Skip to main content
I have the Beam working via HDMI on my TV and when I switch in my headphones to connect to the TV via Bluetooth, it works initially and TV says disconnecting Anynet+ device (the Beam) but then it seems to immediately reconnect the Beam and so not allowing me to switch to the Bluetooth headphones. Any ideas on how to get this working without having to switch Anynet off and on in the menu all the time? My Samsung is a 2015 UHD model.
Set up a profile just to reply to this thread. Not being able to use Bluetooth headphones without changing a bunch of settings or unplugging a cable is a major buzzkill, and probably will lead me to return my Beam to Amazon if it’s not sorted before my 30 day return window closes.



It’s really sad that this made it out the door Sonos, y’all need to look into your user testing strategy; I don’t know how the situation of ‘I use headphones at night so I don’t keep the rest of the house up’ never entered into the picture.
This is so frustrating... got the top of the line Samsung TV and was thinking to pimp the sound with a Sonos Beam as I‘ve been really happy with all my other Sonos products.

Hope this will be fixed very soon „unplug the cable“ might be an even more annoying answer than the problem itself. That is not an acceptable solution for a company with your ambition.
Sonos sent me a DM on this. They said the Beam was designed to work this way and the solution is to turn off HDMI-ARC on the tv when using headphones or unplug the cable from the Beam. Clearly not ideal - I think this should be able to be ‘fixed’ with a software update.
Thanks for the reports, everyone. We've been looking into this issue. It's caused by the way the TV handles a command the Beam sends as part of the process to issue CEC commands to the TV like "off" and "on".



I'll make sure to let the team know you're running into this and that it's causing you trouble. For now, the best solutions are to turn off CEC when you're using the headphones, or if you use them frequently, it may be to use the optical output instead of the HDMI. You'd lose the CEC controls from the Beam, but if you use the headphones a lot this may be worth it.



I would be ok with it, if Beam had ability to connect bluetooth headphones, but otherwise ???

I'll pass along this as a request too for the future.
Definitely Sonos needs an update to resolve the issue on this. Its ridiculous to buy myself a $500 pair of wireless headphones to watch movies late at night only to find out that the Beam constantly kicks my Bluetooth connection off. This NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED.
I'm another one who made an account for the purpose of telling you there definitely should be a solution to this problem. We used to have a Samsung play bar with our Samsung tv with no such problems, but switched to Sonos to let it be part of the Sonos eco system. This headphones issue was one of the issues I encountered early on, and since it worked earlier with my headphones and the same TV, I figured it was the beam's fault.



Wouldn't it be easy to add a feature in the Sonos app to turn on/off the use of Anynet? Or some code to ask the TV if headphones are connected, and if so, back off from the TV?



I sleep with just a wall separating me from the boom of the beam, and if a flatmate wants to watch TV while I sleep, now I need to use my wax ear plugs. Before he could use his Bluetooth earplugs.



Please fix this, Sonos. Yesterday would be ideal. I speak on behalf of the four users in my household.



Paul
Hi – I'm also creating an account to express my frustration and disappointment with this functionality. I do not want the Sonos Beam to continuously grab back priority from other audio sources unless I explicitly switch back to it. I hope that Sonos can provide an update on this issue soon.
I will add myself to this. Samsung Smart TV, 2 years old with one ARC port and a new Beam. The Anynet+ will not honour changing audio output when connected to the Beam via ARC. Bluetooth headphones? Connected for 3 seconds before the ARC connection resumes as the sound output and disconnects the headphones. Tested with all other audio connections, TV speaker, optical out, etc. with the same result. Turn off the Anynet+ CEC from Expert settings, all works as it should, but the Beam is no longer available as an audio output.

This is not an acceptable state of affairs, CEC is a very simple protocol that allows multiple input recognition, and support for BT headphones is as basic as changing channels. This needs a patch ASAP. The only workaround so far is to connect via optical and avoid the entire ARC ego tripping. Again headphone support is such a basic function, I am a little stunned that this was not addressed during testing! Otherwise, an excellent product, but Sonos really seems to have a thing hating on headphones!:P
I have a LG OLED TV and have same issue - I use headphones quite a lot, and it is disturbing that someone thinks you that it is ok and designed well, that Beam completely disables possibility to listens TV with bluetooth headphones and recommends you to to disconnect HDMI every time you want to use headphones instead of Beam. I would be ok with it, if Beam had ability to connect bluetooth headphones, but otherwise ???
Still no fix??!??
I would be surprised if the ability to switch elegantly between the Beam and bluetooth headphones did not come up in market and product testing. It will not have been perceived to be a major issue to the typical Sonos buyer. So I am also adding my +1. Sonos please fix this.
This issue is driving me nuts and I thought I did something wrong. So I am glad, I found this thread. Please fix this bug. I am really happy with my Sonos Beam, but this is really a big issue for me (and obviously for lots of other people as Well). Thanks
Any updates yet Sonos? I cannot believe that having spent almost £1000 on a tv, £250 on Bose headphones and £350 on a beam (as well as 3 other sonos speakers), I cannot just select headphones and they work. I understand the ARC principle, but I’m not happy that I have to either unplug the beam or turnoff the arc function every time. ?
Are we there yet?
For all the angst being expressed, I do wish people would read the earlier posts in this thread.



As per this post, the simplest solution as it stands is to use an external Bluetooth transmitter, wired to the TV's optical output. Completely independent of the Beam, and moreover capable of delivering better quality/latency than the TV's internal Bluetooth.



The response from the user below your post states that this did not work for him. Also, I do not regard the purchase of an external blutooth transmitter to be a reasonable solution to what seems to be a fundamental design flaw in the Beam.

What makes you think that there isn't an issue with the Samsung TV? That's also a common factor here.



As for the user below my original post, he chose to try one of the cheaper Bluetooth transmitters. In my experience you get what you pay for, and a more dependable solution from a brand such as Avantree in fact costs only a few dollars more.



But if you'd rather stick to your principles than consider a solution which is not only inexpensive but also actually offers better audio performance and user flexibility, that's entirely your choice.



As I mentioned in my post further up, I'm using a Sony A1E TV and Sony headphones and having this problem. Also, there is another user who reported the same problem with an LG tv. So yes this seems to be a problem with the Beam.



I don't think it's unreasonable to ask Sonos to provide a fix for what is something that has been overlooked in the design. At the very least an update on whether they are still working on this issue would be appreciated.



The Sonos Beam is not a cheap soundbar and we should not have to purchase an external transmitter (that may or may not work) in order to restore functionality of the blutooth headphones that were working perfectly fine with the TV previously.
I have the exact issue with LG OLED65C7P with SONOS Beam via HDMI-ARC and Bose QC Bluetooth Headphones.



I paired the headphones to TV, but when I switch the audio output on the TV to "LG Soundsync / Bluetooth", the Bluetooth Headphones work momentarily (3 seconds), then automatically switches back to the Beam on HDMI-ARC. The Bose Headphones still show connected but Beam steals the audio back.



There is a workaround, by going to Settings, Sound, Sound Out, and turning off "Simplink (HDMI-CEC), but this is a pain to do every time I want to use the headphones. You have to re-enable this setting to use Beam again.



Any ideas?
Not that this should be hard for Sonos to reproduce, but it might help to have some diagnostic reports from your systems. If you could submit a diagnostic report after switching your TV's audio output and having Sonos take it back, then post the confirmation number here, I'll point a Sonos employee this way so they can dig into what's going on here.



Here's my diagnostic: 364484165



Samsung UN55KS800D TV

Sonos Beam via HDMI

Bose SoundLink Bluetooth headphones connected to TV



I make no guarantees that there will be a fix... this could just be how HDMI-CEC functions with regards to external audio devices... but I would think that if you switch away, it should honor that until you switch back.
I wouldn't think this is a Sonos issue to resolve honestly. The Beam is completely unaware of the headphone/Bluetooth connection going on between the TV and the headphones. It's up to the TV to understand and determine where it should be sending audio.



I don't think that is true Danny. Using another soundbar over HDMI ARC, when switching to the TV speaker or headphones on Bluetooth, it respects the change of speaker, where as the Sonos Beam reconnects itself as the speaker when a different speaker is selected. This is a Sonos issue and they have said that they have made this the behaviour by design. Which obviously sucks
Sonos sent me a DM on this. They said the Beam was designed to work this way and the solution is to turn off HDMI-ARC on the tv when using headphones or unplug the cable from the Beam. Clearly not ideal - I think this should be able to be ‘fixed’ with a software update.



Come on Sonos, you can't advice to "remove the cable from the Beam"... Come on
I’ve gone back to hdmi and unplugging the cable everytime I used the headphones...
I've got the same problem with my setup (Sonos Beam, Samsung Q8C 65, Bose QuietComfort 35/Sony MDR-1000X), and it's *really* annoying. Would love to see a fix for this soon.
Adding my +1. I’ve also resorted to unplugging the Beam when using Bluetooth headphones. It would be fantastic to be able to reliably use Bluetooth headphones seamlessly. I’ve got a Samsung Q6FN with the Beam connected via the ARC hdmi input. I absolutely love everything about my Sonos setup with this issue being the one exception. Thank you for being receptive to hearing our collective woes and I appreciate the time and energy put into resolving this issue.
Adding my +1 too. This issue is infuriating because some Sonos Beam are unable to reconnect to wifi after unplugging/plugging: https://en.community.sonos.com/troubleshooting-228999/sonos-beam-unable-to-communicate-with-it-6813438
Adding my +1. Would love a fix for this. It is really inconvenient to plug-unplug the ARC every time I want to use my Bluetooth headset with Munjal samsung tv.
Same problem here too.
Terms & ConditionsCookie settings