First things first. This is not a rant. This is an expalation of a problem, which reduces the experience in 3D audio a lot. For background: I'm a sound engineer and music producer and I don't wanna sound arrogant, but I know what I'm talking about. (I'm a really nice and funny guy :D)
This bug appeared the moment I switched the Arc with the Arc Ultra. Before I made the switch I was on the 16.1 app and firmware. So I don't know if the Ultra causes the problem or the app/firmware. Before the switch everything was running as it should.
So, since there is not much of a topic around this, I'm curious if I am still one of a few who have this bug or one of a few who noticed it.
I made this post in Reddit, but not everyone is on Reddit and the more people know, the faster Sonos can work on it. Reddit discussion
I didn't saw any review which mentioned it. As you can see in the video, the rear driver is completly silenent when the Era 300's are paired with the Arc Ultra. Also Truplay isn't "sweeping" the driver either. (Timestamp 0:44) So the mesurement isn't right. First I thought it could be a feature instead of a bug, but it doens't fit the Dolby Atmos recommendations like this. You won't get sound from "behind" your seating position. And I remember Sonos self promoted it how it should work, where the rear driver is playing.
Sound from side driver/channel should boucing off your side walls, rear driver/channel bouncing off the back wall of your seating position and height channel obviosly bouncing off your ceiling. Thats why you should position them facing forward. At the moment you don't get the immersion that sound is coming from behind you, since the driver is silent.
I tested every setting, played the Dolby Atmos testfile (MKV KTrueHD Atmos] and MP4 PEAC3 + joc Atmos]) from different sources (TV Plex app, Nvidia Shield, from a USB through TV) Same result everytime.
If someone could test this behavior and can confirm this, it would be very nice. Sonos can't fix something they don't know and if most people doens't recognize doens't mean something isn't wrong.
Currently I'm running app version 80.12.04 (Android) and 80.12.03 (iPhone) and firmware version 81.1-58210. If you don't have this problem, what version are you running?
And last but not least: IF this ever getting fixed, the experience with Arc Ultra and Era 300 will be much better! I love my Sonos products soundwise and Arc Ultra is sounding really good, but it could be much better.
Have a nice day
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Story has been submitted to “The Verge”, who knows if they will actually write an article about this, but it was worth a shot. Also posted the link to this thread in the comment section of a few videos about the Ultra by Peter Pee
Hi @da3wilson
Sorry to hear that! We are aware of the issue and are investigating, but we have no estimate for when a fix might be put in place.
If you have not already contacted support about this issue personally, I’d encourage you to do so in order for us to gather data on the matter.
A reboot of the Arc Ultra and all connected satellites (surrounds and Sub(s)) may help.
I hope this helps.
Hi @da3wilson
Sorry to hear that! We are aware of the issue and are investigating, but we have no estimate for when a fix might be put in place.
If you have not already contacted support about this issue personally, I’d encourage you to do so in order for us to gather data on the matter.
A reboot of the Arc Ultra and all connected satellites (surrounds and Sub(s)) may help.
I hope this helps.
I can tell a reboot, factory reset and everything you can do at home does not help.
I wouldn't say that they fixed trueplay as it still fails everytime on android with my Ultra and 300s. This issue is extremely noticeable and definitely should be getting more attention from the devs.
My Trueplay is working on Android and iPhone. Clear your cache, this helped me sometime.
Thanks. I may just wait until this is fixed before I try again.
Hi @dominiklei
Understood, but that is in your case - I recommend that all affected at least try.
How do you go about rebooting the Arc and Surrounds? Is it just a case of power cycling them off and on?
How do you go about rebooting the Arc and Surrounds? Is it just a case of power cycling them off and on?
Yes, but is not going to fix the silent inner driver issue, already tried that.
How do you go about rebooting the Arc and Surrounds? Is it just a case of power cycling them off and on?
Yes, but is not going to fix the silent inner driver issue, already tried that.
I’ll give it a go, but I’m not expecting it to work. It’s definitely a software issue that’s going to need Sonos to push out a fix.
I would really like it if someone from Sonos keeps us updated with this issue from an internal prospective. Just knowing that they have their engineers working on this would be nice and reassure some of us that it isn’t going to be like this forever.
Hi @Lewdog129
My last 2 posts were about Quick TruePlay not working on Arc Ultra, and not anything to do with channels on rear speakers (just in case).
Hi @Lewdog129
My last 2 posts were about Quick TruePlay not working on Arc Ultra, and not anything to do with channels on rear speakers (just in case).
Trueplay, in the video OP posted, shows the rear channel on era 300 not working either. Idk if you saw it or not, but I’m just referencing.
Hi everyone this rears issue had me curious so I downloaded the Dolby 7.1.4 demo and tried it out was hoping someone could confirm if I was indeed also affected by this issue.
I’ve annotated my findings on how everything sounds when I play the demo and like to hear back from anyone who has more knowledge on the subject than me.
UPDATE
Sorry everyone it’s my fault, the red drivers are indeed working correctly and it’s the two speakers at the back which should be firing out of the inner rears of the 300’s that are instead firing out from the top and a little from the inside pretty much like everyone else. Apologies again for the confusion.
Hi everyone this rears issue had me curious so I downloaded the Dolby 7.1.4 demo and tried it out was hoping someone could confirm if I was indeed also affected by this issue.
I’ve annotated my findings on how everything sounds when I play the demo and like to hear back from anyone who has more knowledge on the subject than me.
Seems like its the opposite way in your case? Whats in red is playing correctly on my system, the speaker on the image in the back are playing wrong trought the height drivers
Hi everyone this rears issue had me curious so I downloaded the Dolby 7.1.4 demo and tried it out was hoping someone could confirm if I was indeed also affected by this issue.
I’ve annotated my findings on how everything sounds when I play the demo and like to hear back from anyone who has more knowledge on the subject than me.
Seems like its the opposite way in your case? Whats in red is playing correctly on my system, the speaker on the image in the back are playing wrong trought the height drivers
Very strange! I do know that those red highlighted speakers (which I assumed are meant to play from the inside drivers of the Era 300’s?) seems to be playing through the height channel rears.
Hi everyone this rears issue had me curious so I downloaded the Dolby 7.1.4 demo and tried it out was hoping someone could confirm if I was indeed also affected by this issue.
I’ve annotated my findings on how everything sounds when I play the demo and like to hear back from anyone who has more knowledge on the subject than me.
Seems like its the opposite way in your case? Whats in red is playing correctly on my system, the speaker on the image in the back are playing wrong trought the height drivers
Very strange! I do know that those red highlighted speakers (which I assumed are meant to play from the inside drivers of the Era 300’s?) seems to be playing through the height channel rears.
The red highlighted are playing outside of the Era 300.
Hi everyone this rears issue had me curious so I downloaded the Dolby 7.1.4 demo and tried it out was hoping someone could confirm if I was indeed also affected by this issue.
I’ve annotated my findings on how everything sounds when I play the demo and like to hear back from anyone who has more knowledge on the subject than me.
Seems like its the opposite way in your case? Whats in red is playing correctly on my system, the speaker on the image in the back are playing wrong trought the height drivers
Very strange! I do know that those red highlighted speakers (which I assumed are meant to play from the inside drivers of the Era 300’s?) seems to be playing through the height channel rears.
Double check again. The rears should be firing from the top. The side channels are working fine. The issue is rear channels on the era 300’s. If you have the opposite problem, that is an isolated incident at this point.
Hi everyone this rears issue had me curious so I downloaded the Dolby 7.1.4 demo and tried it out was hoping someone could confirm if I was indeed also affected by this issue.
I’ve annotated my findings on how everything sounds when I play the demo and like to hear back from anyone who has more knowledge on the subject than me.
Seems like its the opposite way in your case? Whats in red is playing correctly on my system, the speaker on the image in the back are playing wrong trought the height drivers
Very strange! I do know that those red highlighted speakers (which I assumed are meant to play from the inside drivers of the Era 300’s?) seems to be playing through the height channel rears.
For me it’s the other way round. The ones you have highlighted in red are playing as they should for me. That being the outside of the Era 300 unit in tandem with the side firing driver for the Arc Ultra. It’s the rear two speakers I have an issue with. Theses play from the hight driver on both units instead of the inner facing side of the speaker.
Hi everyone this rears issue had me curious so I downloaded the Dolby 7.1.4 demo and tried it out was hoping someone could confirm if I was indeed also affected by this issue.
I’ve annotated my findings on how everything sounds when I play the demo and like to hear back from anyone who has more knowledge on the subject than me.
Seems like its the opposite way in your case? Whats in red is playing correctly on my system, the speaker on the image in the back are playing wrong trought the height drivers
Very strange! I do know that those red highlighted speakers (which I assumed are meant to play from the inside drivers of the Era 300’s?) seems to be playing through the height channel rears.
For me it’s the other way round. The ones you have highlighted in red are playing as they should for me. That being the outside of the Era 300 unit in tandem with the side firing driver for the Arc Ultra. It’s the rear two speakers I have an issue with. Theses play from the hight driver on both units instead of the inner facing side of the speaker.
Apologies I’ve just had a brainfart, you are correct I checked them again and yes it’s how you describe it. The back surrounds which are meant to play from inner channels for the Era 300’s seem to play from the top and inner channels? The channels I highlighted in red are working fine as they should.
dnt know how popular this tech journal site is, but hey at least it’s something.
Aslong as it has been acknowledged and Sonos are working on a fix (sooner rather than later) I’m content for now, I don’t want to be getting all upset straight away as long as a fix is due some time soon.
I’ve added a bit of noise on Twitter (X) to make sure it’s acknowledged and dealt with.
Currently having the exact same issue. Upgraded to the era 300’s from the One SL’s and the entire set up sounds completely off right out of the box. Ridiculous that you spend thousands of dollars on a set up for it not to work the way it was intended along with KNOWING about the issue and having no fix or an estimated time frame for the fix. It’s not like it’s a small issue, this seems pretty wide spread. They’re going to rightfully lose an egregious amount of sales during the holiday season because of this. Word of mouth built the company, it can tear it down twice as fast. Almost tempted to return my set up out of principle. What a joke. Paid premium price for this and feels like I’m running a cheap set of bottom dollar Bose speakers behind me. Insane that my one SL’s are out performing my era 300’s.
Currently having the exact same issue. Upgraded to the era 300’s from the One SL’s and the entire set up sounds completely off right out of the box. Ridiculous that you spend thousands of dollars on a set up for it not to work the way it was intended along with KNOWING about the issue and having no fix or an estimated time frame for the fix. It’s not like it’s a small issue, this seems pretty wide spread. They’re going to rightfully lose an egregious amount of sales during the holiday season because of this. Word of mouth built the company, it can tear it down twice as fast. Almost tempted to return my set up out of principle. What a joke. Paid premium price for this and feels like I’m running a cheap set of bottom dollar Bose speakers behind me. Insane that my one SL’s are out performing my era 300’s.
Just hang on man, no point in returning it only for them to patch it up in a couple of weeks. I know it’s frustrating but we shouldn’t be soo hasty with returns just yet.
I will try this with my setup (Arc U + 300s + Sub Gen 4 + Sub Gen 3) when I get home, I havent noticed anything but im not a sound engineer.
I can put my ear right up to the inner facing channels, not a single sound from it. Same from the front channels. Absolute garbage. Brand new out of the box too.
I will try this with my setup (Arc U + 300s + Sub Gen 4 + Sub Gen 3) when I get home, I havent noticed anything but im not a sound engineer.
I can put my ear right up to the inner facing channels, not a single sound from it. Same from the front channels. Absolute garbage. Brand new out of the box too.
Front channel is disabled for 5.1/7.1/Atmos.
rear channel - yes that is the concern
Currently having the exact same issue. Upgraded to the era 300’s from the One SL’s and the entire set up sounds completely off right out of the box. Ridiculous that you spend thousands of dollars on a set up for it not to work the way it was intended along with KNOWING about the issue and having no fix or an estimated time frame for the fix. It’s not like it’s a small issue, this seems pretty wide spread. They’re going to rightfully lose an egregious amount of sales during the holiday season because of this. Word of mouth built the company, it can tear it down twice as fast. Almost tempted to return my set up out of principle. What a joke. Paid premium price for this and feels like I’m running a cheap set of bottom dollar Bose speakers behind me. Insane that my one SL’s are out performing my era 300’s.
Yeah I’m positive every person who owns the era 300’s for surround use is affected. It’s an extreme issue that needs urgent attention.
I have until January to return - insane all the people grabbing the holiday deals only to turn on their system that’s broken right out the gate.
Lmao - just absurd. Imagine people opening up their items for Christmas and then setting it all up to only find out that it doesn’t work!
