You will soon have the fervent Sonos fans chiming in here, telling you that when you opened the box you implicitly signed the end user license agreement granting Sonos the permission to change the sound profile as and when they feel like doing so. And the same fans will tell you this is because you really bought a computer loaded with software that just also happens to deliver sounds, so this is really your fault.

If the quoted is indeed what has happened to you, I agree that it sucks.

Hi Sonos, please re-release the previous version before your team fixes the 14.12. My Sonos one sounds not as well as before, which leads me here. It maybe not the bass or sub issue for me, because I do hear some differences even in mid or high range. I like the sound before the update. Now I think I had to defer my purchase plan for another Sonos stereo pair….

Pre 14.12 I was a fervent Sonos fan. I have the speakers all over my house. My comment there wasn’t serious, not for one moment suggesting I should be allowed to return 18 months later. More stressing the point of the product I bought is now significantly inferior (in my ears) to what I paid for.

Here’s hoping Sonos do the right thing and put the sound profile to how it used to be. Or at least give users the choice of the sound profile they prefer. Surely that can’t be too difficult??

Your profile doesn’t list a Sonos Arc, nor a Sub for that matter, which is what the recent 14.12 update/change discussion has been all about - it’s not anything to do with a Sonos One, or a stereo pair as far as I can make out ? I would perhaps just try re-tuning your ‘One’ speaker, or try it with Trueplay disabled and perhaps try adjusting the EQ Bass/Treble settings too, whichever suits the way you like to listen to your speaker.

That makes a lot of sense, but I suspect that this isn’t something that is easy for Sonos to implement. Even letting users roll back an update is probably a big task.

The legacy audio industry has worked on making these changes with new hardware model releases; so users with old products do not get these benefits unless they buy new hardware. The advantage of this is of course that many simply stick to old hardware if they do not want/need the sound profile change, not believing that to be a benefit. Which is also why sometimes the old version is re-released as a classic edition.

Via upgrades, Sonos seems to be correcting what it thinks are its past mistakes in hardware already sold, but that then leaves people in the boat you find yourself in.

Hi, thanks for your reply. Now I roll my Sonos one back to s1 at 11.5 version. I feel now I get a richer sound and it is better than s2 14.12 both with/without Trueplay.

I also tried to update to s2 14.10 from s1, but I got blocked by Sonos server. Therefore, I might stay in s1 for a while, wait their update and try again….At least now I can hear something ‘normal’.

That seems like a solution, but there may be some downsides, though not being able to get HD audio definitely isn't one!

Why are you not able to stay on s1 forever? I am on it and it all works just fine.

Yeah, s1 seems good enough now. I can at least play CD quality music from my phone or tidal, which is enough for me. One downside is Alexa support is not as good as s2, but not a big deal. 

Well using two Play:1’s almost side by side, one on S1 and the other on S2 with Trueplay disabled and flat EQ, I struggle to hear any differences to shout Home about .. see screenshot attached. which shows my brief test here…

I had to switch between the two as the streaming music service (Amazon) would only let me stream A and then B and not both at the same time, despite using the S1/S2 Apps. Anyhow, all I can say is there must be something wrong if your are hearing a significant difference on that (now) old speaker when it runs on the old S1 system.

If it is true that max volume is unchanged, but the curve to get there has changed then that, to me, seems a complete non-issue.  Other changes to the sound signature, if they cannot easily be adjusted away, clearly will be an issue for users who don’t like the change.  But audio judgements are notoriously subjective and preferences differ.  Based on past changes made by Sonos, I can’t help feeling that if the new sound signature had been the old, and the old the new, there would be just as many complaints on this forum.

I honestly don’t know if Sonos has got this right or wrong.  In fact it is probably much less clear-cut than that.  Sonos has certainly not made a good job of communicating what it was trying to do.  It would be good to have a more detailed explanation in this forum of significant changes implemented by an update.  More in-app info would also be good, because the percentage of users who come onto this forum routinely is presumably fairly small.

I hope this is resolved to the satisfaction of as many people as possible, but I suspect you cannot please all of the people all of the time.

I would be very surprised to find any difference, but one does not know all about other moving parts in other places. But going back to S1 seems to be at least one solution for those that are Arc owners and seem to be severely affected.

That is why unless there has been a gross issue in the SQ - in which case removing it should not be controversial by definition - it may be best to let sleeping dogs lie, and make any tweaks in the next version of the hardware via changes that bypass the upgrade process.

People that are visited by a change in the SQ can be justifiably upset on being forced to swallow medicine they do not think they need.

Hi, it seems Amazon music only gives HD stream support for s2. You can see that in your s1 picture there is no HD sign. That means you have worse source sound quality in s1. If possible I think it’s better to control this variable such as play the same local flac and compare.

I do find the high vocal in s1 is richer and not as sharp as that in s2 14.12 with trueplay.  Also the clarity improves a lot in s1 comparing to s2 without trueplay.

Maybe my ears get ill XD

The Arc obviously will not run on S1. In my own, albeit ‘rough and ready’ brief tests here Kumar, I don’t think this recent update is affecting ‘other’ S1/S2 compatible speakers in the line-up in any significant noticeable way (assuming all are playing 16/44 or lesser quality audio etc). 

These recent changes are mostly related to the Arcs reduction in volume and the clarity of the center channel speech/dialogue with one or two users being affected with perceived reduced Sub issues caused through the retuning process.

I think everything else is untouched - it just seems odd that people are coming out the woodwork with issues with Play:1’s and the such like, saying they sound better on S1 - well all I can say to that is in my own tests here, I’m not noticing the difference claimed by @BlazerJia - take from that what you will.

I’m not attempting to defend Sonos here with these recent changes by the way, I’m just speaking as I find. I accept the Arc volume-curve has been changed and the speech dialogue improved, but personally, I would have liked to have seen elements of customisation added to the Arc room settings to help cater for the greater majority, as I accept we all may hear things differently and have different environments/preferences.

Ahh, so that shoots down that “solution” for the Arc owners afflicted, and I tend to discount any claims for changes in the sonic signature of units like play 1/One when not bonded to an Arc. Sonos made no reference to such in its release notes either.

It may be that Trueplay does different things to a play 1 in S2 compared to S1, though even that is something I doubt. But I have no way to test for that.

I also do not use Arc and the like, so I have no skin in the game and should desist from commenting!

PS: and of course there are at least three comments I have read that are thrilled with new Arc sound!

If these “Sonos fans” are going to chime, why do you feel the need to jump in and speak on their behalf? Wouldn’t it be better to let them speak for themselves, rather than trying to preface the statements you think are coming in a negative context.

  I do recall saying something similar to this regarding the EUL for the Sonos app and it’s functionality, perhaps in terms of  device firmware features added/removed, but  with an entirely different context.  I am certain I never stated this in terms of the sound profile.  I don’t recall Sonos ever changing the sound profile previously, other than tweaks to issues that occur under certain conditions, that I don’t recall anyone had any issues with .  Obviously, firmware is involved here, so perhaps there is some grey area, but I mostly think there is solid ground to stand on in regards to wanting the sound profile of the speakers you purchased to remain the same as they were when you purchased them.

I honestly haven’t had a serious listen to the Arc since the update and can’t say I’ve noticed any real difference.  I don’t really pay attention to the volume level numbers, so that change doesn’t bother me.

I cannot agree with the suggestion that the sound signature of a device should never be changed from how it was when purchased.  This rules out any attempt at improvement for existing customers  There have been several posts on this forum saying that dialogue wasn’t clear on Sonos soundbars (although I have never thought that).   If nothing is done then the cry goes up that “Sonos doesn’t listen to its users”.

Sonos was trying to address this issue.  I make no judgement on whether the outcome this time has been good or bad (or a bit of both), I just think ruling out any change is, in the long run, detrimental.

Home theater group- Arc, Sub Gen 3, and One Sl's

I’m surprised that you can’t hear a difference, as your screenshot shows that you were playing two different tracks ;-)

That would be the vast majority of those who have come on here because they they have a grievance.  So it is hardly surprising they are a majority. (That grievance may be legitimate, I make no judgement on that.) 

As to the first, I said what I said because it is a free world for everyone in it, in which the referred fan/s won’t hesitate to also ascribe motives to my statement, so I saw no reason why I should not go first because I do see such statements as just a dogmatic defence of Sonos that even Sonos does not attempt to put forth.

As to the second, and for what it’s worth, you were not in mind when I wrote what I did. Nor do I remember if you brought in EULA to defend changes to the app/features - I often do not see any point to these changes, but they don’t impinge on what any speaker is about, first and foremost, and why it is bought - for how it sounds - and so changes to apps and the like are, at worst, just a superficial irritant.

The only time Sonos made radical changes to the sound from my units, it was via the optional True play. Again, nothing to complain then given the option to just toggle it to OFF, or with respect to any tweaks that Sonos may make to the True play algorithms in S2, if I was a S2 user. As long as the toggle remains in place.

Seems to me the simplest solution would be just to give users the ability to adjust the sound profile.

Present in the settings a graph we can play with to get our desired sound. Reset to default brings back Sonos “preferred” factory profile. Allow the ability to save profiles so we can swap between a couple.

Simple stuff really. Ain’t no one would be complaining then.

Yes sounds pretty trivial to me.  But then I have never seen a line of Sonos code either. 

It was just a sample screenshot - I assure you @amun I did play the same tracks from the same audio source - I did mention that Amazon would not let me stream/play the two at the same time - I took several screenshots and here is another from 11.31hrs this morning taken during the same test.

I think you will find that what S1 lacks is the ability to display the symbol, not to play the format.  Displaying format was an S2 enhancement post the S1/S2 split. Sonos has been capable of playing lossless CD quality files since it was launched. I don’t agree with anything in your post.