Worse sound after 10.4 update

It might be worth checking to see if the system is still sending a true Dolby Digital signal to the Sonos. Many people who have reported similar issues have found that something changed upstream that caused the Sonos to receive only a stereo signal from the TV.

However, it wouldn’t hurt to  submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this issue, and either post the number here, or contact Sonos Support to discuss it. 

I usually suggest the phone folks, they have more tools available, but are onlyavailable Monday through Friday during business hours. Both the Twitter and Facebook support folks are available 24/7.

I also have the same problem - playing mp3 music from my network attached storage via 2 x Play 5s and a sub, all connected to my network by cat 5 leads.

Normally the sound thunders but when I played the same music last night I thought the sub had gone offline as the whole system lacked any punch. Changing the settings didn’t help, so this is all pretty disappointing but I’m somewhat relieved it isn’t just my system.  There had been no changes at my end other than a system update.

Let’s hope for a quick fix..

As I posted before, your best bet would be to contact Sonos Support directly, rather than hoping someone in the community can deduce the problem and help you. 

Glad to know I'm not the only one with this problem. I am currently working with Sonos engineers and submitting data from my own personal spectrum analyzer. I have been through three separate play bars and they all are doing the same thing. This is definitely a software update issue I don't care what anybody says. after this update went through anytime I try getting any significant volume out of my system it sounds like somebody is throwing a blanket over the speakers to compress them. my best guess is they were getting too many units with blown drivers and released an update to limit volume. 

Do you mind me asking what kind of music you listen to Bruce?  I'm very glad to hear you're not having this issue with any of your 18 speakers. I am willing to bet you are not trying to get nearly the amount of volume output from your system as the people that are experiencing this issue. 

Davin

A pretty wide variety, from classical to classic rock, jazz, ambient, some country and western,  to current rock, as well as movies, TV shows, etc. Most of my music is stored locally on my own NAS, although occasionally I’ll stream from Amazon, Audible, or using AirPlay 2 from either an iPhone or an iPad.

It’s certainly possible that I don’t have the volume turned up as others do, but that doesn’t change my suggestion that contacting Sonos support is more likely to garner an answer than any assumption, including mine, about what is happening. While there certainly is some satisfaction from seeing “me too” posts from other community members, my suspicion is that it can be best resolved by engaging with Sonos support, rather than the Sonos community. I can only relate my personal experience here, and sometimes point folks to common issues that might cause the symptoms that are experienced.

My personal experience is that being directly on the phone with someone helping me is preferable than being online, as it gives them the opportunity to get my permission, while I watch, to remote into my system in addition to looking at any diagnostics that I have submitted. But that’s again my personal experience, which I offer as a suggestion. There’s absolutely no requirement that you follow any suggestions from some random person on the internet. But the issue was posted on a community forum. As a community member, I provided my insight, for the valuation of those who wanted to consider my viewpoint. 

I do hope you find the solution to your issue. I also hope that when you do, you come post the answer here, so others, including myself, can learn from your particular experience. 

Please watch this video and play close attention to when I turn the volume down you will notice the Playbar gets louder and then when I turn it up it loses volume and becomes muffled. 

https://youtu.be/N9I7jihrL_I

Same here in France, v10.5 w/ 1x Beam, 1x Sub and 2x Ones, all of them Series ID:100.

The sound is actually horrible to listen in music playback full mode.

Hey Sonos customer care, any reaction please?

Your kind support will be more than appreciated. Thanks!