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Changes to volume mapping and impact on Sub output

 

Thank you for your feedback regarding the recent 14.12 software update with Enhanced Clarity for Arc

 

In this update, we made a change to Arc’s audio profile to improve dialogue clarity and the overall sound experience. This change is based on feedback from our listeners in the field and brings Arc in line with our other Home Theater products, resulting in a more accurate representation of the sound as intended by the content creator. 

 

The updated tuning adjusts the spectral balance of Arc+Sub to achieve a more accurate representation of the sound and an improved sound experience. While the Arc+Sub output capability remains the same,  the mapping of volume across the 0-100% range has been adjusted with this release which means low and mid volume levels are relatively lower compared to the previous tuning so you may need to adjust the volume slider to achieve your pre-update volume level. The maximum volume and bass output are unchanged. We acknowledge that this change was not made more clear in the release notes and in the future we’ll be sure to make sure we communicate these rare changes more effectively. 

 

Please note, we have identified an issue for some users of Arc, Beam and Ray whose configuration includes a Sub (with or without surrounds), who may find their Sub output is lower than desired after performing a new Trueplay tuning. 

 

Users with Beam or Ray bonded with Sub can increase the Sub level for a more powerful low-end response, however this won’t have the same impact for Arc users. Customers using Arc bonded with a Sub (and/or surrounds) who find their Sub output is lower than desired following performing a new Trueplay tuning, should temporarily disable Trueplay on Arc until this is addressed by an upcoming software update. 

 

Trueplay tunings for Home Theater configurations without a bonded Sub are unaffected, including standalone soundbars and those bonded with surrounds only.   

 


 

If you would like any assistance adjusting the sound of your Home Theater setup, the community is here to help. You can also contact Sonos support.

 

Moderation edit:

With the 14.18 software update, the above mentioned issues have been addressed, and the Enhanced Clarity for Arc adjustments are retained. There was a clear preference within our community for the previous volume settings, and these have been restored. This will be apparent immediately after updating to 14.18. The Trueplay issue has been fixed. Customers who experienced a lower Sub level after performing Trueplay after updating to 14.12 will need to update their systems and then perform a new Trueplay tuning in order to address these improvements in their system. Customers will hear a more powerful low end response, meaning any Sub level adjustments made after 14.12 should no longer be required.

Adding my 2 cents. 
Sonos has been a continual disappointment.

They position themselves as a premium brand but completely, utterly fail when it comes to aftersales/service. They are either incompetent and/or have no respect for their customers. It’s as simple as that.
 

Hoping that they further acknowledge their faults, and if they can’t resolve them quickly, at least give us reason to believe that they recognize the severity of the issue, how rightfully unhappy their customers are, and are handling it with urgency. 
 

 


Ladies and gentlemen, the way you get attention in situations such as this is to file a class action against Sonos which seeks to certify a nationwide class of all Sonos customers impacted by the FW Update.  The basis of the class action would be claims under various consumer protection laws, ultimately depending on which state and venue the class complaint would be filed in.  Complaining on here is not going to get the results you want.  Sonos is a public company and nothing would hit the headlines faster than a misled customer filing a proposed class claim against Sonos in the Federal Court of the United States because of what was done with 14.12.  I can assure you that large corporations take things such as this very seriously--so much so that they often bury class prohibition waivers in the terms of service to STOP people from filing them.  Even if it were filed, it would still get Sonos’s attention where it needs to be.  They could at least give a reason as to why they cannot or will not “roll back” to 14.10.  You have to hit them where it hurts--their pocket books.  A class action claim will do just that.  Energy and focus is put to better use by pursuing a good lawyer who can file the complaint, articulating to that lawyer what the problem is, exactly, and ultimately getting it filed. Complaining on here is not doing anything.  If Sonos is worried about ANYTHING, it is that someone will file a class complaint against them over this fiasco.  I guarantee that. 

 

I’m curious to know what your experience is with class action suits is in similar situations to this.  Are you a lawyer or work in a law office?  Have you been involved in a class action law suits before? Have you done a lot of personal study on class action?  Your language implies that you have experience in this to the point that you are very confident.

 


Just did a complete reset of my home theatre system 

Removed sub and surrounds and redid truplay 

Straight away had to set treble at -6 later moved to -8 as dialogue spoken with the letter S or Ch sounded harsh to the point of the person sounding like they had a lisp

Also bass was gone from the sub and front soundstage was narrow with the surrounds taking over in power and the arc appearing like a centre only channel 

I have returned to manually setting up the eq etc to make it usable 

Before anyone posts that this patch was not a fix I know but another user had tried this with some success so I gave it a go in desperation…

It cost me 10-15 minutes of my time but I thought it would be worth it 

I gained nothing but nothing was lost either....

 


Ladies and gentlemen, the way you get attention in situations such as this is to file a class action against Sonos which seeks to certify a nationwide class of all Sonos customers impacted by the FW Update.  The basis of the class action would be claims under various consumer protection laws, ultimately depending on which state and venue the class complaint would be filed in.  Complaining on here is not going to get the results you want.  Sonos is a public company and nothing would hit the headlines faster than a misled customer filing a proposed class claim against Sonos in the Federal Court of the United States because of what was done with 14.12.  I can assure you that large corporations take things such as this very seriously--so much so that they often bury class prohibition waivers in the terms of service to STOP people from filing them.  Even if it were filed, it would still get Sonos’s attention where it needs to be.  They could at least give a reason as to why they cannot or will not “roll back” to 14.10.  You have to hit them where it hurts--their pocket books.  A class action claim will do just that.  Energy and focus is put to better use by pursuing a good lawyer who can file the complaint, articulating to that lawyer what the problem is, exactly, and ultimately getting it filed. Complaining on here is not doing anything.  If Sonos is worried about ANYTHING, it is that someone will file a class complaint against them over this fiasco.  I guarantee that. 

 

I’m curious to know what your experience is with class action suits is in similar situations to this.  Are you a lawyer or work in a law office?  Have you been involved in a class action law suits before? Have you done a lot of personal study on class action?  Your language implies that you have experience in this to the point that you are very confident.

 

I am a lawyer.  I am not trying to encourage people to file a lawsuit.  I am merely saying that complaining on here is not doing anything at all.  The members of the C-Suite do not care about complaints on forum posts.  They do, however, care about stock price and things which may impact that.


@ skullc
Thank you for this information. Which iPhone you’re using? I know Peter Pee said the best one is mini 12 which i have, but i find better results with my daughter’s iPhone se 2. With the mini the center is too bright for me and much pronounced than everything else, so I don’t like it.
 


I know the situation isn't good but some of you are being very dramatic

This times 10,000!! It didn’t blow up your tv. It didn’t cause nuclear war, it is a minor inconvenience that they are working on to fix. I know in your tiny world that revolves around you and everything is perfect and goes your own way or else you throw a tantrum on social media like a two year old and in your minds it is the most important thing ever but in the end it’s just a small thing. Why don’t you ask Ukranians or People in African nations or Venezuela or even those in China or, how about the families of people getting killed in our own big cities if they give a bit about a sub and soundbar sounding off. Get grounded, get back to reality and find joy-it makes life so much better. P.S. I have the same issue as you all. 


@msf an iphone 13pro


@Jeffrey_35 

I thought my post was fairly calm


Decided to update and after the trueplay was redone again the system feels a little bit more alive now. There’s more deepness in the overall sound and presence. Don’t know is it placebo but definitely for me there’s an improvement. 


Decided to update and after the trueplay was redone again the system feels a little bit more alive now. There’s more deepness in the overall sound and presence. Don’t know is it placebo but definitely for me there’s an improvement. 

Well if Sonos said that the update doesn’t fix the problem then most chances you’re right.


I know the situation isn't good but some of you are being very dramatic

This times 10,000!! It didn’t blow up your tv. It didn’t cause nuclear war, it is a minor inconvenience that they are working on to fix. I know in your tiny world that revolves around you and everything is perfect and goes your own way or else you throw a tantrum on social media like a two year old and in your minds it is the most important thing ever but in the end it’s just a small thing. Why don’t you ask Ukranians or People in African nations or Venezuela or even those in China or, how about the families of people getting killed in our own big cities if they give a bit about a sub and soundbar sounding off. Get grounded, get back to reality and find joy-it makes life so much better. P.S. I have the same issue as you all. 

We have exactly the same left-wing ideas here in Sweden, and that is whats destroying our country. Not beeing able to criticize any problem because there is always other problems that are bigger.


According to Peter Pee, if you tun off TruePlay for ver 14.16 you will be able to get back your subwoofer base response. 14.6 also includes extended sound stage and cleaner, clearer dialog. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juH4Y4Qe4e4


Strange enough, since 14.12 update Beam gen 2 with the Sub and Trueplay sound best they ever have. Yesterdays update 14.16 made this even better. Before 14.12 I was actually on the fence on switching back to a traditional surround setup.


According to Peter Pee, if you tun off TruePlay for ver 14.16 you will be able to get back your subwoofer base response. 14.6 also includes extended sound stage and cleaner, clearer dialog. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juH4Y4Qe4e4


This was the temporary fix for 14.14 as well. I guess I was one of the lucky ones that didn’t completely lose Sub bass with Trueplay on 14.14. I did end up disabling Trueplay though until they completely fix it, but now seeing that results with Trueplay are better than previously, I’m going to give it a try.


 


I am a lawyer.  I am not trying to encourage people to file a lawsuit.  I am merely saying that complaining on here is not doing anything at all.  The members of the C-Suite do not care about complaints on forum posts.  They do, however, care about stock price and things which may impact that.

I agree with the last part, but how will anything on just this one issue move that needle? It is too small for that effect, I think. As to class action, unless there are compensatory or punitive damages, from where will the lawyer get his 30% cut? Because I do not see any case for those being awarded here; at best, an order may be passed in a small causes court for product return/refund; but is that not easier done on eBay?


Took a leap of faith and upgraded to 14.16, no changes in the bass observed but overall it does seem to sound better and I don’t have to raise my volume slider to 50% just to hear vocals. :-)


In this update:

  • When connected to WiFi, Roam and Roam SL stereo pairs can now play stereo audio from Bluetooth sources. These stereo pairs will no longer separate when switching to Bluetooth mode.

and they say that sub issue is a priority …. 

what a JOKE… PISSING ON YOUR CLIENTS …. Bravo Sonos….


Ladies and gentlemen, the way you get attention in situations such as this is to file a class action against Sonos which seeks to certify a nationwide class of all Sonos customers impacted by the FW Update.  The basis of the class action would be claims under various consumer protection laws, ultimately depending on which state and venue the class complaint would be filed in.  Complaining on here is not going to get the results you want.  Sonos is a public company and nothing would hit the headlines faster than a misled customer filing a proposed class claim against Sonos in the Federal Court of the United States because of what was done with 14.12.  I can assure you that large corporations take things such as this very seriously--so much so that they often bury class prohibition waivers in the terms of service to STOP people from filing them.  Even if it were filed, it would still get Sonos’s attention where it needs to be.  They could at least give a reason as to why they cannot or will not “roll back” to 14.10.  You have to hit them where it hurts--their pocket books.  A class action claim will do just that.  Energy and focus is put to better use by pursuing a good lawyer who can file the complaint, articulating to that lawyer what the problem is, exactly, and ultimately getting it filed. Complaining on here is not doing anything.  If Sonos is worried about ANYTHING, it is that someone will file a class complaint against them over this fiasco.  I guarantee that. 

As i also said in a previous answer. Unfortunately it’s hard to find someone that will start this process. 

I even asked them for a refund for my broken product (that is 8months old) and they haven’t even replied to my emails. Which surely, warrants for some legal response… I mean not even replying to the emails about the issue is unbelievable


Ah the old class action threat! Class actions tend to be for situations where an inadequately tested drug has caused life-changing harm. Or incompetence or fraud has led to people losing their life savings. Subjectively being temporarily deprived of the best possible sound on HT systems doesn't quite cut it.


In this update:

  • When connected to WiFi, Roam and Roam SL stereo pairs can now play stereo audio from Bluetooth sources. These stereo pairs will no longer separate when switching to Bluetooth mode.

and they say that sub issue is a priority …. 

what a JOKE… PISSING ON YOUR CLIENTS …. Bravo Sonos….

 

You do realize that development on the Roam changes could very well have been completed months ago, and been through beta testing during the time in between. Not to mention that the team who works on functional changes for the Roam is likely different, with different experience and skill sets, then the one that works on trueplay and performance of the sub. Your assumption that Roam changes took priority and time away from the sub issue is highly unlikely.

I get that people are angry, and that’s all understandable, but finding stupid things to to be upset about just looks childish. Sonos should not stop releasing all new products and features that customers have been waiting for, just because you don’t have your fix yet. 


Ok, today is a free day for me, so i decided to reset everything in my living room. The Arc + Sub (gen3) + one SL - everything is on 14.16. Yesterday i said that i find a difference, but the measured results today shocked me. My living room is 70sq. meters and the mic is not professional. Everything in the EQ is at “0”, and the volume is at 60%.
1. Blue line - NO trueplay
2. Red line - Trueplay ON (calibrated with iPhone 12 mini) 
3. Yellow line - Trueplay ON (calibrated with iPhone SE 2) 
😳 

 
EDIT: The SPL level is not calibrated, because i care only about the frequency response .


Ok, today is a free day for me, so i decided to reset everything in my living room. The Arc + Sub (gen3) + one SL - everything is on 14.16. Yesterday i said that i find a difference, but the measured results today shocked me. My living room is 70sq. meters and the mic is not professional. Everything in the EQ is at “0”, and the volume is at 60%.
1. Blue line - NO trueplay
2. Red line - Trueplay ON (calibrated with iPhone 12 mini) 
3. Yellow line - Trueplay ON (calibrated with iPhone SE 2) 
😳 

 
EDIT: The SPL level is not calibrated, because i care only about the frequency response .

So it looks to be ok?


Yes it looks and sounds better. Bare in mind that the mic is probably not picking correctly the low frequencies, but overall thats the best result for me after 14.12. Yesterday was the first time I tried trueplay with an older iphone.


I’m assuming red & yellow are different as the phones were not in exact same positions when waved for each of the Trueplays, ie if you did 2 Trueplays with same phone you would still see a slight difference?