Arc microphone constantly turns off and off by itself

Avid Contributor I

I went to Best Buy and got a third Arc to see if we're just dealing with a bad batch directly from Sonos. I'm also running the replacement arc without any HDMI, far away from the tv, to see if it still messes with the mic.

I'm curious if those who haven't had issues were using era 300 surrounds and a sub first gen? It could be that the pairings are causing the issues. There are just so many variables.

If this doesn't work, I may just be relegated to turning off voice assistant on the arc and only using it on the surrounds. That should be fine, but I'm worried about resale value down the line with this problem.

The setup here @Jonnydrama32, which is not experiencing this mic issue is…

Sonos Arc linked over HDMI eARC to an LG C9 TV
Era 300 Surrounds
Sub (gen3)
Both Alexa & SVC installed on Arc and the two Surrounds aswell.

All are running on WiFi - no Sonos devices are wired.

Mic switches are on and obviously that includes the two rear mic switches on the rear of the Eras aswell.

By the way, you could always go onto un-bond the surrounds and/or Sub, just to see if that makes any difference in your own case.

Avid Contributor I

The setup here @Jonnydrama32, which is not experiencing this mic issue is…

Sonos Arc linked over HDMI eARC to an LG C9 TV
Era 300 Surrounds
Sub (gen3)
Both Alexa & SVC installed on Arc and the two Surrounds aswell.

All are running on WiFi - no Sonos devices are wired.

Mic switches are on and obviously that includes the two rear mic switches on the rear of the Eras aswell.

By the way, you could always go onto un-bond the surrounds and/or Sub, just to see if that makes any difference in your own case.

How were you able to get two different voice assistant in one bonded pair? When I try to add Google assistant to just my Arc that already has SVC, I'm prompted to remove SVC from all devices in the stereo bond to add Google assistant to the Arc

How were you able to get two different voice assistant in one bonded pair? When I try to add Google assistant to just my Arc that already has SVC, I'm prompted to remove SVC from all devices in the stereo bond to add Google assistant to the Arc

That’s correct, Google will only work ‘standalone’, whereas Alexa & SVC will install and work side-by-side on voice compatible Sonos products.

Avid Contributor I

How were you able to get two different voice assistant in one bonded pair? When I try to add Google assistant to just my Arc that already has SVC, I'm prompted to remove SVC from all devices in the stereo bond to add Google assistant to the Arc

That’s correct, Google will only work ‘standalone’, whereas Alexa & SVC will install and work side-by-side on voice compatible Sonos products.

Makes sense.

I've now put the Sonos replacement Arc on its own just playing music, away from the tv. It's been playing for 3 hours without the mic turning on/off.

The other replacement Arc that I got from Best Buy has simultaneously been hooked up to the same TV the aforementioned Arc was yesterday. It has also been running for 3 hours without the mic turning on/off.

So now I'm very confused. Yesterday, the Sonos replacement couldn't play music without the mic on/off issue after about 90 minutes. Now it's playing fine (so far). And then I replaced it with a Best Buy Arc that also isn't glitching? This makes zero sense. The Sonos replacement should still be glitching, otherwise this entire process is inconclusive.

I tried calling T2 tech support, but they're closed on weekends. I think Sonos’ customer service is horrible.

H

hogan1Author

Trending Lyricist I

ken - try this.

after i switch the arc with voice from amazon music to tv input, the arc mic turns immediately off. (only svc loaded)

When i switch the arc with voice from tv input to amazon music , the arc mic immediately turns off. (only svc loaded)

i don’t have to wait for the mic to turn off.

the other day, microphone off/on’s (with associated clicks) every couple of seconds. . had to remove sonos assistant because the clicks were way too annoying. diagnostic 47424320

my system

arc

sub (gen 1)

surround - 2 play:1 speakers

Avid Contributor I

ken - try this.

after i switch the arc with voice from amazon music to tv input, the arc mic turns immediately off. (only svc loaded)

When i switch the arc with voice from tv input to amazon music , the arc mic immediately turns off. (only svc loaded)

i don’t have to wait for the mic to turn off.

the other day, microphone off/on’s (with associated clicks) every couple of seconds. . had to remove sonos assistant because the clicks were way too annoying. diagnostic 47424320

my system

arc

sub (gen 1)

surround - 2 play:1 speakers

I think you mean me, not Ken. But Ken should try this to if he can, because I can (half) recreate what you’re saying and I have GA on my arc. Here’s what I’m able to do:

Attempt #1: TV is playing audio. I ask GA to play music through Spotify on my surround system. Mic mutes (but it also starts going back and forth between off and on intermittently). It does the same with Amazon Music.

Attempt #2: Arc is playing music through Spotify. I ask it to switch to tv input. It does, but it is NOT switching the mic off. So not quite the same as you, but close.

I got a new arc at Best Buy today and I watched TV for hours with no mic on/off issues. With this latest info in mind, I’m going to switch back to using that arc and see if it also mutes the mic when switching between VA and TV input. If it doesn’t do that, then we know Sonos has sent us bad Arcs.

Out of curiosity, when did you get your Arc from Sonos? And when did you get the replacement? I got mine about two weeks ago, and then the replacement about a week later.

Avid Contributor I

Okay, good news (and also bad news).

The two Arcs from Sonos both do exactly what you said above - mic turns off about 4 seconds after switching from TV to music using the voice assistant (You used Sonos VA; I used GA - same result). However, the Arc I purchased from Best Buy today does NOT have this problem. When I switch from TV to music, the mic stays on. I also used the Best Buy one to watch TV all day without the mic switching on/off once.

The fact that we both got recent Arcs directly from Sonos, and we both got them replaced, leads me to believe there is a bad batch as someone surmised above.

Hopefully someone else in this thread can try switching from TV to music using a VA - my guess is their mic won’t turn off doing this either.

And Hogan - you may want to see if you can replicate my experience by picking up an Arc from Best Buy. You can always return it within 15 days, which was my plan. But now that I have one that works, I’m tempted to send both Sonos-direct Arcs back. What sucks is that I got a 15% off upgrade from Sonos - Best Buy was full price.

Please update this thread when you can. I’m sure this will be helping anyone getting an Arc from Sonos in the next few weeks.

I’ve just tried the switching process with Alexa…

"Alexa, play some music” - music plays and the mic stays on.

“Alexa, switch to TV mode on Living Room” - Arc switches to TV audio and mic stays on.

I repeated the above steps and the mic never goes off, stays on all the time.

Next I repeated the above with SVC

“Hey Sonos, play some music” - SVC responded “As you like…” (or ding earcon tone) and music plays and the mic stays on.

“Hey Sonos, switch to TV mode on Living Room” - Arc switches to TV audio and mic stays on.

The mic never goes off in my case.

So I was unable to reproduce the issue described.