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Contributor I
September 22, 2021
Answered

SiriusXM Connection Drops

  • September 22, 2021
  • 20 replies
  • 2278 views

I see this is a recurring and persistent issue here, so joining the chorus of users who are having issues streaming SiriusXM radio via my Sonos system. I can usually connect and SiriusXM will play for an hour (if I’m lucky; it often cuts out much sooner) before the stream drops. Once the stream dies I get the “song not encoded correctly” error which makes no sense. I can usually restart the stream after waiting for 5–10 minutes.

I listen via various Sonos speakers that I own, primarily a Play:1 in my office, or a group of speakers that includes a Sonos One, Play:3, Move, and Play:1. This ONLY happens with Sirius. None of my other streaming radio services (Apple Music, Amazon Music, Sonos Radio, TuneIn, Bandcamp) experience this issue. My 1gb internet connection is stable and strong. There is no obvious wireless interference from a cordless phone, TV remotes, etc.

I’m confident that this isn’t a hardware or connectivity issue on my end. Is this a Sonos problem? A SiriusXM problem?

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    Best answer by Airgetlam

    It could be either, frankly. Although since it is only occurring on a single stream and not all streams, it’s much more likely to be outside of your influence/network. If it was a Sonos issue, it would occur across all streams, not just SiriusXM.

    But in order to be certain, I would recommend that you 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.

     

     

    20 replies

    Show previous replies
    NPRFAN
    NPRFAN
    Trending Lyricist I
    December 25, 2021

    Since my original post several months ago, I have had more good days than bad with Siriusxm drops. By good,  I mean listening to a music channel continuously for 5 hours without a drop. As soon as I think "problem solved" I get a drop.  To be fair,  it is happening less. I had the good fortune to receive some feedback on this thread from @Corry P.  He offered to review several of my Diagnostic Reports and made some suggestions. Eg., I had some things connected by ethernet that simply did not need to be. My attitude has shifted a bit. I am pleasantly surprised when it works, which is often, and not upset when it doesn't. Best of all, everything else works well without failures of any kind in a complicated arrangement distributed throughout 4 floors (including basement and attic). Over the years of owning Sonos products I have gone through a steep trial and error learning process for my setup, but I continue to be blown away by the tech skills of folks in the Sonos community. I  honestly believe that Sonos is actually aware of this issue and has been quietly working on it, hopefully before every one tears their hair out.

    Todd in Barrhaven
    Contributor I
    January 22, 2022

    Related to this, I experience the drops occasionally, but not enough to drive me crazy. What is driving me crazy lately though is that one channel, specifically SiriusXM Love, Channel 708, seems to have completely disappeared, but from Sonos only. I can only access it through the SiriusXM app. Can't get it through Sonos, so unable to play it. Ideas? Haven't called Sonos support yet, and given the above comments, not sure it will do any good.

    Airgetlam
    Airgetlam
    January 23, 2022

    All Sonos does is point their player to a SiriusXM server, and then play the music that it accesses there. That server is actually a different server than other apps, including theSiriusXM app and website uses, so expecting the two servers to be the same should be true, but in instances like this, they can deviate.
     

    Since Sonos doesn’t own or operate the server, if the issue isn’t in the Sonos software (and if it was, you’d likely see it affecting all streams, not just one), it’s up to the streamer (SiriusXM) to fix the issue. Posting your concerns here is fine, I would expect the forum moderators to collect them sometime Monday, package them up, and send them to SiriusXM, but dealing directly with SiriusXM might be able to get a quicker response. 

    Bruce
      Todd in Barrhaven
      Contributor I
      January 23, 2022

      Thanks Bruce, I am certainly not knowledgeable regarding the technical aspects. I did call SiriusXM a couple of days ago. Aside from the usual, "try uninstalling and re-installing", they really weren't helpful.

      Airgetlam
      Airgetlam
      January 23, 2022

      It does seem to be continuing, based on the number of threads. Hopefully the input from Sonos engineers will help the SiriusXM engineers track down the issue. 

      Bruce
        goisles01
        Lyricist I
        February 3, 2022

        Same issues for me… It’s VERY annoying as Sirius is my main music source (DMB and PHISH).

         

        I did find a PITA workaround… Play the channel on my Samsung Smart TV Sirius app, which is connected to my ARC… Then I add the other rooms from the Sonos app

         

          meddle01
          Trending Lyricist I
          March 21, 2022

          Having the same issue and have for months.   It happens across various SiriusXM channels.   Can someone at Sonos get on the telephone with Sirius and figure this out?   It’s almost unusuable for some channels.

           

          “Unable to play ‘<ChannelName>’ - it is encoded using an unsupported digital rights management system.”

           

          Thank you

           

           

            NOTABOT
            Lyricist I
            May 29, 2022

            Still not fixed?  So glad I “upgraded” from my gen 1 (where Sirius worked flawlessly for 10 years straight)  Clearly Sonos is more interested in pushing their HD radio service than ensuring a competing service works.  Oh well, the Move will go back and I’ll return to the gen 1 Five.  Thanks for nothing Sonos.  

              GarrettR
              Lyricist I
              July 16, 2022

              Has this actually been answered? I see so many complaints — and all sorts of solutions. I’ve tried many and still can’t listen to Sirius without drops 

                Cb07
                Lyricist I
                August 6, 2022

                I am extremely frustrated with this issue!  I have had numerous support calls dealing with this and it just never gets fixed.  Sending diagnostics, unplugging, rebooting, etc has done nothing. Sonos, if the “Unable to play ‘<ChannelName>’ - it is encoded using an unsupported digital rights management system” is not on your end, I would seriously hope that you’re working with Sirius to get this fixed. It’s been going on way too long!!!

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