14.12 Update

I just want to add my voice that I am not happy with the 14.12 firmware. The Arc is too much in my face now. My sub is so disappointing. Had a buddy considering an Arc, sub immersive system. After hearing mine, he has no interest. 

This, so much.  Prior to 14.12 I was always excited to show off the system a little when we had people over.  For the last month or so I’ve just kept it off or playing some background music when we’ve had friends/family visiting because it’s not wowing anyone at this point.

I check for updates about every hour per day. I can no longer listen to music with this disgusting sound. It's frustrating what's happening here. I'm a big Sonos fan, but now I'm just disappointed.

I've got absolutely no faith whatsoever that the sound profile will be fixed or reverted back. Great they've acknowledged a bug however the issue between Sub and Arc does not stop there. If that's all Sonos are talking about then I think we can safely assume the Arc will not be going back to how it sounded and acted in 14.10

I concur with all of you on here with the same issues as myself, it's simply not acceptable for either a single person at Sonos (even the CEO?) or a small team of engineers to deem this new sound profile the new normal, then roll it out branding it as an 'improvement' and expect people to just accept it. I still stick by others in terms of any Dialogue 'improvement' should have gone into the existing dialogue enhancement function and left everything else the same. I simply cannot comprehend how anyone working for such a (once) reputable brand would sign this update off. Absolutely staggering. Sonos, take heed, listen, interact with us and please just admit you got it all wrong with 14.12 and put it back to the award winning sound it used to be. Please.

If this isn’t fix soon I think we should bring a class action lawsuit against Sonos for spending this much money and getting shafted

Here’s the typical testing and QA process that Sonos followed for the Roam Swap feature and will likely have followed to have delivered the 14.12 update too.

The Design, Testing and Development cycle will have been very iterative and extensive - as will the Alpha and Beta testing.  I’d bet my house that the issues were reported by both sets of testing.

I have no clue how it appears that not all users say they’re affected but the laws of probability say that the issue will have appeared on the test benches at Sonos and will have been reported by test users in their homes.  Sonos still chose to release it though.

Either way, the result of the update is many, many users have expensive components that now do almost nothing and a key software component that they’re advised to switch off.

Many users disagree with the Sonos response but as yet there’s been no response to them since the original and belated acknowledgment of the issue.

First time logging in here just to express my extreme dissatisfaction as well. Used to love showing off the system but this update has made it absolute trash. 
 

I’m not sure why this update hasn’t just been rolled back at this point until you figure out a new way forward. This is alienating so many customers and seriously has me reconsidering any future purchases/recommendations of this once great brand. 
 

What a shame. 

I work at a store that sells Sonos but I am so dissapointed that I don’t even recommend their products anymore.

Now this speaks volumes…. 

The one and only ‘salesperson’ with a touch of conscience - Yes, this really must be a first... ha ha 😀
 

Pardon the pun here, but ‘I’m just not buying it’.

It is not just ARC that it is bricked by the update. Mine Playbar and Sub were bricked after the 14.12 update. No help by Sonos at all. I needed to think and to try different things in order to make it work after the update. So so so frustrated by Sonos as client….

It’s odd. Some people are having issues with the sound profile, and volume, yet you are claiming that your speakers are bricked. Have you reached out to Sonos support, since your situation seems different than many others?

Yes, I have reached them, but in vain..Nothing they helped me with the issue. I solved it myself...

So they’re not bricked? That’s excellent!

I’m glad I’m not the only one addressing this issue. When a $300 Vizio’s soundstage is louder than an Arc’s then the issue must be corrected. Hopefully we’ll see an update to fix this.

They are not bricked because I am smart enough to solve it myself and not relying on Sonos. Which is their obligation to solve it, cause the fault is theirs….

It seems you are referring to a completely different thing to what this forum thread is mainly about. If your ‘bricked system’ issues persist in the future, you are probably best to contact Sonos Support direct as @Airgetlam suggests. Here is their LINK to assist you.

To the people who say that they like the sound of their Sonos systems better after the 14.12 update and therefore this is a non-issue:

Sonos products are not cheap. Most of us researched them and test-listened to them in shops (sometimes multiple times) before buying. We bought them to a large extend because they sounded in a certain way. While people’s taste in sound differ and can be subjective, most of us bought a Sonos product because we liked its sound profile at the time of the purchase. Changing that sound profile in such a drastic way at this point without any real option to customise it and without giving us any choice at all is, frankly, scam.

Imagine going to a clothing store and picking a shirt you really like. Fashion is, to a large extend, subjective too. Your choice in clothes may not appeal to everyone. But you bought that shirt because you like it out of many other options and designs. Imagine now waking up on the next morning to find out that the shirt has changed color and shape overnight on its own. And the shop wouldn’t take it back but instead tells you that you just have to learn to like it since other people find that color and shape pleasing. Wouldn’t you be rather angry and dissatisfied? What if that shirt cost upwards of a 1000 bucks? And isn’t this what Sonos has basically done now?

Exactly! I can see why people would like this sound-stage, and I’m not against it, but there definitely should be an “off” switch for people who doesn’t. It’s that simple. What they’ve done here is unacceptable. I’ve always loved Sonos for the abundant customization features they gave you over every single speaker in your setup, so I hope they should be able to do this.

I was super pissed with the 14.6 update and was almost ready to get rid of the system. Mistakes happen, and I didn’t want to do anything in haste, and 14.10 came and fixed the issues. And now, this. It took them about 2 months or maybe even more to fix the issue with 14.6 and it’s already a month with 14.12 and I have no idea how long it’s going to take. I’m personally very, very, very unhappy with what they’ve been doing recently.

I’m wondering how many people here are experiencing changes in the sound profile in setups without a Sub?

My setup is Arc + 2x OneSL surrounds. I don’t have a Sub. The sound profile changed dramatically for me after the 14.12 update. In a nutshell: bass is unbalanced and generally lacking, the overall sound is muddy and the system sounds cheap, surround speakers are much louder to the point of overpowering everything else, I don’t find speech and vocals to be any clearer, TruePlay doesn’t make any significant difference either way (enabled or disabled, multiple re-runs) and finally, yes, the Arc is somewhat quieter overall.

I’m really anxious that Sonos will tweak the Sub in the next update and call it a day, leaving other 14.12 issues with the Arc unresolved for the rest of us. 😬

I had the setup perfect before now after the change I don’t even use my system. I’ll never buy a Sonos product again. 

A very interesting video from the Sonos whisperer, Peter Pee. 

It's really clear that truesound breaks the sub. 

https://youtu.be/EouMIJd_mxo

Is that not an acknowledged problem that Sonos is working on? 

After they caused it, yes. But it's nice to see it proven 

Totally the same experience as you. I do have the Sub Gen3 but when removed and just Arc and Surrounds bonded it's the same experience you're having. Surrounds are overpowering, it's as if they forgot to reduce the volume on those when in a surround setup. Yes I can turn them down but I shouldn't have to. That reason alone is because the Arc is quieter / not on the same volume curve as the 1SL's. I've told the forum already I don't use any enhancements, no level changes, no trueplay, I literally use it out of the box which was perfect. So it's evident that when everything is bonded together, they're not all on the same page. Shocking update, give us 14.10 back, restore the faith in the owners, restore the respect in the brand, because it's quickly disappearing day by day.