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topilouf
Contributor I
April 23, 2022

Lost surround and sub ( after update ?)

  • April 23, 2022
  • 1604 replies
  • 81295 views

Hi 

I don’t know if my issue is related to the 14.6 update but I noticed today that I had no sound from my surround (play 3) and my sub (Gen 2), only the Arc is working They are still present in the app under the my System view but now sound which every sources

When I reboot each of them, the sound comes back temporary, but when I switch to another source or audio format, thé Sound disappears again. Tried several times, same behavior

Thanks for your help

 

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    1604 replies

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    beefybanana
    Trending Lyricist I
    May 22, 2022

    Here’s my latest theory:

    Looking for commonalities in this thread, everyone experiencing this issue has an Apple TV 4K or Nvidia Shield and a newer high end TV that should support eARC.

     

    I have a 1st Gen Apple TV 4K and a Sony A1E OLED with the older ARC (not eARC) standard. The problem initially occurred in my system not with Apple TV but through the native Android TV apps. Navigating between various Youtube (on Android TV) videos, all encoded differently, would trigger it, in fact it would kill all sound not just from surrounds and sub but also from Sonos Arc soundbar itself.

    I only noticed the subs and surrounds dropping out after I stopped using Youtube on the native Android TV OS completely and switched to watching Youtube on my Apple TV 4K. At that point I started switching more regularly between various sources i.e. I would watch Netflix, Prime, Disney + on native Android TV and I would use the Apple TV for Plex, Apple TV+ and Youtube as well as regular TV through the Cable Box.

    After this, I noticed I had set my Audio Output on Apple TV 4K to ‘Dolby 5.1’ and not ‘auto’. Using the the Apple TV solely would not trigger any sub or surround drops and I assumed it was because all audio was being encoded to a single codec output. That is when I had initially surmised that something was going on with codec changes that was triggering the issue. (I initially reported my findings on page 13 of this thread)

    I feel like there’s a pattern in all this somewhere. Just too many Apple TV’s represented in this thread. Even if you initially saw the issue on internal TV apps, you still have an Apple TV like most others. Where are the Roku Ultra or PS5 primary users? Apple TV is like 3% of the streaming OS market yet practically everyone experiencing this issue has one. Non eARC TV owners like yourself experiencing the issue seems to debunk multichannel PCM as the cause. Not sure if Dolby Mat could still be in play but seems less likely. Not saying it’s an Apple TV issue rather than Sonos but what does an Apple TV do differently than most other devices. 

    I have a Shield Pro 2019 and I’m having exactly the same issue, no Apple TVs in my house. I’m pretty sure this one lands squarely with Sonos unfortunately (as we’re at their mercy for a fix).

      Weirdzen
      Lyricist III
      May 22, 2022

      don’t get me wrong, this bug sucks but on streaming devices using Dolby digital instead of LPCM is not lower quality. The source stream is Dolby digital and lossy anyway the device is just decoding it and outputting as LPCM

      If you want Atmos out of the Apple TV you have no choice but to go LPCM unfortunately.  At this point I may as well just have a beam.

      arcosin
      Enthusiast II
      May 22, 2022

      Here’s my latest theory:

      Looking for commonalities in this thread, everyone experiencing this issue has an Apple TV 4K or Nvidia Shield and a newer high end TV that should support eARC.

       

      I have a 1st Gen Apple TV 4K and a Sony A1E OLED with the older ARC (not eARC) standard. The problem initially occurred in my system not with Apple TV but through the native Android TV apps. Navigating between various Youtube (on Android TV) videos, all encoded differently, would trigger it, in fact it would kill all sound not just from surrounds and sub but also from Sonos Arc soundbar itself.

      I only noticed the subs and surrounds dropping out after I stopped using Youtube on the native Android TV OS completely and switched to watching Youtube on my Apple TV 4K. At that point I started switching more regularly between various sources i.e. I would watch Netflix, Prime, Disney + on native Android TV and I would use the Apple TV for Plex, Apple TV+ and Youtube as well as regular TV through the Cable Box.

      After this, I noticed I had set my Audio Output on Apple TV 4K to ‘Dolby 5.1’ and not ‘auto’. Using the the Apple TV solely would not trigger any sub or surround drops and I assumed it was because all audio was being encoded to a single codec output. That is when I had initially surmised that something was going on with codec changes that was triggering the issue. (I initially reported my findings on page 13 of this thread)

      I feel like there’s a pattern in all this somewhere. Just too many Apple TV’s represented in this thread. Even if you initially saw the issue on internal TV apps, you still have an Apple TV like most others. Where are the Roku Ultra or PS5 primary users? Apple TV is like 3% of the streaming OS market yet practically everyone experiencing this issue has one. Non eARC TV owners like yourself experiencing the issue seems to debunk multichannel PCM as the cause. Not sure if Dolby Mat could still be in play but seems less likely. Not saying it’s an Apple TV issue rather than Sonos but what does an Apple TV do differently than most other devices. 

      I have a Shield Pro 2019 and I’m having exactly the same issue, no Apple TVs in my house. I’m pretty sure this one lands squarely with Sonos unfortunately (as we’re at their mercy for a fix).

      Same. I have the issue with a Shield and a PS5. No Apple TV. 

        peterbault
        peterbault
        Enthusiast II
        May 22, 2022

        don’t get me wrong, this bug sucks but on streaming devices using Dolby digital instead of LPCM is not lower quality. The source stream is Dolby digital and lossy anyway the device is just decoding it and outputting as LPCM

        If you want Atmos out of the Apple TV you have no choice but to go LPCM unfortunately.  At this point I may as well just have a beam.

        For the time being while this bug is happening I’m just manually switching to Atmos when I need it 

        Nylon
        Enthusiast I
        May 22, 2022

        I feel like there’s a pattern in all this somewhere. Just too many Apple TV’s represented in this thread. 

        Correlation does not imply causation especially given the sheer amount of variation and hence variables reported in this thread with regard to hardware and the various attempts at alleviating the issue. The only constant is that it seemed to have started occurring after the initial 14.6 firmware update.

        I upgraded my Sonos Playbar to the Arc soundbar on release in 2020. I preordered. No change in any other hardware since 2017 when I bought the TV. Everything has been stable and worked perfectly until the 14.6 firmware update.

        As for me, I spent hours with tech support on the issue from Level 1 techs all the way to L3.  We tried to isolate the issue by removing hardware completely from the system. We removed the Apple TV, switched out HDMI cables. Went from hardwired (WM0) to wireless setup. Even tried to replicate the issue with the built in TV speakers to see if there was a hardware failure with the TV itself. No issues with the TV. Nothing alleviated the issue. 

        The problem is with the SONOS firmware.

          skullc
          skullc
          Prodigy III
          May 22, 2022

          Just happened again listening to 5.1 source no app swapping 

          Diagnostic number 964967776

          Edit 

          Oddly I fixed it differently this time 

          I tried power cycling apple tv lg tv and arc tna

          Then I removed the hdmi of the apple tv and reinserted it tna 

          Finally I stopped the application on my phone and restarted it and it worked 🙏

          Yes it is a software issue guess they learned from apple never admit that there's a fault 

          Network= livewire cpe pro 3 +eero 6 pro wireless
          ban25
          Enthusiast I
          May 22, 2022

          Ok, I’m done with Sonos.  I’ve spent most of the day researching alternatives online and have arrived at two:

          1. Sony HT-A9 /w SASW5 Subwoofer
          2. Bluesound Pulse Soundbar+ /w 2x Flex 2i surrounds and Pulse Sub+

          Each has their own pros and cons:

          Sony:

          + Most effective Atmos effects, strong 300W sub, DTS:X codec support

          - Not a whole home audio solution

          Bluesound:

           + Excellent whole home audio support including Powernode for integrating 3rd-party audio sources and speakers

           + 24-bit/192khz audio support

          - Pulse Soundbar+ has virtual Atmos support (a la Arc, Beam) versus the HT-A9

           - Seemingly weak 150W wireless sub (I currently have 2x Sonos Gen 3 subs...when they work...)

           - The Flex 2i surrounds are basically equivalent to Sonos Ones.  I wish the Pulse 2i (Five equivalent) was able to be used as a surround

           

          So some plusses and minuses for both, but honestly both options are better than Sonos across the board, especially given support for high-resolution lossless codecs (FLAC up to 24/192!) and DTS:X.  I am considering even going with both -- i.e. replacing my Arc/Subx2/Fivex2 HT setup with the Sony HT-A9 and then replacing the remaining 6 Sonos speakers + Port with Bluesound.

            peterbault
            peterbault
            Enthusiast II
            May 22, 2022

            I’ve read that the Sony HT-A9 sound really good but are notorious for audio drop outs 

            ban25
            Enthusiast I
            May 23, 2022

            I’ve read that the Sony HT-A9 sound really good but are notorious for audio drop outs 

            Yeah it’s a good point.  Reliability is paramount.  I just pulled the trigger on a Bluesound setup:

             

            1 x Bluesound PULSE Soundbar+

            1 x Bluesound PULSE Sub+

            1 x Bluesound POWERNODE

            2 x Bluesound PULSE 2i

             

            The Flex 2i surrounds are out of stock currently, so I’ll have to wait on those.  But, if I like the system, I’ll replace Sonos throughout the rest of the house with additional Pulse 2is and Powernodes.

            LukeB95
            Lyricist III
            May 23, 2022

            Sonos should take accountability for this issue. 
             

            Notify all of your technical support team that it is a known issue, I’ve spoken to over 6 agents over the past few weeks… no one said it was a known issue to me… mentioning it could be my wifi interference, my router settings, my Sonos settings or my tv was faulty… 

             

            Arc / Surround / Sub users should be notified that it is a known issue and Sonos is supposedly working on a fix.

             

            This will stop others from wasting hours trouble shooting and spending money replacing items that are not at fault. Like me unfortunately replacing hdmi cables, routers and having technicians come to check the tv.
             

            All because your support team did not address the real issue and are suggesting its everything but Sonos’s fault.

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