It seems it's just not something that Sonos sees enough demand for: “It's about consumer demand. So what about DTS, a never-present on Sonos' speakers to date? "Chris said to me, 'that’s got good height, but I didn’t put that stuff up there'. If your TV does not have an HDMI ARC port, ... Sonos Arc supports playback of Dolby Atmos audio via Dolby Digital Plus or Dolby TrueHD. Dolby Atmos soundbars don't get much less expensive than this, and if you're trying to build a system on a more modest budget, you'll get an Atmos experience, even if it's limited to 2.1 channels. The Sonos Beam is looking to fill an obvious gap in the smart speaker company's product line-up. Whereas in traditional surround sound environments, sounds are held to specific channels, Dolby Atmos utilizes a concept called audio objects. I have a 2017 LG OLED B7 TV that has an ARC output (not eARc). Arc's upward-firing drivers create a multi-dimensional soundstage that moves around you, rendering every whisper and explosion with dramatic clarity, detail, and depth. The Arc is a superb Dolby Atmos soundbar – right up there with the best – and has all the bells and whistles of Sonos' multi-room system and more. Price The Sonos Beam and the [nolink:Bose Smart Soundbar 300] are similarly performing 3.0 setups, although some users may prefer one bar over another. Sonos’ new Arc soundbar (available at Amazon) is the company’s most ambitious and best sounding bar yet.It’s also the largest Sonos soundbar by far, but for good reason. If you're looking for Atmos support, you'll want to try the Sony X9000F. DTS and Dolby are very similar, and all streaming is in Dolby.". We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. ... More recently, smaller rooms were catered for by the Sonos Beam, which came with a noticeably updated industrial design. NY 10036. Atmos is a surround sound format developed by Dolby. Please refresh the page and try again. It also doesn't have height channels or Atmos content support. The goal is to provide a detailed and immersive audio experience. Dolby Atmos soundbars don't get much less expensive than this, and if you're trying to build a system on a more modest budget, you'll get an Atmos experience, even if it's limited to 2.1 channels. And it seems Sonos thinks in a similar way. Sonos Arc can connect to TVs with eARC, ARC, or optical outputs. If you connect to a TV with eARC, the Dolby audio formats supported include Dolby Atmos, TrueHD, MAT, Dolby Digital Plus, and Dolby Digital. In a candid interview with the company's sound experience leader, Giles In an ideal world you’d plug your soundbar into your TV, hit the power button, and be immersed in a hubbub of Dolby Atmos … Sonos Arc: A Dolby Atmos performance evaluation ... Apocalypse where a young Scott Summers wreaks havoc in a bathroom stall as he uses his laser-beam … The Sonos Beam is a great-looking, superb-sounding soundbar. User account menu. What about Sonos' own products? Jeff Dunn - May 6, 2020 8:00 pm UTC Visit our corporate site. One such person is Academy Award-winning sound mixer, Chris Jenkins (Mad Max: Fury Road, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Love & Mercy). There's an HDMI input on a Sonos product for the first time, plus Amazon Alexa voice control. 9. Sonos works with a host of music and movie industry professionals on the performance of its products and clearly takes a lot of their feedback on board. Sonos Arc: There’s A Sonos Soundbar With Dolby Atmos, Finally. Sign up below to get the latest from What Hi-Fi?, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox! Basically, the only main difference in features (apart from eARC support and Dolby Atmos) is that the Sonos Arc has audio sync an automatic option, while you have to enable it on the Beam. It can support more audio formats via its HDMI ARC port and it has more wireless playback options. Well, if you’re a proper hi-fi nerd then you probably wished for a more premium edition of the Beam with support for something called Dolby Atmos. readers if comments on our reviews and articles on the subject are anything to go by - even if we are fans of products such as the Atmos-touting Sony HT-ST5000. The Sonos Sub was released ahead of … It's … This Atmos soundbar and subwoofer combo from Sony will get you started at about $100 north of the Sonos Beam. is sound quality. These allow the sounds you hear from being set to a single channel. Most systems utilize multiple components, including soundbars. The Playbar launched all the way back in 2013, before Dolby Atmos became a trend in the home cinema market. If you don't need Atmos, the Sonos Beam has great sound, along with useful features like built-in Alexa and support for Apple's AirPlay 2. The only other way around the issue is if you have a … So Sonos Beam, while being a cheaper option, tends to get more favorable ⭐ reviews than the $1198 Sony 7.1.2 Dolby Atmos, as seen on the chart below. And regardless of the features, sound quality remains at the heart of the product. Plain and simple: the Sonos Beam could do with more bass. The Sonos Beam also features support for AirPlay 2. Sonos is shipping the Dolby Atmos Arc soundbar, and with a living room in need of audio finesse, so we picked one up to put it to the test with our Apple TV 4K. We don’t look at it to [just] make a smaller Playbar.". This lets you connect the Beam to multiple other AirPlay 2 speakers around your home and play the same audio wherever you go in your house. The Sonos Beam doesn’t sound bad — far from it, actually — but for those who want big bass (and most of us do), the Sonos Sub will literally make your room shake. Many Dolby Atmos-compatible soundbars achieve their effects through upward-firing speakers, whose sound bounces off your home's ceiling and down towards you. We spoke to Giles Martin (Sonos sound experience leader) and Hilmar Lehnert (senior director, audio systems engineering) about the making of the Beam, about how Sonos approaches sound, and the thinking behind some of those feature 'omissions'. Save $100 on the Powerbeats Pro right now. ", And as Martin makes clear, it was a fresh slate for the Beam: "we have a sound experience we want to reach... we want to exceed that. As Lehnert says: "We start with the target of transparency. So what form does that take when it comes to creating a speaker built to deliver TV sound and music? And he wasn't taken with Atmos sound from existing soundbars. And it isn't short of features. On top of that, it's fairly safe to say that Sonos Beam is a more popular sound bar, based on its 3,000+ reviews. And we have to get it right. You can connect both to whatever TV or A/V receiver you use in your home theater setup. An Apple user for more than a decade and a half, he spends his time learning the ins and outs of iOS and macOS, always finding ways of getting the most out of his iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Future US, Inc. 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, Sonos seems happy it's got the sound nailed with Beam. Sonos Arc needs to be connected to your TV with an HDMI cord (one is provided with Arc) via an ARC or eARC port (eARC is required for Dolby TrueHD and Dolby MAT). "We found in a product this size… when we listened to some products which were way more expensive that did Atmos…" Martin tails off, making a somewhat unimpressed face. Does X sound better than Y? How does the Beam sound compared to the Playbar, for example? Originally built for use in theaters, Atmos has since also been adapted for use in homes. While it has a fairly neutral sound profile, it lacks bass. Not only is it one of the more affordable Sonos speakers on the market, it's built for prime position underneath your TV. You will receive a verification email shortly. For greatest compatibility, eARC is recommended. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. To get Dolby Atmos sound from Sonos Arc, you need to address the following: Connections. "A little less aural output, not as deep and not as wide," answers Lehnert matter-of-factly. Save $100 on the Powerbeats Pro right now. The Xbox is very good at audio and can transcode DTS soundtracks to Dolby Atmos on the fly, which is good because the Sonos doesn’t support DTS. Arc, Beam, and Amp require a TV with an HDMI ARC port in order to use Amazon Alexa or the Google Assistant to control your TV. "The best smart speaker for smaller homes" is the tagline on one Sonos Beam promotional video - we look forward to getting our hands more fully on the Sonos Beam to see if we agree. Press J to jump to the feed. Is that how Sonos work? 3D sound with Dolby Atmos Experience shows, movies, and games with the precise and immersive sound of Dolby Atmos. It’s not an incredibly steep price for a Dolby Atmos bar with built-in surround sound, but a good bare-bones soundbar with a sub can cost as little as $150. Sonos announced the Arc, a soundbar featuring support for Dolby Atmos, and there are hints at support for higher resolution audio formats coming in the future. Martin's not sure. However, the Bose is smaller, with a slightly better-balanced sound profile. It can also output 7.1 LPCM which the C9 can passthrough and the Sonos Arc can now receive following recent updates. Sonos has ruled out Dolby Atmos for its new compact soundbar, the Sonos Beam. Sonos is hard at work on a new soundbar that'll bring one of the biggest missing features from the connected speaker range – Dolby Atmos. As Sonos' first Dolby Atmos soundbar, the Arc’s beefy frame supports a powerful collection of drivers, including upfiring speakers to bounce sound off the ceiling and immerse you in sound from above. 9. Note that only the Sonos Arc supports Dolby Atmos, so Beam owners will need to select Dolby Digital. If you need Dolby Atmos support, but don't want to pay a lot more than you would for the Sonos Beam, then the Sony X9000F is a great option. At $799, it has more powerful audio than the cheaper Sonos Beam … “If you can’t hear the dialogue, you’re dead... [but] music is more sensitive to a speaker than film and TV.” We get the impression Sonos remains music first, albeit ensuring you never have to suffer through hard-to-hear speech on TV or films. Packed with innovation at a price that’s enticing. When it comes to reviews at What Hi-Fi?, we're all about comparative testing. The most important aspect of any audio product for What Hi-Fi? © Here's our picks for the best options around. Apple AirPlay 2 and Siri voice control should be ready by the time of launch, too. So what about the features? Unlike with the bass-shy Sonos Beam, I never felt like I needed a subwoofer with the Arc. Best bookshelf speakers 2020: budget to premium, Best Apple AirPods alternatives 2020: budget to premium, Best wireless earbuds 2020: budget and premium. is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Your AirPods case is the perfect protection for your AirPods, but who protects the protectors? It sounds great, but I am trying to get it to play Dolby Atmos content. Thank you for signing up to What Hi-Fi?. The Sonos Arc is the long-awaited Playbar update with Dolby Atmos support Arc brings a new design and feature set, while the Play:5 is now just the Five. The other speakers in your system will fill out the rest of the audio environment. The Sonos Beam is a fantastic speaker for the living room, but what do you do if your TV is up on the wall? We've rounded up a cool collection of cases for your precious buds, with a style and on a budget to suit everyone. Just like standard surround sound, Atmos still utilizes channels, with audio objects placed on top of sounds that don't need the specificity that Atmos allows for. That said, AV enthusiasts will point out a couple of specifications that aren't on the sheet - DTS (still) and Dolby Atmos. Apple AirPlay 2 and Siri voice control should be ready by the time of launch, too. The soundbar connects to the TV via HDMI, supporting the new eARC standard required for Dolby Atmos, but is backward-compatible with the previous ARC and optical audio connections. It seems they don't rate the performance of Dolby Atmos on soundbars, which, let's face it, is not the most controversial opinion we've heard - it's certainly one shared by plenty of disbelieving What Hi-Fi? If you want an affordable entry into Sonos ownership that delivers music and movie sound, the Beam could now be the answer. Close. The Sonos Beam is a great little soundbar. Sonos is interested in adding a pair of $700 Dolby Atmos-enabled speakers to its lineup, a customer survey. Martin says he's a fan of Atmos in full-size cinema systems, name-checking KEF products and Dolby's Atmos cinema in Soho - and he has produced Atmos soundtracks - but he's not convinced that it's right for a product such as this. What Hi-Fi? “We do a little of that... but what we focus on is what is the right customer experience. It may not have the Dolby Atmos smarts of the Sonos Arc, but the Sonos Beam still packs a serious audio punch, particularly when you consider its compact build. I just swapped out my playbase with an Arc. As with plenty of other companies, consumer demand coupled with product performance is clearly what drives the development process. However, it has a wide soundstage thanks to its side-firing speakers that can give you a more immersive movie experience. Dolby Atmos and 5.0 surround are also supported, with the Arc being the first Sonos product to support Atmos. Better than Cyber Monday pricing! The all-new premium Dolby Atmos Sonos soundbar for your TV, music and more. If you don't want or need Dolby Atmos support, and really just want better audio from your TV, the Sonos Beam is still a great option. 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