Skip to main content

Will a Sub 4 help reduce sharpness in dialogs on youtube for The Arc Ultra?

  • January 30, 2025
  • 8 replies
  • 155 views

Forum|alt.badge.img+2

I have noticed when watching youtube videos, especially with women dialogs, that they can be a bit sharp/harsh, especially those with higher pitched voices. I am wondering if I should purchase a Sub 4, and balance out the sound more, or will this not help at all? Chat GPT claims that a Sub should free up drivers since bass work will be offloaded to the Sub, letting the Arc Ultra focus more on mids/highs, resulting in better sound there also. Is this true, and would it improve the harshness/piercing? I am not interested in adding rears. For men voices it can become muddy, but speech enhancement is an easy enough fix for that. BTW, I also notice the harshness on the Spotify TV app on my LG C4. Music sounds much better with airplay or with the Sonos app, but that’s not a dealbreaker since I can use airplay for music. I am using passthrough on the TV.

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

8 replies

Pools-3015
Forum|alt.badge.img+17
  • Prodigy I
  • January 30, 2025

I do not have the Ultra, but upgrading from the Playbar to the Arc, I noticed the same harshness in the upper frequencies. The Arc definitely doesn't sound as warm as what I was accustomed to.

What I did was to set the treble to -2 after I did Trueplay for the room and that has made it sound so much better IMO. 


Forum|alt.badge.img+2
  • Author
  • Avid Contributor I
  • January 31, 2025

I do not have the Ultra, but upgrading from the Playbar to the Arc, I noticed the same harshness in the upper frequencies. The Arc definitely doesn't sound as warm as what I was accustomed to.

What I did was to set the treble to -2 after I did Trueplay for the room and that has made it sound so much better IMO. 

I did true play again and I think it maybe sounds better now, but the thing is I don’t hear any difference when I toggle it off/on. Does this not take effect right away?


buzz
  • January 31, 2025

There will be a slight lag as Trueplay is gradually enabled or disabled. In some configurations Trueplay has very little effect. I find that there might be some variation between tunings. I think that the results depend somewhat how you walk the area.


Airgetlam
  • January 31, 2025

I have some rooms in which TruePlay makes a significant difference. I also have rooms in which I can hear no difference at all. 


Forum|alt.badge.img+9
  • Prodigy I
  • January 31, 2025

I myself have Ultra - Sub 4 - 2x Era 300. I don't think I'm experiencing your challenges but it can also be very different how sound is perceived.

As I understand it, Ultra has a built-in "bass/Sub" which makes dialogue much sharper since the drivers are only used for diaglo and not bass. I've done a quick Thrueplay and I definitely thought I could hear an improvement. In addition, I've turned speech enhancement from bass to +1 and treble to 0. My Sub4 is also at 0. Height sound is at +7.

I doubt you will experience a noticeable change in dialogue by connecting a Sub4 but you will get a much fuller/richer sound.


Forum|alt.badge.img+2
  • Author
  • Avid Contributor I
  • January 31, 2025

I think with these modern soundbars it is more important to have curtains, carpets etc, because more sound is being thrown in different directions? As opposed to older soundbars, or the sound from the TV. And in that case I guess the 2 eras help too since less sound needs to be reflected. Chat GPT claims reflections can cause harsh sounds.


Forum|alt.badge.img+2
  • Author
  • Avid Contributor I
  • January 31, 2025

I myself have Ultra - Sub 4 - 2x Era 300. I don't think I'm experiencing your challenges but it can also be very different how sound is perceived.

As I understand it, Ultra has a built-in "bass/Sub" which makes dialogue much sharper since the drivers are only used for diaglo and not bass. I've done a quick Thrueplay and I definitely thought I could hear an improvement. In addition, I've turned speech enhancement from bass to +1 and treble to 0. My Sub4 is also at 0. Height sound is at +7.

I doubt you will experience a noticeable change in dialogue by connecting a Sub4 but you will get a much fuller/richer sound.

I think maybe the eras help as you avoid too many reflective sounds but I don’t know. ChatGPT claims hard surfaces cause harsh sounds in the upper frequencies.


106rallye
Forum|alt.badge.img+18
  • January 31, 2025

Shouldn’t Trueplay correct this?