arc ultra loses hdmi sound

Qmaur

thanks for the update. I’ve not had the chance to test since the update but obviously very disappointed that the problem has not been addressed

The only update I have is the CEC blocker has no impact. 
 

The odd thing is the problem is becoming less frequent and easier for me to fix. 
I unplugged the ARC from the Tv for 24hrs as I had guests staying and did not want to have to explain why the sound drops out or how to fix it. When I reconnected I had drop outs constantly either when pausing Sky Q or switching source to Sky Q. However over the past week and a half the frequency that the sound drops has reduced significantly and I can reliably address any drop outs by pausing and restarting the programme. 
I can’t think of any logical reason why over time things are improving. Having said all this it’s still a bug and still needs to be fixed by Sonos

Hi ​@Jabadahulk any luck with that splitter?

Another update. Had another chat with sonos L2 support. They confirmed they were able to reproduce the issue on some older Bravia TV. They will send me an hdmi/optical cable for further testing.

I have also ordered a splitter similar to the one linked above, only with 2 inputs instead of 4. That completely solves the lost sound issue. But, as suspected, it creates other issues. For instance I can no longer control the volume with my tv remote through the TV. It's as if the TV didn't know the soundbar was there. Also, when turning the TV off the audio will keep playing (as the TV is no longer in control).

Overall, for me the usability issues are too many, so I will send the switch back and wait for a fix.

I will report back once I receive the cable.

Qmaur. Thanks again for the update. 
 

Did they give any indication of why a new/different HDMI cable would change / fix anything?  
When I did my upgrade from the ARC to the Ultra I asked Sonos if I needed to change the cable (the Sonos supplied HDMI runs through my media wall so wanted to limit disruption) and was told that there has been no changes to the cable between the two models. 
 

Also I’m experiencing the same issues but with a Panasonic tv (ARC not eARC) so it’s not limited to Sony TVs 

I should have been clearer. They are suggesting to try the toslink adapter in the meantime, not another hdmi cable.

The best that will give is simple dd5.1. Why would you want that?

I should have some time over the Xmas period to try to speak to a L2 support and see if we can collectively get the to pay proper attention to the problem 

Thanks for your feedback and efforts to date to push the issue with Sonos. As I’ve said before all I did was unplug an ARC and plug in an ARC ULTRA and that’s when the problems started. Sonos need to accept there is a problem with the ARC Ultra

I'm aware of that :-)

It's mostly an interim solution to get something better than pcm stereo without having usability issues. Of couse a fix would be better!

Good morning. So sold one of my Arcs and got the Arc Ultra it was working fine but now for the last week the TV and Arc Ultra will not work together.  I have trie da new cable no change, I have not changed any Sony TV settings, it just tells me the TV cannot find audio system. I am narrowing down to either a bad Arc Ultra or my HDMI earc connection on TV went bad, which I will test with maybe another device later. I bought the Arc Ultra at Best Buy so I am taking it back and getting a new one and se eif that solves the issue. If not then I may return the Ultra and go back to the Arc.

I upgraded my Playbar to Arc Ultra and have the same issues. Whenever I pause/resume a DD5.1 stream the sound doesn't come back. Often when I pause/resume again the audio returns.

I have an old Sony TV with only hdmi-arc. Changed the hdmi cable but no improvement. Since the setup worked perfect with the playbar I ordered the hdmi-optical converter from Sonos and put that between the TV and Arc, no change.

After this test it seems quite clear to me that it is a bug in the Arc Ultra hdmi implementation. The tv with optical output worked fine with the playbar but no longer with new Arc ultra.

I don't understand why not everybody has this issue if it even doesn't work with an optical interface.

Very interesting, thanks for sharing. So it seems that not even the optical adapter is enougg to solve the issues. The adapter sonos sent me should arrive tomorrow, I'll also test that on my Sony tv and report back. But yes, it's an obvious bug and should be fixed.