Balance Slider Not Working On Sonos Amp

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
July 8, 2024
41 replies
1112 views

Update 03/31/25

This issue has been resolved for iOS with update 80.18.25

😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

Part One

You can continue reading for the complete story or skip to Part Four for latest news. In Part Three you’ll find news from Sonos Tech Support (STS) with a suggested work-a-round with promise of a final resolution to come later.

As the title indicates you may find that the balance slider is not working on your Sonos Amp under certain configurations. Meaning that there’s no change in audio position. The slider still appears as white (active) and not greyed out (inactive).

I have two Sonos Amps used as music devices only; both setup with Sonos subs and 3rd party speakers. Had a conversation with Sonos Tech Support (STS) who helped...kinda’.

STS ran a diagnostic on both Amps and said it showed they were set as Home Theaters🤔 That was very odd as they have never been setup as such; nor was TV Autoplay engaged. In fact a HDMI cable had never come within two inches (or less) of the HDMI port on the Amps.

Moving on...STS had me factory reset both Amps. Voila’ the balance slider works. Issue resolved so we disconnected the support call. I tried the balance sliders again and they were still working; or so I thought.

My next step was to re-add the subs to both Amps. Upon re-adding the Subs the balance slider ceased to work. Imagine that 😊.

My suspicion is that upon re-adding the subs something interferes with the balance slider causing it to not work. I didn’t have time to call STS again and apprise them of the situation/glitch.

Thankfully the balance slider not working doesn’t interfere with my music. So as it stands it’s not a top priority for me. I’ll set sometime aside at a later date to re-contact STS to get the issues resolved. I hope 🤔

Final thoughts...I can’t say if the issue existed before the App update as I don’t use the balance slider. So the issue may or may not be related to the new App.

EDIT….I have two (2) sets of Sonos speakers set as stereo pairs with subs and the balance slider works perfectly. Therefore it has to be something going on between the Amp/Sonos Sub combination with 3rd party speakers. I can’t attest as to how the balance slider may be affected when used in a home theater setup with Sonos Architectural or 3rd party speakers with Sonos sub.

Part Two_Occuring in Real Time

On phone with STS again. Instructed to remove sub. Verified that removing the Sonos Sub allows the balance slider to work properly. On hold again while they confer.
STS having me show them the back of my Amps to verify there is no HDMI cable connected. Very untrusting. A little bit insulting. Oh well 😂
They are now rebooting my Amps remotely and gathering more diagnostics
Added the sub back. Balance control not working again
Had me connect Amp via Ethernet. No change. Balance Slider not working.
STS Gathering more diagnostics for further consultation
Still on hold while STS tries to figure out the issue. My guess is that it won’t happen today.
Removed the sub and factory reset the Amp
Balance Slider working
Captured another diagnostic
Added The sub back
Balance slider not working
Captured another diagnostic
Testing on MacBook Sonos Controller running MacOS Sonoma 14.5
Balance controller works!
Captured diagnostics from MacBook Sonos controller
At this point it appears that there is an issue with iOS 17.5.1 and the App with Amp/Sub combination
STS is going to contact me later to set a date/time to discuss a final resolution
It may be something that Sonos has to fix in the app for iOS 17.5.1 or it may hinge upon the next iOS update or both
At least for now I have a better understanding of what is occurring
I hope this helps you as well if experiencing the same issue
I’ll report back upon final resolution

Part Three

Good News! Received an email from STS stating that Sonos Engineers have successfully reproduced the issue with the Balance Slider when a sub is connected to an Amp.
STS will work on a resolution but no ETA to completion as of now.
The work-a-round is to use the desktop controller for MacOS and Windows until such time a fix is in place.
Therefore, I suggest keeping an eye up for an update.
Thankfully the balance is fixed to the center rather than left or right.

Part Four

No change with latest update to version 16.3 installed on 7/16/24

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Pinned Reply By AjTrek1

Update 03/31/25

This issue has been resolved for iOS with update 80.18.25

@Corry P

Thanks for keeping this on your radar to resolve this minor glitch with the controller. Well Done!

Show previous replies

AjTrek1Author

@Corry P

Thanks for your involvement and my apologies for the late response. Unfortunately, I must report that the issue as described in my initial post has not been resolved. All factors regarding the mobile app and those on my MacBook remain the same.

As stated the Sonos app on my MacBook works perfectly for balance which is the suggested work-around. While I’m not overly concerned as the Balance Control remains in center...it would be nice if Sonos could correct the issue for the mobile app.

I’m not sure what Sonos Tech Support thinks they fixed; but it most certainly is not what is described in my post. 😂

Here are the current specifications for all devices:

iPhone 15 Pro Mac: iOS 18.0.1
MacBook Pro M4_14 inch: MacOS Sequoia 15.0.1
Sonos App (iPhone): S2_80.09.09_Version 16.4.2
Sons App (MacBook): S2_Version 16.4.2

As per Sonos privacy/security to avoid PII being captured in a post I will send you the Diagnostic ID in a PM.

Cheers!

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.

Corry P

Sonos Staff

Hi @AjTrek1

Thanks for the diagnostics! Weirdly, there is no information in them about your controller - as the latest app update is on a rolling release, can you please confirm the software version of your Sonos app? To have the fix, you’ll need to be on version 80.10.06, which will only become available to 100% of users later today.

Apologies - I should have waited for 100% before announcing a fix.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein

I

Ian_S

Prodigy III

Hi @AjTrek1

Thanks for the diagnostics! Weirdly, there is no information in them about your controller - as the latest app update is on a rolling release, can you please confirm the software version of your Sonos app? To have the fix, you’ll need to be on version 80.10.06, which will only become available to 100% of users later today.

Apologies - I should have waited for 100% before announcing a fix.

So are you saying the fix is only for Android as 80.10.06 is the Android release and iOS is 80.09.09??

Corry P

Sonos Staff

Hi @Ian_S

We understood this issue to only be happening on Android controllers, so that is correct, yes.

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein

B

BMZ

Collaborator II

Is the fix for iOS controller a matter of waiting for the 80.10.06 release?

Corry P

Sonos Staff

Hi @BMZ

Hi @Ian_S

We understood this issue to only be happening on Android controllers, so that is correct, yes.

I hope this helps.

Is the fix for iOS controller a matter of waiting for the 80.10.06 release?

If the issue only occurred on Android, why would we release a fix for iOS?

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein

B

BMZ

Collaborator II

Because it’s also an issue on iOS.

Corry P

Sonos Staff

Hi @BMZ

Apologies - re-reading @AjTrek1’s opening post above, I can see that iOS was indeed mentioned.

It is not clear to me why the ticket only described Android as being affected, but that may have only been in the ticket title - iOS may have been added to the details of the ticket at a later date.

Given that the issue is stated to be fixed with a version of the app that is not yet out for iOS, there’s a chance that the next app update for iOS will contain a fix for this, but I will see what I can find out in the meantime - we may have to increase the scope of the ticket and reopen it.

This will be much easier to do if I can supply a diagnostic from a iOS device affected by this issue - could you please recreate the issue and immediately submit a support diagnostic, letting me know here when you have done so? Please include a screenshot of the EQ page too. Thanks.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein

AjTrek1Author

Hi @BMZ

Apologies - re-reading @AjTrek1’s opening post above, I can see that iOS was indeed mentioned.

It is not clear to me why the ticket only described Android as being affected, but that may have only been in the ticket title - iOS may have been added to the details of the ticket at a later date.

Given that the issue is stated to be fixed with a version of the app that is not yet out for iOS, there’s a chance that the next app update for iOS will contain a fix for this, but I will see what I can find out in the meantime - we may have to increase the scope of the ticket and reopen it.

This will be much easier to do if I can supply a diagnostic from a iOS device affected by this issue - could you please recreate the issue and immediately submit a support diagnostic, letting me know here when you have done so? Please include a screenshot of the EQ page too. Thanks.

Hi @Corry P

Thanks for the follow-up. The following is in no way directed toward you.

What’s strange is this….

When I called Sonos Tech Support no one knew of the issue. Meaning I was evidently the first t report it. As you can see from my original post the Tech and I went through a lot of testing and running diagnostics. iPhone and MacBook. Not once is Android mentioned.

It’s snafu’s like this that cause customers to lose faith in Sonos Tech Support. How the issue that was reproduced by Sonos Tech which should have been using iOS can wind up under Android is beyond my understanding. That is totally unacceptable.

OK...now that I have vented 😂 I’ll submit another diagnostic later. BTW...the Sonos app reports my system as up-to-date. I’ve ‘also deleted and reinstated the Sonos app and checked for iOS update.

The results remain as:

iOS 18.0.1
S2
80.09.09
Version: 16.4.2

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.

Corry P

Sonos Staff

Hi @AjTrek1

All fair points!

Front-line agents do not have access to the system we use to track issues and can therefore sometimes be unable to find any details on a newly discovered issue - someone needs to write it up and make it part of the documentation and that can take some time.

So, it’s possible that the bug tracker for this issue was already created before you called in, too late for iOS to be included in the original title of the report and too early for agents to have any knowledge of it, but as mentioned, that does not mean that iOS was not included in the description eventually (if it was).

A perfect storm, if you will, but things do tend to go a bit smoother than this in “normal times”.

Your post was from last night - are you still not able to download the newest Android app?

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein

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