Connect - LINE-OUT low volume since update S1 app

Yes, sorry, I realize now I might have posted this on the incorrect thread.  There are similar threads with the same issue r/t the Port. 

I have exactly the same issue on my Sonos Connect - successful connection but very low volume on analog line outs. Digital outputs working perfectly.  I spent an hour on the phone with Sonos today, very helpful but they could not diagnose a fault- response was unit was faulty and will need replacement…..

…has anybody received a response from Sonos Customer Support as to possible cause??

This is a hardware failure, and is related to device age and component degradation.  I speak from experience as I have repaired a lot of devices with this problem.  My observation is that it’s not really a problem for devices that are younger than about 10 years, but it does start to happen beyond that.  It’s much more common on ZP80 devices than ZP90, and less common on Connect devices.

Some messages here assert that the problem happened after a software upgrade.  I haven’t seen any relationship at all like that...it’s strictly a hardware problem.

I was able to trace the audio path and discovered that the problem is with two capacitors (one for each of the left and right channels) that are directly after the digital-to-analog conversion (which is done by the CS4265 chip visible in the image below).  These audio signals are then filtered/amplified/etc to reach the RCA outputs.  When these capacitors degrade/fail, they either cause no signal, weak signal, or cause static in the audio.  They don’t always fail in pairs, so it is possible that one channel becomes staticky or fainter than the other.  One channel fainter than the other is harder to notice than both becoming faint, which is why people often don’t see a problem until both channels fail.  You can check your device using the app and playing with the balance control to test each speaker separately.

The fix is to replace the capacitors.  They are rated 2.2uF 35V surface mount electrolytic capacitors.  They are the two circled in the picture below.  These are quite small, and I would not advise this repair for anyone who hasn’t done this kind of work before.  However, if successfully done, the faint audio problem disappears.

There are other identical capacitors on the board.  It’s a bit surprising to me that they aren’t also degrading and causing other kinds of failure, but for whatever reason...they aren’t.

Lastly, I would mention that these capacitors usually start to fail around the same time that capacitors in the power supply start to degrade.  Bad power supply capacitors cause other issues (like the device disappearing from the system randomly, or failing to boot up entirely). There are other threads on this forum about replacing power supply capacitors and I’d recommend doing that too, if you’re fixing the audio board capacitors.

Two questions: this can afflict Connect Amp as well? And will it then show in speaker sound levels when playing streamed music as well as that from line in?

The Connect:amp doesn’t have this kind of failure.  If the connect:amp doesn’t drive speakers, it’s usually related to blown amplifier circuitry.

I don’t understand the second question.  That question seems to be unrelated to the issue this repair addresses.

Is not the Connect Amp essentially a Connect that has its RCA outputs internally wired to the amplification stage on the Connect Amp? And if the defect is in what should then be the same circuit after the digital to analog conversion, it should not matter where the music signal is coming from?

I ask because one of my Connect Amps seems to have had this symptom present in one of the wired passive speakers, that are also two decades old, ten year older than the Connect Amp. I first suspected the speakers, but I think I have been able to rule that out.

Right now, there is no trouble, but if it has happened in the past, and the reason was not addressed, it may reappear; so the question is for then, really.

While there is a digital signal that is converted to analog (and then amplified), the circuitry to do that has nothing in common with the Connect.

Fair enough! Thank you.

Add me with the same problem ZP80 with external amp.  tested all other components and that seems to be the one that has failed so I assume it is the capacitors as per timc995 post.  Bummer. At the moment I have to choose between music in bathroom and garage. 

This is a hardware failure, and is related to device age and component degradation.  I speak from experience as I have repaired a lot of devices with this problem.  My observation is that it’s not really a problem for devices that are younger than about 10 years, but it does start to happen beyond that.  It’s much more common on ZP80 devices than ZP90, and less common on Connect devices.

Some messages here assert that the problem happened after a software upgrade.  I haven’t seen any relationship at all like that...it’s strictly a hardware problem.

I was able to trace the audio path and discovered that the problem is with two capacitors (one for each of the left and right channels) that are directly after the digital-to-analog conversion (which is done by the CS4265 chip visible in the image below).  These audio signals are then filtered/amplified/etc to reach the RCA outputs.  When these capacitors degrade/fail, they either cause no signal, weak signal, or cause static in the audio.  They don’t always fail in pairs, so it is possible that one channel becomes staticky or fainter than the other.  One channel fainter than the other is harder to notice than both becoming faint, which is why people often don’t see a problem until both channels fail.  You can check your device using the app and playing with the balance control to test each speaker separately.

The fix is to replace the capacitors.  They are rated 2.2uF 35V surface mount electrolytic capacitors.  They are the two circled in the picture below.  These are quite small, and I would not advise this repair for anyone who hasn’t done this kind of work before.  However, if successfully done, the faint audio problem disappears.

There are other identical capacitors on the board.  It’s a bit surprising to me that they aren’t also degrading and causing other kinds of failure, but for whatever reason...they aren’t.

Lastly, I would mention that these capacitors usually start to fail around the same time that capacitors in the power supply start to degrade.  Bad power supply capacitors cause other issues (like the device disappearing from the system randomly, or failing to boot up entirely). There are other threads on this forum about replacing power supply capacitors and I’d recommend doing that too, if you’re fixing the audio board capacitors.

 

Just wanted to say that this is not necessarily the silver bullet for this problem. I had the exact same symptoms with my (granted younger - h/w version 1.22.1.5-2.1) Connect. Basically almost zero line-out signal (you can JUST hear a whisper if you amp it to the max) but optical still working fine. So I dismantled and carefully replaced the offending caps and…. no change…. exactly the same symptom :(