Contributor I

AirPlay cuts out on pause

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
August 3, 2019
107 replies
15289 views

I just got a Sonos One (Gen 2) after reading that Airplay was finally working well with it. I was hoping to use it as my speaker when streaming video from my MacBook Pro, but have been hounded by audio issues–even with it connected via Ethernet to my Airport. The audio cuts out if paused for more than a few seconds. The easiest fix has been to go to Volume in the Menu Bar, switch the output device to something else and then back to Sonos. It's a pain to have to do this over and over. The audio comes back without much delay.

I noticed that there is a substantial delay when I go to unpause music that's been paused for a bit as well, but not as bad as when unpausing Netflix or Youtube. The audio also cuts out in minute drops every now and then, which probably just comes from AirPlay sucking up my shitty wifi's bandwidth as I've read in other posts.

Given all the other unresolved issues I have read about and the hassle that was setting this up over the phone since the app's automated setup didn't work, I am thinking I am probably just going to return my speaker. I would rather have a cheap Bluetooth speaker that I don't need to run an additional application for or even have plugged into the wall all the time.

I feel mislead. I don't get the hype for this thing.

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

Pinned Reply By Corry P

Hi all.

This was brought to my attention on another post - thanks @joycean

I have done some investigating and found out the following:

AirPlay 2 requires that a buffer be filled prior to playback. Airplay 1 does not. As live system sounds cannot be buffered (you’d need time-travelling software code), when AirPlay-ing from macOS system settings AirPlay 1 is always used.
AirPlay likely times-out if no data is sent (ie. silence), though I cannot find a figure for this period.
AirPlay 1 is not supported by Sonos, but tends to work. Therefore, if you are using AirPlay 1 and sending all system sounds to Sonos, it works, usually, but may have issues like those described here. As AirPlay 1 is not supported by Sonos, we will not be addressing these issues.
macOS Applications (like Safari, Apple Music and Spotify) do support AirPlay2, but you must initiate the connection from that application, not the Mac’s settings. The media stream can then be buffered to the speaker and synced for playback.

In our own testing, we were unable to produce this issue when using AirPlay 2. If you experience these issues while using AirPlay 2 (initiated at the application level rather than at the system level), we would very much like to hear about it. Please get in touch with our technical support team if this is the case, as this is something that we would want to resolve (be it a networking or software issue).

It would be interesting if any of you could recreate the issue as you have before, but while having one media paused (YouTube for example), start something else playing over the AirPlay 1 connection - when you restart the paused media, does it play through Sonos immediately? I suspect so, as the second media playing will have kept the connection to the speaker live. I suspect @eldiets1’s fix of having a minimised window does exactly this.

I hope this information helps you all to use your Sonos speakers with your Apple products in a satisfactory way.

Show previous replies

C

colby1

Lyricist I

@Sonos

My work computer is 15in MacBook Pro, personal computer 16in MacBook pro.

I haven’t tested this extensively, but can confirm that on both computers using Firefox and Chrome, this issue has happened for as long as I’ve had my speakers.

If I pause from either computer, when I play the music/audio again, the Sonos speakers do not play anything at all.

Every single time I have to disconnect and reconnect. Twice I’ve had to even unplug the Sonos speakers and plug them back in for them to work again with my MacBook.

This thread doesn’t really get my hopes up for this ever being fixed.

B

Bacon Hu

Lyricist I

I called the support just now. And they said they are not going to fix it because it is caused by Apple. However, HomePod works for me really well for MacBook Pro. So HomePod might be a better choice here.

J

juls07

Lyricist I

I called the support just now. And they said they are not going to fix it because it is caused by Apple. However, HomePod works for me really well for MacBook Pro. So HomePod might be a better choice here.

By this, Sonos completely lost me. I’m all in Apple world and if something doesn’t work, I don’t care whose fault it is, I just want it to work. Was considering buying full Sonos setup in addition to my One pair, but not anymore. unfortunately, that means I have to move on to something else. Sorry Sonos

K

knutb10

Contributor I

Hardly reasons for you to be sorry, juls07. This has come to be expected normal Sonos behavior; disregard, and disawow, responsibilty for issues they ought to make an effort to fix, when they can blame outside factors/events.
But hey - new colors!

D

Daniel_NYC

Contributor I

I have the same problem.

S

sjm88

Lyricist I

Same problem. It ruins the experience of using the Sonos Move, which should work like any portable speaker - you can pause and play with the hardware buttons just as you would touching the phone. Any time someone walks up to me to ask a question or something, I lose my connection and have to start again from my phone. Bluetooth speakers work perfectly - as does the Move in Bluetooth mode - but then you are disconnected from the whole concept of a complete Sonos system.

The Sonos app is garbage for finding and playing anything, and I want to use my podcast app anyway. Airplay dropping out like this makes the Sonos Move a much poorer product.

R

Richy Rich

Contributor I

Same problem for me. If I had not bought the damn Sonos shelves and installed them on the wall, I would have replaced with a different setup, as these problems are a disgrace for a ‘premium’ product.

I have discovered on a Reddit thread that the audio will resume playing when you unpause, but it normally takes about as long as it was on pause for. A fix if you cant be bothered with the Disconnect and Reconnect procedure, as I find this flakey too - 3 out of 5 times it wont find the speakers and then they magically disappear from the Mac volume menu.

So I gather this is something that wont be fixed? Utter rubbish, Sonos. My crappy bluetooth setup before was far superior.

T

Titaniumbird

Trending Lyricist I

Same problem, brand new Mac desktop and brand new pair of play 1’s. Will be opening a support incident with Sonia.

R

Richy Rich

Contributor I

I have to admit, I’ll be extremely surprised if they resolve it. I spent hours on the phone to support, to basically be told there is nothing they can do about it.

I wasted so much time trying to get it resolved, and in the end I gave up and got some nice bluetooth speakers. Sonos One’s are in the kitchen being used as smart speakers, which they work flawlessly for.

Ultimately, the Sonos One’s should not be thought of as desktop computer speakers...

E

EmilioG

Contributor I

Same problem here, bit by bit.

I think I’ve had an AirPlay 2 enabled Sonos One for about two years now, and version after version, patch after patch of both Mac OS and Sonos Software this remains unsolved.

This is not a “minor glitch affecting a small subset of users”… this is AirPlay 2 and Sonos Speakers not being able to do the single thing they were fundamentally conceived and designed to do, which is play audio for long stretches of time, which may (oh, the weirdness of some users), include pause periods.

Dear Sonos, at least please have the decency of publishing a technical note stating, in very clear terms, why this can’t be made to work, se we all poor idiots can buy an UE boom in peace.

Show more replies

Sign up

Login to the community