A few months ago, Sonos released a software update that some owners found significantly altered the performance of their Sonos Arc and Sub devices. After updating to version 14.12, customers noted that the Sonos Arc was not only quieter across the board but also had an altered frequency response. Those who paired the Arc to Sonos Sub and ran Truplay room calibration also found a dramatic loss of bass.
The changes to the Arc's sound profile in the 14.12 release were made to improve dialogue clarity, but complaints from users saying that the update had negatively impacted their sound system quickly flooded Reddit and the Sonos forum, while YouTuber Peter Pee has produced several informative videos detailing the issues.
Sonos has now announced that it has resolved these issues with its latest update, version 14.18, which launched on Tuesday, October 18th.
On the Sonos forum, a staff member explained the improvements that users can expect when they upgrade to the new firmware saying," With the 14.18 software update, both of these 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 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."
They also went on to confirm that systems without a full-size Sub, such as stand-alone Sonos soundbars or those with the Sub Mini, were unaffected by the issue.
Initial responses from users to the update are overwhelmingly positive so far. Although issues caused by firmware can be incredibly frustrating for customers who have shelled out a lot of cash on a product that was working well previously, it's encouraging to see a company being responsive to user feedback while trying to make improvements to its products. Earlier this year, Sonos also made changes to the sound profile of the Sonos Ray after reports, including our review, found issues with its low-end performance.
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