![sonos arc soundbar sonos arc soundbar](https://www.bhphotovideo.com/images/images2500x2500/sonos_arcg1us1_arc_soundbar_white_1560624.jpg)
#SONOS ARC SOUNDBAR PLUS#
Streaming services like Netflix embed Dolby Atmos data in the lossy Dolby Digital Plus to reduce the bandwidth requirements, but most only offer it with their 4K service tiers, which are still out of reach of those with modest internet connections. Yeah, that’s old-school, but it means you don’t need to have very high-speed internet, which isn’t available everywhere. Woofers on each end of the Sonos Arc can bounce sound off the walls on either side of the speaker to simulate front surround speakers.Īnd if you want the best audio experience that Dolby can deliver today-lossless audio in the form of Dolby TrueHD, and immersive audio in the form of Dolby Atmos-you’ll want to watch movies on discs played on a 4K UHD Blu-ray player. That’s how Samsung engineered our current top pick in the high-end soundbar category, the 7.1.4-channel HW-Q90R. To get around this limitation, Sonos could have followed the example of some other soundbar manufacturers and built two or more HDMI ports into the Arc: You would have used HDMI ARC to send audio from the TV’s tuner, apps, and other sources to the Arc, and the Arc’s second HDMI port would receive audio from a Blu-ray player or set-top box. TVs with eARC, however, didn’t start trickling into the market until 2018.
#SONOS ARC SOUNDBAR TV#
Either way, your TV will send audio information, including Dolby Atmos, to the Arc over an HDMI cable and all will be right with the world. If you have a recent-model smart TV, its built-in apps might even offer direct support for Dolby Atmos, so you won’t need a separate box. This review is part of TechHive’s coverage of the best soundbars, where you’ll find reviews of competing products, plus a buyer’s guide to the features you should consider when shopping. Even then, the Arc’s second limitation could render the Xbox’s and PlayStation’s Atmos capabilities moot. Sony supports Atmos only for the playback of Blu-ray discs (and you’ll need to configure it properly for that to happen). Microsoft’s Xbox supports Dolby Atmos, although not every game developed for those platforms does (in fact, many use multi-channel LPCM audio). But if you are and the Nintendo Switch is your gaming console of choice, this will bum you out because LPCM is the only type of multi-channel audio the Switch supports (you will get audio from a Switch connected to the Arc, it just won’t be surround sound).
![sonos arc soundbar sonos arc soundbar](https://cdn.ecoustics.com/db0/wblob/17BA35E873D594/256B/412FF/-eGCkBJ66gVQE3jE5zmskgEvqfVb3Stiv3PZiy3i3b8/sonos-arc-soundbar-sub-sl.jpg)
If you’re not a gamer, you might not care about this.
![sonos arc soundbar sonos arc soundbar](https://www.residentialsystems.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/SonosArcAngledHero-1.jpg)
#SONOS ARC SOUNDBAR UPDATE#
A Sonos spokesperson told me the company plans to release a firmware update to add that feature, but couldn’t give me a date. The first issue is that Sonos elected to not support multi-channel LPCM audio-at least not at launch. The Sonos Arc’s single-biggest shortcoming: It’s equipped with just one HDMI port (it’s on the left side in this photo, opposite the power connection).