Skip to main content
jamescodefour
Trending Lyricist I
September 23, 2021
Answered

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

  • September 23, 2021
  • 41 replies
  • 2526 views

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

    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.
    Best answer by Richard_51

    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.

     

    41 replies

    Show previous replies
    John B
    September 29, 2021

    @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. 

      jamescodefourAuthor
      Trending Lyricist I
      September 29, 2021

      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

        Spence189
        Contributor I
        September 29, 2021

        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
        Airgetlam
        September 29, 2021

        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
        John B
        September 30, 2021

        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.

          Spence189
          Contributor I
          October 1, 2021

          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??

            Spence189
            Contributor I
            October 1, 2021

            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
            Airgetlam
            October 1, 2021

            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
            jamescodefourAuthor
            Trending Lyricist I
            October 2, 2021

            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??

            YES! mine does exactly the same, about 20% of plays will tell me Amazon is playing elsewhere

            John B
            October 2, 2021

            This does point to local communication errors. I think it unlikely it is linked to an update. If a generic bug had been introduced in an update there would be hundreds of posts about it by now.

            @jamescodefour and @Spence189 , are you operating Sonos with a wired Sonos device (SonosNet mode) or with everything on WiFi?

            Show more replies
            Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement