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Sonos Arc extremely poor dialogue levels VS Music and Action

  • 6 November 2020
  • 58 replies
  • 14212 views
P
Userlevel 1

Hi - other SONOS ARC owners have posted this issue previously but it did not reach a resolution so I am reposting.  

I’ve just purchased a Sonos ARC and I’m having to constantly adjust the volume level up and down to compensate for the extremely low levels for dialogue vs action / music.  The dialogue levels are extremely low in any movie compared to action and music.  

I am using the ARC with a Samsung 55 inch 2019 model.

I have set night mode and speech enhancement on.  Still getting the same issue.  

There appears to be no further adjustment / modes in the SONOS app to adjust dialogue to music / action balance other than reducing SubWoofer level.  

DEAR SONOS team - surely this is a software setup issue which is resolvable?  Please let me know - really don’t want to send it back!! 

Quite bummed!  Love my Sub, Play 5 Gen 2 and Gen 1 and Play 3.  

Thanks in advance for your timely solution to this issue.  

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Best answer by wilc50 17 December 2020, 20:42

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58 replies

A
Userlevel 1

With so many complaining about the crap dialogue and piss poor replies back from Sonos basically trying to say there’s nothing wrong it’s everyone’s set up problems, it’s clear to see they do not give a *.

so disappointed 

there was a stage at some point where this was not a problem and the sound was brilliant but then it all went to * and they can’t admit it😓

*Moderator Note: Modified in accordance with the Community Code of Conduct.*

P

I noticed my sound issues were most notable with streaming services. Your tv settings may be causing the issues with the center channel sound volume. On my LG C1, selecting "pass through" under digital sound output in the advanced sound settings has made a HUGE difference. I think any other settings are double processing the audio resulting in the muffled voice. Not sure for other tvs, but I'm guessing any settings other than pass through are causing the issue. Even "auto" settings seem to still negatively process the voice audio. At least with LG...

I've also done some comparative testing. For me, native apps in the tv produce better sound than the native apps in my Xfinity cable box. Disney+ plays in Atmos with the LG app and 5.1 with the Xfinity app. Atmos processing seemed to be most improved selecting pass through as well. Not sure about a Roku or Firestick as I only have old ones of those.

Also in advanced settings, make sure the HDMI iaudio format for each input is set for bitstream. You may have to do some testing to get it to work. My Switch needs to be set on PCM to get audio to work with pass through settings. Not sure about PS5 or Xbox since I don't have those.

Good luck!

 

H

I reached out to support and have received the generic turn on the dialogue / adjust EQ settings responses .  What does live support do ? 

106rallye
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

Did you call Sonos?

H

I have the Sonos arc and am extremely disappointed in the dialogue lack of clarity on streaming channels .  I have adjusted settings on the iPhone app and run trueplay many times . I have also adjusted the sound settings on my roku device . All to no avail .  For a $900 soundbar to perform so poorly in this regard is frustrating . I have a Samsung 2019 Oled tv  Any suggestions on a fix would be a Christmas miracle at this point  . Let me know if there are any 

M

I’ve been plagued with the same problem for months now. It all began when I plugged my laptop into my living room TV (LG webOS NANO90UNA) for a webinar. I must’ve toggled a setting that caused the dialogue to sound as everyone has described: muffled, underwater, etc. Today I decided I was going to figure this out. Nothing on the app helped. On the TV itself I went to Settings>Sound>Additional Settings>Digital Sound Out, which was set to <Auto>. When I switched it to PCM, boom. Problem fixed! Perfect. 

I can’t speak for any other brand, obviously, but this fixed my issue. Good luck!

When you switch to PCM you lose the ability to listen to 5.1 audio.

To echo everyone else, I am having the exact same issues. Extremely disappointing.
On top of that I also have audio delay.

I have the Arc, Sub (Gen 3), 2xOne. On an LG CX tv.

E

I’ve been plagued with the same problem for months now. It all began when I plugged my laptop into my living room TV (LG webOS NANO90UNA) for a webinar. I must’ve toggled a setting that caused the dialogue to sound as everyone has described: muffled, underwater, etc. Today I decided I was going to figure this out. Nothing on the app helped. On the TV itself I went to Settings>Sound>Additional Settings>Digital Sound Out, which was set to <Auto>. When I switched it to PCM, boom. Problem fixed! Perfect. 

I can’t speak for any other brand, obviously, but this fixed my issue. Good luck!

J

Hi all - for what it’s worth… I had a brand new Arc about a week ago… music and effects sounded excellent in stereo, 5.1 or Atmos. Dialogue was generally “fine” in stereo… but as soon as I tried 5.1 or Atmos it was a muddy, mumbly, tinny mess. Certainly nowhere near the sound I paid that sort of price for. 

 

I spent 90 minutes on a call to Sonos support and tried every setting and little bit of trouble shooting going - I didn’t get anywhere.

 

I returned the Arc for a Beam Gen 2 and the difference was night and day - dialogue in 5.1 and Atmos was now clear and crisp. 
 

So, for anyone not getting what they want from the Arc, I highly recommend trying a Beam! Sometimes more expensive doesn’t equal a better experience. 

I have a beam gen 2. Sure its clear and crisp. But it is too clear and crisp. It sounds like it comes from a tiny phone speaker on max volume with no depth what so ever. Looked at lord of the rings the other day and action scenes sounds amazing but the dialogue sounds as if the cast is totaly out of place speaking to me in a phone with no bass reflecting the environment. Clear and crisp is good, but it is not all you need in good speech representation. It needs to be adjusted to match the environment. Heck the cast dont even sound like them selves. They sound like, as i have mentioned here and there like they talk on the phone or somehting bass less..

J

(Posted on another thread about tinny sound)

I just purchased my first Sonos products. Arc and 2 One SL’s. I was very excited unboxing these lovely speakers. Such attention to detail in all regards. Very Apple! Set up was fairly straightforward. Used Trueplay. I am a HiFi nut and have a good idea about sound and relevant gear so it was a good experience so far. Watched a couple of TV shows and was a little disappointed with the tinny speech. Then I turned to some movies and series on Netflix and it all went pear shaped. The dialog was so soft I had to increase the volume ...but then the music or special effects came on and i was blasted out of my seat by the extreme volume. Movie after movie (and shows) all do the same thing.

I recalibrated the system. Moved speakers. Changed settings on my Apple TV 4K. No difference. Tinny and super quiet dialog. 

Looks like I am not alone with this. Complaints are all over the internet. So what’s with the overwhelming positive reviews by the press and review sites with not a single one picking up on the issues???

I will give it one more try but if it does not improve greatly its all going back. I am stunned that with this many complaints Sonos is not commenting or coming out with any fixes. Looks like no more Sonos for me.



Seems reviewers only mention the speech clarity. Sure its clear, so clear that it sounds like its comming from a small earbud in your ear with no bass what so ever. its like a solution for clarity is by removing all the bass.

Please Sonos, look in to this, product is realy good otherwise
 

J

Feel i need chip in here as well since this looks to be the same problem i experience. 
I bought my system one week ago and i have tried all the sonos app setings back and forth and i feel the speech aint getting much better. 
How come the reviews all hype the new beam gen 2 for having better speech representation etc. When i feel its really poor. Makes me question these so called “hi-fi” nerd channels.. 
Sure its clear, thats all i hear in the reviews, but its super tiny and high piched compare to rest of the sound. I need more depth and base added to the center speaker, not only clarity…

Please make an update for the bars to use more base on speech or something.
 

O

Yes same problem spent alot of money and surrounds and bass are awesome but dialogue from the Arc is horrible keeps changing from channel to channel and movies especially Netflix can't hear unless volume is way up high then the effects blow your head off 

Regretful purchase and will be recommending another brand to all my friends and clients as Sonos don't care about there members 

C
Userlevel 2
Badge

I am having dialogue issues as well but I wonder if it’s due to using the Apple TV 4K. My arc was working fine for sounds and dialogue when I was using Firestick 4K. My current set up is Sony a90j oled  with eArc hdmi connection to arc with Sonos sub and two play 1’s.  When I leave the Appletv audio set to auto/Dolby atmos the Sonos system showed multichannel PCM 5.1 but the sound especially dialogue was very low. I had to increase volume from 40 to 50-60. When I changed the Apple TV audio to Dolby digital 5.1 the sound and dialogue was back to being good and I was back to setting volume to 40. I hate to change the Appletv audio settings based on Dolby atmos vs Dolby digital for different movies. I didn’t have these sound issues with the Firestick. It didn’t send out any multichannel PCM signal. Is everyone else having these sound issues with other streaming devices?  I am considering returning the Appletv and buying a new Firestick   Any response would be appreciated 

M
Userlevel 1
Badge +1

I’ve just installed the Arc with a sub and I was just saying how much better it is than the Playbar, which I used to really struggle with in respect of hearing the dialogue.

Are you now happy with the dialogues?

What did you change when you reinstalled the Arc with the Sub?

J
Userlevel 1
Badge +1

I’ve just installed the Arc with a sub and I was just saying how much better it is than the Playbar, which I used to really struggle with in respect of hearing the dialogue.

Stanley_4
Userlevel 7
Badge +21

Subtitles aren’t a good option if you don’t constantly look at the TV. A lot of my watching time I am not looking at the screen as I’m also doing something else. You can also get some spousal grumpiness when they cover up parts of the screen they want to see. 

I passed on the Sonos Amp for the single reason that it had no dedicated center channel. 

 

 

K

Any Sonos Bar set up is a compromise for convenience over a AVR based HT wired speaker set up with a dedicated centre channel/speaker and this is one of the prices paid for the compromise.

One workable solution is to use subtitles for dialogue. It does not take long to get used to it.

Stanley_4
Userlevel 7
Badge +21

I'm beginning to think that I am the problem. A lifetime of loud music and noise, so I usually have to crank things up to louder than others in the family. Also likely my ability to differentiate at the margins doesn't work too well. I am sure everyone else has perfect hearing.

My ears are horrible, severe hearing loss.

With or without my hearing aids I have issues with the low voice volume on my Arc center channel.

G
Userlevel 4
Badge +3

I'm beginning to think that I am the problem. A lifetime of loud music and noise, so I usually have to crank things up to louder than others in the family. Also likely my ability to differentiate at the margins doesn't work too well. I am sure everyone else has perfect hearing.

B

I'm getting the same problem, constantly changing the volume to suit quiet dialogue and very loud music/effects. I'm using a new Samsung qe55q95t TV along with arc, sub and surround play 1's. TV is fine and iplayer but amazon prime and Netflix really suffer from this quiet dialogue. Nothing constructive suggested by Sonos help as of yet. I have a playbar and sub in another room and that is fine. Someone at Sonos needs to look into this problem urgently!

M

Brought an ARC and sub. Not at all impressed with the voice clarity. Performed the trueplay tuning but nothing improved. Everyone in our household complain about the same thing. I listened to the bose 900 and voice quality is crisp and music has more details. I am planning to return this.

K

If it was an Apple TV 4K, it might have been this issue: 

 

M

Hello

My TV is the Sony 80J Series OLED 2021 (77 Inch).

I will submit a diagnostic report, considering even doing a few.

What really is strange is that I get different results in True Play process:

I have used:

  • Iphone 8 Plus
  • Iphone SE
  • Iphone 12 max

Although I would assume that Sonos has calibrated the microphones of each (microphone profiling), the results are indeed different. How can that be?

I paid close attention to how I walked the room. That’s what I referred to above as “True Play Lottery”.

Is the recommendation such that I do many True Play runs until I like the result?

Very strange.

 

Ken_Griffiths

Hi Ken

I appreciate your support. Unfortunatly I am pretty certain I tried all possible solutions already.

I own a Arc, Sub and 2 Ones SL. Driven from TV with eArc.

Did TruePlay with Iphone 12 Pro.

Mids are generally washed out. Not present. Like there is a frequency hump in the 300-600 Hz range.

 

It seams the only solution is to move from Arc to the Beam Gen 2 as others have done and reported a significant imporvement.

The current EQ options in the App cannot fix this and the speach improvment is already on.

To really fix this, there would be a mids EQ option required in the 300-600 Hz range.

It also does not help that there is a True-Play lottery with different IOS devices giving clearly audible different results. It seems that Iphone SE 2020 give the best results.

This can only be fixed with further Software control.

Regards, Michael

It’s not currently clear which TV (make/model) it is that you’re using with the Arc, so that the Sonos Staff can perhaps better understand the issue. They could then maybe go onto test the issue for themselves aswell?

It’s perhaps also worth submitting a Diagnostic Report I think, and making a note of its reference back here and maybe speak direct with the Support desk, via this LINK, to make them fully aware of your concerns and to hopefully get the matter resolved. 

M

Hi Ken

I appreciate your support. Unfortunatly I am pretty certain I tried all possible solutions already.

I own a Arc, Sub and 2 Ones SL. Driven from TV with eArc.

Did TruePlay with Iphone 12 Pro.

Mids are generally washed out. Not present. Like there is a frequency hump in the 300-600 Hz range.

 

It seams the only solution is to move from Arc to the Beam Gen 2 as others have done and reported a significant imporvement.

The current EQ options in the App cannot fix this and the speach improvment is already on.

To really fix this, there would be a mids EQ option required in the 300-600 Hz range.

It also does not help that there is a True-Play lottery with different IOS devices giving clearly audible different results. It seems that Iphone SE 2020 give the best results.

This can only be fixed with further Software control.

Regards, Michael

Ken_Griffiths

Same problem.

I am very unhappy with the dialogue performance.

I wish there was a solution.

I appreciate we may each hear some things ‘differently’, there may already be a solution to this, but that depends on what is/isn’t being heard and the troubleshooting that has actually been undertaken so far with the various options currently available in the App and the local environment🤔?

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