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.
I’m going to stop investing anymore in Sonos products and stop recommending them to my friends and family. This issue is easily reproducible by the patterns of hardware described in this thread and only occurs with Sonos products; no other soundbar. Support isn’t a priority for Sonos, which is a shame considering how expensive their products are.
I’m not entirely sure this is a Sonos issue, as the XBox does seem to be particularly prone to the "popping" issue (and it’s not always Sonos related). Here are a reminder of a few (of several) links that I came across in a quick browser search before. So other manufacturers appear to have this issue with their products, it is not just the Sonos Arc, as can be seen elsewhere online:
here’s the latest official response from Sonos support, which seems to suggest it’s specific to some TVs. I know Microsoft has been working on a HDMI 2.1 problem with the Xbox Series X on certain LG OLED models, where the console would boot up into a resolution from 1995 instead of 4K.
Either way, we’ll get on to Sonos and figure out if this is TV specific or something related to Dolby MAT 2.0.
For context, here’s support’s response (in this same thread) from 2021:
For two years they’ve been aware of the issue, have been working on a fix, and have been suggesting people disable Atmos on their Atmos capable soundbar.
+3
I’m of the apparently minority opinion that the ‘pop’ is being generated upstream from the Sonos device, and the Sonos device is merely playing what it is handed. That being said, I’ve seen no compelling evidence in particular, other than it appears to be associated with Apple TV and Microsoft XBoxes.
I’m with you on this.
I had the same setup since November 2020 and had zero issue until November 2021, around which time Sony updated the X90H to Android 11, Sonos introduced DTS and Apple released tvOS 15 — one of these software releases has to be the culprit.
I was under the impression it was tvOS at first, as it seemed to be around when tvOS 15 was released.
I’m still plugging my Dolby MAT theory, especially now it seems the Roku Ultra is having issues to, which also outputs Atmos as Dolby MAT.
+18
Hi
Thank you! I have found your related case number and passed it directly to an engineer. You should hear from them soon.
I’m quite suprised that this hasn’t been properly picked up by any of the tech news / review sites. Are they too much in bed with Sonos?
I reached out to a couple of tech sites last year when Sonos had the firmware debacle where they destroyed the output of the Sub when used with Trueplay. RTINGs.com got back to me and said they would do a re-assess on whatever the latest firmware was at that time (which had the lowered bass output).
Well, they followed through on that and tested a firmware revision that was known to have the lowered bass frequencies (this was testable and could be reproduced in a repeatable way). They noted an improvement in the bass frequencies and upped their scores.
So yeah, I don’t think you’re too far off base here.
I still get the loud pop (“pop” is really underselling it) multiple times a week when listening to Atmos content. I get it both on Apple TV and Xbox One Series X. I’ve even gotten it on the Apple TV screensaver. Even though it doesn’t have sound, I guess it counts as Atmos.
Sonos has not been helpful in the matter. I didn’t keep up with this thread enough to be in the know, but do I understand it correctly that they are acknowledging the problem now but pointing the finger at other vendors?
Because this has to stop. I can’t even relax during Atmos anymore because in the back of my mind I’m just waiting for the pop! Are there other forums tracking this? YouTube videos? Is there collective action about this anywhere?
I’ve not seen any official position in it, either recognizing, or deflecting it.
I’m personally of the opinion that the “pop” is being generated up stream, as is the stopping of further signal , and the Sonos is merely playing what it is receiving from the TV.
But then again, I’ve not had this experience, so my opinion is not very valuable.
In all honesty, I’ve not seen a lot of data being passed to Sonos after such an event, so I wonder if they’re having difficulty reproducing the issue, so that they can ‘fix’ it at all. If they can.
I experienced this same issue last night.
Loud “POP” and sudden loss of sound from Arc. Sub and rear speakers functioned normally.
After unplugging the power, and replugging, the Arc function normally again.
Was watching Netflix on the Xbox Series X with Dolby Atmos. Arc + Sub + SR + SL.
Diagnostic reference number #67513007.
This seems to be a disturbingly common problem with this configuration.
Out of curiosity, when you receive Atmos audio through from the Roku, what format/codec is it in – listed as “Audio in” under the Arc in “About my System”. Should be “Dolby Atmos (TrueHD)”, “Dolby Atmos (DD+)”, or just “Dolby Atmos”.
Audio In for the Arc just shows “Dolby Atmos”.
My Arc has done this several times. It happened 3 times this morning! So frustrating!
Diagnostic 1667308177
Same issue for me as well. Loud pop, then no audio until disconnecting and reconnecting.
Xbox Series X
Sony 900h
Sonos Arc
sonos 1s used for surrounds continue to play audio even though the arc does not. Those do not pop either.
+3
Out of curiosity, when you receive Atmos audio through from the Roku, what format/codec is it in – listed as “Audio in” under the Arc in “About my System”. Should be “Dolby Atmos (TrueHD)”, “Dolby Atmos (DD+)”, or just “Dolby Atmos”.
Audio In for the Arc just shows “Dolby Atmos”.
Thanks for confirming — I thought that might be the case. Just “Dolby Atmos” is that it’s using “Dolby MAT”, the same as Apple TV and Xbox Series X.
There’s definitely been some software upgrade to Arc that has introduced issues when Arc is decoding Dolby MAT with Atmos content.
I had time to test with Dolby Vision off today. Used the Xbox to mix things up. Sure enough, pop and audio loss. Interestingly audio came back after changing Xbox settings back to 7.1 LCPM, without having to reboot.
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.
has unfortunately settled again. Just as Forza 5 went into the game, there was a loud bang... Whether it's HDR or Dolby Vision, it doesn't matter.
I’m sorry to hear that.
Not that I’m willing to disable HDR but has anyone experienced this with SDR?
updated my Apple TV 4K to tvOS 17… so far no popping… let us pray 🙏
+3
So I thought this issue was resolved for me but I've continued to running into it. A resolve is to restart the Sonos Arc (which is more cumbersome now the :1400 pages no longer exist) but will return for Atmos content on Apple TV.
I've come across two different versions of the “pop” – one which the centre channel drops out, one where the “pop” is just audible in the audio track.
Drop out can be found under 1272885458.
Popping in audio track is 1786177697.
I think the problem is that it isn’t a Sonos issue, so Sonos can’t really ‘fix’ it. It has to be fixed upstream, before the ‘pop’ is being sent to the Sonos.
Happened to me for the first time, less than 24 hrs ago. It has since happened 2 more times; both times during the movie Jungle Cruise. My setup is Arc + 2 Sub Gen 3s + 2 One SLs. I've had the full system with One Sub since December 2020 and never experienced this; added the 2nd Sub less than a week ago. Not sure if there is a relationship there.
Since this issue has been reported almost a year ago by others without some answer from Sonos, is very troubling.
I can't recall if the first instance was while streaming from my AppleTV 4K...but for sure the 2nd snd 3rd times were.
The issue is occurring across multiple type of streaming devices and TVs. The common device between everyone reporting the issue is the Sonos. Granted this is a Sonos forum, but what would lead you to believe that another device is causing the issue?
Same thing happened to me today playing Xbox. This sucks since I was enjoying the atmos effects playing cod
Hi
I believe I just had this issue, I have had my arc for almost a year and regularly used my xbox series x to watch blue rays but tonight I turned my xbox on and it was just sitting on the dashboard when it happened.
However when I contacted sonos support to have a diagnostic ran on my arc just to be safe they advised me they found the below fault
" see. I can see that your Sonos Arc is having an Amp Fault. And for this one, we just need to reboot the Sonos Arc. Just unplug it to the power outlet and plug it back in after 10 seconds. Then observe if the Arc is still producing the loud pop noise so we can further isolate the issue"
Correct me if km wrong but would thag not suggest a hardware fault, I rebooted the arc and re ran the diagnostics and he said the fault has cleared. Has anyone else had sonos say the above when they experienced the pop or should I push for a hardware swap.
Hi all,
To throw my 2¢ in here, as I've read the entire thread after experiencing issues (daily) myself, I'm running a very similar set-up to many of you:
Sony Bravia X90H
Xbox S, Switch, Arc, PS5 (in order of HDMI 1-4 slots)
The popping noise has only come about when playing Xbox, and was happening 2-3 times each evening. I opened a ticket with support during the day, and after getting home power cycled the Arc as well as swapping out the HDMI cable (just in case) before submitting a diagnostic.
Support said things looked good on their end, but I imagine what did the trick more so was disabling Auto HDR on the Xbox. After turning that feature off I had no sound disruption at all last night, even after ~4 hours of gaming. I'll post an edit/update if they come back, but compared to the last few weeks that's already a vast improvement.
One thing I'd like to note is the rep stated I may want to remove all other HDMI devices plugged in to the TV when using the Arc, which was an... interesting suggestion. Not sure I'm willing to use the Arc only when using streaming services via my TV.
+1
Again, I’ll share that once Trueplay ran and the Pops began, it was not an occasional thing as described just above and Arc would pop whether watching ATMOS or playing Stereo Music (including Sonos own music stations) or even using the buttons on top of Arc and getting audio feedback from presses.
It’s easy to redirect to “it’s <other parties> fault” but how do we rationalize such speculation against the experience of NO ATMOS, no Xbox, no AppleTV, etc? Is there any ATMOS at all in Sonos radio stations? Is there any ATMOS in UI audio feedback sounds from touching Arc buttons?
Similarly blaming cables and other devices is fine but in our case we had pop-free audio from ARC for a few hours BEFORE running Trueplay… then pop-FULL audio after Trueplay (no matter what we threw at it)… and then a return to pop-free audio after factory resetting and NOT running Trueplay again. All same sources tested. All same cables. All same settings. If the cause is cable or settings or TV, how can we have pop-FREE periods before and after applying Trueplay (for coming up on 2 weeks now)?
whippleshuttle’s post is interesting in that apparently the only variable that changed was TV type. Apparently, one TV subbed in for another, presumably re-using the same cable and otherwise all of the same stuff, services, settings. If so, that undermines my (wild) assumption that maybe Trueplay has some bugs to address and adds something to the chorus of some kinds of differences in how ATMOS (and DOLBY MAT, etc) are implemented. I’d be interested in knowing if in replacing the TV, did whippleshuttle change any other variable… particularly did they re-run Trueplay? Or use a new cable? Or replace any other supporting hardware at the same time?
Nevertheless, in my experience, where there is a great diversity of possible causes, a good strategy in finding the actual cause is to narrow in on the common elements. What does all such scenarios have in common? That is probably not one cable or one TV or one setting, etc. My gut says scrutinize the common denominator much harder first before then working out into what would seem to be quite diverse- even unique- variables of specific TV, specific cable, specific ancillary hardware, specific services, etc.
And, of course, there’s always fair possibilities that it is combinations of things that leads to an answer too. If everyone had the POPs, Sonos would have to stop selling the product because the noise and press would sound far louder about the issue. In my case I have a perfectly fine Arc + Move paired on which Trueplay has been run a few times during it’s many years with me- no pops at any time over those years. This other brand new Arc + twin 300s was popping like crazy after Trueplay was run on it. Is Arc + Move somehow immune vs. Arc + twin 300s? Or if I swapped the Arcs and ran Trueplay on the no-pops-ever one now paired with the 300s, would it suddenly start popping? If it was my job to figure this out, I’d try that. But since I now have both setups sounding fantastic, I don’t feel motivation to stir either pot.
Hi everyone
just wanted to give an update to my post 8 days back about the issue maybe not being a Dolby atmos issue entirely and could be due to devices / TVs pushing through a Dolby Vision / Dolby Atmos signal together
I disabled the force Dolby vision option in the Xbox Series X and re-enabled Atmos and after a week of playing I have yet to encounter the “pop” that we have described on this thread. I would usually encounter this at least once a day when quitting games and returning to the home screen
I think there could be merit to this approach, but obviously need the community to try this as well. Also not ruling out that bug fixes from the October Xbox update and Sonos 14.18 could of fixed this issue entirely from their end as they have also been released during this timeframe
Will keep everybody updated!
I just encountered this first time (I hadn’t played much Xbox SX after getting my arc). It is def still there with latest Xbox / Sonos update. You might be right though assuming it happens when enabling high bandwidth options - for me 4K 120hz / Dolby Vision plus atmos. Switching between gears 5 and dashboard produces this loud pop…
Hello. I am experiencing this issue. I previously had the Beam (Gen2) which worked perfectly. Since upgrading to the Arc, when using the XBOX Series X there is a regular loud popping / cracking noise and the LED flashes Amber, followed by loss of sound. If I change the source back to Sky, then back to XBOX the sound returns for a short while then rinse and repeat. I thought it maybe heat related as the XBOX is directly underneath the Arc and emits quite a bit of heat. So moved it, and the problem still persists. Next step, is a new 4K HDMI cable… Just to add, no sound issues exist with Sky Q or any TV apps like Prime or Netflix. Just the XBOX connection.
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