Metallic, tinny, resonant and distorted sound from the Sonos Beam gen 2 in voices / talking

I can confirm it is NOT yet fixed.

Opened a thread myself quite some time ago [1]… and I still feel it is much more recognizable with “nightsound” enabled. (NOTE: contrary to what I wrote back then, it is not limited to night sound though, only makes it easier to hear if for me)

@fyrie maybe that is worth a test on your end?

[1]

I have the same problem. I bought my Beam Gen 2. three weeks ago and since the beginning I have noticed this echo/metallic sound in surround mode. The beam has already been replaced by support, same result. 

I have the same issue on Beam gen 2 connected to PC via optical cable - distorted, metallic sound not only in dialogues, but always on 5.1/7.1 surround. Sometimes just a few minutes of listening or watching youtube is enough to notice that strange metallic sound. I need to power off and power on my soundbar to get rid of this, but after a few minutes to an hour it comes back again. Sadly, I'm starting to regret buying this device.

Yeah me too, unfortunately I can't return the new Beam + Sub Mini, otherwise I would have done this. The support employees doesn't seem to understand the problem either, they repeatedly want a video from me I illustrate what exactly the problem is, but nobody has a real solution or wants to understand that it's a problem directly from the Beam. They always just say that something must be set up wrong on the TV or HDMI device, but none of the suggested settings brings any improvement. On two different TVs by the way and with a Google search you can find several topics about the problem. 

It's a real shame, I spend several hundred euros for a bad product. The sound quality is crap, both Beam and Sub Mini in my opinion, the Sonos app doesn't work properly and the Spotify control via Alexa doesn't work properly too. To give a few examples of my experiences.

What I can't understand is why they can't reproduce this problem in their test environment, all you need is a PC and optical/HDMI cable or some TVs from leading manufacturers and 5.1/Atmos audio setup with some debug, which company recognized as leading audio producer should be able to do instead of sending replacement unit or cable...

Because according to Sonos, it's the TV/PC manufacturer's fault or their software or HDMI component. Otherwise, all TVs would be affected and not just a certain percentage of devices. And on the other hand, the TV manufacturer is blaming Sonos. That's what I've understood from various Google searches and the support. Since it's only a percentage, Sonos isn't doing anything, sadly compared for such a big name of brand for sound systems. There are already 2 TVs with the problem in my situation and I'm surely not testing a third one. But that's just one thing that i complain about the Beam and the Sub. I thought I'd pay more for a new home system and going to get the Sonos, which is almost twice as expensive, but that was probably the wrong choice. Maybe they don't do anything because they have at the moment clearly more problems with the new app to all devices.......

I know I’m a little late to this, but I have had the same issue with my new Beam where it’s particularly noticeable that it’s distorting sound through my PS5 (I’ve done all the audio changes and testing, called Sonos support, etc). Does anyone know if the Arc has this same issue? I want to stick with Sonos but if the Arc is the exact same I want to avoid it, especially given its price.

It would depend on the source. If it is the TV sending an incorrect signal, then it would be the same. If it’s a hardware issue on the Sonos itself, it would be extremely unlikely that an Arc would suffer the same issue. This is why it is always encouraged that you submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this problem, and call Sonos Support to discuss it.

There may be information included in the diagnostic that will help Sonos pinpoint the issue and help you find a solution.

When you speak directly to the Support staff, they have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your network and Sonos system.

Resolving where the issue is would go a long way to making your decision easier. 

I’m trying to find what’s causing it at the moment. I called Sonos Support again and they decided they’ll get me in touch with the engineering department within the next couple of days since we couldn’t figure out the issue. If they can’t get it figured out, then I’m returning my Beam, sadly. I would love to get the Arc then, but if it’s the same issue, I’ll be very upset. I was just hoping to hear if there was any input on this from someone else or if they’ve experience a similar issue.

It might help if you were to state what TV you have, in case that’s part of the issue. I can certainly state that neither of the Arcs I own and use on a daily basis with an LG and Samsung device (to lazy to look up numbers, but both around a year old) have an issue. My Arcs were purchased fairly early on, although not as part of the initial release.