| Yeah there’s always going to be a bit of a knock-on effect when you upgrade a major component of your setup. But I think the main lesson I’ve learned over the years is to look for as much flexibility as possible. Anything that’s particularly limited in the cables or sources or formats it can work with will probably cause you headaches and regret at some point. Even little things like the Playbar not having a replaceable power cable has caused me (extremely first world) problems. |
Sonos Users' Thread • Page 41
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You-can-call-me-kal 22,915 posts
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Fourwisemen 1,064 posts
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Registered 11 years ago@ozthegweat
ozthegweat wrote:
I've been reading up on this a fair bit and the new Sonos Arc can be powered by the new fancy e-ARC or the old standard ARC HDMI connections.
Yeah you'd need a TV with eARC, which is rather new.
An AVR is the best option if you want to keep (or have invested a lot in) your speakers. But with technologies of sources, connections, display devices and content changing all the time, you have to replace all kinds of devices (players, receivers, TV, cables) all the time anyway.
After having had a 5.1.2 system, I'm quite content right now with my 2.0 "system" (E6 OLED). At neighbour- and significant-other-friendly volumes, it's perfectly fine. The only thing I miss now and then are directional cues when gaming (discern if a particular sound was coming from behind me).
For full fat, i.e. uncompressed ATMOS that's referred to as TrueHD then e-ARC is a requirement.
If you have standard ARC HDMI connection then you can output from the TV as Dolby Digital Plus which is essentially a compressed form of ATMOS and what the streaming services use for the content (apart from AppleTV apparently)
I was going to put off the thought of buying the Sonos Arc because I only have a standard HDMI ARC TV but seeing e-ARC wasn't essential has now put me back in front of the buy button (trying to hold of for reviews but have a feeling there will be a tonne of orders as soon as they hit the street as they seem very confident in what they're bringing to the table (or indeed wall))..
Edited by Fourwisemen at 17:38:25 26-05-2020 -
ozthegweat 2,851 posts
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Registered 10 years ago@You-can-call-me-kal Yeah that's true. Components like speakers that are wired with copper cables can last for decades. And multi-channel PCM is codec-agnostic.
I believe that the biggest changes are behind us though. HDR was arguably much more important than 4K, and while 60 Hz satisified most people, 120 Hz is still a worthwile step. While I can't hear a difference between DD/DTS and their HD brethren (I believe the quality of source, amp and speakers are much more important), an argument can be made that it is also something of value.
99.9% of people will gain nothing from, and see no benefit in, a setup that is more advanced than 4K HDR @ 120 Hz with 8-channel uncompressed audio.
What will count is how easy a system is to set up and use. There are TVs with good built-in speakers, but I don't understand why those don't offer the option to connect a sub and 2 or 4 satellites.
Edited by ozthegweat at 17:44:49 26-05-2020 -
askew 23,117 posts
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Registered 16 years agoNew controller app is out: looks a bit slicker than the old version (now named S1). -
Fourwisemen 1,064 posts
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Registered 11 years ago@askew
Looks a little slicker, although other than being able to define preset groups of speakers I’m not seeing any great new functionality though.
I’d really like to see EQ/surround level toggles and ideally different defaults for TV and music.
Hopefully this is just start the migration and then start adding functionality.
Looking forward to the Arc turning up tomorrow, although not going to get to give it a proper run until Thursday (decorating the bloody living room... 😡
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I’ll post impressions ASAP. -
askew 23,117 posts
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Registered 16 years agoI was a bit disappointed that the blimmin' Spotify icon in the desktop version is _still_ about five years old… -
Dougs 98,694 posts
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Registered 18 years agoGetting the random stopping notifications on my Android widget, which is frustrating. Was a problem a while ago with the last app but went away after an update. Clearly a hangover in the new app or something. -
Fourwisemen 1,064 posts
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Registered 11 years agoSome quick first impressions of the Arc, music only as finishing a living/dining redecoration and my C9 arrives today (perfect timing)..
I set it up in the bedroom (no Trueplay yet and Arc alone without Sub or rears) and played a selection of different genre, styles and speaker performance requirements, so specifics below..
Jose Gonzalez - Save Your Day. With this just being acoustic guitar and vocal but with some nice dynamics, a nice track to let the sound breathe. Lovely clarity and tone with the buzz off the frets that are sat in the track coming through and really Feels like he’s in the room with you.
David Bowie - Station to Station. The opening ‘train’ had a great sensation of a slow pan, the prominent bass guitar felt really nice and in comparisons to Playbar felt much more alive (I loved my Playbar). Deffo put a smile on the face.
Mark Lanegan - One Hundred Days. I specifically gave this a run because the track is dominated by the bass guitar line that runs through and the gravel like vocal. I couldn’t believe I didn’t have the sub attached.
Propllerheads - Oh Yeah!. Again chosen for a specific reason, the track starting with a back and forth pan by what sounds like a skateboard. The width of sound and smoothness of the pan was so much better than the Playbar and sounded great throughout, the drums sounding really lively.
Gesaffelstein - Pursuit. A very deep cut and highlights the strength of the bass output, really nice and deep/bold especially considering the relatively slight profile of Arc. I didn‘t go beyond 50%, and rarely do, but can imagine anyone not used to having a Sub would find this pretty awesome.
Roots Manuva - One Thing. This is my go to track for showing off the Sub performance, and of course didn’t expect anything like that solo, but still came away impressed in context of Arc doing all the work. One thing (unintentional pun) I need to check though is through the verse the bass had a bit of a buzz to it, which I can’t recall if it’s there by design. It’s possible the Arc was struggling a bit here but will retry this later when reattached to the TV and surrounds.
Overall impression so far, and realising I’ve not scratched the surface, is that this is a very smile inducing bit of kit and really feels like a big step up from Playbar. I‘ve not used a beam, but can only imagine how chuffed those upgrading from that are.
Edited by Fourwisemen at 07:08:36 11-06-2020 -
ozthegweat 2,851 posts
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Registered 10 years agoThanks for you impressions! Will you use it for gaming as well? -
Fourwisemen 1,064 posts
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Registered 11 years ago@ozthegweat
Yep and will be trying out a few things that are supposed to have good Atmos implementation.
Any thoughts on XBOneX games that would give it a good test?
I’ll share impressions of games and movies over the next couple of days. My Play 5 is in the bedroom so will do a ‘side by side’ comparison as well, could be interesting. -
ozthegweat 2,851 posts
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Registered 10 years agoThere are only 12 Xbox games that support Atmos anyway according to this list:
- Assassin's Creed: Origins
- Battlefield 1
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Crackdown 3
- Final Fantasy XV
- Gears of War 4
- Gears 5
- Overwatch
- Resident Evil 2
- Rise of the Tomb Raider
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider
- Super Lucky's Tale
Edited by ozthegweat at 09:31:56 11-06-2020 -
Fourwisemen 1,064 posts
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Registered 11 years ago@ozthegweat
Well, I’ve a few of them so will give a go tomorrow.
Living/dining room redecoration finished, now to enjoy the Arc and C9.
Following my feedback on music, some initial testing on movie/TV.
Sub and rears are now on, not true played yet as waiting to pop the curtains up, but I am pretty bowled over before that with the upgrade from Playbar.
I’ve run a few Dolby tests and the presence of the audio is a huge step up.
Playing some standard 5.1 was noticeably a bigger soundstage.
As others, I gave Bladerunner 2049 a few scenes and no doubt the immersion is on another level.
I’m sure a full on dedicated Atmos system would be ‘better’ but for what is a typical living room environment, I think most people would love it.
https://share.icloud.com/photos/06PQQ64W5PestOnZGec0_uuNw#Northwich_-_Winnington
Edited by Fourwisemen at 19:42:45 11-06-2020 -
Fourwisemen 1,064 posts
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Registered 11 years ago@ozthegweat
Quick update on this as had a chance to give a couple of games a bit of a test this morn.
Gears 5 sounds seriously good and a big step up from a standard 5.1 Playbar setup. A real feeling of spaciousness to the audio.
Forza 4 again feels a real benefit, although I’m an in car view user so the engine sound dominates. Switching to an outside view again brings the sense of space.
I popped Grid on to see how that fared with an interesting result. It sounded great but then I realised the rears were not on so had to go into the settings and switch the HDMI output to Dolby Digital so this is a bit of a pain (not Sonos fault obvs, be far better if Xbox could auto detect and switch).
All in all, and as I really expected, and as an unashamed Sonos fanboy, across all three situations I’m well impressed -
TommyUnderwear 364 posts
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Registered 17 years ago@Fourwisemen impressive. Nice looking setup. -
Fourwisemen 1,064 posts
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Registered 11 years agoLooks like a nice addition to the lineup coming..
https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/4/22313451/sonos-roam-leak-features-specs-price-release-date -
TheSaint 20,544 posts
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Registered 15 years agoHard to see why you'd buy that over a UE Boom. -
ozthegweat 2,851 posts
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Registered 10 years agoPerhaps a different sound signature. -
Dougs 98,694 posts
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Registered 18 years agoPlus, I find Bluetooth to be flakey as fuck. I may be interested in that for the summer. Would quite like a Move or whatever it's called but both come down to price point. -
Zomoniac 10,439 posts
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Registered 17 years agoI’d rather they just make some Arcs. -
Dougs 98,694 posts
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Registered 18 years agoTheSaint wrote:
Is there a preferred model? So much choice..... looking to get a new outdoor speaker so....
Hard to see why you'd buy that over a UE Boom. -
nickthegun 86,026 posts
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Registered 15 years agoWe have 2x JBLs (one for the can, one for the garden) and can’t recommend them highly enough, if you’re after that kind of thing. -
Dougs 98,694 posts
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Registered 18 years agoJust need a step up from the Lidl £20 job, which is fine but flakey as. Got a mini-JBL (for the car, as my car is so old, I have no BT or even Aux - and putting one in is a no go due to the weird dash). Been quite impressed with it for something so tiny. -
Technoishmatt 5,071 posts
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Registered 7 years agoIsn't the point that it will join up with other Sonos speakers? So you have same music playing. -
Technoishmatt 5,071 posts
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Registered 7 years agoIsn't the point that it will join up with other Sonos speakers? So you have same music playing.o -
Zerobob 2,913 posts
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Registered 11 years agoFourwisemen wrote:
This is exactly what's missing from the Sonos lineup.
Looks like a nice addition to the lineup coming..
https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/4/22313451/sonos-roam-leak-features-specs-price-release-date
My wifi reaches throughout the entire house with barely any drop-off... until you get to the garden. It barely reaches past the back door for some reason.
I was going to buy another Sonos speaker for the kitchen (which could double up as an outdoor speaker for the summer) until I realised none of them have bluetooth, so I'm completely reliant on an outdoor wifi connection.
This has wifi and bluetooth, so me or a friend can simply connect their phone to it, or I can use it as part of my indoor Sonos network. Perfect.
Edit: Just realised the Sonos Move has both bluetooth and wifi too, although I wasn't looking to spend £350 on a speaker, especially one I'm going to use outdoors.
Edited by Zerobob at 16:32:47 05-03-2021 -
monkman76 18,386 posts
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Registered 13 years agoSonos speakers create their own mesh though as I understand it, so you just need a speaker near the garden (but still in good wifi range) and one in the garden. That may be more than you have available of course. -
Zerobob 2,913 posts
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Registered 11 years ago@monkman76 Ah interesting, I didn't realise they could talk to each other directly. I thought they all connected to your router and the app on your phone orchestrated commands between them. -
Fourwisemen 1,064 posts
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Registered 11 years ago@Zerobob
The Move is an excellent speaker choice, especially if you can get in a sale, and sounds excellent outdoors.
I like to take a speaker on a holiday, remember those..., but the move is a heavy bugger.
The Roam looks like it would be far better for that type of situ, no doubt the sound won’t come close to the Move, but I’m going to guess good enough for those times when you want to easily take sound with you.
If just for the garden though, the Move really is excellent. -
Dougs 98,694 posts
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Registered 18 years agoSo tempted to pre-order the Roam. It's the right price point for me really. Would prefer a Move but I'm not spending that! -
Yeah I think I'm going to get one. I've got 30% off due to having one of the 'legacy' speakers (grr) so I don't think I can resist at £110. (Worth logging in and checking that yourself if you have an older speaker or amp etc.)
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