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Sonos Arc Ultra with PS5, in-game volume way too quiet

  • February 27, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 49 views
C

I have had my Arc Ultra along with two Era 100 and a sub mini for about a month. This is by far the best sound I have ever had watching Movies, TV, etc... I'm incredibly satisfied... But.

As title says, when I play PS5 games (only console I have), the in-game volume is way too quiet. The Sonos volume is adjusted to what I like (50/100) and volume is great in everything, TV, AppleTV, watching movies, etc... The volume is also right in the PS5 menu. Like, normal level across all devices. But in-game is way too quiet.

My TV (LG C1) audio is set to HDMI eARC on passthrough. The PS5 is set to Sound Bar, Dolby Atmos (tried Linear PCM too). I have tried numerious combinations of these settings. No luck. When I'm in game, the Sonos app reports Dolby Atmos output. (Multichannel PCM 7.1 if I set the PS5 to Linear PCM)

The in-game audio settings are not at play here. They're maxed out. This is happening with all games I could test.

I've seen people say "Just raise the volume when in game" - but then my Arc Ul;tra is at like 100/100 volume and whenever I bring the PS5 menu or switch to a different device I get my ears blasted with way too lound sound.

Recap of what I have tried

  • TV, eARC, Passthrough, Bitstream
  • PS5, Audio Output AV/Soundbar, Linear PCM, Dolby Atomos, Dolby Digital, DTS
  • Sonos: EQ, Height levels, Night mode Off, Enhanced Speech on/off
  • In-game settings - though this happens with every games I have tried: Resident Evil, Expedition 33, Rocket League, and a bunch of other smaller games/indie

I've done a lot of research and cannot find why I am experiencing this. Has this happened to anyone? Have I missed something? I cannot imagine this is normal and I will refuse to crank the volume to 100/100 while in game just to get a normal level volume

I appreciate all help in advance

Edit: Even if I crank the volume to 100/100, when in-game, it seems there is no audio coming out of my Era 100s

Best answer by Airgetlam

Couple of things to mention, but perhaps adding to the confusion:

  1. The Sonos Arc Ultra has no idea of what is generating the sound, other than the ARC system on your TV set (the LG C1). What the ARC system is responding to is the CEC computer inside your TV, which is, according to your stated settings, passing through Bitstream types of inputs. 
  2. Not all games contain surround information (usually Dolby Digital or Atmos content, which is usually labeled, either on the box or downloads). Certainly, however, I believe several you’ve listed do, particularly the Expedition 33 game. I’m less confident about your indie games (an older games), since purchasing a license to publish using the Dolby systems is expensive (I used to work in games, licensing audio codecs turns out to be really expensive)
  3. I don’t have a PS5, so I’m unsure about all the games you’ve listed, but my guess is you may need to adjust the audio output on that, which is sent via HDMI to the TV set’s CEC computer for processing. 
  4. I think I’d recommend that you call Sonos Support to discuss it.

    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.

1 reply

Airgetlam
  • Airgetlam
  • Answer
  • February 27, 2026

Couple of things to mention, but perhaps adding to the confusion:

  1. The Sonos Arc Ultra has no idea of what is generating the sound, other than the ARC system on your TV set (the LG C1). What the ARC system is responding to is the CEC computer inside your TV, which is, according to your stated settings, passing through Bitstream types of inputs. 
  2. Not all games contain surround information (usually Dolby Digital or Atmos content, which is usually labeled, either on the box or downloads). Certainly, however, I believe several you’ve listed do, particularly the Expedition 33 game. I’m less confident about your indie games (an older games), since purchasing a license to publish using the Dolby systems is expensive (I used to work in games, licensing audio codecs turns out to be really expensive)
  3. I don’t have a PS5, so I’m unsure about all the games you’ve listed, but my guess is you may need to adjust the audio output on that, which is sent via HDMI to the TV set’s CEC computer for processing. 
  4. I think I’d recommend that you call Sonos Support to discuss it.

    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.

Bruce
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