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ggmogollon
Enthusiast II
June 10, 2020
Answered

Sonos Arc Muddy/Bottoming out Bass

Beyond thrilled to receive the new Sonos Arc. True played my room and I have loudness on as well connected to LG B8 using Tidal and Spotify. Most of the sound range is phenomenal, aside from the bass. At even half volume the woofers are extremely muddy and sound terrible. Not sure if this is because I have under two hours of use but I wasn’t expecting to have to break-in the speaker. I own set of speakers next to it in the same room (KEF LS50W) and the difference is night and day. There have also been posts on Reddit regarding this issue. It is interesting given no reviewers have mentioned this issue but more than a few recipients have. Has anyone else experienced similar issues? Turning loudness off helps but it is disappointing for such a highly anticipated product. 

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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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    MikeBurrows92
    Trending Lyricist I
    June 23, 2020

    Unsure why some report it still has issues. Had noticed the issue before with the test tones, and in some certain scenes. Toystory 3 2:58 showed the issue. I have a playbar to compare to and definitely crackled/farted a bit during this scene. After the update issue is gone. Turn up to 100 percent with 40Hz tone, played bassy music (hiphop) and played the toystory scene all sound good.

     

    Remember guys this is a soundbar. the bass wont compete with a subwoofer or bigger system. Maybe you are expecting different bass from what the arc is supposed to produce. Right now Arc sounds great. I turned off my surrounds and sub for these tests.

    I dont think a thing as “step in the right direction” is even a thing. This wasn’t tuning was likely a bug with the DSP that was fixed to avoid this issue from happening.

     

    However, just as a comment I’ve seen people on here and reddit claiming their SONOS one sound bad and distort horribly. Even shared clips. I cant hear much on the clips from my phone, or headphones. I wonder if these people are new to sonos and expecting home theater experience with the arc and sonos ones?

    Okay I own a beam, Sonos ones etc. I do know how a distorted bass sounds like vs good one. I am not expecting the bass to compete with subwoofer. Also I am not expecting a different bass, don't know what that means. The bass coming from this Arc for CERTAIN songs/ movie scenes is definitely making crackling noise aka distortions even at volumes 34. Never had this issue with beam at same volume level or higher. Remember BEAM also is just a sound bar.

    If you don't hear any such distortions maybe you are lucky but that doesn't mean all is well with Arc and we actually hearing it wrong.

    As I said, what content? what time stamp? where are the recordings? If you are saying there’s an issue and want to be taken seriously do the work and tag Ryan and say hey look into this. There is also a remote possibility you got a defective arc. Those definitely exist. Many have had issues with the new sub making ticking noises and got replacements…

    I also say I did notice the issue before both with test tones and some movie scenes I would hear the pulsating/farting sound. I do not hear that anymore. So maybe you are onto a different issue, if so you gotta do some better than “Certain scenes! NOT FIXED! there’s crackling “

    @sebas1509 Here: Ozark S2E4 and start at 58:00. Set the volume to anything above 35%. The issue was much severe before, it’s definitely not as bad now. But it’s not 100% fixed. 

    I've listened to that and mines fine even at 50%

    vtjt
    Lyricist III
    June 23, 2020

    My Arc arrived yesterday, so I installed it and updated to latest production firmware. My first test material was my favorite, the Jurassic Park T-Rex scene. Right away, at the beginning of the scene (played from my 4K Apple TV movie library), I noticed the issue.

    At the beginning of the scene, when the T-Rex footsteps are making the glass of water shake, instead of a deep rumble, I hear a bubbly fart sound. It sounds awful, like comical, in the worst way.

    Volume was at 50%. Arc at default settings after Trueplay tuning with iPhone 11.

    Whatever fix was previously pushed out clearly does NOT address the issue.

    @Ryan S , I am confused while back-reading this thread…. is this issue purported to be fixed already, or is the fix still in the works?!

      leelaw
      Trending Lyricist I
      June 23, 2020

      Make sure when you update the app you go back in and apply the updated firmware to the ARC.... 

      Can someone explain how to this please rather than must updating the app. I thought that was all that was needed?

       

       

       

       

      sebas1509
      Enthusiast II
      June 23, 2020

      My Arc arrived yesterday, so I installed it and updated to latest production firmware. My first test material was my favorite, the Jurassic Park T-Rex scene. Right away, at the beginning of the scene (played from my 4K Apple TV movie library), I noticed the issue.

      At the beginning of the scene, when the T-Rex footsteps are making the glass of water shake, instead of a deep rumble, I hear a bubbly fart sound. It sounds awful, like comical, in the worst way.

      Volume was at 50%. Arc at default settings after Trueplay tuning with iPhone 11.

      Whatever fix was previously pushed out clearly does NOT address the issue.

      @Ryan S , I am confused while back-reading this thread…. is this issue purported to be fixed already, or is the fix still in the works?!

      The fix was released legit an hour or so ago. Go on the about system. It should read 12.0.1 that is the fix. Previously everyone was on 12.0.

      sebas1509
      Enthusiast II
      June 23, 2020

      Make sure when you update the app you go back in and apply the updated firmware to the ARC.... 

      Can someone explain how to this please rather than must updating the app. I thought that was all that was needed?

       

       

       

       

      Update the app through apple store or google store. Then after that go in the SONOS app ( you just updated) and check for updates under system settigns etc

        Pawl
        Lyricist III
        June 23, 2020

        I’ve been keeping my ARC turned off, until we received the official update (was scared to blow out my speaker). I’m going to update my ARC now. Hopefully, everything will be remedied. 

        Dave_O
        Avid Contributor I
        June 23, 2020

        Make sure when you update the app you go back in and apply the updated firmware to the ARC.... 

        Can someone explain how to this please rather than must updating the app. I thought that was all that was needed?

         

         

         

         

        First, update the Sonos S2 app on your phone. Then go to Settings → System → System updates → Check for updates.

          wds0001
          Prodigy I
          June 23, 2020

          Make sure when you update the app you go back in and apply the updated firmware to the ARC.... 

          Can someone explain how to this please rather than must updating the app. I thought that was all that was needed?

           

           

           

           

          It is possible to update the app without having updated your speaker.  To make sure do the following:

          -Open Sonos app

          -go to settings

          -select system

          -select system updates

          -select check for updates

           

          -edit - some of the other guys beat me to it.  Sorry for the repeat!

           

            leelaw
            Trending Lyricist I
            June 23, 2020

            Make sure when you update the app you go back in and apply the updated firmware to the ARC.... 

            Can someone explain how to this please rather than must updating the app. I thought that was all that was needed?

             

             

             

             

            It is possible to update the app without having updated your speaker.  To make sure do the following:

            -Open Sonos app

            -go to settings

            -select system

            -select system updates

            -select check for updates

             

            -edit - some of the other guys beat me to it.  Sorry for the repeat!

             

            Thanks all:) I has straight away updated by checking system updates so I guess I am all good.

            leelaw
            Trending Lyricist I
            June 23, 2020

            Make sure when you update the app you go back in and apply the updated firmware to the ARC.... 

            Can someone explain how to this please rather than must updating the app. I thought that was all that was needed?

             

             

             

             

            It is possible to update the app without having updated your speaker.  To make sure do the following:

            -Open Sonos app

            -go to settings

            -select system

            -select system updates

            -select check for updates

             

            -edit - some of the other guys beat me to it.  Sorry for the repeat!

             

            Thanks all:) I has straight away updated by checking system updates so I guess I am all good.

            Sorry for my bad prose..

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