Sonos Arc loud pop then audio loss



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Hi. Glad I’ve just seen this. Xbox Series X and Sonos ARC, very loud pop as if a speaker had blown. Diagnosis report 444345874

Same issue for me, did you hear if there’s any damage?

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I just had the same issue occur, which brought me to this thread.  I have an Arc, sub gen 3, and Play:1s for surrounds.  I’ve had the Arc for three months and the sub for two weeks.  First time this has happened.

 
I submitted diagnostic report number 726247310.

Apple TV or Xbox Series X?

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I’m experiencing the same popping issue on my Arc and can reproduce the POP on-demand using the Windows 11 System Sound control test panel and selecting “Dolby Atmos for home theatre” for Spatial Audio.  If someone from Sonos would like to contact me I’d be glad to give a demo and do any kind of tracing that might help them resolve the issue sooner rather than later!

This is the first time I’ve seen that we can add windows to the list of upstream devices.  Very interesting

I am using a Roku Ultra, the 2020 version, with Dolby Atmos.

 

 

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I just had this happen to us again this past weekend, which was frustrating, annoying and frankly scared the poop out of us. Nothing like getting caught up on Stranger Things on Netflix and…“POP!

In our case, it seemed to be related to watching HD Atmos content via the Xbox X series, but from reading the forums, Apple TV devices seem to be an issue for others.  That said, I don’t feel this is a problem that Apple or Microsoft need to address, but certainly some resolution from Sonos is overdue.

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I am using a Roku Ultra, the 2020 version, with Dolby Atmos.

 

 

Interesting. First I've heard of Roku having issues, I haven't scrolled all the way back through this thread.

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”.

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Managed to keep away from the issue for a few weeks/months after changing to Dolby Vision as the default video output.  Seemed like it shouldn't have worked, but it remained dormant until recently. Two pops in one week.  Disappointing. 

I’ve disabled eArc in my TV settings and since then, no pop. Not cool, cause the Arc should be able to connect to eArc, but it was too frustrating. 

Hi @Corry P 

I am having the same issue. Sonos Arc, 5.1. Xbox, Sony xh90.

Loud Pop, makes the dog jump. Complete loss of audio.

What is interesting, not sure if you are aware. I can still send the audio signal to other rooms. The audio is fine on play 1 or one sl in kitchen, still off in the living room. 

Spoken to support says the system is fine.  

Diagnostic info : 488565616 

Regards 

Dan 

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So I’ve been following this thread for a while I got my arc on Black Friday and experienced the popping noise whilst playing my Xbox on the first day. After reading this thread I disabled Dolby vision as suggested by a poster. Since doing so I haven’t had a pop. This might just be luck and it’s a shame to have to sacrifice having nicer visuals for the sake of preserving the soundbar. Let’s hope there’s an update soon. 

Unfortunately not working for me, I always have DV disable and issue occurs… so no other option than change to 5.1 DTS, very very poor sound experience specially with XBOX (Forza, Halo, etc)

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I experienced this issue last Friday for the first time since owning the Arc watching Shang-Chi on Disney+ on an Apple TV 4K – Atmos enabled.

Attempted Snowpiercer on Netflix, same result after about 8 minutes.

After upgrading to 13.4 last night; let both run through as I worked downstairs and checked periodically to see if the audio had dropped. After a full viewing on both, no issue.

Not sure if 13.4 fixed the issue from Apple TV but it did get me digging further. Not sure if it’s been mentioned in this thread already but the common factor between Atmos on Apple TV and Xbox Series X is that they both use Dolby MAT.

(After that first failure, I tried my TV’s native Disney+ app and a Ultra HD Blu-Ray, both worked without failure, which are DD+ and Dolby TrueHD, respectively). 

This keeps happening to me while playing hellblade on the Xbox series x!

 

Quite infuriating 

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Hi @ProfessorFrag 

I appreciate that you want an update - I would too - but I’m afraid I have nothing to tell you, other than that we are still actively investigating.

Maybe difficult to say from your side, but at least could you confirm issue was able to reproduce during you investigation? Maybe root cause and countermeasure still not defined, but at least is a good starting point.

If so, have you notice any damage to any part of hardware? Specially speakers…

What’s your expert recommendation? Turn off ATMOS output in any device connected through TV to SONOS ARC?

Honestly I think we need a Statement from SONOS at least in the meantime you find a solution, otherwise we will damage our equipment and of course we will eventually claim for a replacement.

I have had the same issue with my arc popping using Disney+ with my Apple 4K. I think I just solved it for my situation. I changed the video settings on the Apple 4K to turn off the Dynamic Range and Frame rate matching. I can recreate the issue by turning them back on. I haven’t tried them individually yet, but maybe this can help someone out there 

Tried this change to the settings on mine and it all seemed to be fine. Watched Hawkeye (and others) without a problem but tonight watching “Book of Boba Fett” it’s happened three times in succession. Music played with no problem after each instance.

what was new was that there was a loud pop and no sound, but then a few seconds later a small, quieter pop and the sound came back. This hasn’t happened before.

resorted to the TV app and no problems at all…

 

would be nice for some kind of acknowledgment of the problem from Sonos- it isn’t the cable.

This has been happening for me for 3+ weeks. Have called Support Twice, left diagnostics, and have ended calls with “solutions” that days later only has it happening again.

Apple 4K plus ARC for me as well. Happens most often while watching ATV+ and Disney+ Dolby Atmos content, but it’s also happened while listening to Apple Music through ATV4K, and even while screen saver runs. I even managed to capture video of it.

I’m currently running 13.4 so that hasn’t helped either.

Sometimes it knocks out the centre channel, other times it’s just the pop. Neither is ideal

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I’m experiencing the same popping issue on my Arc and can reproduce the POP on-demand using the Windows 11 System Sound control test panel and selecting “Dolby Atmos for home theatre” for Spatial Audio.  If someone from Sonos would like to contact me I’d be glad to give a demo and do any kind of tracing that might help them resolve the issue sooner rather than later!

That’s amazing work making the problem reproducible! Thank you! Let’s hope it leads to a fix. 
 

In addition to Sonos, I think this could be helpful for tech reviewers too. Gives them an easy way to check if the problem exists on new Sonos products. 

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Hi @Magnesiumion 

That is not completely surprising, but I do not know if it is useful information or not. I shall certainly inform someone though, as it may give more indication as to which stage of the audio reproduction process the issue occurs - thank you.

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Looking at the thread on the Sonos subreddit, I'm surprised to see so many users who had the bang once or twice and it went away; or who have configurations identical to ours but no problems.

Could this be just specific Arcs malfunctioning? Has anybody had their unit exchanged and the problem came back?

If this were as straightforward as "we need new units", that would blow my mind.

I had a replacement sent to me from Sonos and still the same issue. I’m keeping mine because a) it’s specific to Dolby MAT vs DD+ and b) compared to a HT-A7000 (which I tried as a possible replacement), the Sonos killed it. While disabling Atmos on my Xbox and Apple TV sucks, the bar is fantastic and has a fairly good app experience. When it works, it works.

 

As I’ve said before this is a Sonos hardware bug that can be recreated with the same parameters 100% of the time. 
Each time I read how we have to turn off the feature that we specifically paid for is infuriating. And the constant naysayers who are likely Sonos affiliated people is underhanded and shows what we the consumer, what kind of company we invested in.

This is a 2 year going to be 3 year issue. There is Zero excuse and Sonos is Fully aware of this issue. They have contracts with their manufacturers. This is just business. I’ve worked for large corporations in the past that release faulty hardware and software due to contracts with manufacturers and retailers.

It is far more profitable to have the likelihood of poor individuals who made the choice to plug in an Xbox Series X that DOES cause permanent damage to the Sonos Arc, rendering it completely incapable of playing Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision content concurrently from any source. 
 

An issue that did not appear for years prior to plugging in a Sonos Arc.

This is my 3rd Arc. I unfortunately recommended the Sonos Arc to my father who currently has zero issues because I was able to warn him not to plug in an Xbox Series X that my younger half brother has.

Something we all could have benefited from bad we been given notice. Enough with the Sonos isn’t the issue nonsense.

2 of my Arcs now have this issue. Because I like so many of you thought, this might be a singular issue. As there were two releases of the Arc, one with the more expensive packaging and then the “streamlined” “uniform” box aka cheaper packaged one.

This is NOT specific to certain Sonos Arcs. This IS an issue that occurs to ALL Sonos Arcs. Considering the far fewer sales of the Xbox Series X, this is why there hasn’t been more reports than the many that already exist for over two years now.

One final note, this issue has never happened with my PS5 playing on the Sonos Arc. Which I had over a year before I got an Xbox Series X.

 

I still argue against your theory regarding XSX but something did change.

As I’ve said before, like you, I had period where the Arc worked fine with Atmos.  Since I purchased in Dec 2020, up until around September 2021, I had no issues.  Again, during this time, the Bravia X90H line, and Apple TV, and the Sonos Arc all had major OS updates.  One of which most certainly introduced the issue.  No change in my hardware configuration, no connected devices or cables changed or swapped.  Just one day… BANG.

I’d be interested to know if you purchased an XSX around September/October 2021.

I’ve said this 3 times before now. This is the last time. Please read the thread. When I mention the Xbox Series X it is a 100% reproducible way to recreate the bug/issue 100% of the time. 
 

There is NO argument. I have clearly stated. For those that are having issues that are NOT related to Xbox Series, I am NOT saying that the issue is ONLY if you plug in an Xbox Series X. I’m saying that if you have your specific issue that is caused by some other method. Ok I believe you. Again this is a SONOS issue.

I have never said that all other causes are invalid. For any future posts that only clog up this thread with statements or answers that have already been addressed I simply won’t answer them. And no I purchased my Xbox Series X in October of 2022. Something I regret to this day.

If you want a guaranteed pop...put on Get Back (Beatles Doc) from Disney+ 

 

 

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For those with Apple TV — humour me, what are your video settings?  Format, frame rate, auto HDR, auto frame rate…

I experienced this issue last Friday for the first time since owning the Arc watching Shang-Chi on Disney+ on an Apple TV 4K – Atmos enabled.

Attempted Snowpiercer on Netflix, same result after about 8 minutes.

After upgrading to 13.4 last night; let both run through as I worked downstairs and checked periodically to see if the audio had dropped. After a full viewing on both, no issue.

Not sure if 13.4 fixed the issue from Apple TV but it did get me digging further. Not sure if it’s been mentioned in this thread already but the common factor between Atmos on Apple TV and Xbox Series X is that they both use Dolby MAT.

(After that first failure, I tried my TV’s native Disney+ app and a Ultra HD Blu-Ray, both worked without failure, which are DD+ and Dolby TrueHD, respectively). 

That’s interesting about Dolby MAT, and whether 13.4 might have fixed it for Apple TV.

I’ve ruined any chance of being able to confirm that as last night I added a Dr HDMI 4K between the Apple TV and my Sony TV and updated both Sonos and the Apple TV. No chance of a baseline now!

Fingers crossed I’ve had the last “pop”.

With an air of false confidence I took out the Dr HDMI shortly after this post and have had almost a month of no issues at all (with a lot of atmos content being watched).

Until watching Hawkeye last night when I got the pop at the usual approx. 7 minute mark (unusually I got a pop and then a second pop shortly after when the video was paused. That was a new thing).

I tried playing music straight away and that played without a problem, switching back to TV then had all sound playing normally and for the rest of the episode.

I think the Apple TV box had updated so I’m unsure whether some working combination has been updated out.

I’m going to switch to the Apple TV app on my TV until this is sorted as it’s just frustrating and I’m unsure what damage is being done to the Arc each time….

 

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Hello all. Been having this issue for some time. Contacted support and they offered me a new arc, but this has to be a bigger issue. I tried the auto hdr. It worked for quite a few days. The popping now all the sudden started again. Curious if anyone else's started popping with the hdr fix?

Hi. I’ve only had it happen once but it was so loud I though something had exploded, that was a few weeks back and I’ve been in and out of auto hdr games. But after using it a while since I am now more convinced something is degraded quality wise on the ARC because of that issue, so it’s good to know you were offered a replacement, will have to make contact with support.

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I can confirm that I switched off Dolby vision 2 weeks ago. I haven't had a single issue since with Atmos. Just wanted everyone to know!

Haven’t had time to test this myself, but it would explain why we’ve had no reports from people with Samsung TVs. Samsungs can’t do Dolby Vision! Newer Sonys and LGs can.

Sophie’s Choice: do you kill Dolby Vision or Dolby Atmos? Ouch. 

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I made a comment here 4 days ago. I reached out to support (case no. 03802500), rebooted my system and was told most chances it won’t recur.

And here I am again… However, no rep to help me out this time.. New diagnostic # 514444573

 

 

Xbox Series S connected to LG C1 connected to Arc. I guess I am not alone in this. Had this happen months ago, I thought one of my kids smashed the wall with something. I forgot about it, and just as I was watching a show on the Xbox Series S, heard the pop. Looking through all the posts, looks like a lot of people are having this issue with a Xbox connected. I don’t think the quality degraded or any damage to speakers. Of course it will be in my head that they are damaged now. Hoping someone comes with a solution someday!

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