Contributor I

Answered

Sonos Arc Ultra center channel too loud

160 replies
10109 views

I like that the dialog is very easy to hear without having to turn on any dialog adjustments. The problem is I barely hear the left and right channel audio. Background music is barely audible. I’ve tried it with both Trueplay turned on and off and there isn’t much improvement. I know the left/right channels are working because I hear music. Anyone else have this problem?

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Corry PAnswer

Sonos Staff

Hi @not_convinced & @mindthings

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

Sorry to hear that you are not both entirely happy with your new purchases. I recommend you get in touch with our technical support team who have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your Sonos system and what it reports - if there is an issue with the sound mix, it will need to be documented before it can be addressed.

I hope this helps.

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

M

mindthings

Lyricist I

I do have the same issue. Using eArc and my Mac, I was able to test every channel through audio configuration and the center one is really too loud when we compare to right and left ones. An update, or a setting to adjust it would be really cool.
Right now it is sound worse than my previous Gen1 beam, that’s a shame for a 999 sound bar :’(

Corry PAnswer

Sonos Staff

Hi @not_convinced & @mindthings

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

Sorry to hear that you are not both entirely happy with your new purchases. I recommend you get in touch with our technical support team who have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your Sonos system and what it reports - if there is an issue with the sound mix, it will need to be documented before it can be addressed.

I hope this helps.

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

M

Mikeythepikey

Contributor I

Totally agree, the centre channel is a few decibels louder than the left and right which obviously helps with dialogue but ruins any stereo effects. I really hope Sonos fixes this or at least give us a centre channel slider to allow user adjustment like the surround level one. This is not a user error as Sonos tech will try to convince you, this is definitely a simple software issue which can be solved very simply with some in house adjustments. In order to convey a convincing surround effect it is essential that all levels are matched for each channel.

Stanley_4

Grand Maestro

What are your results when you select different levels of speech enhancement?

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Mikeythepikey

Contributor I

I leave speech enhancement off as it makes it even worse completely drowning out stereo effects and causes some awful sibilance.

Stanley_4

Grand Maestro

I'd get the problem to appear and submit a diagnostic, then call Sonos to get them to look into it.

G

GuitarSuperstar

Lead Maestro

I completely agree that the center channel is too loud on the Arc Ultra. Using the Dolby Atmos test tones video, the center channel is 4-5 dB louder than the front left and front right channels.

I listen to music mixed in 5.1 on Blu-ray and it is really noticeable. Any vocal or instrument that plays out of the center channel is far too loud and makes the audio mix sound unbalanced. It would be helpful to have a separate center channel level setting in the Sonos app.

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi

5

50N05Ninja

Lyricist II

I completely agree that the center channel is too loud on the Arc Ultra. Using the Dolby Atmos test tones video, the center channel is 4-5 dB louder than the front left and front right channels.

I listen to music mixed in 5.1 on Blu-ray and it is really noticeable. Any vocal or instrument that plays out of the center channel is far too loud and makes the audio mix sound unbalanced. It would be helpful to have a separate center channel level setting in the Sonos app.

One of the reasons among several others why I ended up returning my Ultra in favor for an Arc. In my opinion the Arc Ultra was quite a significant downgrade compared to my other Arc-based system.

Stanley_4

Grand Maestro

What do you see when selecting various levels of speech enhancement on the Ultra?

I have noticed I can hear dialog on my Ultra, set to medium that I couldn’t understand on my Arc. Haven’t played much music on it to have an opinion there.

C

Crushed

Lyricist II

I have this same issue. Just bought a Arc Ultra, and Sub 4….and the center speaker is WAAY over powering...and I hear no left or right. It’s just very light ambient sounds. I keep compariing to my Beam + 2 Play 1s...and I’m really disappointed. Do I need to buy Era 100s to get better left and right?

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