Dolby Atmos causing audio on Arc to "pop" then cuts out

  • 8 November 2021
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I’m just here to add my voice to the crowd.  Sony KD-43X85J. Apple TV 4K. Sonos Arc.  Loud pop in first 5-10 minutes of Atmos content.  If I unplug the arc and plug it back in sound comes back and no more pops for the rest of the evening.  TV Apps play atmos content fine.  Serious first world problems here… but I’ve spent first world prices on these products.

I’ve been having the same issue but with the Beam gen 2 playing Atmos content from Apple TV 4K.  Apple even replaced my Apple TV unit with a new one, but issue didn’t resolve.  I had seen that TV OS 16 had fixed similar issues in beta, but after finally getting the OS 16 problem still occurs.  Any fixes lately?  Where is Sonos support in all this? 

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Posted on the other thread but will share my insights here as well.  I too am experiencing the issue on both XSX and ATV4K, more often on the series x opposed to the ATV4K but it aligns with everybody is saying

 

i just finished a RMA process because I caught the pop on video and the support rep processed it as a hardware failure, and the new arc and hdmi cable behaved well for the first three weeks until tonight.  Always happens in the same spot on the series X, when I’m going back to the Home Screen after playing a Dolby Atmos (MAT) title.  
 

So far I have tried 2 ARCs, 3 Certified HDMI 2.1 cables, two different devices (Xbox and ATV) and two different TVs (Sony x900h, LG C1) and with the pop happening on all combinations, the common theme is the Dolby Atmos MAT format.  I too have not seen the issue on any other audio format or TV smart app

Also opened a ticket with Microsoft, to see if there is something on their end they aren’t doing correctly

As for Sonos, there are literally a 100 users over this thread and the one I’ve posted to “Sonos arc pop then Audio Loss” describing the same issue.  I find it hard to believe Sonos can’t reproduce this issue when it’s so very common 

 

And yes, I am aware that I can use a downgraded audio format and not have this issue, but when spending $2,000 on a speaker system that does Dolby atmos.  I certainly want to take full advantage 

 

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Yes, my BEAM was gen1

The Beam, assuming it was Gen 1, wouldn’t have been receiving an Atmos signal. 

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Maybe, but before my arc, I have a Beam, and never this issue with my Xbox.

Sounds like the XBox is generating this scary pop for some reason….Sonos is just playing what is sent down the wire. 

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Hi, same problem here. My config :

  • TV Sony (no arc used, only HDMI display)
  • HD Fury Arcana for eArc compatibility 
  • hdmi Hue Sync (for Light sync and HDMI switch
  • apple TV 4K (gen1)
  • xbox series X
  • sonos ARC+SUB(gen2)+2xONE

My arc is New out of the box this week, and I have only Scary POP with XBOX when I come back on the Dashboard after a Game and when I shutdown my headset, always the night to be sure to wake up affraid my children and wife…

no issue for the moment with my Apple TV 4K, but, I have not a lot of content with atmos because I leave un France and Atmos is not used much.

but games on Xbox use it.

I’ve just stated having this issue. Any progress on a fix?

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Could be the same issue as this, as it’s not just related to surrounds dropping out, but also reverb and distortions with the Arc/Surrounds/Subs;

https://en.community.sonos.com/home%2Dtheater%2D228993/lost%2Dsurround%2Dand%2Dsub%2Dafter%2Dupdate%2D6868561?postid=16594281#post16594281

And now on 14.8 the issue is back.

This issue appears to be resolved for me with firmware 14.6.2.

I have the Xbox series X and Atmos content would cause this pop every few minutes. It was pretty awful and definitely unusable in that state. I had to change the Xbox to play 5.1 instead to avoid the issue. 

After 14.6.2 I changed the Xbox back to Atmos and I have played hours of Atmos content via the Xbox through my Sony A80J to the Arc with zero issues.

Nothing else has changed in my setup.

I have the same issue with my Sonos Arc / Shield TV 2019 (non pro)

optimistically waiting for a fix

Xbox Series X user here. Popping only occurs when using “Atmos enabled audio” coming from the Xbox, and never from the Atmos enabled audio of my Sony TV. 

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Yes, mine popping too. Disney+ Atmos content. Happened 8 times in moon knight. A loud pop and the sounds cuts. Pausing and then playing content returns the sound. Scares me every time.

I have a Sonos arc and sub setup with a Sony X90H tv and cannot believe that Sonos still haven’t fixed the popping issue. Only ever happens when watching Dolby atmos content. Have had the issue for over a year now. 
 

You can’t market yourself as a premium product and have poor after sales support. Listen to the community Sonos. There’s a serious issue….fix it! 

I’ve had this same issue with the Nvidia Shield Pro 2019 and my LG C8 off and on since 2020. Tried different cables, reboots, etc. nothing ever fixes it.

Always works well when using TV apps.

There’s clearly some issue with sending external source atmos (roku, shield, Apple TV, Xbox, etc.) to the Arc through the TV. Sounds like it happens with many different TV models and many different external sources.

Just had the issue watching Netflix on through a Roku Ultra on a LG CX TV.  Scared the hell out of me.  

My Panasonic HZ1000 output Atmos and Dolby Digital Plus.  As far as I know Apple, Apple will fix the mistake maybe in a year :D  I play movies mainly from Plex, so my ATV is set to DD 5.1 anyway. Mutichannel PCM 5.1 or 7.1 is uncompressed, but converting to DD5.1 will produce better sound quality results.

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I too confirm this – but it’s a different format. Bravia TVs output Atmos as Dolby Digital Plus.

I've not had any issue with Atmos Blu-Rays playing through PS5 and passthrough (Dolby TrueHD)

I comfirm that!! TV´s netflix app have no problem with Atmos! So I think Apple TV is a winner. I will test netflix tv app with more movies and tv shows, but I think there will be no problem.

I just experienced this issue!  That pop was a shock!

Apple TV 4K, 65” Sony X85J, Sonos Arc, Ones, Sub (Gen 3). 8k rated HDMI cables.  8k rated two in / one out HDMI switch.

loud pop and audio cut out on Arc while watching the Witcher on Netflix in Atmos.

switched back to the TV’s Netflix app and have no problems with Atmos.

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I will try to play some movies from native netflix app on my panasonic TV and I will see if the problem is on ATV or Sonos. 

I definitely think it’s more Sonos — as I’ve said previously, it seems that the main culprits here are Apple TV and Xbox Series X — both of which use Dolby MAT as their audio format/container.

I will try to play some movies from native netflix app on my panasonic TV and I will see if the problem is on ATV or Sonos. 

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I’m not sure if there have been mitigations from Apple/Sonos on the issue but I’ve not had anymore dropouts recently, that said, there are still “pops” (more like cracks) in the audio tracks of Atmos content, but it no longer seems to drop the audio entirely.

Not a complete fix, but in the right direction…