Anomalous sound on Beam especially with video streams

Sound drops briefly (millisecs) & randomly on Beam when playing catch-up streams via Amazon FireTV . ARC on Samsung M series TV.

Diagnostic number: 660464983

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Hi there, castalla. Thanks for the post and for sharing your diagnostic report. Does this happen when playing music or only when watching content on Amazon Fire TV? I'm unable to see any errors in your diagnostic report that would create sound drops. I did, however, notice that your Beam is losing connectivity to the network from time to time.

If this happens only with Amazon FireTV, we may want to take a closer look at the audio settings.

Thanks!

I've only noticed it with the Fire TV. For example, playing a live TV stream with dialogue is stable, however with some catch-up programmes the problem can appear (and then disappear!). It seems like a random problem ....

Any chance of some follow-up on this?

I'm posting this reply here too aswell as in the other thread where you are discussing this issue ...

It will likely be intermittent wireless interference on your Beam from your other entirely separate router network as Keith from Sonos has inferred in the thread reply above.

You will still be better off putting your devices on SonosNet linked off one router and operating them with one controller as mentioned previously in this much thread ...

https://en.community.sonos.com/what-to-get-228989/shambolic-frustrating-experience-attempting-to-purchase-from-sonos-shop-in-europe-6811600

If you don't follow the earlier advice then you are likely to continue to get these type of network issues

Castalla,

I would also turn off HDMI-CEC too on your fire stick, as mentioned elsewhere on the forum.

Thanks. I've switched off the CEC on the FireTV. Will report back on any outcome.

Your welcome, but I still think the root cause of your issues might be connected with WiFi interference from your two separate networks... consider perhaps using a single SonosNet network for all your devices, that way no other device in your home can interrupt the sonos network traffic on your LAN ... This Sonos Support article explains reasons why that can often work best for most people.

Choosing between a Standard and BOOST Setup

This next link explains how to switch from a 'standard setup' to Boost Mode. It will however mean resetting one of your devices, either Reg Sonos One or The Beam in your case.

Switching a Sonos Household between Standard & BOOST mode & vice versa

Hope those help and if necessary call Sonos Support to seek their professional advice. They can even remote onto your two home networks to help you do these things, whilst talking you through it all.

Thanks - but surely the boost mode will isolate the players from the existing networks? That would mean that I'd lose access to the Play 1 as a player in LMS?

Thanks - but surely the boost mode will isolate the players from the existing networks? That would mean that I'd lose access to the Play 1 as a player in LMS? Nope not at all, not if you setup your Sonos devices and your raspberry-pi/media server on the same router subnet... you can even use a Sonos library or UPNP Server on your laptop too, if you want to. It’s just a few simple things that you really need to do to have all these things working together.

Like I mentioned earlier, Sonos Support would be the best folk to assist you here, so it’s worth calling and chatting to them over the phone.

okay - will investigate!

But, that means the Play 1 will have to be permanently connected by wire to router ... hmmm, have to think about that!

okay - will investigate!

Remember even when your Sonos Speakers are running 'exclusively' on SonosNet, the players are still issued with IP addresses by your routers DHCP server, so as long as your raspberry pi is also connected to that same router, the LMS service will be accessible to all the devices on the same LAN subnet... so just ask Sonos Support to Assist you to do that ... in 'simple terms', it just means the following steps need to be done:

Move or ensure that your Sonos One is switched over to SonosNet.

Move the Beam to the same Sonos Household ID as your Sonos One.

Ensure you WiFi credentials are removed from the Advanced Settings/Wireless setup of the Sonos App.. these are not required when running on SonosNet.

Ensure your laptop (mobile Sonos Controller) is connected to the same router WiFi

You can leave your raspberry pi/LMS exactly where it is now... no changes are required.

Just double-check and ensure that your two different router wifi channels are completely different from each other, such as channels 1 and 11 and then set the SonosNet to channel 6 .. but I’m sure the Sonos Staff will advise anyway on the actual best channels to use here when you call them.

You can even refer the Sonos staff to read the several different threads you have created here in this forum, so that they get a clear understanding of what you are trying to achieve.

Hope that now helps you resolve your issues.

I'll try it with the Play 1 first ... maybe a Sonos Boost is the missing link, given the speakers are not really close to the routers.

Obviously any Sonos Speaker can act as a Boost device... there are two reasons really to add a Boost to a network. One is when you cannot cable a speaker easily to the LAN due to its location, compared to the router, and second is to set up a Boost away from the router to act as a stepping stone for the SonosNet signal where speakers are very far apart ... this support article helps explain the differences between a Sonos Boost and Standard setup:

Choosing between a Standard and BOOST Setup

In the diagram that shows the Boost network, note how the signal hops between all the speakers... a Boost can be put in any position to act as a stepping stone for the signal, though most people tend to often use another speaker.

Again Sonos staff can advise you about that matter... you can also perhaps search through this forum and read up on how to see your Sonos Matrix via a web browser to see how your connections and devices are doing in terms of signal strength and what intereference may exist around your devices. If a device is showing red in colour then you take steps to turn it yellow, or even green perhaps.

Much easier though to just give the Support Staff a ring next week some time, that’s if you continue to encounter problems with your Beam now that you have disabled HDMI-CEC on your fire stick... anyhow see how it goes.

Hope all that helps you too to resolve your issues.

Got it setup! Both operating on the Sonos net. Nice!

However, I've lost alexa on the Beam ... got basic working, but need to reactivate the integration ...

The easiest way is to goto the Beams Room Settings in the Sonos App.. the Alexa account link is at the top of the Rooms setting page... note it’s best to remove your existing sonos devices in the smart home section of the Alexa App and then Ask Alexa to simply scan for all your Sonos devices again... Alexa will then rediscover all your devices registered in your Sonos account.

What's your thinking on adding a Boost ?

You can perhaps research the Sonos Network Matrix topic on this forum, or via google, but it’s difficult for me to answer those type of questions, without seeing your setup. Sonos Staff would be able to answer that question far better than anyone else here too, as they have access to view your settings and signal strengths via a diagnostic submission.

The one thing I will say is imagine a very long corridor with both a router and Boost at one end and say a Play: 1 speaker at the other end. If the Play: 1 suffers some signal dropouts occasionally, then it’s sometimes a good idea to place either another (middle-man) Boost, or another speaker, halfway along the corridor for the signal to 'hop' off.

HOWEVER I have seen some folk buy a Boost just to try and improve the signal strength to the speaker that is furthest away in their home and it turns out to be a waste of money and the reason is, if the speaker at the furthest point is still getting a fairly decent (sufficient) wireless SonosNet signal anyway, it will completely bypass the 'middle-man' device and still connect directly back to the Boost nearest to the router.

Again this is the type of question that Sonos Staff will be able to help you with.

As the router is in an awkward spot (and the Play1 acting in boost mode has to be etherneted to the router, making it also awkwardlly accessible), I thought a Boost attached to the router would free up the Play1 to be located elsewhere.

Later: I've ordered a Boost. If it doesn't work then I can always return to Amazon (easier than Sonos Shop!)

Yes, of course, like I said, if it’s awkward to cable a speaker to your router from its preferred location in your home, then it makes sense to use a Boost instead, just so that you can then put that speaker where you really want it.

There is no harm though in putting the speaker there temporarily, to see how well everything works across all your Sonos products when they are all running exclusively on SonosNet.

If you swap the speaker for Boost then I would go about it in this way.

Setup your Boost 'uncabled' on your existing system using the option to set it up away from the router. You do this from within your Sonos mobile controller App Settings which says 'Add a Boost'. Doing it this way makes the Boost a part of your existing Sonos Household, giving it the same Household ID.

When it has been setup, you will see the Boost in the ‘About my Sonos System' section of the Sonos App.

Next switch off all your Sonos products... now swap the Boost over for the cabled speaker... then power-on each speaker, one at a time, starting with the nearest one and then the next nearest until all appear back in your Sonos App.

Also just ensure that all devices are running on SonosNet by checking that every device has WM: 0 next to their entry in the list in the 'About my Sonos System' section.

Finally, just ensure that there are no WiFi credentials stored in the 'Advanced Setup/Wireless Setup' section of the Sonos App.. if they are then just reset/remove them as these credentials are not needed when running your devices on SonosNet.

I hope that helps you to setup your Boost, if you do go down that road of adding one to your system.?

Thanks. No doubt I'll be back with more questions!

Original report here: https://en.community.sonos.com/home-theater-228993/anomalous-sound-on-beam-especially-with-video-streams-6812375

System now running in Boost mode

I'm submitting another diagnostic:

confirmation number is: 1520367195.

Quick update: Boost installed without issues. More testing in progress!

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