Sonos Arc loud pop then audio loss



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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!

I’m going to try this tonight and report back . Disabling CEC on my Xbox series X did not fix the issue . Once outputting at 120hz with VRR then the pop occurs . Will try enable and disable eARC but it may just be a temporary fix . It may happen again after 15 mins to 30 mins after 

Two different missions. One is to protect us users from the vagaries of posting inappropriate data online so that it might be used against us in some way, the other is being a spokesman for an entire company. 

I was watching The Mandalorian on Disney Plus and same thing happened to me. A loud pop and i thought something inside the Arc blew. Loss of audio. Then restarted the episode and audio resume. I wonder if anything inside the Arc stopped working? Just submit diagnostics 254534713. This Arc is bought Nov 2020 so its only 4months + old.

Please help. Really. 

New Arc owner here. With Sony now rolling out the PS5’s Atmos update, should I be cautious of using that mode for audio output?

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Hi @ProfessorFrag 

Thank you! I have found your related case number and passed it directly to an engineer. You should hear from them soon. 

Hi @Corry P ,

FYI, I have not yet been contacted by Sonos. I continue to be interested in providing replication data in devmode.

Hi @ProfessorFrag 

Thanks for flagging - a mistake, I assure you. You will hear from someone imminently.

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BTW, has anyone tested the Arc with Atmos content now that firmware 15.1 is out? I haven’t yet as it’s very new but curious if anyone else was brave enough to do so!

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Hey guys I have received back an email from Sonos Level 3 support team . It looks like they have more info about the POP and sounded promising . Will keep you guys updated soon once I receive more info from them 

 

Moderator edit: removed case number from picture

I hope this is leading up to the solution we’ve all been waiting for. Fingers crossed 🤞 

Userlevel 1

Just happened to me. LG G1 and Series X. Just in the middle of playing Psyconaughts 2 and then loud bang followed by no sound. Switching input brought the sound back. Scary. 

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!

I’ve tried this on a Sony 900H. Disabling eARC allowed Atmos to still function, but if you go into Sonos App → System → About My System, it will now show Atmos (Dolby Digital) instead of just Atmos. In this state, there will be no pop. The pop seems tied to Dolby MAT encoding.

I had some audio sync issues on some content without eARC, so I turned it back on. The pop came back.

Please note that different users have had success eliminating the pop by disabling various features. But there is no universal fix. I can get rid of it by disabling CEC, which is my current solution. Others can get rid of it by disabling Dolby Vision, which doesn’t work as a fix for me. For yet others, nothing works. :(

It would be nice if Sonos shared a little bit about what their testing shows. You can try pinging @Corry P in this thread and see if you get some info.

I have eARC set to Off on my Sony A80J (it is plugged into the HDMI 3 / eARC port though) and when I play Atmos content from my Apple TV4K (2nd Gen) it says Atmos / Atmos (DD+) depending on what screen you look at. 
 

Is there any benefit to turning on eARC to Auto from within my Sony A80J TV settings? Just to clarify, I’ve never heard this bang noise in my 1 year of ownership but it’s been Off…honestly afraid to turn it on at this point haha. 
 


 

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Every Sonos Arc is NOT affected. I’ve had one for maybe 4 years without a single POP. 

And the blame game redirection implies that it’s not any one thing- like not just AppleTV or Xbox or PS5 or a television or a cable or ATMOS setting on or CEC setting on. There’s too many different third party potential catalysts while others have no issue for me to believe it’s any 1+ (external) thing. 

I go back to the common denominator- the Arc itself- (me) guessing either a bad batch (if hardware) or something in on-board software is driving this issue. It’s easier to sling blame at other stuff but look at the example I offered:

  • my own has never popped in maybe 4 years of ownership
  • my friends was fine for a few hours before running Trueplay, then pop-mania for anything that generated audio (including stereo music or just touching the buttons on the arc) starting immediately AFTER running Trueplay, then factory reset + setup again but skipping Trueplay step: no more pops for weeks now. All other variables & settings (TV, cable, sources of video & audio, etc remain consistently the same) but no more pops. What changed? For them, it was not re-running Trueplay on a fresh setup. If not Trueplay (bug, which some have since seemed to negate), the factory reset seemed to fix it. 

If it’s ATMOS or CEC or TV or cable, it would consistently repeat by using that same tech and the same settings. But it seems that it is not replicable for many, which implies it is probably NOT much of the stuff getting the (redirection) blame. 

I have to think it is some bugs in software or a bad batch of hardware production. Else, if it is any one thing, someone could:

  • set up an Arc, hook it to the catalyst thing, generate pops.
  • Factory reset, bypass the catalyst thing, no pops.
  • Insert the catalyst thing again, generate pops. 

Pinning it down like this would allow others to run the same test, generate the same result and then the blame game would have more credibility… and SONOS themselves could execute the same test to replicate it themselves. Instead, we have 45 pages of “my setup is generating pops” with others saying “my <different> setup is generating pops” and other people sharing their same setup does NOT generate pops or that their Arc- like my own- has NEVER popped. 

Collectively find an absolute, repeatable cause & effect catalyst, repeated/repeatable on more than one Arc and it would give SONOS an absolute point of focus. As is, we’re all over the place with possible causes and possible remedies with others countering each guess. 

I think it’s absolutely within their capability to fix this, but they’re far more driven by money and new products. 
 

i would push back on just blaming the arc though as there’s other sound bars which have the issue 

Did you submit a diagnostic, and contact Sonos directly?

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I’ve submitted diagnostics 6-7 times on here, the phone & chat. Each time every support ‘tech’ is completely clueless and this has severely lowered my faith in Sonos. Quit frankly, I’m disgusted. 
 

I’ve had to direct all of these support people to this thread just to prove that I’m not crazy and not alone. They all try and send me down the same rabbit holes, wanting me to go through their stock instructions on cable replacement, player rebooting and factory resetting. Which by the way, I had done all of them many months ago. 
 

I agree with previous comments that if this was an AppleTV & XBox issue we’d be hearing about it effecting other sound bars. If anyone from Sonos is reading this, please comment on this thread to at least ease the minds of all of your great customers who are feeling abandoned on this issue. An issue that involves your most premium product purchased by your most premium customers. 

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Yes. eARC has major benefits over ARC. Better sound, better lip sync, the works. 
 

If you get the bang, you can always turn it back off. We haven’t had any reports of the bang happening with Dolby Digital Plus compressed Atmos. 

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I’m living with the CEC-off solution at the moment. The least annoying compromise for me.

I still expect Sonos to acknowledge the issue in an FAQ or disclaimer though. New customers should be warned about the potential problem so that they can make an informed decision. 

 

I really wonder why this problem occurs with so many different patterns. For me, for example, it doesn't do any good to turn off CEC. I turned it off on the Xbox and the TV and the bang still comes with Dolby Atmos. The only thing that works for me is switching to Dolby Digital 5.1

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Tomorrow is the 3 year anniversary of the Sonos Arc. At this point, I’m chalking this up as an inherent design flaw of the Arc and that this issue won’t be resolved until the release of the Arc 2. If it hasn’t been fixed by now, it probably never will…

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Every Sonos Arc is NOT affected. I’ve had one for maybe 4 years without a single POP. 

And the blame game redirection implies that it’s not any one thing- like not just AppleTV or Xbox or PS5 or a television or a cable or ATMOS setting on or CEC setting on. There’s too many different third party potential catalysts while others have no issue for me to believe it’s any 1+ (external) thing. 

I go back to the common denominator- the Arc itself- (me) guessing either a bad batch (if hardware) or something in on-board software is driving this issue. It’s easier to sling blame at other stuff but look at the example I offered:

  • my own has never popped in maybe 4 years of ownership
  • my friends was fine for a few hours before running Trueplay, then pop-mania for anything that generated audio (including stereo music or just touching the buttons on the arc) starting immediately AFTER running Trueplay, then factory reset + setup again but skipping Trueplay step: no more pops for weeks now. All other variables & settings (TV, cable, sources of video & audio, etc remain consistently the same) but no more pops. What changed? For them, it was not re-running Trueplay on a fresh setup. If not Trueplay (bug, which some have since seemed to negate), the factory reset seemed to fix it. 

If it’s ATMOS or CEC or TV or cable, it would consistently repeat by using that same tech and the same settings. But it seems that it is not replicable for many, which implies it is probably NOT much of the stuff getting the (redirection) blame. 

I have to think it is some bugs in software or a bad batch of hardware production. Else, if it is any one thing, someone could:

  • set up an Arc, hook it to the catalyst thing, generate pops.
  • Factory reset, bypass the catalyst thing, no pops.
  • Insert the catalyst thing again, generate pops. 

Pinning it down like this would allow others to run the same test, generate the same result and then the blame game would have more credibility… and SONOS themselves could execute the same test to replicate it themselves. Instead, we have 45 pages of “my setup is generating pops” with others saying “my <different> setup is generating pops” and other people sharing their same setup does NOT generate pops or that their Arc- like my own- has NEVER popped. 

Collectively find an absolute, repeatable cause & effect catalyst, repeated/repeatable on more than one Arc and it would give SONOS an absolute point of focus. As is, we’re all over the place with possible causes and possible remedies with others countering each guess. 

I think it’s absolutely within their capability to fix this, but they’re far more driven by money and new products. 
 

i would push back on just blaming the arc though as there’s other sound bars which have the issue 

Which soundbars and how often it occurs ?

Userlevel 2
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Every Sonos Arc is NOT affected. I’ve had one for maybe 4 years without a single POP. 

And the blame game redirection implies that it’s not any one thing- like not just AppleTV or Xbox or PS5 or a television or a cable or ATMOS setting on or CEC setting on. There’s too many different third party potential catalysts while others have no issue for me to believe it’s any 1+ (external) thing. 

I go back to the common denominator- the Arc itself- (me) guessing either a bad batch (if hardware) or something in on-board software is driving this issue. It’s easier to sling blame at other stuff but look at the example I offered:

  • my own has never popped in maybe 4 years of ownership
  • my friends was fine for a few hours before running Trueplay, then pop-mania for anything that generated audio (including stereo music or just touching the buttons on the arc) starting immediately AFTER running Trueplay, then factory reset + setup again but skipping Trueplay step: no more pops for weeks now. All other variables & settings (TV, cable, sources of video & audio, etc remain consistently the same) but no more pops. What changed? For them, it was not re-running Trueplay on a fresh setup. If not Trueplay (bug, which some have since seemed to negate), the factory reset seemed to fix it. 

If it’s ATMOS or CEC or TV or cable, it would consistently repeat by using that same tech and the same settings. But it seems that it is not replicable for many, which implies it is probably NOT much of the stuff getting the (redirection) blame. 

I have to think it is some bugs in software or a bad batch of hardware production. Else, if it is any one thing, someone could:

  • set up an Arc, hook it to the catalyst thing, generate pops.
  • Factory reset, bypass the catalyst thing, no pops.
  • Insert the catalyst thing again, generate pops. 

Pinning it down like this would allow others to run the same test, generate the same result and then the blame game would have more credibility… and SONOS themselves could execute the same test to replicate it themselves. Instead, we have 45 pages of “my setup is generating pops” with others saying “my <different> setup is generating pops” and other people sharing their same setup does NOT generate pops or that their Arc- like my own- has NEVER popped. 

Collectively find an absolute, repeatable cause & effect catalyst, repeated/repeatable on more than one Arc and it would give SONOS an absolute point of focus. As is, we’re all over the place with possible causes and possible remedies with others countering each guess. 

I think it’s absolutely within their capability to fix this, but they’re far more driven by money and new products. 
 

i would push back on just blaming the arc though as there’s other sound bars which have the issue 

It's not just about the Arc, but also about the Beam 2 (all Sonos soundbars that support Dolby Atmos)

Do you know of a soundbar that isn't from Sonos that produces the banging sound?

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Fairly new sonos user, I've had an arc work flawlessly for two months using Disney plus, Amazon prime video and just standard Freeview viewing. Decided to dust off the old Xbox one s to give it a run out along with enabling dolby Atmos, less than an hour later - pop! I nearly fell off my chair it was so loud. I was convinced with a sound like the there must have been some damage done to the arc. This was followed by silence and I'm sure I saw a flash off orange/red on the top of the arc for a moment. 

I submitted by diagnostic number via the Sonos live chat but apparently all looks good from what they can tell! It seems likes it's working fine again for my usual TV viewing but I will be following the advice from previous contributers to this thread and change the sound to Dolby 5.1 on the Xbox. Although I am reluctant to load up the Xbox for the time being. 

 

 

Sorry to hear this had happened to you. Just another example of why there needs to be a warning issued by Sonos on the Sonos app. If you have an Apple TV or play any source that has Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, your Arc is now permanently damaged thanks to that Xbox. 
 

Please update Sonos on what you experience and how your Arc behaves when playing Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision at the same time. I can’t believe they’re still telling customers, everything looks good on our end…when this is a 2 year old known issue.

They should have at least told you that it is a known issue: but the PR and subsequent loss of sales probably prohibits this.

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Tomorrow is the 3 year anniversary of the Sonos Arc. At this point, I’m chalking this up as an inherent design flaw of the Arc and that this issue won’t be resolved until the release of the Arc 2. If it hasn’t been fixed by now, it probably never will…

Unfortunately, that's exactly how I see it. I really don’t know what I should do. I'm on the verge of selling all Sonos products, simply because I don't think Sonos is bothered to solve the problem.

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I haven’t yet had time to test the software fix, holidays and all. Do we have reports from affected users yet if Arc/Beam2 are fixed now?

Userlevel 4
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Came across something interesting on Reddit 

https://www.reddit.com/r/sonos/comments/y9d84i/apple_tv_spatial_audio_with_sonos_arc_issue_fix/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

 

In this post the user has the same issue discussed many times in this forum, however making changes to the video setting seems to have fixed his issues.

 

Wondering if this is a Dolby Vision / Dolby Atmos combination thing?  I know for me I get this issue on the Xbox series X and have both activated all the time.  I don’t get this on the Apple TV because I match dynamic range settings


What are others experiences??

 

 

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I’m living with the CEC-off solution at the moment. The least annoying compromise for me.

I still expect Sonos to acknowledge the issue in an FAQ or disclaimer though. New customers should be warned about the potential problem so that they can make an informed decision. 

 

I really wonder why this problem occurs with so many different patterns. For me, for example, it doesn't do any good to turn off CEC. I turned it off on the Xbox and the TV and the bang still comes with Dolby Atmos. The only thing that works for me is switching to Dolby Digital 5.1

Have you tried factory reset and not to trueplay?

Userlevel 3
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Every Sonos Arc is NOT affected. I’ve had one for maybe 4 years without a single POP. 

And the blame game redirection implies that it’s not any one thing- like not just AppleTV or Xbox or PS5 or a television or a cable or ATMOS setting on or CEC setting on. There’s too many different third party potential catalysts while others have no issue for me to believe it’s any 1+ (external) thing. 

I go back to the common denominator- the Arc itself- (me) guessing either a bad batch (if hardware) or something in on-board software is driving this issue. It’s easier to sling blame at other stuff but look at the example I offered:

  • my own has never popped in maybe 4 years of ownership
  • my friends was fine for a few hours before running Trueplay, then pop-mania for anything that generated audio (including stereo music or just touching the buttons on the arc) starting immediately AFTER running Trueplay, then factory reset + setup again but skipping Trueplay step: no more pops for weeks now. All other variables & settings (TV, cable, sources of video & audio, etc remain consistently the same) but no more pops. What changed? For them, it was not re-running Trueplay on a fresh setup. If not Trueplay (bug, which some have since seemed to negate), the factory reset seemed to fix it. 

If it’s ATMOS or CEC or TV or cable, it would consistently repeat by using that same tech and the same settings. But it seems that it is not replicable for many, which implies it is probably NOT much of the stuff getting the (redirection) blame. 

I have to think it is some bugs in software or a bad batch of hardware production. Else, if it is any one thing, someone could:

  • set up an Arc, hook it to the catalyst thing, generate pops.
  • Factory reset, bypass the catalyst thing, no pops.
  • Insert the catalyst thing again, generate pops. 

Pinning it down like this would allow others to run the same test, generate the same result and then the blame game would have more credibility… and SONOS themselves could execute the same test to replicate it themselves. Instead, we have 45 pages of “my setup is generating pops” with others saying “my <different> setup is generating pops” and other people sharing their same setup does NOT generate pops or that their Arc- like my own- has NEVER popped. 

Collectively find an absolute, repeatable cause & effect catalyst, repeated/repeatable on more than one Arc and it would give SONOS an absolute point of focus. As is, we’re all over the place with possible causes and possible remedies with others countering each guess. 

I think it’s absolutely within their capability to fix this, but they’re far more driven by money and new products. 
 

i would push back on just blaming the arc though as there’s other sound bars which have the issue 

Which soundbars and how often it occurs ?

LG SK9Y and a few others. 
 

won’t know the frequency but perhaps you can ask on the Reddit posts of other brands that are complaining about it.

Add another one to annoying popping noise on the arc.

 

Using a lg c1. It also happened on my Sony xbr940e. 

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For me it did not help, unfortunately. 10 Minutes in on Xbox got the pop in the menu.

Isn’t it funny how in the past few months, more and more and more and more posts involve an Xbox? How is it that Sonos has not been able to recreate this error on their end? The answer is obvious. 
 

Why they have yet to issue a warning or acknowledge this issue, involves reputation and sales. Which going forward, I will endeavor to warn anyone I know who is eyeing a Sonos Arc, and if they’ve already purchased one to NEVER plug in an Xbox product to the Sonos Arc.

 

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