I was playing on my Xbox when the arc suddenly made an extremely loud pop sound and then lost audio completely. The app wouldn’t let me adjust the volume and Alexa wake up didn’t emit its usual tone. I had to remove the power from the arc and reapply which resumed the audio. I’m concerned that one of the speakers in the arc may have been damaged when this happened. Has anyone had this issue?
We have had no issues with the arc since purchasing it earlier this year.
This is my latest response by Sonos support . They can’t just replicate the pop on their end .
Moderator Note: Modified in accordance with the Community Code of Conduct.
Thanks Paul for the insight. What they seem to be saying is not that they can’t reproduce the issue. They can’t reproduce it reliably. So, basically, they have the same problem as we all do, which is that it happens randomly, and there is no sequence of actions that will make it occur on demand.
That is all fine and good, but I think Sonos engineers should be adding debugging code in their ARC software that would allow them to figure out what the issue is when the problem occurs. Anyone that has worked as a software/hardware engineer knows that random issues are more difficult to debug, but if you put enough resources to it you can find the issue.
I just got the Sonos Arc and sub. Seeing this same issue watching movies from Plex possible other apps. I believe they may all be Dolby Atmos audio. Playing from app on Hisense u8h tv hooked up to earc. First time I rebooted tv this time it looks like muting and unmuting resolved so the sound comes back. The pop is very loud and no sound once it happens.
Hi everyone, haven’t posted for about a month because I have been trying out a bunch of different configurations with my ATV / Series X / LG C1 combo.
I originally posted about how deactivating “Dolby Vision for Gaming” on the Series X cured the pop symptom that I got while returning to the Home Screen after playing a game. This to me didn’t really make a ton of sense seeing how the audio was in a separate container than the video. But I even went so far as reactivating DV to see if I could get the pop to come back and sure enough within a day it did.
Then I started playing with the CEC settings. I found that on the Xbox if I completely deactivated CEC and rebooted all my hardware I didn’t get a pop regardless if I had Dolby Vision active or not. It also explains why I don’t have the issue on my ATV as I have the device control set to off. I have been pop free for over a month. Full disclosure, there was a LG firmware update for the TV during this time, so there is always the chance that a bug fix from the TV was the true remedy.
It’s very plausible that Bad CEC handshakes could be the explanation why some users are now getting the pop on the PS5 which I found surprising as it doesn’t even use the Dolby MAT container. Also could explain why some users say as soon as they got one pop….they get many pops as maybe their TV hasn’t gone through a full power cycle reboot and are still using a problem handshake.
For the user community, maybe try to deactivate device control (CEC) on their device and fully unplug all their hardware, see if they get the pop anymore.
Another update for everyone. I was struggling with pops again with my series x as I couldn’t seem to get consistent CEC control when going back to the main screen
i went back to what was working before for me, and that was disabling Dolby vision and Auto HDR and I have been pop free since then. Full disclosure though, I didn’t have a pop when I was playing cloud gaming on my Xbox, but since the cloud controls those settings, I just decided not to use it at all
If I had to guess, it’s still has to do with HDMI settings renegotiation upon settings change. As to why removing Dolby vision or auto HDR from the occasion fixes it…I’m not sure, maybe less things to negotiate?
I do agree with the forum though, the silence from Sonos only makes it worse. Step up and make an official statement to at least let your user base know where they stand. Enough is enough
+3
Whilst I don’t wish to tempt fate, I’ve recently updated to tvOS 15.6 beta after seeing somewhat positive things.
I did a restart (power off->on) of all devices including the TV, Apple TV and ARC after the install just to be safe; and haven’t had any issues yet. YET. 🤞
To be honest, I no longer know whether to laugh or cry. The mere fact that the error has been going on for much longer than the entire Covid19 pandemic…
The error will then be fixed shortly with the release of Arc 2
Same popping problem here on Apple TV. Diagnostic code 675505340
I am having the same issue with the Sonos arc when used with Xbox series X. This is the second time this has happened so is there a fix yet?
Sent diagnostic 1364356135
The XBox does seem to be particularly prone to the "popping" issue (and it’s not always Sonos related). See below links. So it might be something that Microsoft, or Dolby, need to fix (perhaps?)
Thanks Ken,
I’ve had a quick look through some of those links you provided but the scenarios don’t quite match up. The loud pop noise happens randomly but the Xbox remains on screen but no sound comes out. I then turn off and on the Xbox and the sound it there again. Very weird but the pop noise is very loud, almost like a speaker blew or something if that makes sense.
thanks for sending on the links so quickly though, it’s really appreciated.
We’ve had reports of both both LG and Samsung TVs being affected. The most interesting one was of an affected Samsung TV that had only ever used built-in apps, but which uses LPCM for Atmos. So that is a common denominator. Let’s also note that LPCM wasn’t supported at Arc launch, so all the reviews missed it.
Sonos has suggested that other soundbars have the same problem. I don’t think that’s true. Problem reports of other soundbars might have used the word “pop”, but described different problems: a rhythmic clicking, static noise, etc. I’ve seen no systemic reports of our slamming pop followed by sound cutting out.
In my assessment this is a Sonos-specific issue. Months ago I even worked with Sonos to submit recordings of the pop with the Arc in dev mode, which lets you download an internal log of what happened which I submitted to Sonos. Not only did I submit logs for Apple TV and Xbox producing the pop, I even submitted a pop where no audio was playing and the Apple TV was just on screensaver.
Unfortunately since then Sonos has chosen radio silence.
If they have the data there’s no valid excuse as to why they can’t fix it. You cannot sell an Atmos supported soundbar without actually supporting Atmos to its full extent. No where on the box or written materials was there “does not support certain Atmos capable devices”
They either fix the issue or offer refunds for the systems that have issues. It’s truly that simple
If that fix didn’t deal with your issue, I would recommend that you submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this problem, and call Sonos Support to discuss it.
There may be information included in the diagnostic that will help Sonos pinpoint the issue and help you find a solution.
When you speak directly to the phone folks, they have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your network and Sonos system.
just popping in - pun intended to see if there was a fix for this yet. so frustrating
I have an AppleTV, LGC2, and Xbox Series X, and I do get it, but infrequently. I imagine if I tried to replicate reliably I could do it. I guess I could disable HDMI-CEC if that does indeed fix the issue, but come on.
+18
Hi
I only know that other third-party sound-bar manufacturers are reporting the same issue.
Hi,
Just to add I have had an ARC since not longer after release. Xbox series X and pops from the start. Replaced one ARC kind of just waited for the firmware fix that hasn’t arrived,
Tried the CEC and atmos disable solutions. Neither of these worked, still get pops. They have suddenly become much more frequent.
I also note the Sonos ERA have the same issue. I am not sure why reviewers are not picking this up. I did email a couple to say they should be calling it out.
I am guessing it’s not fixable and Sonos are just staying quiet but they are at a point where they need to say not compatible with Xbox and Apple TV as a minimum.
Even if turning off atmos did work this is their atmos product. Its like a car manufacturer telling you to not go above 20.
I am going to be asking for a full refund on my Sonos setup and when they refuse I shall take them to small claims court (UK) as the product is not fit for purpose.
Suggest others follow suit.
I just tried disabling eARC and I can no longer reliably reproduce the audio pop. Re-enabling eARC hasn’t reproduced the issue either. Can anyone here who is able to reliably reproduce see if disabling and re-enabling eARC clears something? It might still come back, but it’s interesting that I can no longer reliably reproduce!
Wow, this is concerning. New Sonos owner here. Got an Arc in mid-December, just received a new Sub 3 yesterday, not yet out of the box. No issues yet, but now I’m thinking about returning the whole kit while I still can.
I was willing to pay the large Sonos premium for the ease of use and high quality, but now I’m questioning my choices. Insane to me that Sonos has not yet given a detailed statement, much less fixed it. Saw this as a link from the Reddit forum and one of the moderators is affected.
If you’re giving your biggest fans and buyers the run-around, you should re-think your strategy Sonos.
Hi,
Just to add I have had an ARC since not longer after release. Xbox series X and pops from the start. Replaced one ARC kind of just waited for the firmware fix that hasn’t arrived,
Tried the CEC and atmos disable solutions. Neither of these worked, still get pops. They have suddenly become much more frequent.
I also note the Sonos ERA have the same issue. I am not sure why reviewers are not picking this up. I did email a couple to say they should be calling it out.
I am guessing it’s not fixable and Sonos are just staying quiet but they are at a point where they need to say not compatible with Xbox and Apple TV as a minimum.
Even if turning off atmos did work this is their atmos product. Its like a car manufacturer telling you to not go above 20.
I am going to be asking for a full refund on my Sonos setup and when they refuse I shall take them to small claims court (UK) as the product is not fit for purpose.
Suggest others follow suit.
It’s not a good look. As I’ve stated before I’m a home theater installer and have generally recommended Sonos over any system other than a receiver setup. That’s come to a complete stand still until Sonos fixes this issue as I cannot recommend something to a client that doesn’t work properly in my own home. That’s quite a bit of lost sales as I have sold quite a few of them. I am not sure Sonos cares but whatever.
Be better. Don’t make Bose look superior to you…
I've only had the problem with my Xbox Series X so far and I've had it a number of times. Today I was able to reproduce it every time I played Forza 5 and then went to the dashboard. A few seconds later there was a loud bang and the LED on the arc burned orange. So I decided to turn off Dolby Vision because I've also read this here in the chat that it's supposed to help. I couldn't believe it, but in the Xbox settings I just unchecked "allow dolby vision" and "dolby vision for gaming" and since then I haven't been able to reproduce the problem. maybe it's just a coincidence, but when I had Dolby Vision active, the bang came every time in connection with Atmos. But this means doing without Dolby Vision and “only” using HDR10.
This has worked for me without fail. Remember that there aren’t very many games that natively support DV, so to me most games really dont do much more than HDR does anyway. Atmos sound is far more valuable to have than DV at this stage
I’m glad it works for you. As I mentioned above it happens with HDR10 without fail every time in my case.
Sonos needs to fix this nonsense
As I said, I have to test this over a longer period of time, but yesterday evening it banged continuously with Dolby Vision and atmos and after I switched to HDR it didn't anymore. I have tested with HDR for a maximum of 30 minutes so far.
+1
Reached out to Support again, I gotta say that the reps are really professional and kind and that the experience is efficient. I appreciate not having to repeat myself and seeing a resourceful person on the other end of the conversation.
We did a factory reset this time. If the issue recurs, I will most probably have to replace my Arc. Hoping it won’t recur but I’m doubtful. I also hope that if needed, a replacement would help. Looking at the comments here, seeing how many people experience this, and all have a shared scenario of streaming content through Xbox Series-X on an eArc output; I doubt it will help too.
The Service rep who assisted me promised to escalate this thread internally. I hope someone from Sonos can comment on this.
Issue just recurred. Will reach out to Support now.
That certainly suggests to me that the issue is upstream from Sonos, either the TV not handling the stream properly, or the device feeding the TV sending a signal that the TV passes on to the outboard speakers.
I still have the same issues with Atmos, which involve audio loss every 15 minutes (for 1 second). The update didn’t yield results in my case.
Me too on Beam Gen 2 but approx every 19-20 mins for me
See above - it is best to submit a Sonos system diagnostic report from within the Sonos App, note it’s reference and then contact/chat with Sonos Support Staff via this LINK and see what the Staff can perhaps suggest to resolve the matter.
+1
Diagnostic number 164610293.
And that’s just great.
Looks like the only way to reach Support is by emailing the CEO. WTF Sonos…?!
Same issue here. Has happened while streaming and also playing Xbox. Have owned arc for about 3 weeks. Has happened a handful of times. Also concerned something could be damaged. Sound is gone until I change inputs or reposed device. Anyone figure this out yet? Seems like an ongoing 2 year issue
Not specifically ‘no’ and my own reasons for saying that, is because generally speaking, manufactures normally only state what their products do support in their marketing literature and not what they don’t support, (otherwise that would be quite an exhaustive list in some cases). Sonos do not disclaim that they do not support DTS:X audio, or various other codecs, for example. It would seem odd to disclaim just this one specific issue and, of course, it appears the matter is still being investigated anyway at the moment.
Sonos Staff have advised users here in the community that they should use LPCM 5.1 surround audio from these 3rd-party devices instead, whilst the matter is being investigated.
My god the amount hubris…. I can’t even reply to this absolute nonsense.
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