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cutting in and out - but only on Amazon UNLESS I ask Alexa to play the same thing!

  • 23 September 2021
  • 41 replies
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J
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Hi there, I’ve got 6 SONOS devices in the house, all work perfectly at the same time or individually. However, over the last week or so I’ve noticed if I choose an album or playlist on the SONOS app via Amazon Music then almost all the speakers skip, hang, stutter or delay in playing the song. 

So as a 3rd line IT engineer with 21 years experience I started looking at the obvious. Router, dup IP’s, Wi-Fi interference etc and couldn't fix the issue. However I’ve discovered that if I ask Alexa to play the same album or playlist the issue never happens. It also wont happen if I use SONOS radio, TuneIn Radio or BBC Sounds etc 


For example, I can open the SONOS app and search for Fleetwood Mac Best Of. I find the album and press play. All the speakers start skipping and juddering, some don't play at all for 30 seconds and then start cutting in and out. If I press stop and then say “Alexa….. play Fleetwood Mac Best Of” - Alexa will find the same Album on the only streaming service I have (Amazon Music) and play it without fault.

 

I’ve repeated the procedure 50 times and its consistent.


Any ideas or advice? 

 

I have submitted a diagnostic - the number is  538115433

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Best answer by Richard_51 25 September 2021, 15:34

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41 replies

J

Since Amazon uses different servers to feed different types if streams, that points the finger at Amazon’s server, for the most part, and particularly the one that they’ve given Sonos to point to when using the Sonos software, rather than other pieces of software. Although it’s randomly possible there’s an issue between your system and that server, versus your system and the other server. 

The thing that would make me question this explanation is the fact that everything is OK with a single speaker; it’s only when the user goes multiroom that issues occur. 

When Amazon HD became available on Sonos, only lossy format was used when initiating by Alexa.  There was talk of this being changed in due course, but the results of the diagnostic earlier in the thread suggest it is still the case.  Now, Amazon casting to Sonos uses Alexa (even though not voice-triggered) so I bet that is streaming lossy too.  So my money is on systems that are borderline stable on lossy formats but can’t cope with lossless over multiroom.

J

@jamescodefour not sure but I think he might mean initiate the playback from Amazon app to one speaker then group them in Sonos app.

Exactly.  It will either behave the same as it does when you play from the Sonos app, or it will play without skipping.  Either way, it will probably tell us something. I was viewing it as a troubleshooting exercise primarily. 

J
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Thanks @Airgetlam - I've checked this too. 

 

I’ve just opened a Spotify account and added this to the Sonos app. It plays perfectly on all speakers with zero lag/skipping etc. The issue is 100% with Amazon/Sonos not the speakers etc

James L.
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Hey @jamescodefour,

 

I’ve taken a look at your diagnostic and I can make the following observations:

 

  • There is indeed a difference between starting playback via Amazon Music via the Sonos app and requesting playback via Alexa. When using the Sonos app the speakers are requesting FLAC files, but not so via Alexa. This will definitely increase the data stream from player to player as FLAC files contain a lot more information than their compressed counterparts.
  • The speaker that leads the group, or “group coordinator” (GC), is important when playing music in more than 1 room. We’d ideally like to see the player with the strongest WiFi signal (or a wired unit if present) to be the GC to ensure a more stable connection. For you, that’s your Beam + Sub. Try ungrouping your players, and instead of hitting the group button next to your Play:1, instead select the Beam and group from there.
  • Your players have good connections between themselves, so I don’t suspect there’s an interference problem or a player-to-player issue here.
  • If possible, please try wiring one of the speakers, and use that as a group coordinator, just to see if that makes any difference at all (provided the previous test yields no results).


I hope this helps! Let me know how you get on.

 

Thanks for flagging @UKMedia :slight_smile:

Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.
S

@jamescodefour not sure but I think he might mean initiate the playback from Amazon app to one speaker then group them in Sonos app.

J
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Interesting,. I see what you mean now. I tested this and the skipping/hesitancy does NOT appear! 

so we can safely say it only occurs in my setup when using the Sonos App

J

Well, you now have a whole variety of ways to play lossy tracks on Sonos over multiroom perfectly: Amazon cast, Amazon triggered by Alexa and Spotify within the Sonos app. The one scenario that struggles is Amazon HD through the Sonos app, which is the only one playing lossless.  This most definitely does not prove cause and effect. But it's certainly suggestive. Even the lossless stream plays fine on one speaker, suggesting that it is inter-speaker communications that is the problem.

J

What I would suggest you do now is wire one speaker to your router. Fix the router 2.4GHz channel as 1, 6 or 11 and set SonosNet to a different channel. Check in About My System that all Sonos devices have WM=0 next to them..

We could then take a look at the network matrix. Get the IP address of one of your speakers and type into a browser http://IP address;1400/support/review.  Obviously substitute in the IP address of your speaker. Click on Network Matrix and post the diagram on here. You may wish to obscure the mac addresses as some people believe this to be a security risk.

S

The other thing I noticed around the same time as this issue occuring is that quite often I get messages saying that Amazon music is streaming on another device, when trying to start on Sonos.

 

Not sure if related or of anyone else had seen this also??

R

I’m having exactly the same problem, starting in the last couple of days.

If I play any music source, internet or from a local NAS system, playback is flawless, across my entire setup of 4x Play1, 1x Connect, 1x Connect Amp, 1x Play5. As soon as I play anything from Amazon music via the Sonos S1 App, I have this major stuttering and skipping issue. I don’t use Alexa, so can’t test this aspect.

My Connect and Connect Amp are wired. All other units are on wifi, rather than SonosNet.

Picking up from James L. from Sonos, I have tested my set up a number of times each with a different unit as the “group coordinator”. My findings are:

  • Any one unit on its own, plays absolutely fine.
  • My Connect or Connect Amp (both wired) as GC, very occasional skipping issues. Barely noticeable, but still present.
  • My Play5, wireless, as GC occasional skipping, slightly worse than Connects above.
  • My Play1s, wireless, any of them as GC, major skipping issues.
  •  
  • My Play 1s are distributed all around the house, but wifi signal strength is excellent. The most used Play 1, the issue with which prompted this post, is in my kitchen, which is 20 feet across an open plan space from my wired-in Connect Amp. Like the OP, I’m an IT Engineer. I’m sure some improvements could be made to my setup, but overall wifi performance and sonos performance around my property is excellent. It’s not an internet speed issue, I’m on 300Mbit FTTP with 18ms ping.

 

B

This problem is still happening. So annoying. It’s happening across all my devices, play 1’s, Sonos Connect, and Sonos Amp. I was on the phone for a while with a Sonos tech yesterday with no luck. Did the unplugging everything and back in and what not. She told me that I needed to find new locations for a couple of my speakers. I said I never had trouble before and now all of a sudden I do, so something changed on your end not mine. Hopefully someone with Amazon and Sonos with fix this soon. We have spent too much money to have this problem. 

Airgetlam

There is always the slight possibility that someone has hacked your password and is using Amazon music elsewhere. Might be worth, as a test, changing your password there, and re-setting up the Sonos with the new password. This is admittedly very rare, more often this is the situation John B and I were discussing. 

Bruce
R

I am also having this problem and have now cycled through nearly all of the combinations of wired connections and eero nodes.  Same problems still occurring, only with Amazon.

 

J

Compression settings only affect music played through an analog line in. This setting is irrelevant to this problem.

J
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Thanks James, very helpful and interesting about the different formats. So I did as requested and set the Beam (TV) as the lead speaker and played successfully on this alone. I then added the next closest, and the next until the 4th speaker (play:1 Dining room) and it all went pear shaped again. The thing is I get the same issues even when I put all the units in the same room and put the access point in the same room. Nothing has changed network wise. I’m getting 35mbps download on FTTC with single digit latency. My access point is a Wi-Fi 6 high throughput enterprise model (Zyxel WAX650S)   

Hard wiring ins’t a solution for me (even just one unit).

Any other ideas? I’ve updated the diag - 667178478

J

Thanks @Airgetlam - I've checked this too. 

 

I’ve just opened a Spotify account and added this to the Sonos app. It plays perfectly on all speakers with zero lag/skipping etc. The issue is 100% with Amazon/Sonos not the speakers etc

So that would be lossy files playing without a hitch on your Sonos? Like all your other lossy files?

S

I tested also, no skipping here when casting to the same 3 speakers from the Amazon music app on the same wifi connection to internet etc…

 

Only difference is the Sonos app isn't used to initiate the playback.

Airgetlam

Since Amazon uses different servers to feed different types if streams, that points the finger at Amazon’s server, for the most part, and particularly the one that they’ve given Sonos to point to when using the Sonos software, rather than other pieces of software. Although it’s randomly possible there’s an issue between your system and that server, versus your system and the other server. 

Bruce
J
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Thanks Richard, my observations are almost identical. I hadn't thought about what model of speaker at any point but you're right, the only ones that skip are the Play1’s. All the others, regardless of distance from my Wi-Fi are fine. They are The 5, the Beam, The Roam etc only the Play1’s are skipping

J
Badge

Since Amazon uses different servers to feed different types if streams, that points the finger at Amazon’s server, for the most part, and particularly the one that they’ve given Sonos to point to when using the Sonos software, rather than other pieces of software. Although it’s randomly possible there’s an issue between your system and that server, versus your system and the other server. 

The thing that would make me question this explanation is the fact that everything is OK with a single speaker; it’s only when the user goes multiroom that issues occur. 

When Amazon HD became available on Sonos, only lossy format was used when initiating by Alexa.  There was talk of this being changed in due course, but the results of the diagnostic earlier in the thread suggest it is still the case.  Now, Amazon casting to Sonos uses Alexa (even though not voice-triggered) so I bet that is streaming lossy too.  So my money is on systems that are borderline stable on lossy formats but can’t cope with lossless over multiroom.

I’m not sure about this. Because the issue still occurs if I place all the units in the same room, hardwire one into my router and then power them all on (using Sonos Net)

S

Hi,

 

just to add some weight to this I also have exactly the same issue. I have a speaker group that's always worked without issues. The past week or 2 Amazon music stops randomly and stutters most of the time making it unusable. I've tested most of the steps mentioned already and nothing other than removing the Speaker group.

I'm a UK Amazon Music HD customer just incase that is part of the issue.

I get the issue regardless of starting from Alexa or the Sonos app.

Streaming is working on all other devices without issues including phone, laptop and various echo devices.

 

J
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@Richard_51 are you a UK Amazon HD user too? I am….

I have changed my streaming preferences on the Amazon App to stream “standard” def bu the issue persists, However I wonder if this is taken into consideration when using the SONOS app?

S

So I just altered my Sonos compression settings to compressed and the stuttering seems to have gone, at least temporarily.

Can be found under settings, audio compression. After that I switched back to uncompressed and it's still working.… I was originally on automatic.

Very confused.

S

Also looking at the release notes I would say that this started around the release date of 13.3 of the software which was 21 sept 2021.

My system is set to automatically update so could be related also.

Airgetlam

Generally, at least in my experience, the “streaming on another device” is a result of wifi interference inasmuch as the device that’s playing the Amazon stream is, for some reason, unable to send a notification back to the Amazon server that it has ended the play session. This does suggest intermittent issues, as the device is actually able to play the stream, but somehow fails to get the “I’m done” message back to Amazon. 

The way I frequently fixed it was by logging in to Amazon, using their web client, and killing all streams. That’s not a terribly attractive solution for the long run. I ended up doing a lot of “massaging” of my network to reduce the possibility of miscommunication so that Amazon was actually aware that I had ended my stream. That included several items in that linked FAQ, from looking for other sources of interference, to changing my radio channel for wifi, to actually assigning IP addresses for all network devices in my router’s DHCP table. I no longer have that issue. 

Since you seem to think this started around the time of the release of Sonos’ 13.3 software release, it’s entirely plausible that you’ have a duplicate IP address issue here. It’s not uncommon for routers to get in a odd state for various reasons, and lose track of where they are in the DHCP table. For better or worse, when Sonos applies a new software update, the devices end up asking for new IP addresses from the router. If the router is indeed confused, it can hand a duplicate address to the Sonos device, which then needs to “fight” with something else to get that data stream properly.

Fairly easy to test that particular part of the theory, by simply unplugging all Sonos devices from power, then rebooting your router. Once the router has refreshed it’s OS and DHCP table, plug back in the Sonos device, which will ask for new IP addresses and get “fresh” ones from the router. 

However, if you think there’s something odder going on, I’d encourage you to submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this problem, and call Sonos Support to discuss it.

There may be information included in the diagnostic that will help Sonos pinpoint the issue and help you find a solution.

When you speak directly to the phone folks, they have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your Sonos system and network.

Bruce
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