Contributor I

Answered

One channel missing on only one album

Forum|Forum|4 months ago
May 13, 2026
19 replies
191 views

On one of the albums in my library, one channel disappears when the album is played on a Sonos speaker. I know that a single Sonos speaker is monoaural, but it sounds like there is no right speaker. The guitar is missing; there is only bass and drums. Other albums sound just fine on these speakers.

This does not happen on the original CD played on a CD player or with an iPod, or on the desktop PC where my music library is stored, which uses iTunes. It does not happen on my Mac laptop, which uses the Apple Music app. And it does not happen on my iPhone. It only happens on my Sonos speakers. I have four different Sonos models for different rooms, and they all have this problem, but I have been testing mainly on a Roam.

I spoke to a Sonos AI assistant for more than 25 minutes. She suggested that I try playing the album from the Apple Music app instead of from my library. It is perfectly normal on my iPhone, but it has the same problem when played through the Roam speaker.

The AI assistant also suggested that I rip the CD again, this time in WAV format. That didn’t fix the problem.

Does anyone else have a problem like this? Do you have a solution?

Thank you for any help.

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 MoPac

Played East West on the KEF LS 50 speakers. I know they are not Sonos, but I definitely hear what sounds like QSound which creates a surround effect with only 2 speakers. I’m guessing this is accomplished using some out of phase sounds that throw sounds to one side or the other. In the case of East West I hear the guitar on the left wall just forward a bit from my listening position. Not as much sound coming from the right side.

The Bill Frisell: East West I used was from Qobuz. Not sure if a rip would play the same way although my Roger Waters: Amused to Death which is advertised as QSound does play like QSound should.

I will try East West on a stereo pair of Sonos Move speakers and report back.

EDIT: East West played on the Sonos Move stereo pair does the same thing as the KEF LS50 speakers. The music is playing from both speakers which I can tell from the bass. The guitar does favor the left side, but not to the same degree because my positioning is not as close to an equilateral triangle as it is in the KEF system and here is no left wall.

MoPac

Headliner III

What is the album? Is it mono?

T

thw27Author

Contributor I

If the album were mono, there would be no problem. It is Bill Frisell’s East West, disc 1. It was recorded in stereo in 2005.

Airgetlam

As a guess, it suggests some sort of wifi interference between Sonos speakers and each other or the router.

While I applaud your willingness to talk to the AI assistant from Sonos, I’d have been tempted to get through to an actual human.

Have you tried wiring your other Sonos speakers (not the Roam, obviously) temporarily to your router with Ethernet cables, and tested?

I’ve ripped a lot of music using iTunes (now called Apple Music), and haven’t run into this issue…but I usually listen to this music on stereo paired devices, and not a single speaker like a Roam.

Bruce

jgatie

If a recording has the left and right channels recorded out-of-phase, summing the channel to a mono speaker can cause one channel to disappear. The example stated in the past was Traffic’s “Dear Mr. Fantasy” which has vocals recorded purposefully out of phase.

ETA: There is mention on the internet that the OP’s example album heavily utilizes special effects, including phase shifts, to affect the soundstage. If the problem disappears when played through a pair of stereo speakers, I would lean towards this explanation.

MoPacAnswer

Headliner III

Played East West on the KEF LS 50 speakers. I know they are not Sonos, but I definitely hear what sounds like QSound which creates a surround effect with only 2 speakers. I’m guessing this is accomplished using some out of phase sounds that throw sounds to one side or the other. In the case of East West I hear the guitar on the left wall just forward a bit from my listening position. Not as much sound coming from the right side.

The Bill Frisell: East West I used was from Qobuz. Not sure if a rip would play the same way although my Roger Waters: Amused to Death which is advertised as QSound does play like QSound should.

I will try East West on a stereo pair of Sonos Move speakers and report back.

EDIT: East West played on the Sonos Move stereo pair does the same thing as the KEF LS50 speakers. The music is playing from both speakers which I can tell from the bass. The guitar does favor the left side, but not to the same degree because my positioning is not as close to an equilateral triangle as it is in the KEF system and here is no left wall.

kdowling

I played it from Qobuz on a stereo pair of Ones. It sounded fine. Then on a single One. It sounded terrible. Most of the sound disappeared.

jgatie

The OP was playing the track in mono on a single speaker. So I'm pretty certain the out-of-phase effects are what the OP was hearing due to the down mix to mono.

MoPac

Headliner III

I played it from Qobuz on a stereo pair of Ones. It sounded fine. Then on a single One. It sounded terrible. Most of the sound disappeared.

Gotta’ be that QSound effect.

The OP was playing the track in mono on a single speaker. So I'm pretty certain the out-of-phase effects are what the OP was hearing due to the down mix to mono.

Somehow I missed the fact the OP was using only one speaker. The fact that the QSound effect was on the guitar is probably why he could not hear the guitar on one speaker.

MoPac

Headliner III

@thw27:

Guess AI doesn’t know everything. Get another speaker. Make a stereo pair. That album sounds really good in stereo.

Stanley_4

Grand Maestro

AI knows, or pretends to know everything.

It doesn't know truth from fiction.

It is biased to always provide an answer even if it is completely fictional.