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2024 has been a rough year for Sonos. The companys would-be triumphant entry into the crowded headphones market was overshadowed by a disastrous app redesign. In the fallout of the botched software update, the company decided to delay products that were ready to be shipped to give itself more time to right the course. Consumer trust eroded, and people who already owned Sonos gear were living in a cycle of constant frustration. Thanks to a number of rumors, we already knew that one of the pending product releases was the Arc Ultra ($999). A few weeks ago the company decided not to wait any longer to reveal it. While the design is mostly unchanged from the Arc that debuted in 2020, there are several key changes on the inside that make this a better all-in-one solution for people who dont want to add more speakers to their living room setup. Sonos is promising better bass performance thanks to new speaker tech thats debuting in the Arc Ultra, but just how good can it be? Design The refined design of the original Arc was a massive upgrade from that of the Playbar, and showed a progression from Sonos compact Beam soundbar. Honestly, the aesthetic is pretty timeless, in my opinion, and its a look that should age well for years to come. That said, it makes sense that Sonos would keep the design for the Arc Ultra, only making some minor changes to the exterior. The Arc Ultra still comes in both black and white options, allowing you to choose what looks best in your living room or home theater. Sonos updated the controls to mirror whats available on the newer Era 100 and Era 300 speakers, moving them to a top-facing bar at the back. Theres a volume slider on the right with play/pause and skip controls in the center. On the left side, Sonos gives you a microphone control so you can mute the built-in mics as needed. And thats really it in terms of design changes that you can see. The Arc Ultra is slightly shorter height-wise than the Arc, and its a little wider than its predecessor. Neither of which make a huge difference, and they wont drastically change how you position the speaker beneath your TV. Sonos' new sound motion woofer is situated on the right side of the soundbar Sonos Inside, Sonos has re-engineered the Arc Ultra to improve audio performance. The biggest piece of this overhaul is the new Sound Motion woofer that enables better bass performance before you add a standalone wireless sub. The achievement here, thanks to the acquisition of audio company Mayht, is that the new component lays flat, taking up less room than a traditional cone-shaped woofer. The Sound Motion driver also helps deliver increased clarity and depth, on top of doubling the bass output of the original Arc. Sonos redesigned the entire acoustic architecture of the Arc Ultra during the process of adding the Sound Motion woofer. The soundbar now houses three more drivers than the arc, a list that includes seven tweeters (two of which are upfiring), six mid-range drivers (midwoofers, as Sonos calls them) and the aforementioned woofer for a total of 14. The company also employs 15 Class-D digital amplifiers along with far-field mics for tuning and voice control. Theres still only a single HDMI (eARC) port, which allows most modern TVs the ability to control the soundbars volume and mute options from your TV remote. Moreover, the Arc Ultra is compatible with Wi-Fi 6 and newly-added Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity allows you to stream from any device. And of course, AirPlay 2 is still on the spec sheet. One last thing Ill mention here is that the Arc Ultra doesnt ship with an optical adapter if you prefer that connection. The company will sell you one for $25. Software and features Since the Arc Ultra is a Sonos product, there are a lot of core features that are the same as they are on the companys other devices. You can use the soundbar as part of a multiroom setup and Trueplay tuning is here to adjust the audio to the acoustics of the room. Theres still an adjustable EQ with options for bass, treble and loudness and a Night Sound mode makes things less boomy when someone in your house may be trying to work or sleep. While Trueplay will give you the best sound customization for the sonic characteristics of your living room, Sonos is enabling a Quick Tune feature for the first time on the Arc Ultra. Here, the soundbar will use its internal mics, as opposed to your phone, to offer a certain deree of improvement. The company says it wanted to give people the option of something quicker than Trueplay, although the full-fledged tuning process doesnt take very long at all. Speech Enhancement has been a handy feature on Sonos soundbars for a while, giving you the ability to improve dialog clarity as needed. Before now, it was an all-or-nothing feature, but on the Arc Ultra, the company introduced three levels of speech boost to give you more options to better suit your needs. This means the soundbar can help you hear clearly over background noise or simply follow along better by elevating dialog above the rest of the soundtrack mix. Sonos moved the controls to a bar along the back Billy Steele for Engadget The trademark feature of Sonos Ace headphones is the ability to beam the audio from a compatible soundbar to the cans for a private home theater. That TV Audio Swap tool is available on the Arc Ultra, so you can instantly send the sound to the headphones with the press of a button. In fact, Sonos bundles the Arc Ultra and Ace headphones in a $1,373 set. Whats more, the Ace supports spatial audio with dynamic head tracking, so you can count on immersive sound even when youre employing it on an individual basis. Despite all of the problems that Sonos has had with its app, some of which it's still working to resolve, I didn't encounter any issues during my testing. The software crashed on me once when the Trueplay tuning process completed, but everything had already run its course and I didnt have to repeat it. Other than that, the app has worked reliably over the last week while Ive been putting the Arc Ultra through its paces. Most importantly, the software is stable and the full suite of controls for the new soundbar is available at launch. Sound performance The original Arc already sounded great, so Sonos really had its work cut out for it to further improve the audio quality for the Arc Ultra. Thanks to the improved bass of the Sound Motion tech, a change that also takes up less space, the company says it had the ability to then overhaul the mid-range and high-frequency components as well. By using multiple sizes of mid-range drivers and tweeters, Sonos was able to tweak the speaker positioning inside of the soundbar for improved projection and more immersive sound. In addition to the enhanced bass performance, the second thing that was immediately apparent on the Arc Ultra was those improvements to the dimensional sound. Whether it was a quidditch match in a Harry Potter movie or zooming F1 cars in Drive to Survive, the soundbar now has better directional, immersive sound than its predecessor. Sonos says the Arc Ultra now renders Dolby Atmos content in a 9.1.4-channel setup, versus 5.0.2 with the Arc, which further contributes to the enveloping audio. Interestingly, I havent seen any of the competition claim four up-firing channels from the soundbar like Sonos does here (those that do are usually accounting for up-firing drivers in the rear speakers). You can really hear the difference from the second you fire up the Arc Ultra, and the effect is consistent across content sources. There's still just one HDMI port, but Bluetooth connectivity is now included Billy Steele for Engadget The increased bass performance makes the Arc Ultra a much better speaker for music without a separate subwoofer. You wont get the bombastic low-end tone the newly updated Sonos Sub 4 can produce, but theres enough from the soundbar to give Kaytranadas Timeless, Phantograms Memory of a Day and Bilmuris American Motor Sports plenty of booming backbone when a track demands it. Theres also still the trademark Sonos clarity Ive come to expect over the years, which means finer details like the texture of synths, layered guitars and the nuance of acoustic instruments cut through the mix cleanly. And speaking of clarity, the companys new Speech Enhancement settings are also a big improvement. Being able to select how much of a boost this feature offered depending on either my needs right then or based on the overall tuning of the content is really nice. It allowed me to max out the dialog when watching movies after my toddler was asleep so that speech didnt suffer when sound effects were louder during intense scenes of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The competition Theres no doubt the Arc Ultra packs in deeper, more immersive sound than its predecessor, but some people will still want a more robust setup to wring every ounce of audio out of a Sonos living room setup. The high-end choice for this is what Sonos calls the Ultimate Immersive Set, which includes the Arc Ultra, two Era 300s and the Sub 4. Right now, that will cost you $2,561. For something less expensive, you can get the Arc Ultra and the new Sub 4 (normally $799) for $1,708 (Premium Entertainment Set). And therein lies the biggest problem with Sonos soundbars: expanding your living room setup to get the most immersive experience gets very pricey very quickly when the centerpiece is already $999. If you can live without all the conveniences of Sonos products, you can get an all-in-one package from Samsung for $1,500. With the Q990D, youll get the soundbar, two rear speakers and a wireless subwoofer in the same box. The setup offers 11.1.4 audio for excellent Atmos sound, thanks in part to up-firing drivers in the rear speakers. Samsung offers a host of handy features, from Q-Symphony audio with TV speakers, SpaceFit Sound Pro room calibration, Adaptive Sound audio enhancement, a dedicated gaming mode and more. The Q990D remains my top pick for the best soundbars for a lot of reasons, a key one being everything you could need comes in one all-inclusive package. Wrap-up The Arc Ultra is an obvious improvement over the Arc in the sonic department. New technology delivers on its promise to boost bass, clarity and immersive before you start adding extra components. Expanded features like Speech Enhancements and a quick-tune option offer new tools for dialing in the sound, while the stock Sonos experience remains intact. And thankfully, that includes an app thats more stable than it was a few months ago. The Arc Ultra is still pricey at $999, but it exhibits a lot more sonic prowess than its predecessor for only $100 more.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/speakers/sonos-arc-ultra-review-new-tech-powers-a-big-audio-upgrade-130011149.html?src=rss
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Nintendo has filed a lawsuit against a streamer called EveryGameGuru, accused of streaming gameplays of pirated games before they were even released and of providing viewers access to piracy tools and illegal copies of the games. EveryGameGuru allegedly streamed Mario & Luigi: Brothership across five days, weeks before its official release on November 7. After Nintendo had the videos taken down from various platforms, including YouTube, they continued live streaming on Loco and even included a QR code for their CashApp handle. Nintendo said EveryGameGuru sent the company an email, saying it has a thousand burner channels and can do this all day. Dont anger the house of Mario! The company is asking for $150,000 in damages per violation of its copyright. 404media did the math: That could add up to millions, seeing as the suit cites at least 10 games, streamed on at least 50 occasions. Mat Smith The biggest tech stories you missed Engadget review recap: Two new Macs, the PS5 Pro and more Sony has sold 65 million PS5s Andor season two will hit Disney+ in April Get this delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here! HTC Vive Focus Vision review An average-performing premium VR headset. Engadget Sure, its not for most of us. The Vive Focus Vision isnt for the same people as the PSVR2 or Meta Quest 3. This is meant to be high-end VR for businesses and creators: a cross between the Focus 3 and last years goggle-like XR Elite. The build quality is excellent, but its running on aging hardware. Worse, its riddled with software issues and is rather expensive compared to the Meta Quest 3. Continue reading. The voice of AOLs Youve got mail! dies aged 74 He recorded four phrases for $200 in 1989. If youre aged 30 and up, you know the voice of Elwood Edwards, realize it or not. He recorded the phrase, Youve got mail! and three other lines for Quantum Computer Services in 1989. That company became America Online (AOL), Meg Ryan made the movie with Tom Hanks and everything else. (AOL is currently owned by Yahoo, Engadgets parent company.) Continue reading. Latest God of War Ragnarok patch tells the son to be quiet It reduces all the hints from Kratos offspring. Sony The latest patch for the PS5 version of God of War Ragnarok adds the option first seen in the PC port to tone down the boys excessive and unsolicited hints when Kratos is contemplating the games many puzzles. Enough, Atreus! (The patch also includes PS5 Pro upgrades, for smooth 60 fps and better visuals. But thats not as funny.) Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-nintendo-sues-pirated-software-streamer-for-millions-121630229.html?src=rss
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With the design for its 2024-25 shirts, Rio de Janeiro-based soccer club Vasco da Gama is spotlighting its anti-racist heritage. When the jerseys come in contact with sweat or water, they reveal excerpts from a landmark 1924 letter in which the clubs then-president José Augusto Prestes took a bold stand against racism and classism in Brazilian soccer.Known as the Resposta Histórica, the letter was written after a newly formed league demanded Vasco exclude 12 working-class Black and mixed-race players from its championship-winning team a demand the club firmly rejected, choosing instead to withdraw from the league entirely.The jerseys reveal mechanism creates a powerful connection between the physical effort of todays players and fans soaked in sweat after a game or a hot day in Rio and the clubs century-old commitment to equality and inclusion. As soccer continues to grapple with racism globally, Vasco da Gama's innovative design serves as both a celebration of a specific clubs progressive legacy and a reminder that the fight for equity in sports remains ongoing.
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