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spalmisano
Contributor II
May 15, 2026
Answered

Alexa 'Scratch' Sound

  • May 15, 2026
  • 52 replies
  • 4144 views

I have a new (~3 weeks) Sonos Era 100 that has developed a digital ‘scratch’ sound when waking up the voice assistant. Whenever I say “Alexa…” I’ll get the chime and what sounds like a short scratch/static sound. The rest of audio playback is fine, music is unaffected, and I’ve not heard this same sound aside from using the wake word.

Restarting the speaker didn’t do anything and I’m not sure if this is something I should initiate a return for, or if its a known issue with a fix.

Ideas are welcome.

 

    Best answer by loki980

    I went to the Sonos Arc in the Alexa app.  Under “Sound”, I disabled the “Start of Request” sound.  The “scratch sound” is gone, but the Wake Chime is still there.

    So, it’s still not working quite right, but I like the Wake Chime, so this is good enough for me!

    52 replies

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    AjTrek1
    AjTrek1
    May 20, 2026

    Same issue on my Sonos one. Removing and re adding did nothing.

    Sorry to hear that. Sometimes a seemingly similar issue may not be the same after all. You may do well to contact Sonos support.

    Went through, removed every Sonos device from Alexa and Alexa from every Sonos device. After I added it again it fixed the popping noise. 

    Same issue on my Sonos one. Removing and re adding did nothing.

    Sorry to hear that. Sometimes a seemingly similar issue may not be the same after all. You may do well to contact Sonos support.

    Went through, removed every Sonos device from Alexa and Alexa from every Sonos device. After I added it again it fixed the popping noise. 

    Great! Sometimes a deeper dive is required 😊

    Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.
      twenty_twenty_99
      Lyricist I
      May 20, 2026

      Same on two out my three Alexa enabled speakers. Tried unplugging them both and removing Alexa from them both but the sound continues. Massively annoying!

      Tuned off the chime option and turned it back on again and it fixed the issue for me

        AjTrek1
        AjTrek1
        May 20, 2026

        If you are in this thread please read through the solutions that have worked thus far. Some require a bit more than others but all appear to be resolved without running a diagnostic and having to call Sonos Tech support. That’s not to say that a diagnostic and consulting Sonos Tech support will not be required in some extreme instances.

        First and foremost DO NOT FACTORY RESET YOUR SPEAKER(S).

        Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.
        fercho74
        Trending Lyricist I
        May 20, 2026

        So I turned off “Start of Request” and “End of Request” toggles for the Sonos speaker IN THE ALEXA APP, that worked while it was toggled off.  If I toggled back on, popping noise came back.

        Toggling the “Wake Word Chime” in the Sonos app did nothing.

          AjTrek1
          AjTrek1
          May 20, 2026

          ​@fercho74 

          Did you try the other suggested solutions?

          Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.
          fercho74
          Trending Lyricist I
          May 20, 2026

          ​@fercho74 

          Did you try the other suggested solutions?

          Yes, the toggling.  ANd togglign in the Amazon app did resolve the issue, as i stated above.

          Im not going through 25 speakers and removing and re-adding Alexa.  Either Amazon and/or Sonos need to fix.  What we all did are bandaids.

            AjTrek1
            AjTrek1
            May 20, 2026

            ​@fercho74 

            Did you try the other suggested solutions?

            Yes, the toggling.  ANd togglign in the Amazon app did resolve the issue, as i stated above.

            Im not going through 25 speakers and removing and re-adding Alexa.  Either Amazon and/or Sonos need to fix.  What we all did are bandaids.

            Whoa…😰

            You have 25 speakers all with Alexa enabled? That suggests you have 25 different rooms that require Alexa voice enablement.

            I have 9 rooms that all together have 22 voice capable speakers. Emphasis on voice capable. However, only 1 speaker per room has Alexa enabled. So only 9 speakers have Alexa active.

            Furthermore with electronics and software sometimes things go awry. The fix doesn’t always require a download of new software/firmware. Often times a reboot or in this case a disable and re-enable is the key. Those actions are acceptable industry standard practices and are not bandaids. If you don’t realize it … Sonos speakers are akin to computers which sometimes require the actions outlined in this thread.

            Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.
              spalmisanoAuthor
              Contributor II
              May 20, 2026

              I removed Alexa, restarted, readded Alexa and restarted again. The chime is gone altogether and Alexa is working as expected. I won’t bother reactivating the wake chime.

              loki980Answer
              Lyricist I
              May 20, 2026

              I went to the Sonos Arc in the Alexa app.  Under “Sound”, I disabled the “Start of Request” sound.  The “scratch sound” is gone, but the Wake Chime is still there.

              So, it’s still not working quite right, but I like the Wake Chime, so this is good enough for me!

                boydfields
                Lyricist II
                May 22, 2026

                I removed Alexa and re-added her. Chime re-enabled without any scratching.

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