Designed in collaboration with the UK’s Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), addressing the needs of people with hearing loss, but not only, the new Sonos speech enhancement solution is now available on the Sonos Arc Ultra soundbar. Supported by an AI-Powered app, the speech enhancement processing clarifies dialogue for all those struggling to catch what a character just said on TV, movies, or shows.
As has been widely discussed, dialogue in movies and shows has become difficult to hear for lots of reasons: rushed production, poor mixing, global accents, and even room acoustics. Another key reason is that people now watch content on streaming services that do not abide by the standards that have been long-enforced (mostly self-enforced) in public and private broadcasting, creating inconsistencies in the platforms that reach consumers. The overly complex and poorly designed user interfaces on modern “smart TVs” often make matters worse, as consumers don’t even know which settings they have activated while watching content - and even when they check, they are unable to understand the technical terms and implications.
The situation obviously is worse for those with hearing loss. Cranking up the volume doesn’t help, and subtitles can feel distracting for those who are truly committed to enjoying all the visual elements of a cinematic production. Although this problem is being addressed in multiple ways - sometimes conflicting in their results - Sonos decided to offer another option directly in its own ecosystem.
The Sonos updated Speech Enhancement feature provides users with four levels of control that allow adjusting dialogue clarity to match variable needs, including one specifically made for those with hearing loss. The implementation was first made available on the Sonos Arc Ultra soundbar via a free software update on May 13, 2025.
“At Sonos, our goal has always been to help people enjoy great sound. We knew there was more we could do for those with hearing loss, so we entered a first-of-its-kind collaboration with RNID (Royal National Institute for Deaf People) to design a Speech Enhancement solution that truly addresses the unique challenges this community faces while watching TV,” says Matt Benatan, Principal Research Scientist at Sonos.
“It’s not just practical, it's emotional. One of the most important aspects of TV and movie watching is the opportunity to bond over cultural and entertainment events that are watched in real time. If one viewer cannot fully hear the dialogue, their ability to enjoy and participate in the moment can be lost.”
According to Sonos, while their TV soundbars have offered basic speech enhancement for years, they often lacked the effectiveness and sound quality needed to truly solve the problem. The company now embarked on a long journey to build a meaningful solution, leveraging the possibilities enabled by artificial intelligence.
“By implementing machine learning into our speech extraction technology, we figured out how to separate dialogue from other sounds in the center channel and clarify speech in real time,” explains Harry Jones, Sound Experience Engineer at Sonos. "This lets us draw out just the dialogue at the most needed times, without overly impacting volume or taking away from the holistic cinematic experience."
The result is a dynamic Speech Enhancement tool with four different levels for the user to choose from - the highest of which is expressly designed for those with hearing loss - via the Sonos app home screen. The Low level introduced a subtle dialogue emphasis while maintaining the original experience and creator intent, while the Medium enhancement provides better dialogue clarity and a tasteful balance of the surrounding mix elements. Those two options should serve the needs of the majority of users without hearing loss.
The High enhancement setting makes dialogue obviously prominent while reducing other mix elements, while the Max enhancement level makes dialogue clarity take full priority, and was designed specifically for those with hearing loss. Unlike the more balanced approach of Low, Medium, and High levels, the Max level further controls the dynamic range of non-speech elements, placing dialogue firmly at the forefront of the experience.
In working with RNID, Sonos collaborated with 37 participants of various ages and hearing abilities to gather their detailed everyday listening experiences and test the feature across a range of content types for nearly a year.
"We wanted to ensure that Speech Enhancement would work for all, even those who might not even realize they have hearing loss," says Lauren Ward, Lead RNID Researcher. "One in three adults in the UK experience hearing loss, and it is reported that just under one in four adults in the USA do too. This tool has the potential to impact a large number of people."
Sonos also worked with a film sound mixer, Chris Jenkins, to balance speech extraction techniques while keeping other mix elements like sound effects and music artistically intact. "Sonos' new Speech Enhancement feature is a huge step forward in addressing dialogue challenges that come with the breadth of content available to people today," adds Jenkins. "It's also a testament to the importance of retaining human touch when building with AI - there were countless hours of listening sessions where we worked through the details together, adjusting each setting to make sure it delicately enhances dialogue while remaining true to the creator’s intent."
"When creating Speech Enhancement, we knew we wanted to put the perspective of people with hearing loss front and center from the earliest development stages," says Benatan. "What we learned from RNID researchers and participants perfectly complemented input from Chris Jenkins, allowing us to consider a broader range of listener perspectives. It has been an incredible collaboration, and we’re grateful for their expertise and time in developing this experience together."
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