Sonos Arc loud pop then audio loss



Show first post

1200 replies

Userlevel 2

I cannot find anything recent that relates to this particular issue with other soundbars. The latest one (2 years ago) relates to a JBL soundbar. I cannot see any mention anywhere of other premium soundbars having this kind of issue. 

 

A lot of those reports talk about popping/crackling noise whereas the Sonos is a loud bang - probably the term popping is not the right description in this case.

Userlevel 4
Badge +1

Sure would be nice if someone from the actual engineering team that has been working on this (for over two years) could be engaged to comment more directly. I know many have sent in diagnostics that capture these pops - what do those show? What specifically has been done in house to recreate the issue and what progress has been made from a technical standpoint? Other systems and sound bars have figured out this issue - why does the Arc continue to have this issue? And if the issue is this well known, why does Sonos continue to advertise the product as Atmos compatible (a main selling feature) with no disclaimer or warning that many ultimately are forced to disable Atmos - at this point, it seems to be nothing short of false advertising. As others have discussed above, the Arcana Fury does not seem to fix the issue either. Again, we would not have to do as much speculating if someone from Sonos more directly would comment SPECIFICALLY on what has been done, how many folks are working on this issue and how actively, and next steps (with a timeline) for moving this issue forward. If no timeline can be given, it would seem that advertising Atmos compatibility should be removed from the Arc advertising and website until the issue is resolved. 

Userlevel 2

I had the same issue last night, twice whilst mid stream on Netflix. I reported through support and was provided with a reference. I have got a new TV with Atmos/EARC capability.

I have been advised to turn off Atmos which defeats the point of paying a significant amount of money for this functionality and not being able to use it.

I was surprised reading the comments on here as to how long this had been going on for.

 

Userlevel 4
Badge +3

This is the Sonos ‘community’ site. If you want to communicate with Sonos directly, you should call Sonos Support.

I get it. I’ve already reported this to them but unfortunately the phone support is useless on this issue. The only information they can give me is that my soundbar isn’t damaged from the sudden popping and the fix is to disable Atmos. However, a fix isn’t one that’s solution is to disable the reason most of us have an Arc. No one has been willing to give any updates nor will they call back with an update. That’s why so many of us are here on the forums awaiting word for Sonos…

Userlevel 3
Badge

I submitted a diagnostic report last night and spoke to support, they acknowledged the issue exists for many and they have a team gathering info to work on a resolution, I provided details of the different TVs and devices I’ve experienced the issue on

Userlevel 4
Badge +2

I tend to agree with this view. They were aware of it when I reported the issue a week ago. It is a bit of a concern that they have an Atmos product out there that cannot reliably play this format. It seems there are a number of different configurations/sources that I think eliminate anything upstream of the ARC. 

I hadn't experienced this before as my previous TV only had ARC and not EARC so could not pass lossless atmos. It surprised me how long this issue has been going and I wonder how many others have not experienced it due to their TV not being able to pass through a full Atmos signal.

Sonos Staff have mentioned they are aware of this issue in the community here and stated they were investigating, but that the matter was also an issue with other manufacturers products too and that’s certainly reported online, as links were provided to other soundbars having the issue. So it appears that it’s an issue where the ball is not in Sonos’ court - but I agree it needs an urgent fix, (if possible) by whoever is responsible - the last I saw, was to switch off using Atmos transcoded to multichannel LPCM (uncompressed) and use DD+ (Atmos) or DD TrueHD (Atmos) codecs instead. So perhaps try that.

I completely disagree with this statement. Simply because other manufacturers also have a defective product does not alleviate the responsibility Sonos has to its customer base and it’s reputed reputation as a premium quality sound system company.

While it is true, being a smaller company they do not have the resources that major manufacturers do when it comes to technical support or call centres. Being a smaller company, one would expect that when a large contingent of your customer base has the same defect with your product, the company would have a more hands on approach to a solution. One can argue this point all day.

My theory is derived from working for large Japanese corporation. Where deadlines for software and hardware forced releases of defective product. Deadlines caused by contracts with major retailers for shelf space.

Sonos does not have this issue. They have the time and freedom to address defects and errors. I’ve searched for this issue in other products. So far none have the same mitigating factors that this error has. 

As I’ve already stated, if this was an easy software fix, it would have been implemented. Granted at the time the Sonos Arc was introduced, eARC TVs were few and far between ,due to the limited number of models and the excessive cost of premium TVs released to the consumer market, obviously the Sonos engineers designed the Sonos while testing their units on the current eArc TVs at the time, and possibly never tested them with an Xbox Series X during development. Considering how old the Sonos Arc is, there has been more then enough opportunity to address the error.

When a company released a product that is advertised to be one of the best Dolby Atmos sound bars on the market, and then said product has a defect that prohibits the Dolby Atmos product to play Dolby Atmos. Do I really have to spell this out?

And if you’re saying that Sonos Reps have told you that “Oh this is a known issue and other companies have the same issue, here’s some links to other posts talking about how other companies have the same problem” I call nonsense. That does not sound like a PR statement or a statement any representative of a company would make. Unless they either have no idea what they’re talking about, or were trained to tell the customer nonsense to… ‘nuff said. 

Userlevel 6
Badge +5

Further testing:

  1. Reconnected Xbox One Series X. One hour Apple TV Music, no pop. 
  2. Turned on Atmos on the Xbox. Played one hour Xbox Disney+ Thor Love and Thunder, no pop.
  3. Played one hour Apple TV Disney+ Thor The Dark World, no pop. 

My current state is Apple TV both CEC options on, Xbox all CEC off. Atmos on both, no pops yet. If you are affected by the pop, please try the following steps:

  1. Disable both CEC options on the Apple TV and disable the main CEC option for all CEC functions on Xbox.
  2. Unplug TV, Arc, Apple TV and Xbox. Plug everything back in.
  3. Enable Atmos followed by both CEC options on Apple TV followed by Atmos on Xbox. Do not enable Xbox CEC. 
  4. Report back if or when you get a pop again. 
Userlevel 4
Badge +2

I cannot find anything recent that relates to this particular issue with other soundbars. The latest one (2 years ago) relates to a JBL soundbar. I cannot see any mention anywhere of other premium soundbars having this kind of issue. 

 

A lot of those reports talk about popping/crackling noise whereas the Sonos is a loud bang - probably the term popping is not the right description in this case.

Well it was from an old thread - I did find these in a quick search;

https://www.cinemaequip.com/why-is-my-samsung-soundbar-making-crackling-noise/

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

If I find others, when I have more time, I will post them. 

It’s not an issue I’ve personally encountered with my Arc or Beam, but then again I don’t use MC LPCM as I don’t have an Xbox or Apple TV 4K etc. (however I do use Dolby Vision FWIW🤔?)

As I’ve clearly stated, there is a sure fire way to recreate the error. I’ve read your links, and I’ve searched other articles when I initially encountered this error. NONE of these links including the ones you’ve mentioned are relevant as they are not the same error and do not have the same mitigating factors that cause the issue. We have all tried looking for solutions and reasons, hence discovering this thread. 

Do you have a vested interest in Sonos stock? 🧐 All joking aside. I’ve thoroughly tried to find other links of other sound bars that have the same factors that result in the exact same kind of error. Nothing. Which is how I ended up on this thread. 
 

On every product I own, I personally take them apart and fix them if I can find a solution. If it is not too costly. So I spend a lot of time on message boards and Reddit. I have not found anything on other sound bars that are relevant to this issue. 
 

Userlevel 6
Badge +5

@Ken_Griffiths you don’t think potential customers should get a heads up that Atmos may not work with Apple TV or Xbox?

Userlevel 4
Badge +3

 

My DV comment wasn’t aimed at you. Earlier in the discussion there was a recommendation to turn off DV on the Xbox. Turning off DV seems to help on Apple TV, but not on Xbox.

 

Professor, I’m gathering your comment is aimed at my personal experience in which turning off Dolby vision on the Xbox has in fact solved my popping issue.  I have been more than two months pop free with it off.  I even tried turning it back on to which the popping started again just to make sure it was that feature which was causing the issues for me

This leads me to believe it is one of the other pieces of the chain then.  The two that come to mind are

  1.  Passthrough configuration of your TV. My TV is a LG C1
  2. HDMI cables both from the Xbox to the TV and the TV to the ARC.  I use the supplied cable from the Xbox to the TV and certified HDMI 2.1 cable to the ARC

Are any of these different in your setup?

Userlevel 4
Badge +3

Shocker…

 

As someone with an Arc + Sub + 2x Era 300 I refuse to disable Atmos as that’s the whole reasoning for my setup. 
 

Sonos support has been useless here. I am not giving up on my Xbox or Apple TV. This issue needs a fix today. Screw their “performance and stability updates” that fix things I’ve never noticed. I need it to fix the biggest issues plaguing them. 
 

I should have bought Bose

 

Edit: I called Sonos and they’re adamant that their engineers are looking into it and she took my information. I don’t expect much but she did call me back 20 minutes later to ask me what model TV I have (Sony A80J) and if I’m using eARC which I am. They also took my address because they may want to send me a replacement which I’m okay with even though I doubt that’s the issue. 

Can I ask how long you’ve had your Arc? I was a very early adopter. When I’ve called and asked for replacement, they tell me it’s out of warranty. 

March 25th, 2022 was delivery day. I set it up when I moved in to my new home on April 23rd, 2022. 
 

If the issue is indeed hardware, which I’ve yet to see any indication of such, they need to replace every one regardless of the purchase date. This is happening to newer and older units alike so whatever the solution is they’ll need to eat the cost. 
 

In my case I didn’t ask for a replacement. She called me back and stated that they may want to send me one as it could be hardware related. I should hear back in 24-48 hours. 
 

They wanted to go over troubleshooting steps with me but I shut them down quickly saying I’ve tried everything already. I quickly informed them that I’m an advanced home theater installer (I do simple set ups to the expensive projector/audio setups) and can troubleshoot without instruction. 
 

I simply told her that I have a full Atmos setup that requires the Atmos to work properly. I’m not sure if a replacement would be sent based on my continued support and because I have Era 300 which are Atmos and a failed Soundbar ruins that. Who really knows what Sonos thinks here. I just want it fixed for us all. 

Userlevel 2
Badge

So Sonos what is the solution if I want Dolby Atmos on my ARC? Hello? Are you there? 

Userlevel 2
Badge
I know this is a community. But I'm frustrated. Please, read all comments from the beginning of this thread. Then there are probably 50 more threads about this problem in this community. The community has called support, reported and also emailed SONOS CEO. But nothing happens for more than a year. What is going on?

Another Victim here :( (from Mexico) 

The first time I experienced the (super loud/explosive) pop was when I was navigating the menu of my XBox Series S. (It was soo scary BTW,  I almost had a heart attack). 

 

The first thing that crossed my mind was that my 2 days brand new Sonos Arc was dead because that pop literally sounded like something exploded inside, causing physicall damage of the speakers.

I inmediatly googled the issue and found several post here and on Reddit of people having the same issue. 

 

I also had the problem with my Apple TV 2022 hearing weird noises/mini-pops and cuts in Apple Music when listening songs in Dolby Atmos. 

Just a moment ago I was watching The Last Of Us (first episode) in HBO Max and having a lot of mini-pops (annoying but tolerable) but in the minute 22 (when we see the infected old lady) again an extremely LOUD and horrible pop happened (I swear my soul leaved my body).  Even my dogs went crazy or scared or both.

I ended watching the episode in the native TV App and had no pops but the Sonos App showed only Dolby Digital 5.1 and no Atmos. BTW my TV is a Hisense U8G 65) . 

As described in this post, the pop only happens whith dolby Atmos content (or in the Dobly Atmos  Mode in the case of X Box Series S).

After disable Atmos in both devices the pop is gone, but of course what is the point of spending this ridicously ammount of money for a product if  you can’t use it for what was designed and marketed. Truly shocking that the recommendation of the Sonos support was turning off Dolby Atmos (a key feature) 🫠

I am honestly very dissapointed of Sonos and now I regret of buying this thing because it’s celar that the company is aware of the problem and after all this time not even a formal statement or answer has been released (and not to mention a fix for the issue). For what I see the users are the ones who are making an effort to try to solve this or at least know the cause of the problem.
I will surely going to end returning tIhe Arc to Amazon before it Kills me of a scare. 

UPDATE ONE MONTH LATER:

The Pop just happened again, even with Atmos Off 😭

I was watching YouTube in the Apple TV 4K 2022, Atmos disabled, the video was not even in 5.1 and the F*cking LOUD POP scared me again. 
It’s a shame that now I won’t be able to watch any content in my Arc without the fear of the popping. I’ve been lucky this only has happened when I’m watching alone.

Sonos team: if you are reading this I hope you feel Bad, because your work is Bad and you should feel Bad. 

Userlevel 4
Badge +2

Just had this happen to my new Sonos Arc. Series of loud electronic popping sounds, followed by the Arc shutting down. Extremely alarming because I sounded like one or more speakers had failed and blown up.

 

For context, was playing YouTube videos from my PC to my LC C2 TV via HDMI 2.1. On the TV I have eARC with passthrough turned on, and on the PC I had Dolby Access/Atmos set up in the sound settings.

 

Contacted Sonos support, shared my logs, and got the usual “known issue” response. Clearly this is going to be an ongoing issue, given that it has been happening to people for years now. Definitely don’t want to turn Dolby features off, since I’ve paid a lot of money for said features.

Yes, we’re all unfortunately in the same boat. This issue has been known for over a year, with no fix, no update and no support.

 

Userlevel 1
Badge

I’m done with all the issues since day one. Anyone want to buy an arc, sub gen 2 and 2-1’s?  Seriously with what I paid for the system this is unacceptable. It’s been going on for a year and a half. With no solution in sight

I don’t blame you, and I have serious concerns over whether this can or will ever be fixed.

The sheer number of examples here and diagnostic reports submitted must have given Sonos a clear view into what is going on. Particularly those on this thread who are able to demonstrate it on demand with Sonos engineers observing.

Luckily I have a work around in using the native TV apps, but they are not as intuitive as the Apple TV and don’t get updated as often.

 

Userlevel 6
Badge +5

@Ken_Griffiths , I’m not saying that Sonos should cast aspersions against Apple and Microsoft. Clearly what I wrote wouldn’t be a corporate response! ”They should feel bad.” Lol. 
 

Im saying that Sonos ought to disclaim that there may be a compatibility issue with Apple TV and Xbox. Do you really think customer do not deserve a heads up? Is it preferable that they spend thousands on a Sonos system, find out afterwards they can’t use Atmos with Apple TV or Xbox, potentially after being out of the return window?

Userlevel 3
Badge +2

I turned Dolby Vision off on the Apple TV and left Atmos on, no issues so far. Any loss of Dolby Vision enhancements are not that apparent to me.

I appreciate Atmos and sacrificing Dolby Vision was not a big trade off for me. 

Could you please explain how you turned Dolby Vision off on the Apple TV. I have mine set to 4K SDR 60Hz with both Match Dynamic Range and Match Frame Rate set to on. It is my understanding at those settings that the Apple TV will match whatever is thrown at it including Dolby Vision. In other words, at that setting, if a movie broadcast in Dolby Vision the Apple TV will match and play it in Dolby Vision. How could I eliminate the Dolby Vision so the ATV will not broadcast in it? Thanks for your help  

 

From your screenshot, you already have Dolby Vision off. Changing the format to 4K SDR 60 is all you need to do. However each time you turn off the AppleTV and turn it back on and play any Dolby Vision source, AppleTV will automatically enable Dolby Vision again and you have to manually change the format each time you turn your AppleTV back on. Which is a pain.

When I play my Xbox Series X I just shut off all Dolby settings Dolby vision and Dolby Atmos.

This issue is almost over a year old with zero support.

I’m thinking of selling my Sonos system and getting the Sony HT-A9 instead with Black Friday sales happening now. 

Thanks for your feedback. Each time I turn on my Apple TV 4K these settings stay stable and from what I understand, they allow for whatever content I run through the ATV to match what appears on your screen. If it’s SDR content, I’ll get it in SDR. If it’s HDR content, it runs in HDR. If it’s Dolby Vision, it will play in DV. Here is a good video showing all of this in real time. It explains it very well. 
 

 

In reading your other posts, I’m a little confused. Have you tried to turn off DV on your Sony TV and had any success watching Atmos through your ATV without the popping issue? I share your frustrations and just wish we’d get more feedback from Sonos Support. Even if it’s to tell us they’ve given up if indeed that’s what’s going on. 

Userlevel 6
Badge +5

I wish Sonos would interact with us. I went from having traditional sound systems (Denon+Klipsch) for decades to wanting something simple that just works with minimal time investment and doesn’t require cables once I had kids. I thought Sonos was that brand.

I really want this system to work. But if Sonos doesn’t intend to make it compatible with Apple TV and Xbox, I’d rather they just tell us and I can get started on the painful process of selling it all on eBay and get some other all-in-one system. Maybe Sennheiser. 

Userlevel 2
Badge

It’s not an issue I’ve personally encountered with my Arc or Beam, but then again I don’t use MC LPCM as I don’t have an Xbox or Apple TV 4K etc. (however I do use Dolby Vision FWIW🤔?)

@Ken_Griffiths , I thought you didn’t have an Apple TV or Xbox and that you had never been affected by the pop. 
Has your situation changed? Are you now also affected?

We all get it, you are a huge fan boy, but this exact issue does NOT happen with another manufacturer and lies solely with Sonos.  We are all happy you are happy to cripple your expensive soundbar by removing atmos but the rest of us are wanting our product to function as advertised, and that's why we are working with Sonos to get this issue fixed.  If everything works perfect for you then great!  This topic isn't for you.  For everyone else on the now 24 pages of this thread amongst many others, we are looking for a solution to this common defect that will allow us to use our product as designed without issue.

Userlevel 3
Badge

Been constantly checking with the Sonos support team who say they are aware of the issue and it’s also persistent in other sound bars. The only option is to disable Atmos content and go for 5.1 instead. After selling one of my kidneys to afford the Arc + Sub + Surrounds, my other kidney is calling me a politician for promising some of that Atmos content and not delivering.

 

Is everyone down to email the CEO? ceo@sonos.com is the address given on the contact page. Not sure what else we can do?

Userlevel 4
Badge +2

I turned Dolby Vision off on the Apple TV and left Atmos on, no issues so far. Any loss of Dolby Vision enhancements are not that apparent to me.

I appreciate Atmos and sacrificing Dolby Vision was not a big trade off for me. 

Could you please explain how you turned Dolby Vision off on the Apple TV. I have mine set to 4K SDR 60Hz with both Match Dynamic Range and Match Frame Rate set to on. It is my understanding at those settings that the Apple TV will match whatever is thrown at it including Dolby Vision. In other words, at that setting, if a movie broadcast in Dolby Vision the Apple TV will match and play it in Dolby Vision. How could I eliminate the Dolby Vision so the ATV will not broadcast in it? Thanks for your help  

 

From your screenshot, you already have Dolby Vision off. Changing the format to 4K SDR 60 is all you need to do. However each time you turn off the AppleTV and turn it back on and play any Dolby Vision source, AppleTV will automatically enable Dolby Vision again and you have to manually change the format each time you turn your AppleTV back on. Which is a pain.

When I play my Xbox Series X I just shut off all Dolby settings Dolby vision and Dolby Atmos.

This issue is almost over a year old with zero support.

I’m thinking of selling my Sonos system and getting the Sony HT-A9 instead with Black Friday sales happening now. 

Thanks for your feedback. Each time I turn on my Apple TV 4K these settings stay stable and from what I understand, they allow for whatever content I run through the ATV to match what appears on your screen. If it’s SDR content, I’ll get it in SDR. If it’s HDR content, it runs in HDR. If it’s Dolby Vision, it will play in DV. Here is a good video showing all of this in real time. It explains it very well. 
 

 

In reading your other posts, I’m a little confused. Have you tried to turn off DV on your Sony TV and had any success watching Atmos through your ATV without the popping issue? I share your frustrations and just wish we’d get more feedback from Sonos Support. Even if it’s to tell us they’ve given up if indeed that’s what’s going on. 

Yes that’s exactly correct, each time you turn on your Apple TV and play Dolby Vision content it will switch to Dolby Vision. I have to manually change the format to 4K HDR to disable the Dolby Vision, while my Dolby Digital setting is at Auto, Atmos Available to play Atmos content without any issue. It is only when Dolby Vision is enabled with Dolby Atmos that the popping error occurs. This “fix” only applies to Apple TV. 
 

One thing to note I never encountered this popping audio loss problem on my Apple TV with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos playing at the same time, until after it was initially caused by my Xbox Series X was connected to my Sony. The Xbox Series X was a recent purchase. After the Xbox Series X caused the error, only then do I now have a permanent the aforementioned issue playing Dolby Vision and Atmos at the same time.

So yes, by setting my Apple TV Video format to 4KHDR when playing Dolby Vision content, that will allow me my Sonos Arc to play Dolby Atmos without any issues. 
It is a nuisance, that when you play any content with a Dolby Vision, once the content begins, you must go into your settings to “disable Dolby Vision” by changing the format to 4K HDR. In order to play Dolby Atmos content without any issues. 

I also have had a PS5 and never encountered any issues.

Turning DV off on my Sony TV made zero difference. The problem still occurs. It is only by turning off Dolby Vision on Apple TV. When I used to play my Xbox Series I have to disable both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. I have since sold my Xbox Series X.

 

Userlevel 4
Badge +2

If you want to interact with Sonos, this community website is not the best for that. You’d be much better off if you were to contact Sonos Support directly to discuss it.

With all due respect, have you tried lately? I called (again) in early October and was told by a very nice operator to ‘change my cables.’ Something Sonos Support told me to do 10 months ago when this first started for me. Something I did even though I knew my cables were up to date. Just more money I wasted. 

Changing cables and wasting money on top of line cables was a complete waste of time and money on my part as well.

Userlevel 2
Badge

I haven’t experienced the issue. I suspect that SONOS licensed a chipset and decoder software that are included in ARC and other manufacturers using the chipset or decoder are at risk too. This would explain why a few other devices are experiencing the ‘POP’. The pop could be some sort of software overrun or perhaps a variable (from chip to chip) sensitivity to voltage or temperature and AMP’s environment is at an edge.

Since I cannot observe the issue, is there any dependency on the movie? For example, if you replay a ‘POP’ movie, does the event tend to repeat? Does it repeat at the same spot? Does one movie tend to predispose a following movie to ‘POP’?

 It would help if ‘POP’ victims kept good logs. The log should be verbose, keeping track of time of day, temperature, play time into the movie, ARC Volume setting, etc. It would be best to submit a diagnostic and include the confirmation number in the log. If you are regularly hit with these events, the developers could be able to provide special builds and access to enhanced diagnostic procedures.

Everyone should keep an open mind. Once you decide that the problem must be […] or cannot be […], you are likely to be blindsided. One should not assume that there is a single cause. It’s possible that a string of events must occur in a certain order before there is a ‘POP’. This is why logging is important.

 

I’m personally getting a little frustrated at this “other devices are experiencing the same ‘POP’”.  I will personally deliver $100 to the first person that records a NON SONOS device that produces a GUNSHOT BANG while playing ATMOS audio.  If you read comments on the various news sites finally covering this you will even see them say “I wasn’t too worried until I heard the video, but THAT was a GUNSHOT!”.  This issue has gone on far too long and as someone else who designs hardware for a fortune 300 I would NEVER ignore a blatant issue like this from my customers.

I can't believe this is still happening, had my arc for 2 years now changed my tv and my hdmi cables and still getting this awful sound.

Fix this Sonos before my arc gets broken!!!!!!!

Reply