Surround sound using Play 5 and Play 1s

6 replies
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Hello, first time here and looking for some advice. Like to think I’m quite techy but new to Sonos.

Current setup:
Play 5 v2 connected to tv via 3.5mm aux cable as tv speaker
2 x Play 1s in stereo pair in same room
2 x Play 1s in stereo pair in bedroom
1 x Play 1 in kitchen

Ordinarily, the Play 5 and stereo Play 1s are in a group. The kitchen is added to this group when I’m cooking.

All are connected to Apple AirPort Extreme via Wi-fi which is connected to sky hub.

Problem:
While watching tv the Play 1s periodically drop out which means the audio is just coming out of the Play 5. I’ve tried moving round the sonos to eliminate a faulty sonos but the issue persists. It also affects the sonos in the kitchen. When audio compression is on compressed, there is no drop out but the tv and audio are very out of sync. On automatic or uncompressed the issue is there and persists. On a side note, they work fine when streaming from amazon music or Spotify.

I’ve tried looking through the forums to see if I can find something similar and tried some troubleshooting but to no avail. I’m open to suggestions. I’ve seen people talking about diagnostics and tickets but I’m not sure how this works.

Hope I’ve given sufficient info - happy to hear people’s thoughts.

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Keith N

Sonos Staff

Hi there, wmjackson. Thanks for posting and welcome to the Community.

Let's first address how TV audio is bring brought to Sonos. Based on your configuration, the TV audio is getting to Sonos through the 3.5mm Aux input on the back of the PLAY:5. While this can work, it is not ideal for audio/visual use and much better suited for standalone audio such as an MP3 player or record player. In most cases where you want to bring TV audio to Sonos, you want to use a PLAYBAR or PLAYBASE. The reason for this is because the two of these devices can be used to set up a Home Theatre with your two PLAY:1's. This allows for the PLAYBAR/PLAYBASE to communicate to the PLAY:1's (in the same room) via the 5GHz wireless channel. This is significantly faster and will address the delay you are experiencing only within that room. In this instance, the speaker in the Kitchen will likely have a slight delay as it is not part of that Home Theatre setup.

You are absolutely on the right track with trying out compressed playback. The results tell me that you may find some benefit from switching to a BOOST setup. Would you mind submitting a diagnostic report and replying with the confirmation number it gives at the end, so I can take a closer look?

Much appreciated.

Building community is like building a garden. You build the frame, till the ground, plant the seeds, feed the plants & sometimes you gotta pull the weeds.

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wmjacksonAuthor

Contributor I

Thanks for coming back to me. I’ve just run diagnostics, ticket number is 8061382.

Let me know what else you need from me

Thanks
Will

Keith N

Sonos Staff

Thanks, wmjackson. Out of curiosity, where is your PLAY:5 positioned between your TV and your router? There is some significant interference affecting the signal being sent from your PLAY:5 to the rest of the system. Thanks in advance.

Building community is like building a garden. You build the frame, till the ground, plant the seeds, feed the plants & sometimes you gotta pull the weeds.

W

wmjacksonAuthor

Contributor I

I’ve taken a photo to show the setup

The play 5 is above the tv in the clear. The router sits behind the Apple TV. They are 1m apart with a shelf in between the two. The play 5 then has line of sight and a distance of about 5m to each of the play 1s in the same room. Does this help?

Keith N

Sonos Staff

Perfect. Thanks for the photo, wmjackson. One thing I'm able to see is that your devices still have the wireless credentials in their memory. This means if something were to happen to the PLAY:5, they could jump off the Sonos network and over to the WiFi network causing all kinds of havoc within Sonos. Follow these steps to remove the wireless credentials. In regards to the location of the PLAY:5, it seems to be in the best location it can be given the situation. The interference I am seeing is sporadic, the only thing between the source (PLAY:5) and the PLAY:1's is you, the listener. I wonder if your wireless XBox controllers are causing interference when transmitting commands. Does this happen with other sources of audio, such as your AppleTV?

Another thing you may want to try is to turn off the TV and plug something else (iPhone, iPad, etc.) into the PLAY:5. This will eliminate the TV being the source of interference. Then we can test the audio to see what is causing this fluctuation in the environment. If you give this a go, send in a diagnostic with the TV off and while playing audio from another device.

Finally, you should have another update available. After updating your system and removing the wireless credentials, try to replicate the problem (PLAY:1's dropping out) and let me know the results. Reply with another diagnostic report and I'll take a look. Thanks.

On an unrelated note: I also picked Atletico Madrid in Fifa 18. However, I kept Griezmann as my strike partner. He's a solid Striker to feed as a CAM, but the downside is he folds like a piece of paper when challenged.

Building community is like building a garden. You build the frame, till the ground, plant the seeds, feed the plants & sometimes you gotta pull the weeds.

L

Legend20002001

Contributor I

What is the issue with the audio from the TV going into the AUX compared to audio from a portable, turntable, or other source ? All are analog signals.....Thanks

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