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Hi. I have an LG C8 OLED TV and a Beam, connected Via HDMI Arc. I also have some Sony Bluetooth headphones. Whenever I try and play the TV audio via Bluetooth after 2 seconds it switches back to Arc. Is there anyway to prevent this? I have to pull the HDMI lead out of the Beam, but can it be disabled via the app or some other way? Thanks.

I’m going to try something that may be easier than physically unplugging.

 

Kasa sells smart plugs that do not require a separate hub, only Wi-Fi. I have a bunch of them around for lights, my coffee maker, and fans. There’s an app that lets you have a timer or schedule and allows you to turn it on an off from your phone. I’m going to plug the speaker into the smart plug so that I can simply turn on and off the speakers from the couch when I want to use my AirPods or my XBOX headset so I won’t wake up the baby when I watch TV or game.

Rather than physically unplugging the HDMI this is an option. I don’t see either Sonos or LG fixing this because honestly no one gives a f. It’s been years from browsing other posts in this and other forums. Will let you guys know how this works tonight!

 

 


Using Sonos Arc with LG C9 connected via eARC with CEC enabled and am now not able to use any other audio outputs. After selecting any of them, it jumps back to ARC after a couple of seconds.
Hope its a bug that gets resolved as currently the implementation of CEC on this flagship Sonos soundbar is quite disappointing.

 

I've had Beam and sub 3.1 combo for 2 years now hooked up to a LG E8 and have to switch HDMI CEC  off to use bluetooth with my  headphones. I see it as a CEC issue not a Sonos one. I also have CEC issues when activating CEC and other items like ATV4K and a Foxtel cable box I need to turn it off for the Apple box. 

I think the issue is due to Sonos being a music player and media streamer and not just a dumb soundbar.  


Yeah I got this. Strange that it's been going on for so many years, and even stranger that some soundbars don't suffer from it. I wonder how other companies do it…

What bothers me much more is the loss of sound when switching source on my Samsung tv. My sister wants to remove the beam cause every time she wants to watch Netflix there's no sound unless she plays around with the settings and gets lucky...

Are you referring to Soundbars that do not use the HDMI-CEC protocol standard for controlling the volume using the TV’s native remote, whether that remote works over RF/Infrared/Bluetooth? Only I’ve not yet come across an audio receiver with those features that do not have this same issue.

I would rather use the native TV ‘remote’ for volume control rather than a separate ‘remote’ for controlling the Soundbar audio. It would be difficult to do that, If your ‘remote’ did not use infrared, without having CEC control enabled on the TV.


It does baffle me this is still an issue. A simple On/Off button in the App would fix it. When you update the Arc it looses connection to the TV. So the mechanism of the Arc not ‘being connected’ exists. They just need to make it a button.


The CEC protocol, last time I reviewed it, allowed a single speaker ‘sink’ associated with it. This is why turning off CEC allows you to switch to different speakers.

For those not familiar, CEC is a common standard used across the industry. I don’t know, offhand, if Sonos was part of the consortium of companies that designed and agreed on the standard. Sonos just implements it as designed on their Home Theater devices. 


Can confirm same issue on my end (LG C1 65 + Sonos Arc / Sub). When activating bluetooth headphones, get audio for about 2 seconds before the switch back. 

Will try to disable Simplink but can see this as rather annoying. I would have thought a firmware update would have already fixed this - so given the absence of one and any genuine acknowledgement from SONOS may actually point to a hardware related issue. Pity, i held out on getting on the Sonos bandwagon for many many years and am now considering returning the setup back to the store given this lack of this basic usability. 


Etherial has a fixer that can simulate yanking the HDMI connection.


Seriously Sonos?  Are you guys STILL ***** the bed on this topic?  I mean you have THOUSANDS of people stating the same problem FOR YEARS! and you still haven’t fixed the issue?

 

Give us a freaking answer instead of telling us to unplug our equipment!  That is NOT a solution!

 

*Moderator Note: Modified in accordance with the Community Code of Conduct.*


Really annoying issue. Does Sonos have few TVs and QA team? I mean according to this thread it's not related to one TV vendor.


It's just strange that Sonos don't wish to confirm this problem and provide some hotfix e.g. button in own app interface or something.

I'm ashamed of you, guys.

 

 


Can confirm same issue on my end (LG C1 65 + Sonos Arc / Sub). When activating bluetooth headphones, get audio for about 2 seconds before the switch back. 

Will try to disable Simplink but can see this as rather annoying. I would have thought a firmware update would have already fixed this - so given the absence of one and any genuine acknowledgement from SONOS may actually point to a hardware related issue. Pity, i held out on getting on the Sonos bandwagon for many many years and am now considering returning the setup back to the store given this lack of this basic usability. 

 

Can you test another brand soundbar?


SimpLink disabled in my LGC9 and my Airpods now working more then 2 seconds 😉 still IN MY OPINION there is some software conflict - thats why ARC or Beam’s doing this. As other devices not doing this on same TV and same Bluetooth set. So Sonos guys don’t get all upset - fix it !!! My wife will not give ma what I want from her for next 2 months as the house was shaking before I found this topic lol !


I have the same problem with a Samsung TV. It doesn’t matter what other sound output I select, it switches back to Sonos Beam immediately after.


I have the same problem with a Samsung TV. It doesn’t matter what other sound output I select, it switches back to Sonos Beam immediately after.

Maybe see if switching off AnyNet+ first in the TV settings …and then switching sound-output will work for you.


If AnyNet/CEC is disabled, then ARC is also disabled (so Sonos can’t be used as an audio output via HDMI).


If AnyNet/CEC is disabled, then ARC is also disabled (so Sonos can’t be used as an audio output via HDMI).

Correct…You should not (hopefully) need CEC enabled if you’re switching the audio-output to anything other than the connected soundbar. Just switch AnyNet+ back on later to use the Arc.


Helpful


Hi. I have an LG C8 OLED TV and a Beam, connected Via HDMI Arc. I also have some Sony Bluetooth headphones. Whenever I try and play the TV audio via Bluetooth after 2 seconds it switches back to Arc. Is there anyway to prevent this? I have to pull the HDMI lead out of the Beam, but can it be disabled via the app or some other way? Thanks.

I figured out how to fix. You just go to your audio settings on your LG and turn on the “ears” setting. My Sonos Ace kept flipping off every couple seconds. This resolved it.


I am struggling to know if this is a Sonos or a TV problem ( I have an LG too which seems to be very common in this thread). 
 

until 3 days ago I could quite happily hear everything through the Sonos from the TV. I then noticed the tv switching from hdmi arc to internal speakers….. I would then flip it back to hdmi arc only to get no sound. I have had no sound on Hdmi arc now for a few days but unless I unplug the beam the tv auto selects arc and I get no sound. 
 

beam works fine for all normal streaming - question is whether what’s tripping the arc to auto flip is coming from the beam or the tv - and with no way to tell which it is how can you get support in this mixed environment.

 

fwiw I will factory reset my tv and my beam later today and not run any updates on either…see how it goes.. but this is busting my nut


I’ve got the same issue. LG C8 and ARC. Will try the CEC route this evening. It’s not ideal to have to do a work around as you would think the integration between Sonos and LG would be better. 


As I understand the other threads about this, the behaviour is confirming to HDMI-CEC standards. There’s nothing to fix. Certainly not by Sonos.


almost 2 years ago came across this problem ( LG 65 inch OLED + beam + airpods)

no resolution since then?

Unacceptable. 

Bad Sonos, bad.

 

 


Hi folks, thanks for reaching out with the Sonos Community! I understand that we all want to keep the Sonos Arc/Beam and headphones connected to our TV at the same time and that kind of behavior is based on your TV on how the HDMI connections work because you are connecting two output devices to your TV. As others suggested this is more and can be handled appropriately by the TV manufacturers. You can try optical for better options but it will still up to you on how to proceed. Just let us know if you need anything. We and the community are always here to help.


I am getting the same problem with a new LG OLED TV OLED77C2PSC.AAU and SONOS (Soundbar Beam Gen 2]).

If I turn OFF HDMI-CEC on the TV, The Sonos soundbar turns HDMI-CEC back ON within a few seconds.
So it is is impossible to switch to the Optical Output for headphones, …
(Other than disconnecting the HDMI ARC cable physically)

There is no setting on the SONOS app to disable Sonos automatically tuning HDMI-CEC ON.

Very annoying, Given this problem has NOT been resolved in the past 2-3 years, I will be returning my SONOS Soundbar and giving bad reviews wherever possible.

There appear to be NO response from SONOS support on this forum.


It’s not a ‘bug’ per se, it’s the way CEC was written. Neither LG nor Sonos own CEC, they just use the specification as an implementation point. But since the CEC control (computer) is in the TV set, and the Sonos is merely a client to that, I’d start the discussion with LG. 

Then tell me why people don’t have the same issue with other sound systems..

its the way sonos is uses SEC so it IS their bug

 

FFS sonos just hire some descent developers or let ChatGPT check your code. These are bugs a startup company has not a company with years of experience.

if you want to run with the big guys, deliver quality on all parts. B&W are doing a way better job. With them you get and good software and a way better sound experience. Yes you pay the price. But if this isn’t getting fixed in a few months I will replace all of Sonos  crap with descent products


I am amaized that 3+ years and sonos could not connect their own product to a tv and try to replicate this, to see the issue themselves? I had my same experience and i imagine others will continue to have it! All smart tv pwners will see how bad sonos products are due to this 1 bug! Unless they dont set up another audio output.


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