Contributor I

Answered

Stereo / Left and Right Channel Bug?

34 replies
1916 views

Hello :)

I currently own the Sonos Arc Ultra. This is my first Sonos product. I have already asked google about my problem and searched here in the forum but have not found anything suitable.

My left and right speakers are extremely quiet. I first noticed this when I was watching normal TV. There were two channels that were broadcasting "Stereo PCM" according to the Sonos app. I had to turn the volume up from 10 to 20-26 so that I could hear anything at all. Then I turned on a 5.1 Dolby test video on YouTube to test the whole thing. I immediately noticed that as soon as the sound moved from the center to the left and right speakers, the volume was half as low. However, the Sonos app displayed 5.1. This leads me to the conclusion that it is only due to the left and right speakers.

I have already swapped HDMI cables. Switched everything off, restarted and checked all settings 3-4 times... Soundbar has already been replaced once because of the error. No improvement.

Interestingly, I didn't have this problem with the Bose Ultra or the Samsung Q990C.
Can anyone check this with the Arc Ultra? Is this the case for everyone? Or is the fault more likely to be mine?

Here are the two 5.1 videos I used for testing:

https://youtu.be/lWHFTCCSmks?si=UP4tbQISizP4WV2w

https://youtu.be/2o7wj2hWQNI?si=kuxeWec1S3vtVjjl

Would be nice if someone could test this for themselves.

Kind regards

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Corry PAnswer

Sonos Staff

Hi @KylanX

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

I was able to recreate the experience you are reporting with my own Arc Ultra with the centre channel sounding louder than the side channels.

Given the feedback that the previous Arc model received, I believe this is intentional.

There are three main improvements to dialogue with Arc Ultra via the placement of mids and tweeters and waveguides

One is Improved dialogue through standing wave mitigation with the integration of the Left, Center, and Right array
Improvements to dialogue are expected through adding a waveguide to the center channel and improving evenness of coverage using re-thought left and right arrays
The all-new speech enhancement feature. This gives customers more customization on the dialogue level they wish to listen.

In addition, I believe what you experienced with Stereo PCM is also expected - my nVidia Shield (the Android streaming box) has a dedicated setting just for boosting the volume of PCM sources to the same level as that of Dolby Digital, so I think this and what I mentioned above is compounding to make the Stereo PCM source sound even quieter. You may be able to circumvent this somewhat by telling your TV to always output a specific codec (like Dolby Digital +), but this may have unintended consequences (like preventing better quality formats like TrueHD or McLPCM).

I hope this helps.

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

Show previous replies

H

highwayinthesky

Lyricist II

Just wanted to provide additional data: I’ve measured a +7dB delta on the center relative to L/R across a number of input formats; this causes dialogue to be unnaturally loud and prominent relative to the score in most material. Everyone always seems to be SHOUTING.

R

Rawjanus

Collaborator I

I have the same issue with L/R being lower than the rest of the channels. I have the Ultra+300+sub4.

Any update on this issue?

D

D700

Enthusiast II

Hi @D700

No comment, yet.

Any comments?

Will issue be resolved via firmware update? or new capability to add ERAs as separate FR/FL speakers?

D

D700

Enthusiast II

@Corry P

3rd request for updates, any ETA here?

Is it hardware? Should those of us that have complained contact support and request an exchange?

Corry P

Sonos Staff

Hi @D700

There will be no updates. I will post only when I can, and not a moment before.

Having said that, we may be deciding on more technical article instead - if this is the case, it will need to be written first, and that will not be done by me. This implies an even longer wait, though I have already done my part to recommend that it be posted as soon as humanly possible.

I don’t think exchanging your Arc Ultra for another will make any difference, no.

I hope this helps.

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

D

D700

Enthusiast II

@Corry P did you see the video example I posted in the other thread? Are you saying that’s working as designed?

Corry P

Sonos Staff

Hi @D700

I am trying my hardest to say nothing at all!

It seems to work best when I don’t reply - I won’t be saying anything else.

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

D

D700

Enthusiast II

@Corry P thanks for your help, its good to know Sonos is paying attention. You made it a keeper for me, I’m confident whatever problems exist will get sorted.

FYI: I found one setting that was contributing to my problem, DTS DRC (Dynamic Range Compression) was enabled on my Google TV projector. While it doesn’t change system center volume it exacerbates the effect and was contributing to the “Wall of Dialog” I was getting. Disabling DTS DRC brought back back ambient music, sound effects to a large degree.

Might want to put that on the checklist for others complaining about center channel.

I’ve got an appointment with L3 on Monday for the center channel loudness , L2 was very helpful, very pleased with you and support.

Thanks again.

R

Rawjanus

Collaborator I

I just reached out to Sonos Support. They seemed unaware of any issue. The answer was that it was probably a design choice.

I pointed out, that it seemed a bit weird when sound panning from left to right, that it would start out low, then raise substantially in the center, just to go low again in the right side.

@D700 : I would be very interested in the answer from L3 :-)

Best regards

D

D700

Enthusiast II

I just reached out to Sonos Support. They seemed unaware of any issue. The answer was that it was probably a design choice.

I pointed out, that it seemed a bit weird when sound panning from left to right, that it would start out low, then raise substantially in the center, just to go low again in the right side.

@D700 : I would be very interested in the answer from L3 :-)

Best regards

Will do

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