FYI, if you have an Xbox Series X the best way to replicate the pop issue is by switching between a Dolby Atmos enabled game and the Xbox Dashboard constantly. It should trigger the pop after a few attempts.

also thanks @Corry P for looking into this. This issue has been ongoing for around 2 years!

I had time for a small experiment today. I bought a fiber optic HDMI cable to connect the Arc to the TV. Fiber cables contain active chips at each end that convert between electrical and optical signals. 

I got the usual pop within half an hour. I believe this eliminates the physical layer of the connection as the problem since there is no electrical connection between the TV (and Apple TV) and the Arc anymore.

Not a huge surprise. I think we are all expecting this to come down to how Sonos decodes Dolby MAT. But there you have it. 

If this is indeed down to the Sonos’ decoding of MAT, this was introduced during 13.4 (The one bringing DTS support). Well, for me at least.

From Dec 2020-Oct 2021; I had no issues with the exact same setup that I had now. Both DA and DV enabled from the Apple TV.  ‍♂️

As I’ve said before, prior to connecting an Xbox Series X, I had zero issues playing DV and DA content simultaneously on my Apple TV for over a year. Then as soon as I plugged in the Xbox Series X, Pop error, and now my Sonos Arc has a permanent error playing any DV DA content from my Apple TV or any source with DV and DA content playing through the arc. And of course all of us (with Sonos Arcs) are connecting our Sonos Arc on the e-arc hdmi input on our TVs. 
 

This is now a 2 year old problem, and the entire point of “upgrading” to the Sonos Arc was to utilize Dolby Atmos, but now we can’t. 
 

Curious..what tv do you have and I take it you have nothing else hooked up to your system? 

I also tried an experiment, I set my HDMI 3 (eARC/ARC) to Enhanced format (Dolby Vision). And when playing DV DA content on my Apple TV with my Apple TV Video format setting to 4K HDR 60, disabling Dolby Vision on my Apple TV. The popping error occurred like clockwork. 
 

Then I changed the HDMI signal format on my HDMI 3 to Enhanced Format without Dolby Vision. With my Apple TV format setting to 4K HDR 60, disabling Dolby Vision on my Apple TV. The popping error did NOT occur, and the Sonos Arc was able to play Dolby Atmos as long as the Dolby Vision was disabled in both my Sony TV HDMI setting and my Apple TV.

This is somewhat confusing — so you attempted to use the “Enhanced (Dolby Vision)” HDMI profile for your Arc, which is connected to HDMI 3 (for eARC reasons), despite that setting being an Input profile i.e. the Arc doesn’t output DV, or even 4K for that matter.  Confused as to what difference this would make, unless the Arc is getting heavily confused at the EDID settings  

Also assuming that whilst your Apple TV was set to 4K60 HDR, you also had “Match Dynamic Range” turned off in settings?

I used to have a HD Fury vertex 2 splitter and arcana set up as my older Samsung TV did not have an EARC HDMI port.  The Dolby Atmos soundtrack didn’t miss a beat and was perfect through the sonos arc, however that TV didn’t support HDR content.

Just upgraded to a LG C2 TV, ditched the vertex 2 and arcana and connected all devices directly as all ports are HDMI 2.1 compliant.  Now when watching DV & DA content through the ATV the sonos arc is randomly popping and banging at an alarming rate.

I’ve stopped using the ATV altogether for now and use the internal apps on the TV for streaming services, thankfully DV & DA content plays fine and I can at least listen to the arc as intended.

I may just reconnect the vertex & arcana back up and to see if that eliminates the issue but it’s a rather expensive solution if there is no fix available.

I’m pleased I found this thread as I had no idea this issue existed, hopefully a resolution is on its way.

Sonos Arc, Gen 2 Sub, 2 x play 1, ATV4K, Sky Q, LG C2

THANK YOU for stepping up to the plate and reaching out to help find a solution!  This is more of the level of customer service I expect as a LONG time Sonos customer.  As others have mentioned, around 30 minutes always seemed to be the trigger for me.  The other “guaranteed” method for me is if I have an Atmos video playing on Apple TV and pause it and let it go to the screensaver, that seemed to always trigger a pop after being on screensaver for 5-10 minutes.  I will now look to see if I can find the fastest method to generate this pop so we can hopefully find a resolution for this longstanding bug!

Interesting about the screensaver thing — I’ve been wondering about this myself for a while.  I’ve been curious if it’s been something to do with the source change triggered on the screensaver activation  

I would be interested if the Apple TV is changing dynamic range during this time.  Maybe you mentioned it before but what are your video settings?  4K sdr or Dolby vision?

Previously, I was using 4K60 DV with both content match options enabled. I'm now on 4K60 HDR with both options still enabled. Currently rocking without Atmos for a whileC see if I still experience static pops and similar when flicking between content sources (like Netflix’s auto-playing trailers).

I did try it for a day, and got through three movies as above without fail, but then, it might've just been a good day. You're welcome to mirror and let me know your experience. 

I’m assuming user has a Sony TV where you have an edid option to either enable Dolby vision or 4k/120 but not both. User says he gets the error with Dolby vision option enabled but when the TV does not have DV support enabled its fine

Further proof that DV is loosely linked somehow into all of this

My Apple TV is on 4K SDR 4:4:4 with dynamic range and frame rate matching, and I haven’t had issues.  Sounds to me it’s only a issue when systems are trying to force DV as was the case with my Series X

I have a Sony 900H and replicated some of this testing today. For those unfamiliar with the TV, it has 4 possible settings for HDMI ports 3 and 4: Standard (HDMI 2.0), Enhanced (HDMI 2.1, No DV, No VRR), Enhanced (with DV, no VRR), Enhanced (with VRR, no DV). HDMI 3 is the eARC port, so where the Sonos Arc is plugged into.

With the Apple TV set to HDR (not DV) and confirmed in the TV overlay, there was no pop with HDMI 3 set to either Enhanced or Enhanced with DV. In other words, the HDMI setting made no difference.

I know some are drawing a conclusion that turning DV off means no pop. This has only been shown on Apple TV. Both Xbox (observed by me) and Samsung TV internal apps (observed by another poster in this thread) will produce the pop even when DV is turned off.

In my testing I encountered something else. Sonos products put out a video signal on the HDMI port that I would describe as a screen saver. I had never looked at the one of the Arc before, but I noticed that the video had glitches. The normally black-and-white picture included color pixels randomly strewn throughout. Does this have anything to do with our problem? I don’t know. But I ask you all to tell me the following:

1. Does your Sonos Arc have “glitches” in its screen saver video signal?
2. Have you had the pop?

Just maybe these glitches are only showing for those with the pop, which could be a sign of something.

Match Dynamic Range is On. As I’ve stated multiple times for those still saying Dolby Vision off makes No Difference. This ONLY applies to APPLE TV. NOT Xbox Series X or Samsung TV which I also had, before I purchased Sony. I also have a Sony X900H. The Xbox Series X is what caused this popping error specifically for the Sonos Arc. 

Those still claiming this is not a Sonos issue. Again for 4th time. I had ZERO issues playing DV and DA content on my Sonos Arc for over a year on an LG and a Sony, (2 TV’s in different rooms). Until I plugged in an Xbox Series X and the popping error occurred, after which the Sonos Arc immediately began to exhibit the popping error on any DV DA content from any source.

The Sonos Arc NOW has a PERMANENT (until there is a fix, even though it’s been 2 years, with zero fix) error playing DV DA content from any source. Prior to the Xbox Series X initially causing the popping error. My Sonos Arc had ZERO issues playing DV DA issues.

And the reason I tried this experiment is because people still claim that turning the DV off on their APPLE TV NOT XBOX. Doesn’t solve the issue. The HDMI 3 eARC was incorrectly set to Dolby Vision when I purchased my Sony X900H. I never adjusted it, until I had this popping error.

Again to reiterate for the 6th TIME. The Dolby Vision being disabled or turned off on both my Sony TV and Apple TV NOT XBOX DOES SOLVE the popping issue. I watched Blade Runner 2049 which is 2 hrs 43 min long. ZERO ISSUES playing Dolby Atmos on my Sonos.

Then I watched Live Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow. Both are Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos content.

As soon as I did my experiment, setting the HDMI 3 to Enhanced Format (Dolby Vision). The popping error occurred despite my Apple TV NOT Xbox DV being disabled. Meaning that the signal being sent from the TV to the Sonos Arc, still causes the error on the Sonos Arc. Making it a Sonos Issue.

I have given up on trying to play the Xbox Series X on my Sonos Arc.

Exactly!

Interesting. Seeing as we have the same TV. However you have a Sonos Beam I believe?  I just checked the screen saver video signal for my Sonos Arc. It does not appear to be sending the video signal when switched to my HDMI 3 input. 
 

When I had my Sonos Arc connected to my Samsung TV the screen saver video signal used to appear. Mind you I had no issues at that time. This was before Xbox Series X was connected.

Correct. As previously mentioned in past posts on here and Reddit, by others and myself. The common factor for this popping error that can easily be reproduced. With 3 components. An Xbox Series X set to Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. A TV that has eARC. And a Sonos Arc.

Within 30 minutes the popping error can be reproduced. This would be classified as a critical “A” bug. Affecting functionality and performance.

Specifically because the Sonos Arc is permanently affected after this error occurs. And the Sonos Arc can no longer play any Dolby Atmos Content from a source outputting a Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos signal.

Whereas the Sonos Arc was able to play Dolby Atmos content from a source outputting a Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos signal prior to an Xbox Series X being connected to the Sonos Arc through an eARC TV and outputting a Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos signal.

This is the language utilized in Quality Assurance Testing format for reporting hardware and software bugs/errors.

As someone has previously mentioned on this thread on others. Why a Sonos technician cannot reproduce this popping error is unknown. It’s been 2 years. This has been reported by multiple customers with the same common denominators. Xbox Series X. eARC TVs. Sonos Arc.

This is a known issue. The only reason I can possibly think of as to why there hasn’t been a software update to address or fix this issue. Is because this is a hardware issue. Once the popping error has occurred on the Sonos Arc. It is permanently damaged. 

I have a Samsung 65QN90A and this happened on the native Netflix app on the TV - nothing else connected

I think this is partly where the confusion lays, and one of the issues with the language are on that screen. All ports support DV, but I don't get why 3 and 4 have a separate setting for it. My Apple TV is on HDMI 2, and between Dec 2020-Oct 2021, served both DV and DA without fail. There's been no hardware changes, either inclusions, removals, or reconfigures since Dec 2020. Only software changes. 

Just to confirm my own thoughts — this was the screenshot before the VRR update on the X900H around Oct 2021, and I think is why the language is used.  You have the option for either DV, or HDMI 2.1 features such as 120fps.

I guess the newer options on the 3 and 4 equate to being limited to the following feature sets depending on what you select.

• “Enhanced” i.e. high speed formats e.g 4K60 4:4:4/RGB or 120 4:2:2
• Dolby Vision
• VRR

Also worth noting that these seem to do little for Arc itself.  I believe mine is set to “Standard” as it outputs nothing more than 1080, but eARC works just fine (with it’s handshaking being controlled by the eARC option in Audio Output settings).

Hi Corry - I have experienced on my Beam Gen 2. Although I am very hesitant to try and recreate it and damage the speakers. It occurs when playing a game with Atmos and then switching to the dashboard. I’m not sure if there’s a length of time that the game would need to be played before switching to recreate, but it’s happened 2 days in a row.

It is my understanding that we have users in this thread who have the pop but have never had an Xbox connected.

@Rios : I have a Sonos Arc.

I for one have never had an Xbox connected. I have a very basic and common set up. Sony 900H TV, Xfinity X1 cable TV box on HDMI/1, Sonos Arc on eArc HDMI/3, and Apple TV 4K on HDMI/4. My pooping started roughly a year ago.

After reading recent posts I checked my Sony TV setting and sure enough, it had been set to ‘Enhanced Format (Dolby Vision)’ on every HDMI output. I’ve changed each to ‘Enhanced Format’ setting.
 

I currently have my Apple TV Dolby Atmos disabled and my settings set to 4K SDR (60Hz), Chroma 4:4:4 and Match Content Range & Frame Rates set to on. The Dolby Vision is not enabled. However, it is my understanding that with these settings the Apple TV will match whatever video format that is thrown at it. Wouldn’t that mean that it would match content that was in Dolby Vision?
 

@Rios are you saying this would not be the case? That Dolby Vision would not engage with these settings? Thanks for all your work and input on this crazy issue. So many of you in this community have gone above and beyond to help us and Sonos. I hope they appreciate it too.