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Sony AJ80 And SONOS ARC - Dialogue Volume Very Low

  • 18 January 2022
  • 2 replies
  • 716 views
R

I just upgraded my Playbar to the ARC (and sub) and my TV to the Sony AJ80. I have been testing for a couple of weeks, and at this point I am severely disappointed with the terrible volume level of the dialogue/voices while viewing movies.  I have to constantly increase the volume to hear dialogue but then turn it down when something explodes. My sources vary from using the smart apps on the TV (Netflix, Plex, HBO Max, Prime, Hulu, etc.) to watching shows/movies using my cable provider COX. The worst is while watching movies with COX. The sound format from COX is Dolby Digital 5.1, and the results are terrible. 

I have run Trueplay and turned on Speech Enhancement, and fiddled with every setting on the Sony TV. There just doesn’t seem to be a way to enhance the dialogue volume. 

I was researching on the web and noticed several comments in other forums that the problem may be the TV and how it outputs audio. I have also seen a ton of comments from other Sonos ARC owners who are experiencing the same issue and they have every kind of TV imaginable.

Is this something Sonos can look into in hopes they solve it for everyone? Hopefully this is a software fix, even something as simple as a voice boost setting in the app.

Any thoughts and suggestions will be welcomed.

Thank you!

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Best answer by GuitarSuperstar 18 January 2022, 19:46

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Userlevel 7

The Speech Enhancement feature in the Sonos app is the “voice boost” setting.

You should try redoing Trueplay tuning with a different iOS device. Oftentimes this can lead to different tuning results that can improve your listening experience. You might also try using the Night Sound (moon icon) feature. This lowers the dynamic range of the audio which can make it easier to hear dialog over loud sound effects. Also make sure Loudness is turned on under the EQ settings.

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
R

The Speech Enhancement feature in the Sonos app is the “voice boost” setting.

You should try redoing Trueplay tuning with a different iOS device. Oftentimes this can lead to different tuning results that can improve your listening experience. You might also try using the Night Sound (moon icon) feature. This lowers the dynamic range of the audio which can make it easier to hear dialog over loud sound effects. Also make sure Loudness is turned on under the EQ settings.

Thank you for the suggestions! I have tried all the settings and even ran Trueplay with a couple of devices and nothing seems to clear up the issue. The ARC is located in a fairly large room with wood floors and a lot of hard surfaces which contributes to the issue. Yesterday I was watching the NFL games and had to blast the volume level because I couldn’t hear the announcers over the ambient stadium noise they were piping in. I guess my obvious question would be if Sonos can add an EQ feature or a better voice boost to the software? I was using a Playbar in the same room before I upgraded and the voice situation was much better. Obviously, I don’t want to go back to the Playbar and would rather find a solution to this issue with the ARC. I have seen a ton of other posts regarding this same problem so hopefully Sonos is aware.

Thanks!

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