The new Sonos soundbar finally features Dolby Atmos
7.5.2020
Translation: Eva Francis
Sonos has launched a soundbar that masters Dolby Atmos – at last! It comes with a new generation of speakers and subwoofers. And: the Sonos app is overhauled.
Googling «Arc» has just become tricky, as Arc no longer stands for the audio back channel of your TV only, but also for Sonos' new soundbar. Thanks for that.
Nevertheless, the news might have provoked many people to think: «about time». Why? The American company from Santa Barbara, California, has presented its first soundbar that supports Dolby Atmos. On top of this, the Arc boasts a new generation of speakers and subwoofers. Last but not least, the Sonos app is renewed from scratch.
The new products can be pre-ordered immediately and will be available from 10 June 2020. The app will be available from 8 June 2020 on the Google Playstore and in the Apple Store.
New soundbar: Sonos Arc
The Arc is equipped with a total of eleven drivers. That's two more than the somewhat aged playbar has. More specifically, the Arc features eight elliptical woofers for clear reproduction of medium voice frequencies and rich bass and three dome tweeters for high frequencies and dialogues. The outer drivers are attached in an angle that’s supposed to direct sound to the sides even better and provide an even wider sound backdrop.
All of the eleven drivers have a class D digital amplifier.
The Arc is connected to the TV via HDMI-ARC. See, that’s exactly what I meant by Arc and ARC. Alternatively, you can also use the HDMI-to-Toslink adapter, which is supplied. However, the Toslink adapter doesn’t offer enough bandwidth to process Dolby Atmos sound. The Trueplay tuning software, which makes you walk around the room waving your mobile phone to calibrate the soundbar and adjust it to the environment, has been upgraded to Dolby Atmos.
The Arc can be controlled with voice commands via Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. This is made possible by four built-in far-field microphones. The Beam, the slimmed-down soundbar version for smaller rooms and flats, is equipped with the same microphones. The Arc also boasts features such as Apple AirPlay 2 support, a night mode and speech enhancement mode. We already know these features from the predecessor.
Overall, Sonos calls this a 5.0 sound system, not a 3.0.2 system, although two of the eleven drivers are angled upwards. Usually, these two drivers would send the sound to the ceiling, from where it’s reflected back to the listener. This creates sound from above without needing ceiling loudspeakers: 3D sound. In simple terms, what Dolby Atmos stands for.
Is it possible that the two drivers pointing upwards don’t direct sound to the ceiling at all? According to Sonos, the new chip, along with the revised loudspeaker architecture, sends a combination of audio and counter signals to create 5.0 surround sound without needing additional speakers.
Does this produce quality sound? We’ll find out once I put the new soundbar to the test. I’ll definitely publish a review within the next weeks and before the sales start.
New speaker: Sonos Five
There's not so much to say about the Sonos Five, the third generation, which is now called «Five» instead of «Play: 5». A new chip provides improved performance and the memory capacity has been slightly increased. Sonos hasn’t provided more details than these.
Unfortunately, the third generation of the Five is still missing a built-in microphone for voice control – the only speaker in the Sonos portfolio, apart from the SL version of the Sonos One.
New subwoofer: Sonos Sub Gen 3
The Sonos Sub also features a new chip and more memory capacity. That’s about it.
As previously, two inward-facing force-cancelling drivers ensure that there are no audible or noticeable vibrations when there’s strong bass. On the outside, nothing has changed. The only visible change is that the new coupling button is round instead of square. So if you don't have a fetish for round buttons, it’s hardly worth upgrading.
New app: Sonos S2 to be released in early June
Sonos will be releasing the new, completely redesigned Sonos app on 8 June. The currently available version will be renamed «Sonos S1 Controller» and the new version will simply be called «Sonos». Once you download the new app and if you've used Sonos before, the S1 settings will automatically be transferred to the S2 app.
The new app is primarily intended to be future-proof: it supports higher-resolution audio formats, such as Dolby Atmos, improves the security of Sonos products connected to your home network and sports a new design and new features that have not yet been discussed in detail. Room grouping is mentioned every now and then, but that wouldn’t be new. If you have more information, drop me a comment down below.
What’s important to know is the new app isn’t compatible with Sonos devices of older generations – and Sonos products released in June won’t be compatible with the S1 Controller. Here’s an overview.
By the way, you can still control the old, incompatible products with the S1 controller. The Controller won’t support the new features that are released soon, but Sonos has promised to continue to provide updates and security patches to the app and the products. At least «as long as possible».
Luca Fontana
Senior Editor
Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.chI'm an outdoorsy guy and enjoy sports that push me to the limit – now that’s what I call comfort zone! But I'm also about curling up in an armchair with books about ugly intrigue and sinister kingkillers. Being an avid cinema-goer, I’ve been known to rave about film scores for hours on end. I’ve always wanted to say: «I am Groot.»