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Sonos reveals Arc Ultra & Sub 4

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Sonos reveals Arc Ultra & Sub 4
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Corry P
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  • Sonos Staff
  • 8550 replies
  • October 17, 2024

Hi @GuitarSuperstar 

GuitarSuperstar wrote:

From the Sonos website:

  • Arc Ultra: Compatible with two Sub 4s, Sub (Gen 3)s, or one of each.

Very unfortunate. This is probably a deal breaker for me.

I think it’s possible you have misunderstood - for a Dual Sub configuration, the two Subs must be Gen 3 or newer.

Arc Ultra is compatible with all versions of Sub, but a connected Gen 1 or Gen 2 Sub may restrict Arc Ultra’s abilities in the future.

From the product page:

I hope this helps.


Corry P
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  • Sonos Staff
  • 8550 replies
  • October 17, 2024

Hi @JakeSteed 

I’d like expand slightly on @GuitarSuperstar’s excellent answer:

GuitarSuperstar wrote:

You can set your Blu-ray player to play the DTS audio as lossless Multichannel PCM which likely sounds very similar to DTS-HD Master Audio.

It will actually sound exactly the same - all you are doing is specifying that the player should decode the audio rather than the soundbar. It makes no difference which device does the decoding, and this is the precise reason why we do not increase the price by adding more supported formats - it’s just not necessary. McPCM will require eARC to play, but so does DTS-HD.

I hope this helps.


Corry P wrote:

Hi @GuitarSuperstar 

GuitarSuperstar wrote:

From the Sonos website:

  • Arc Ultra: Compatible with two Sub 4s, Sub (Gen 3)s, or one of each.

Very unfortunate. This is probably a deal breaker for me.

I think it’s possible you have misunderstood - for a Dual Sub configuration, the two Subs must be Gen 3 or newer.

Arc Ultra is compatible with all versions of Sub, but a connected Gen 1 or Gen 2 Sub may restrict Arc Ultra’s abilities in the future.

From the product page:

I hope this helps.



Hey @Corry P. My current dual Sub setup is with a Gen 2 and Gen 3. So the Arc Ultra won’t work for me unless I upgrade my Gen 2. The Ultra will have to be a significant upgrade in sound quality for me to consider upgrading my Sub Gen 2.


Corry P
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  • Sonos Staff
  • 8550 replies
  • October 17, 2024

Hi @GuitarSuperstar 

Yeah that’s fair - I was thinking you might have thought that the Arc Ultra didn’t support Sub Gen 1/2 at all.


@Corry P Can we get some clarity on the 9.1.4 classification of the Arc Ultra? The Sonos User Guide listed the Ultra as 5.1.2 (with a Sub added). @Marco.B said this information was accurate. That information has since been removed from the User Guide (US edition). A Sonos team member (Liz) on Reddit said it is 9.1.4 as a standalone sound bar, and all of the product descriptions and tech news articles seem to indicate this too. So which is it?

If it is 9.1.4 as a standalone sound bar, can you explain how that works?


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  • Lyricist III
  • 12 replies
  • October 17, 2024
Corry P wrote:

Hi @JakeSteed 

I’d like expand slightly on @GuitarSuperstar’s excellent answer:

GuitarSuperstar wrote:

You can set your Blu-ray player to play the DTS audio as lossless Multichannel PCM which likely sounds very similar to DTS-HD Master Audio.

It will actually sound exactly the same - all you are doing is specifying that the player should decode the audio rather than the soundbar. It makes no difference which device does the decoding, and this is the precise reason why we do not increase the price by adding more supported formats - it’s just not necessary. McPCM will require eARC to play, but so does DTS-HD.

I hope this helps.

Thank you so much for the input and clarification. I currently don’t have a TV that supports passthrough since it has no dts licenses either (Samsung Q85R from 2019) so I am getting either something Dolby or 2 channel Stereo. My understanding is that that the TV needs these as well to make passthrough work and a lot of manufacturers don’t have these at all or only in their top model. I am planning on getting a new one like the new Sony Bravia 9 (supporting dts:x) hoping that this will do the trick. As a player I am using a PS5.

I have an Arc, 2 ERA300s, a 2G Sub and a 3G Sub  

 


melvimbe
  • 9859 replies
  • October 17, 2024

So if I understand this correctly here is what is supported and not supported as far as sub configurations with the Arc Ultra.

 

Supported:

Gen 1

Gen 2

Gen 3

Gen 4 

Gen 3 + Gen 3

Gen 4 + Gen 3

Gen 4 + Gen 4

Not supported:

Gen 1 + Gen 1

Gen 2 + Gen 1

Gen 2 + Gen 2

Gen 3 + Gen 1 

Gen 3 + Gen 2

Gen 4 + Gen 1

Gen 4 + Gen 2

 

I’m rather uncertain about the underlined cases, but that’s the way I’m interpreting the conversation between @GuitarSuperstar and @Corry P.


JakeSteed wrote:
Corry P wrote:

Hi @JakeSteed 

I’d like expand slightly on @GuitarSuperstar’s excellent answer:

GuitarSuperstar wrote:

You can set your Blu-ray player to play the DTS audio as lossless Multichannel PCM which likely sounds very similar to DTS-HD Master Audio.

It will actually sound exactly the same - all you are doing is specifying that the player should decode the audio rather than the soundbar. It makes no difference which device does the decoding, and this is the precise reason why we do not increase the price by adding more supported formats - it’s just not necessary. McPCM will require eARC to play, but so does DTS-HD.

I hope this helps.

Thank you so much for the input and clarification. I currently don’t have a TV that supports passthrough since it has no dts licenses either (Samsung Q85R from 2019) so I am getting either something Dolby or 2 channel Stereo. My understanding is that that the TV needs these as well to make passthrough work and a lot of manufacturers don’t have these at all or only in their top model. I am planning on getting a new one like the new Sony Bravia 9 (supporting dts:x) hoping that this will do the trick. As a player I am using a PS5.

I have an Arc, 2 ERA300s, a 2G Sub and a 3G Sub  

 

Is your TV equipped with eARC?


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  • Prodigy II
  • 272 replies
  • October 17, 2024
melvimbe wrote:

So if I understand this correctly here is what is supported and not supported as far as sub configurations with the Arc Ultra.

 

Supported:

Gen 1

Gen 2

Gen 3

Gen 4 

Gen 3 + Gen 3

Gen 4 + Gen 3

Gen 4 + Gen 4

Not supported:

Gen 1 + Gen 1

Gen 2 + Gen 1

Gen 2 + Gen 2

Gen 3 + Gen 1 

Gen 3 + Gen 2

Gen 4 + Gen 1

Gen 4 + Gen 2

 

I’m rather uncertain about the underlined cases, but that’s the way I’m interpreting the conversation between @GuitarSuperstar and @Corry P.

great idea, sonos need to use this 👍


DGR1
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  • Chromatic Producer I
  • 106 replies
  • October 17, 2024
melvimbe wrote:

So if I understand this correctly here is what is supported and not supported as far as sub configurations with the Arc Ultra…...

You should get a job writing product release notes. Such clarity 😉


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  • Lyricist III
  • 12 replies
  • October 17, 2024
GuitarSuperstar wrote:
JakeSteed wrote:
Corry P wrote:

Hi @JakeSteed 

I’d like expand slightly on @GuitarSuperstar’s excellent answer:

GuitarSuperstar wrote:

You can set your Blu-ray player to play the DTS audio as lossless Multichannel PCM which likely sounds very similar to DTS-HD Master Audio.

It will actually sound exactly the same - all you are doing is specifying that the player should decode the audio rather than the soundbar. It makes no difference which device does the decoding, and this is the precise reason why we do not increase the price by adding more supported formats - it’s just not necessary. McPCM will require eARC to play, but so does DTS-HD.

I hope this helps.

Thank you so much for the input and clarification. I currently don’t have a TV that supports passthrough since it has no dts licenses either (Samsung Q85R from 2019) so I am getting either something Dolby or 2 channel Stereo. My understanding is that that the TV needs these as well to make passthrough work and a lot of manufacturers don’t have these at all or only in their top model. I am planning on getting a new one like the new Sony Bravia 9 (supporting dts:x) hoping that this will do the trick. As a player I am using a PS5.

I have an Arc, 2 ERA300s, a 2G Sub and a 3G Sub  

 

Is your TV equipped with eARC?

It actually is. And Atmos/TrueHD works just fine from disc but in regards to dts I tried every setting possible in the player settings. On the current PS5 as well as my former Sony X800M2. My TV is set to „HDMI passthrough“ which is pretty much the only available setting there is. After a lot of google research I read that the TV also needs the dts license, even for passthrough. Which my Samsung hasn’t. Of course. 


Corry P
Forum|alt.badge.img+18
  • Sonos Staff
  • 8550 replies
  • October 17, 2024

Hi @melvimbe 

melvimbe wrote:

So if I understand this correctly here is what is supported and not supported as far as sub configurations with the Arc Ultra.

 

Supported:

Gen 1

Gen 2

Gen 3

Gen 4 

Gen 3 + Gen 3

Gen 4 + Gen 3

Gen 4 + Gen 4

Not supported:

Gen 1 + Gen 1

Gen 2 + Gen 1

Gen 2 + Gen 2

Gen 3 + Gen 1 

Gen 3 + Gen 2

Gen 4 + Gen 1

Gen 4 + Gen 2

 

I’m rather uncertain about the underlined cases, but that’s the way I’m interpreting the conversation between @GuitarSuperstar and @Corry P.

Correct.

Though, my documentation has caveats for the Sub Gen1 and Sub Gen2 - having one of these connected may be a performance limiter in future system configurations (their radios differ from Gen3/4’s and use more of the host’s resources as a result). Any such limitations will be announced when they become a factor for a new product experience being introduced.

Note that Gen 1 + Gen 1, Gen 2 + Gen 1 and Gen 2 + Gen 2 have never been Dual Sub supported configurations, so are nothing new.

Sub Mini is supported, but not in Dual Sub configuration.

I hope this helps.


JakeSteed wrote:
GuitarSuperstar wrote:
JakeSteed wrote:
Corry P wrote:

Hi @JakeSteed 

I’d like expand slightly on @GuitarSuperstar’s excellent answer:

GuitarSuperstar wrote:

You can set your Blu-ray player to play the DTS audio as lossless Multichannel PCM which likely sounds very similar to DTS-HD Master Audio.

It will actually sound exactly the same - all you are doing is specifying that the player should decode the audio rather than the soundbar. It makes no difference which device does the decoding, and this is the precise reason why we do not increase the price by adding more supported formats - it’s just not necessary. McPCM will require eARC to play, but so does DTS-HD.

I hope this helps.

Thank you so much for the input and clarification. I currently don’t have a TV that supports passthrough since it has no dts licenses either (Samsung Q85R from 2019) so I am getting either something Dolby or 2 channel Stereo. My understanding is that that the TV needs these as well to make passthrough work and a lot of manufacturers don’t have these at all or only in their top model. I am planning on getting a new one like the new Sony Bravia 9 (supporting dts:x) hoping that this will do the trick. As a player I am using a PS5.

I have an Arc, 2 ERA300s, a 2G Sub and a 3G Sub  

 

Is your TV equipped with eARC?

It actually is. And Atmos/TrueHD works just fine from disc but in regards to dts I tried every setting possible in the player settings. On the current PS5 as well as my former Sony X800M2. My TV is set to „HDMI passthrough“ which is pretty much the only available setting there is. After a lot of google research I read that the TV also needs the dts license, even for passthrough. Which my Samsung hasn’t. Of course. 

 

Be sure to set the PS5 to these settings:

 

Output Device: HDMI Device (AV amplifier)

HDMI Device Type: AV amplifier

Number of Channels: 7.1 ch (or 5.1 ch)

Audio Format (Priority): Linear PCM

When watching Blu-ray discs, there is another audio setting that must be adjusted when you start the disc. Tap the Options button on the controller, select the “…” and change the Audio Format setting to Linear PCM for all DTS-encoded discs.


Corry P
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  • Sonos Staff
  • 8550 replies
  • October 17, 2024

Hi @JakeSteed 

JakeSteed wrote:

My TV is set to „HDMI passthrough“ which is pretty much the only available setting there is. After a lot of google research I read that the TV also needs the dts license, even for passthrough. Which my Samsung hasn’t. Of course. 

I don’t disbelieve you, but this is strange to me - the very concept of Passthrough is that the device performing it simply does not do anything at all with the audio - it just passes it along. This is why volume control (sometimes) and audio settings (always) on the TV have no effect when Passthrough is set.

This is not the first time that I have heard of TV manufacturers playing a little with the definition of Passthrough, but I really don’t know if it’s legal requirement that they have licenses to Passthrough certain formats or not - if pressed, I would have guessed they’d only need a license to decode the stream. If you’ve done research, however, then that is more than I have done - I’ll take your word for it!

I have heard of some TVs having both Passthrough and Bitstream options (even though they sound like they should be the same) - is Bitstream available on your TV? If so, please try it out.

I hope this helps.


Corry P
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  • Sonos Staff
  • 8550 replies
  • October 17, 2024

Hi @GuitarSuperstar 

GuitarSuperstar wrote:

@Corry P Can we get some clarity on the 9.1.4 classification of the Arc Ultra? The Sonos User Guide listed the Ultra as 5.1.2 (with a Sub added). @Marco.B said this information was accurate. That information has since been removed from the User Guide (US edition). A Sonos team member (Liz) on Reddit said it is 9.1.4 as a standalone sound bar, and all of the product descriptions and tech news articles seem to indicate this too. So which is it?

If it is 9.1.4 as a standalone sound bar, can you explain how that works?

Marco is working on getting some clarification on that point from Marketing - we’ll update you all on this as soon as we can.


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  • Local Superstar
  • 1732 replies
  • October 17, 2024

It's ironic to me that Marketing are the ‘go to’ for this and not Engineering or similar.

Where do Marketing get their information from?……


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  • Headliner I
  • 385 replies
  • October 17, 2024
sjw wrote:

It's ironic to me that Marketing are the ‘go to’ for this and not Engineering or similar.

Where do Marketing get their information from?……

Patrick Spence?


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  • Trending Lyricist II
  • 35 replies
  • October 17, 2024
GuitarSuperstar wrote:
Corry P wrote:

Hi @GuitarSuperstar 

GuitarSuperstar wrote:

From the Sonos website:

  • Arc Ultra: Compatible with two Sub 4s, Sub (Gen 3)s, or one of each.

Very unfortunate. This is probably a deal breaker for me.

I think it’s possible you have misunderstood - for a Dual Sub configuration, the two Subs must be Gen 3 or newer.

Arc Ultra is compatible with all versions of Sub, but a connected Gen 1 or Gen 2 Sub may restrict Arc Ultra’s abilities in the future.

From the product page:

I hope this helps.



Hey @Corry P. My current dual Sub setup is with a Gen 2 and Gen 3. So the Arc Ultra won’t work for me unless I upgrade my Gen 2. The Ultra will have to be a significant upgrade in sound quality for me to consider upgrading my Sub Gen 2.

yeah, so it was what I originally thought… that is why I ultimately ordered a Sub 4 with the Ultra, it will pair with my Sub 3, and I will just move my Sub 2 to another room in my case.


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  • Trending Lyricist II
  • 35 replies
  • October 17, 2024
paulrw wrote:
melvimbe wrote:

So if I understand this correctly here is what is supported and not supported as far as sub configurations with the Arc Ultra.

 

Supported:

Gen 1

Gen 2

Gen 3

Gen 4 

Gen 3 + Gen 3

Gen 4 + Gen 3

Gen 4 + Gen 4

Not supported:

Gen 1 + Gen 1

Gen 2 + Gen 1

Gen 2 + Gen 2

Gen 3 + Gen 1 

Gen 3 + Gen 2

Gen 4 + Gen 1

Gen 4 + Gen 2

 

I’m rather uncertain about the underlined cases, but that’s the way I’m interpreting the conversation between @GuitarSuperstar and @Corry P.

great idea, sonos need to use this 👍

Just need to add a solo Sub Mini to the list 😂


melvimbe
  • 9859 replies
  • October 17, 2024

Updated for clarity:

 

Supported:

Sub Mini

Gen 1

Gen 2

Gen 3

Gen 4 

Gen 3 + Gen 3

Gen 4 + Gen 3

Gen 4 + Gen 4

Not supported:

Gen 1 + Gen 1

Gen 2 + Gen 1

Gen 2 + Gen 2

Gen 3 + Gen 1 *

Gen 3 + Gen 2 *

Gen 4 + Gen 1 *

Gen 4 + Gen 2 *

 

 * This Configuration is supported with Arc, but not with Arc Ultra

Note: Sub Gen1 and Sub Gen2 - having one of these connected may be a performance limiter in future system configurations (their radios differ from Gen3/4’s and use more of the host’s resources as a result). Any such limitations will be announced when they become a factor for a new product experience being introduced.


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  • Prodigy II
  • 426 replies
  • October 17, 2024
paulrw wrote:
JakeSteed wrote:

Although I really love the Atmos experience and the easy setup with a TV and it‘s streaming apps, I really have an issue with the lack of decent dts support. I get that it plays no role in streaming but am I really the only one who has a lot of the 11cm shiny silver discs left or still buys them?

  • some 4K releases have a dts x oder dts HD Master Audio track
  • Some good movies from the past just never made it to any of the streaming services. At least not here in Germany. Remember „A life less ordinary“ or „Feeling Minnesota“? Or is my taste just weird?

And dts is stil big on discs. So what can I expect from the new Arc ultra? The same „small“ solution with somewhat dts compatibility if my TV supports the passthrough? I mean it’s way better than a PCM 2 channel downmix, but real HD master 7.1 or x support would be nice. How much are these licences? Any chance we get them with a firmware update?

People have been asking for this for years and years.

Noticed all the new sony Atmos soundbars offer DTS-X

Guess Sonos thinks it doesn’t cost any sales, and if anything soon only streaming will be left sadly…..

 

 

Disney offers Imax enhanced for some stuff on streaming so full DTS support would be nice. Some TVs support it. I’m getting a G4 and it supports DTS along with Atmos. Eventually I will upgrade from my Playbase I think. Not anytime soon but I’ll want DTS support.

 

 

https://help.disneyplus.com/en-GB/article/disneyplus-imax-enhanced


  • Lyricist I
  • 2 replies
  • October 18, 2024

Just checked the Pre-Order listing online and a little disappointed at the price in Australia. From the local sites, Arc Ultra in US is USD 999… in Australia AUD 1,799. At the current exchange rate USD 999 equates to about AUD 1,500. So why are we being charged so much more here for the same product? 🤨


Andrew_B wrote:

Just checked the Pre-Order listing online and a little disappointed at the price in Australia. From the local sites, Arc Ultra in US is USD 999… in Australia AUD 1,799. At the current exchange rate USD 999 equates to about AUD 1,500. So why are we being charged so much more here for the same product? 🤨

 

Doesn’t the AUD price include the GST (sales tax)? The $999 price in the US doesn’t include sales tax.

I’m not Australian so I could be wrong.


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  • Prodigy II
  • 426 replies
  • October 18, 2024
GuitarSuperstar wrote:
Andrew_B wrote:

Just checked the Pre-Order listing online and a little disappointed at the price in Australia. From the local sites, Arc Ultra in US is USD 999… in Australia AUD 1,799. At the current exchange rate USD 999 equates to about AUD 1,500. So why are we being charged so much more here for the same product? 🤨

 

Doesn’t the AUD price include the GST (sales tax)? The $999 price in the US doesn’t include sales tax.

I’m not Australian so I could be wrong.

 

Yes, ten percent.


  • Lyricist I
  • 2 replies
  • October 18, 2024

Actually you might be right there but even if I take out the GST it still works out to about AUD 1,635 before tax. 


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