixed it 100% now’.  

 

I have tested with Netflix 6 Underground, The Greatest Showman, John Wick 3 to name a few.  Each of which I’ve sent multiple diagnostic reports to Sonos and filled out their Google Form that @Scott - Sonos had asked us to do.

I still plan to keep the Arc myself as I know Sonos will improve the product but I personally did not hear that much of a difference after updating to build 58179200.

S
Userlevel 4
Badge +4

Updated the app to 12.0.3 and confirmed the hardware build changed to 58179200 from 58178180. 

Tested a few of the problematic clips noted in this thread and what I previously noticed the issue with and did not notice any changed to the muddy bass sound.  Not sure what changed in this update but for me at least, the issue still continues. 

did you retune? I noticed a big change after retuning. Also are you talking about movies or songs when you mean muddy bass? I honestly think that was greatly improved in the previous update

I will have to re-tune and see.  I mean muddy bass as it was originally reported in this thread.  The only time I heard improvement was after the initial release of the Arc with the beta update that was then released to the public shortly after.  I agree it was greatly improved a while back but I don’t hear any adjustments in the most recent update that makes me say, ‘Wow, that sounds significantly better’.  Personally I don’t hear any real adjustment in the movie clips I’ve watched to where I think to myself...’They fixed it 100% now’.  

 

I have tested with Netflix 6 Underground, The Greatest Showman, John Wick 3 to name a few.  Each of which I’ve sent multiple diagnostic reports to Sonos and filled out their Google Form that @Scott - Sonos had asked us to do.

I still plan to keep the Arc myself as I know Sonos will improve the product but I personally did not hear that much of a difference after updating to build 58179200.

Yeah I meant that original update. After that I havent heard any issues maybe because I dont go as loud or tune the bass up in EQ. Also, retuning made a big difference for me even in music. Maybe they ironed out the truplay issues that some were reporting?

R

After the July 28th update the Arc delivers a more balanced sound. I am happy so far.

B
Userlevel 5
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Argh, re-tuned and think it sounds worse.  Maybe it’s just that my ears were listening to the EQ adjusted so it didn’t bottom out as much as it did previously in certain scenes and now the EQ is reset and TruePlay is back on.

Once I turned TruePlay off and adjusted the EQ back, things sounded like they had before though so it doesn’t seem like to me that this update has adjusted anything drastic. 

I’m hoping that at some point we get an update where I can say, ‘there we go, that’s what I was expecting’ but I haven’t had that feeling since owning the Arc unfortunately. 

It would be great to see some release notes on 12.0.3 and the firmware update nonetheless.

P
Userlevel 4
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Still sounds horrific on Drive at 35:00 at 50% volume up.

 

daft punk weeknd- starboy sounds marginally better.

eminem - without me sounds bad still

D
Userlevel 4
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Yup - Still messed up here too….ugh

D

Still sounds horrific on Drive at 35:00 at 50% volume up.

 

daft punk weeknd- starboy sounds marginally better.

eminem - without me sounds bad still

Did you do a trueplay?

D

New video 

 

D
Userlevel 4
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Good video - looks like they didn’t really change the Freq response at all - interesting how he mentioned the volume change. I didn’t notice that…..still have muddy bass though….

M
Userlevel 2

Good video - looks like they didn’t really change the Freq response at all - interesting how he mentioned the volume change. I didn’t notice that…..still have muddy bass though….

Yeah. Good stuff again from Peter. This might also explain why I and some others experienced a higher volume coming from the surrounds. I had to lower them a bit because they were taking over too much. 

P
Userlevel 4
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Hi all - since the last update seemed to have fixed nothing I thought I’d do a direct comparison of my Playbase and the arc … here is the video… and for those of you who think the Arc sounds greats can you not hear the difference?

 

 

J

Hi all - since the last update seemed to have fixed nothing I thought I’d do a direct comparison of my Playbase and the arc … here is the video… and for those of you who think the Arc sounds greats can you not hear the difference?

 

What is the origin of the sound (youtube?) and what music is so I can try to test on my end too?

P
Userlevel 4
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Hi all - since the last update seemed to have fixed nothing I thought I’d do a direct comparison of my Playbase and the arc … here is the video… and for those of you who think the Arc sounds greats can you not hear the difference?

 

What is the origin of the sound (youtube?) and what music is so I can try to test on my end too?

Hi there

 

a film on Netflix called ‘Drive’ think its

some Bollywood film at 50% plus volume and 35:00 exactly into the film

C
Userlevel 6
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Hi all - since the last update seemed to have fixed nothing I thought I’d do a direct comparison of my Playbase and the arc … here is the video… and for those of you who think the Arc sounds greats can you not hear the difference?

 

 

Arc is against a wall, where is the Playbase?

P
Userlevel 4
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On the floor for the test directly under it. It’s not on the wall it sits forward about an inch

B

On the floor for the test directly under it. It’s not on the wall it sits forward about an inch

Is the Playbase the first one? Sounds WAY better then second sound :scream:

C
Userlevel 6
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On the floor for the test directly under it. It’s not on the wall it sits forward about an inch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksTRc1zsdz4 skip to 6:00 in, maybe pushing the Arc against back to wall will help in your specific room?

J
Userlevel 2
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Hi all - since the last update seemed to have fixed nothing I thought I’d do a direct comparison of my Playbase and the arc … here is the video… and for those of you who think the Arc sounds greats can you not hear the difference?

 

 

To be fair I don’t think the playbase would be a fair comparison as it was designed to have sort of a sub in it.  A better comparison would be a playbar. 
 

Physics would dictate that the playbase would definitely have tighter bass than the Arc with its ported built in sub. I feel that the Arc was really built with a limitation but for a different wider sound signature and if its something that you are unhappy with you may always return it and stick with the playbase which is also a great product. 

JJ
V
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Hi Guys:
 

New to this forum. I almost pulled the trigger on the Sonos Arc to pair with the LG CX 65 OLED I just purchased as I couldn’t wait to try the Dolby Atmos. But after seeing the bass problem posted here I guess I will wait to see how this issue is resolved. I won’t buy one unless they resolve the bass issue.


In the meantime, I think my TV speakers are good enough to carry me through for a while.

 

 

Wise choice. Mine is like everyone else posting here, very poor bass issues. I cannot fathom how so many so called reviewers gave this product such a glowing review, it’s just average at best - if it cost 250EUR, that is no exaggeration. Not sure if its hardware or software related, but bass and sharp sounds make it poor to listen to. I’ll keep it for another few weeks until I see it improves, if not its going back, as simple as that. I’m very disappointed in it, especially as I hoped to use it for music in my sitting room.


Hello,

For what it worth, here is a link to French website review of the Sonos Arc. They do mention an issue with the bass, as well as the higher half of the spectrum:

https://www.lesnumeriques.com/enceinte-home-cinema/sonos-arc-p57755/test.html

Sorry guys, it is in French, here is a Deepled version:

Beyond this point, we also manage to identify some sensitive sound weaknesses in the Arc. First of all, the accuracy is sometimes lacking in its rendering in the upper half of the spectrum. At best, this simply results in a not quite ideal level of detail; at worst, some voices can take a slightly nasal turn, and the high-pitched extremes become slightly acidic. This is particularly noticeable in music listening, where the cymbal blows sometimes show a slightly excessive virulence. The problem is generally less noticeable during film viewing, although it does not disappear.

Finally, the Arc does not quite live up to its promise of producing fully satisfactory bass without a subwoofer. Even though the frequency response measurement seems to indicate a more than correct depth, with a nice presence as early as 50 Hz, the distortion measurement reveals the aftermath: the harmonic purity of the bass drops to a trickle as early as 110 Hz, a frequency below which one hears nothing but confused sounds and indistinguishable timbres. The addition of a Sonos Sub is particularly beneficial, providing a suddenly much more assured foundation.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

After reading so much good reviews of the Sonos Arc, I was about to discard this review, but I discovered today this thread and it looks like the French site is having a point here…

I already have a sub (Gen2), a beam and a few :1/Ones so I was really keen into investing in this new Arc to set-up a Dolby Atmos capable home theater (Arc+sub Gen3+ 2xOnes LS for surround) but I think I will wait a bit for Sonos to clear things up !

Considering the TV to buy as well, it is a big investment!!!

P
Userlevel 3
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How long does it take for Sonos to clear a reply that was flagged?

P
Userlevel 4
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On the floor for the test directly under it. It’s not on the wall it sits forward about an inch

Is the Playbase the first one? Sounds WAY better then second sound :scream:

Yep Playbase first one 

P
Userlevel 4
Badge +4

Hi all - since the last update seemed to have fixed nothing I thought I’d do a direct comparison of my Playbase and the arc … here is the video… and for those of you who think the Arc sounds greats can you not hear the difference?

 

 

To be fair I don’t think the playbase would be a fair comparison as it was designed to have sort of a sub in it.  A better comparison would be a playbar. 
 

Physics would dictate that the playbase would definitely have tighter bass than the Arc with its ported built in sub. I feel that the Arc was really built with a limitation but for a different wider sound signature and if its something that you are unhappy with you may always return it and stick with the playbase which is also a great product. 

I half but that but how about the tinny highs and lack of mids on the arc vs playbase that should be comparable.

 

also the sub is only one 4inch woofer if it was going to be that limiting surely they should have incorporated it its long enough for plenty of porting
 

 

K
Userlevel 1
Badge

Hi all - since the last update seemed to have fixed nothing I thought I’d do a direct comparison of my Playbase and the arc … here is the video… and for those of you who think the Arc sounds greats can you not hear the difference?

 

 

To be fair I don’t think the playbase would be a fair comparison as it was designed to have sort of a sub in it.  A better comparison would be a playbar. 
 

Physics would dictate that the playbase would definitely have tighter bass than the Arc with its ported built in sub. I feel that the Arc was really built with a limitation but for a different wider sound signature and if its something that you are unhappy with you may always return it and stick with the playbase which is also a great product. 

It is embarrassing for the ARC.  I don’t see how anyone can say the ARC is better sounding in this video.

D

Hi! 
 

When you look at other "cinema" systems, it almost always includes a sub, probably because the soundbar can not perform bass on its own.  It does not defend Sonos but could it be a bit like they thought here too?  Incredibly bad marketing then to say that Arc should have a base.  It may fix itself over time.  I will buy another system now for testing, both are on open purchase.

D
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I thought of something. I was listening to the YouTube link of that video showing the difference between the Playbase and the Arc. And I was thinking, the Playbase base sounds great and the Arc was bottoming out… 

 

But you might want to know, I was playing it over an Arc. without sub and surrounds. Just the arc on its own. So if I can hear how good the playbase sounds on the Arc…. 

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