Hey @melvimbe, thank you for sharing!

Interesting read indeed. I cannot comment on future plans or for the Sonos Roadmap, but I’m curious and very excited for this year .

HDMI pass through would be awesome if they release a new one. Even if it’s just 1 port. 

Allowing an extra pair of speakers in front would do more to improve sound than anything you could do to improve the Arc.

If the new Arc doesn’t offer independent center channel volume control the rest of the new stuff isn’t enough to tempt me to upgrade.

Sonos Arc needs better height channels and HDMI passthrough. It would have to be able to also connect to the future Sonos HDMI stick which will change the timeline for release.

my view:

• Sonos wants to release headphones but given they are expensive you need to differentiate yourself with WiFi;
• the Sonos HDMI tv stick will allow the Sonos headphones to be used also when watching movies;
• new Sonos Arc will either have the Sonos HDMI stick within the soundbar or will be able to connect wirelessly to that. In any case an HDMI passthrough might be needed  to break away from the TV audio processing.

let’s see if anything gets announced in March or June.

Full DTS support would be nice for the price. 

At least it supports DTS finally, even DTS-HD, albeit just the DTS core (you won't be able to tell the difference on a soundbar like this anyways though). 

For me personally it would be:

Additional HDMI ports

Inbuilt tuning (viable for people without an Apple device)

DTS:HD/X codecs added (especially with Disney plus adding DTS:X around June time)

Sub out port (Probably the most unlikely haha)

Further enhanced EQ controls. 

You definitely would. DTS:X would actually work better on a Sonos bar as it's more emphasized on object placement rather than relying on walls to bounce the sound off. I currently have the Sennheiser Ambeo plus paired with a Kef KC62 subwoofer and the difference between bog standard DTS and DTS:X miles better. 

If they decide to introduce both the HD and X codecs then I'll happily return back to Sonos and purchase the new Soundbar alongside two era 300's and two subwoofers. 

I was referring to DTS vs DTS-HD as far as bit rate differences, but not actual spacial sound...Now DTS:X would definitely be noticeable; I'm there with you. But DTS:X has such a low market share and I'd venture to guess most people will never even watch anything that utilizes that codec. It's only relatively common on Blu-rays and very few people (relative, not absolute audience) actually watch Blu-rays . 

Maybe not so much in the soundbar market but in the normal AVR world disks are still very popular and at the end of the day with how much these devices cost, it really is lazyness by the company not to include it. I personally prefer DTS over Dolby. 

As already stated, hopefully with Disney plus about to add DTS:X and also another big streaming platform about to do the same (can't name for NDA reasons), it might give them the kick up the backside to add the codecs in 

Yeah, if more streaming services support it, then Sonos will (eventually...theyre very slow, like Apple, to adopt things that others have had for years). 

Im hoping for louder, better dynamics, and better mids. Thats it. 

God help us all if they try and do high bandwidth audio wirelessly from other people’s TVs. Look at the trouble some TVs still have with getting eARC (and CEC) working correctly, and those are certified HDMI standards over thin bits of copper. Supporting random third party wireless standards doesn’t seem like a sane plan to me.

Absolutely. The ARC isn’t even as wide as our TV. Without reflective walls, how do you get surround (L-R) from the front? I was about to buy a different system till I heard there may be an ARC2 coming out that could potentially solve this limitation. If you were able to add two ERA 300s at the front for ATMOS it would be awesome….

The Arc for me is the weak link in my 2 x gen 2 subs and Era 300s. If you just listen to the Arc on its own, the sound profile is pretty poor, especially compared to other soundbars on the market. Also, the lack of additional HDMI for audio pass through (Blu-ray player). Support for DTSx is a must. If the new addition of the Arc doesn’t have these extra features, I won’t bother upgrading. 

I expect it’s not laziness that is preventing Sonos adding the DTS-HD or DTS:X codecs, it’s a financial decision.

The patents of the original DTS surround sound codecs expired after which a number of companies Sonos and LG included added it into their home theatre/tv products.

The current DTS codecs require a license fee to use. When a product is targeted at streaming services, not physical media playback, what is the benefit in paying an expensive license fee without the streaming services to use it.

Sony, as part of their Bravia core streaming service, provided DTS soundtracks so it is in their interest to include DTS support in their products. Many of the products I see from manufacturers who have paid the DTS license fees are from an AV background where their existing customers have disk based media so want DTS support.

For a long time, Disney were somehow able to get a small number of their films certified as IMAX enhanced, even though they were using Dolby audio and not DTS. That has finally changed, but the number of IMAX enhanced titles is so small it is meaningless to device manufacturers targeting the streaming market.

DTS-HD and DTS:X are still currently in a no man’s land for streaming. Unless DTS can win over the streaming providers and get a significant amount of content using DTS audio by default and not Dolby, there is no reason for a device manufacturer to pay for DTS licensing fees and the Dolby licensing fees if they’re targeting the consumer streaming market.

For streaming providers it would be a very brave provider who switched to DTS only with so many devices only having Dolby support, so they’ll need to provide both and the reality is most consumers don’t care as long as audio plays. Increased availability of DTS audio from streaming providers might convince a handful of device manufacturers to pay up, but I wouldn’t count on it making a huge difference. Dolby support is required for streaming, anything else is an additional cost for minimal returns.

The licence cost is peanuts though. You're more likely to get more sales having the codec than not as it does put people off and disk sales were actually up this year and not dead in the water. 

I think the Arc is the wrong product for that. It is a sound bar, so needs to go under the TV so may as well continue to use eArc. Unless Sonos start producing TVs and can control both ends, it’s a recipe for disaster.

Where I do see a need for it, would be in something like the rumoured media player, supporting stand alone Sonos speakers to build up a surround system. Think Sony HT-A9/Bravia Theater Quad rather than a width constrained soundbar, except the control device and speakers can be mix and match from Sonos speakers rather than a fixed set.

While soundbars have their place, they really can’t match physically separate speakers for soundstage or dual use movie and music playback. There are limits to what can be achieved with dsp and reflection vs real separation.

Exactly! Other brands have the codecs, Sonos is a premium brand in wireless speakers, so this should be reflected in the product audio support features. 
 

The only reason I have a soundbar set up is my wife won’t allow me to place a traditional home theatre setup with wires, speaker on the floor or ceiling! 

I have the Bravia quads myself but waiting on the new arc to stick in the snug if it's any good. Front separation miles better on the Sony though as I've got them 3m apart. 

I wish Sonos would allow us the ability to add 3 x Era 300’s as LCR channels instead of a sound bar for this exact reason. 

Totally agree with this!

As i have stated in the reply above, i wish for this set up. I think allowing the Sonos ecosystem to be personally modular, would increase sales. I doubt allowing a user to set up 3 x era 300’s as a LCR channels instead would eat in to their premium range of soundbar such as the ARC. The new price for the ARC 2 is going to be around $1200, so if I wanted to buy 3 x era 300’s this would set me back $1347, if they retail at $449 each. Plus there’s the personal use scenario of a sound bar, not all people want floor standing speakers or the extra space 3 x era 300’s would take. However, those of us who want to spend extra to get the ultimate Sonos experience would skip a sound bar. I would go as far as saying, let us have 3 x era 300’s as RCL channels and an xtra 2 x for the L&R sides. Add in the addition of Ceiling speakers, AMP, 2 x Gen 2 subs and you have true Atmos. Yes, it would be way more expensive and probably not sound as good true wired home theatre set up. However, if you have a situation where you can’t wire speaker in (minus the ceiling speakers) some sort of set up like this would be perfect. Let the customer choose how they set it up.