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Question

Ever since upgrading Arc to Arc Ultra, my left Era 300 is 10x louder than the right one!! (If not resolved before my return date I will return the ARC ULTRA!)

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I always upgrade to the newest app the day it comes out but I already had the current one at that time which was the one before 80.17.09 and 80.17.07, and it did a system update to my new Arc Ultra. The rear speaker balance sounded fine after I ran a full TruePlay on my system with two Era 300 rears and two Sub (Gen 3)s.

(But why with the Arc Ultra is the option not allowed, greyed out, to adjust distance between surrounds which I never had different before anyway but previously I had it on 2ft to 10ft, and now it is greyed out on more than 10ft, or not allowed to change the phase of my subs, which should be independent by the way — as should volume, balance, bass, treble, and height controls be SEPARATE for Arc Ultra/Subs and SEPARATE for the Era 300 surrounds?)

But once I did the system update to my hardware in 80.17.07 came the problem of the left era 300 being 10x louder than the right era 300 surround speaker!!!! This is worse with TV Video than with music, as with music the left rear is only 4x louder than the right which is still horrible! AND THIS MAKES NO DIFFERENCE IF TRUEPLAY IS TURNED ON OR OFF (but I’m glad you restored the option to turn it off and a separate option to retune like it used to be with the Arc, BEFORE YOU CHANGED TO THE NEW STYLE APP LIKE 10 MONTHS AGO OR WHENEVER IT WAS)!

I have begging for this to be fixed along with another problem THAT DID NOT EXIST WITH THE ARC! I had zero issues with the Arc in my system, and the Arc had a wider soundstage due to its midwoofers and a fuller but not taller height. The stereo speaker sound is obviously better with the Arc Ultra, but I now have to turn my bass up higher than before for better dialogue.

The other problem is that now when I change TV channels or stop/start a DVR program recorded in my Xfinity XG1v4 4K cable box, it makes a distortion sound like tearing paper at 20x the actual volume level which will eventually destroy the drivers and it does this in all the speakers!!!! This never happened once with the Arc!!! The ONLY CHANGE WAS PUTTING THE ARC ULTRA IN PLACE OF THE ARC!!! And also when I need to switch certain settings on my TV for other reasons than sound, my screen will go black for 5 seconds before it comes back on and again THIS NEVER HAPPENED WITH THE ARC AND THE SAME OTHER SPEAKERS IN THE SYSTEM!!! Oh, and now 3 TV channels are much lower volume than the rest, and I notice in the app that it tells you if it’s Dolby multichannel 2.0, 5.1, DD+, or Dolby Atmos.

On my AppleTV, it only seems to be playing Dolby Atmos from the AppleTV+ area, and none of my movie apps that are broadcast in Dolby Atmos!! This never happened once with the Arc, and there is a very audible difference and you can easily hear when Atmos is on, without needing to read it under TV Source window in the Sonos app.

There are other issues as well but these are the most pressing ones. For example, now I need to turn my volume higher on my TV channels than with the Arc and much lower than on YouTube app built into my TV which formerly the volume was at 12-14 (as the volume only moves in levels of two numbers at a time; you can choose 1-99 or 2-100, but only 50 options with TV remote).

THESE NEEDS TO BE FIXED IMMEDIATELY OR I WILL BE RETURNING MY ARC ULTRA BACK FOR A REFUND!!!

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Corry P

Sonos Staff

Hi @Bellatone

Corry,

You’re a genius! I don’t know about the tearing sound yet, if it will do it again, but I fixed the surround issue! However, I made sure to UNPLUG ALL OF THE SPEAKERS FIRST, INCLUDING THE ARC ULTRA (and I unplugged the Arc Ultra before ALL the others), after I first removed the subs and then removed the surrounds. When I added back the surrounds, I fortunately picked the room it assigned to my right surround (as the previous times when it asked me where the sound was coming from it was always the left one), but this time the tone came out of my right surround. Then I added the subs and didn’t have to do the NFC thing again since it only flashed white on all speakers and not green/white, so it obviously held them in memory.

Then I did the advanced TruePlay and the SURROUNDS ARE BALANCED!!!! I’m so happy!!!

Glad to hear it!

Thanks so much, Corry! (Btw, are you a M or F?, just curious due to the spelling of your name. And how old are you, if you feel like answering? 😊 I’m 45, but people always think I’m anywhere from 27 to 35.)

I don't mind - male, and 47.

And also: even though the surround issue is fixed and gone, the loud “paper-tearing distortion” isn’t, sadly.

That’s a shame, though as it only happens when changing channels, I would assume that it is something to do with the cable box - I hear no such issue with my Arc Ultra setup. It is strange that you only got this issue when you swapped the Arc for the Arc Ultra, though that could be due to a difference in how the two products deal with an error in the input, I suppose. If it is a very digital-sounding noise, I would presume that the feed coming from the cable box is not being correctly framed in whatever codec is in use. It’s above my pay-grade, however, and I have not seen diagnostics, so this is a guess.

I’ve submitted a diagnostic report before but that was a while ago and with no follow up, as every time I call, and I’ve tried at least 6-7 times and I get hung up on every time after 3 minutes, and get this!!! I can’t call from my number or it just rings twice and stops, so my number is obviously blocked; the only way I can get through IS IF I ADD A *67 BEFORE THEIR NUMBER TO BLOCK MY CALLER ID!!!

So maybe you could kindly help to fix this issue and see if anything is under my account, which you might have fixed already by allowing my reply to this thread to go through, or need to fix to remedy this… nonsense. Thank you so much.

....because over a year ago I was chatting with some guy from another country for support and we were just chatting and both having fun laughing and talking for like 3 hours, but here’s the thing… because I happened to have just been released from the hospital for a serious medical issue, I was given some prescription for sleep that I had never taken before called Ambien, so I had no idea I would have had sleep/awake talkative effects at the time until I later looked up that people even sleep drive on it (and never took the medication after this one time), and so we were joking around and I said the four-letter “S” word 1-2 times, and I only remember that because Sonos customer service e-mailed me the next day; I hadn’t remembered the conversation at all until I was reminded of it. So in the email or message they sent me, and they didn’t tell me for how long this would last, but that “I was no longer permitted to use customer service chat or phone, and I could not buy any products from Sonos.” I was extremely shocked and even after I explained the situation thoroughly and that I was given a strong sleep/hypnotic medication, and didn’t even know what I was talking about and didn’t say anything cruel, and completely and thoroughly apologized if the person was offended if anything was said by me or interpreted wrongly, perhaps due to a language barrier, and that we were just talking and joking – after I had gotten back from a week in the hospital for a severe gastrointestinal problem and diagnosis (which I will have all my life), they stood firm and shrug it off with two words to me, rudely: “Too bad.”

Now, follow me on this, please:

#1). I find it rather ironic that they are legally allowed to discontinue support to a person who spends $3,400 in product I purchased from them directly that carries a 1 year warranty, without a letter from their lawyer, as nothing was mentioned about “special medical circumstances resulting in the use of prescribed medication with certain side effects” in the T&C, not to mention that I apologized profusely if anything said by me was wrong or taken out of context, as I was discharged from the hospital with a sleeping/hypnotic-class of medication I had never taken before or known about before this happened.

#2). I find it rather ironic that if they had no further plans on selling me any product, they would send me THREE 15% UPGRADE COUPONS for my Arc and my two Sub (Gen 3)s.

#3). I find it rather ironic that not only DID THEY ACCEPT THE ARC 15% UPGRADE COUPON but used it in the SALE OF THE ARC ULTRA.

So… Corry, can you please help me get this fixed to the point where I can get technical support for a product I just purchased which you’ve seen I’ve had obvious problems with ever since I put it in my system 9 days after I received it, and help me to get them to submit my diagnostic report and set me up with a call to find out if my unit is defective or if it’s just the app software and firmware updates? I would truly and genuinely appreciate any help you could offer in this area.

Thank you kindly.

I can’t personally help you with this, and it will not be discussed it in a public place due to GDPR. I have reported it, however, and someone will look into the situation for you - I’ll get in touch via DM when I hear more.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein

Corry P

Sonos Staff

Hi @Bellatone

Regarding the tearing sound, have you tried rebooting the cable TV box and TV by unplugging power from both for at least a minute? It’s worth trying, if you have not.

I would also be tempted to then perform a factory reset on the Arc Ultra, if the above did not help - please remove any surrounds and Subs from it first, however.

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein

BellatoneAuthor

Trending Lyricist I

Thank you very much.

The Sonos app (under source) is telling me my cable box is outputting right now, for example, at Dolby Digital 5.1. Other times depending on the programming/channel it will say DD+ 5.1 or Multichannel PCM 5.1. (And I’ve tried all 3 modes on my cable box setting which are PCM Stereo, DD+ 5.1, or Best Available.) It does not support 7.1 Atmos though like the TV’s own apps, my AppleTV 4K (3rd Gen) box, or Sony UBP-X800M2 Blu-Ray player.

It’s happening when tuning between channels or starting/stopping a DVR recording (local on its HD or in Xfinity’s Cloud). It never happened with the Arc. I’d hate to do a factory reset on it because it would just update back to its same firmware. It did NOT happen when I used the Arc Ultra on 80.12.03, but only their next update to 80.14.07 along with firmware in that app version, and continued with updates to app and firmware for 80.14.09. I don’t think this is so much of an Arc Ultra problem as it is a firmware update problem within 80.14.xx. I’d really hate to do the whole process over again PLUS have the product deregistered which I don’t know what that would entail.

What would it entail? Thoughts?

Thanks! 🎄❄️

pj • peace/love/light /// Arc Ultra • Era 300 x 2 • Sub (Gen 3) x 2 • Sony Bravia XR-77A95L QD-OLED Dolby Vision / IMAX / etc. •

Corry P

Sonos Staff

Hi @Bellatone

If the Arc Ultra is up-to-date now, it will still be so after a reset - the software does not downgrade to an earlier version. The Ultra will need to register itself again, but that isn’t normally an issue - you got it working in the first place, and it would not work if it were not registered. If the Ultra is not up-to-date now, please update it first, to see if that fixes the issue.

What does the app report is playing when you are hearing the tearing sound? Does it still report Dolby Digital? If so, I suspect I am right about the framing issue, though I confess I do not understand why you didn’t see it with the Arc. If it is not framing, and the issue is with the Arc Ultra, then hopefully the reset will fix it.

The annoying thing here is that the source of the issue could be the cable TV box, the TV, or the Arc Ultra. That the Arc did not do the same thing does strongly suggest that it is the Arc Ultra, but it is not proof, I am afraid.

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein

BellatoneAuthor

Trending Lyricist I

It could be any of the formats, it makes no difference.

When I received the Arc Ultra, I did not have to go through a registration process since it was purchased under my account. What would I have to do? Or would the app just automatically do it?

Thanks!

pj • peace/love/light /// Arc Ultra • Era 300 x 2 • Sub (Gen 3) x 2 • Sony Bravia XR-77A95L QD-OLED Dolby Vision / IMAX / etc. •

Corry P

Sonos Staff

Hi @Bellatone

Registration is part of the setup process - it has nothing to do with the purchasing process.

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein

BellatoneAuthor

Trending Lyricist I

The left rear Era 300 speaker becoming louder has returned, and I have to unplug the speaker every 1-2 days to PARTIALLY remedy it.

It worked fine during 80.12.03!!! After that update it became destroyed! Why can’t they revert it?

pj • peace/love/light /// Arc Ultra • Era 300 x 2 • Sub (Gen 3) x 2 • Sony Bravia XR-77A95L QD-OLED Dolby Vision / IMAX / etc. •

BellatoneAuthor

Trending Lyricist I

Hi @Bellatone

If the Arc Ultra is up-to-date now, it will still be so after a reset - the software does not downgrade to an earlier version. The Ultra will need to register itself again, but that isn’t normally an issue - you got it working in the first place, and it would not work if it were not registered. If the Ultra is not up-to-date now, please update it first, to see if that fixes the issue.

What does the app report is playing when you are hearing the tearing sound? Does it still report Dolby Digital? If so, I suspect I am right about the framing issue, though I confess I do not understand why you didn’t see it with the Arc. If it is not framing, and the issue is with the Arc Ultra, then hopefully the reset will fix it.

The annoying thing here is that the source of the issue could be the cable TV box, the TV, or the Arc Ultra. That the Arc did not do the same thing does strongly suggest that it is the Arc Ultra, but it is not proof, I am afraid.

I hope this helps.

Corry,

What is a framing issue? And the box can output Dolby Digital or DD+ 5.1. Just not Atmos.

pj • peace/love/light /// Arc Ultra • Era 300 x 2 • Sub (Gen 3) x 2 • Sony Bravia XR-77A95L QD-OLED Dolby Vision / IMAX / etc. •

Corry P

Sonos Staff

Hi @Bellatone

As I understand it, (and to be clear, I do not completely understand it), audio data is sent in blocks called frames. As all digital information is just 1s and 0s called bits, these bits need to be framed in such a manner so that a device can know how to interpret each block of data, knowing which 1 or 0 marks the start of a particular block and how that data should be interpreted from that point. If there is an error in the transportation of that data, for whatever reason, the data can be misinterpreted and thus sound like literal audio garbage until the next start of a new frame is found and data interpretation can be reinstated - correctly - from that point. It all depends on what this “tearing sound” actually sounds like, of course. There isn’t anything that can be done about it, other than ensuring your cables and their connections are sound - if the issue is software related, it could be any device on the setup causing it (source, TV, soundbar).

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein

BellatoneAuthor

Trending Lyricist I

It’s most definitely the soundbar and the update from 80.12.03 to 80.14.07. I CANNOT WATCH ANY MOVIES ANYMORE!! MY LEFT SURROUND IS ALWAYS 4-5x AS LOUD AS THE RIGHT ERA 300. My system has become thoroughly useless and now that 45 days has passed, I can’t even return it!!! Ever since swapping the Arc for the Arc Ultra I’ve had nothing but problems!

Can you please tell them that this is an urgent request and to let them know I’ve done ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING and nothing has fixed the issue. 😢😢 I’m really sad about this, because even though the soundbar itself sounds better and integrated with the Era 300 more with 80.12.03, now I can’t watch a stinking movie after paying Sonos $4,400!!! Would you accept that??

pj • peace/love/light /// Arc Ultra • Era 300 x 2 • Sub (Gen 3) x 2 • Sony Bravia XR-77A95L QD-OLED Dolby Vision / IMAX / etc. •

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