Sonos Arc loud pop then audio loss

Many examples, yet not one of them matches the behavior described by this thread? I need at least one valid example of another manufacturer’s product producing this same issue before I can be convinced.

Maybe see if the suggestions in this link below will assist you - it seems some soundbars may make a popping sound in some instances, not that I’ve experienced it with my own Arc or Beam setups here, however this site (and others) do offer some useful suggestions to try:

https://www.theaudiocritic.com/why-does-my-soundbar-make-popping-noises-n25.html

If the matter still persists for you, then you are best to continue to gather the evidence from your own setup, perhaps video & diagnostic data, and continue to report the data gathered to Sonos Support via this LINK

I’m not debating that you are not suffering the issue, I’m just personally not convinced that this is entirely a Sonos issue in everyones case, the description of such incidents do vary, even in this thread… it’s probably best to pursue/report your own ongoing issue.

It has to be a codec issue.  The single consistent factor between Apple TV, Xbox One X, and the Roku devices is that they all use the MAT container for Atmos.  Disabling Atmos, and the problem goes away on Apple TV (albeit, defeats the point of having Atmos).

I can confirm that the “pop” is caused by, or creates, a loss of signal with the Arc (and I believe the Beam, as this has shown issues also).  Following the pop, the Sonos diagnostics show that the signal being received has been dropped entirely.

Who to blame is certainly tricky; Apple and Microsoft are, for sure, the ones creating the signal so potentially introducing something wiggy in it.  But then are Sony knackering the pass through some how, and then is it a matter of Sonos not being able to recover from a small blip?

The problem is for me, at least, that Apple released tvOS 15 around the same time that Sonos released it’s major update for DTS, and also around the same time Sony released it’s Android 11 firmware for it’s TVs — which makes pegging which software update to blame difficult.  I’ve experienced bugginess in Sony’s firmware since the update too with the TV flat out freezing, so who knows…

From what I’ve heard, these issues weren’t an issue on tvOS 14.  Unfortunately, there is no away to downgrade the Apple TV 4K due to a lack of USB port…

 

Hi guys,

I have the same issue and reported it to Sonos multiple times. They’ve said that it is very unusual and they have never heard about it. Well. It happened when streaming Dolby Atmos (Apple Music, Disney+, Netflix) on my AppleTV 4K but also via the apps (Disney+, Netflix) on my Philips OLED856/12. I am also using two Play:1s as rear speakers and it seems like the problem is not occuring when I delete them from the setup and just use Arc. I’ve asked support if they are too old and if the problem would be solved if I add two One instead. According to them, using the play:1s shouldn’t be a problem. Are you also using Play:1s in your setups?     

They switched my Arc for a new one and guess what, it just happened again. This is so annoying. It gets me every time.  

Not sure what to do, but clearly this is a bigger issue. 
 

Thanks 

Bastian 
 

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.

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. 

I called Sonos Support yesterday trying to get an update on this issue. I was disconnected after explaining the issue (again) for nearly 10 minutes. She had no clue about this issue. Of course she didn’t call back. Why do they ask for your phone number? I digress.
 

The second ‘tech’ was even worse. Had never heard about the issue. I guided him to a few Sonos Community threads. Wanted me to start changing cables and resetting my Arc to factory settings blah, blah, blah. If you are reading this, I’m betting you can relate. 
 

Then I switched to chat support. After getting past the bot, Mateo helped me and told me the update which came available yesterday/today was set to address this issue. I found that to be very coincidental, but hopefully it will help. Fingers crossed. Here is the update details: 

App Version: 14.12 (build 69131120)

Sonos are definitely aware of the issue — perhaps not at a customer support level, who for the most part (I’m assuming are scripted).

I emailed “the CEO” a few months back, which was forwarded onto an internal engineer who was definitely aware of the issue.  I’ve been trying to provide feedback where possible, including diagnostics, and at least in the case of the Apple TV, they confirm that this is something that was introduced as part of tvOS 15.

The new build of Sonos sounds positive, so fingers crossed.  I’m also running the tvOS 16 beta in case we seen any improvement there too…

I’m assuming this has the same effect as disabling Atmos — as eARC (and it’s bandwidth) is required for Atmos content?

Thanks and I really appreciate the feedback. I haven’t re-engaged the Atmos on my Apple TV4K yet as Mateo said there may be an additional Sonos update next week. The popping I was experiencing was so loud I thought it was hurting the Arc. 

Can anyone confirm if 14.12 fixes the pop issue? I haven’t had a chance to test my Xbox yet.