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Contributor I
December 8, 2020

Sonos Arc loud pop then audio loss

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.

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Pinned Reply By Corry P

Hi Everyone!

Good news! We are pleased to share that our team has identified a fix for the popping sound on Arc and it will be shipped to all customers as part of a software release today, Thursday Nov 16 at 09:30 ET, 14:30 GMT, 15:30 CET. Please note that some app stores may take an extra hour or two for it to become available.

During our investigation we uncovered a rare bug that impacts how Sonos Arc and Beam (Gen 2) in certain home theater configurations process Dolby MAT, a streaming technology which is used to deliver Dolby Atmos audio over HDMI. Occasionally a Sonos product will receive a corrupted audio segment from an external source and needs to filter out unwanted audio data. The bug we identified was allowing our Dolby decoder to play audible errors on certain home theater setups rather than concealing them. The solution we’ve built and tested improves our Dolby decoder so it better filters out corrupt audio data that can manifest as a popping sound. We’ll continue to monitor customer feedback closely after the fix has been released and ship additional updates if necessary.

We strive to deliver the best listening experience possible and work to address major issues that impact our customers. We apologize for the disruption this bug has caused and want to thank you for your patience while our team developed a fix.

We would also like to thank our community users for their detailed setup information and steps to reproduce the issue, which were helpful to us in uncovering the cause of the bug.

 

1202 replies

Lyricist III
February 12, 2023

Had this happen again today & scared the heck out of me, 4th time in as many months when I was turning off the series x, every-time this happens I feel as if it will be the one to break a speaker, so frustrating.

You tried the solution just above your comment? Have tried myself and hopefully has resolved the issue :) 

Will do thanks for that, will update.

Lyricist II
February 12, 2023

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. 

Lyricist III
February 12, 2023

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. 

There’s a solution posted a few posts up. Did you try it?

Lyricist III
February 12, 2023

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. 

Okay so just Popped, albeit after switching things off last night and back on today.

 

Gone back to 5.1 

Lyricist II
February 12, 2023

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. 

There’s a solution posted a few posts up. Did you try it?

Yes, i just disabled CEC (both Apple TV and TV), and still had the Loud Pop in the HBO Max (The Last Of Us) in Atmos.

Gone back to 5.1 too 😢

 

Contributor I
February 12, 2023

You know, I can’t help but think that if it’s a known issue, ethically, Sonos should put a warning on the product page. Or maybe mention the malfunction in an FAQ.

Right now we keep having new customers that have to go through all these steps to figure out what’s even going wrong.

Quick update, I got the replacement Beam on Friday and so far so good. No pops at all as of yet.

Enthusiast II
February 13, 2023

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. 

There’s a solution posted a few posts up. Did you try it?

Yes, i just disabled CEC (both Apple TV and TV), and still had the Loud Pop in the HBO Max (The Last Of Us) in Atmos.

Gone back to 5.1 too 😢

 

Did you fully reboot your TV and devices after disabling CEC?  This is important as CEC settings seem to hang around as the TV never acutally gets turned off….it only turns off the screen

Lyricist III
February 13, 2023

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. 

There’s a solution posted a few posts up. Did you try it?

Yes, i just disabled CEC (both Apple TV and TV), and still had the Loud Pop in the HBO Max (The Last Of Us) in Atmos.

Gone back to 5.1 too 😢

 

Did you fully reboot your TV and devices after disabling CEC?  This is important as CEC settings seem to hang around as the TV never acutally gets turned off….it only turns off the screen

Fully

Lyricist III
February 13, 2023

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. 

There’s a solution posted a few posts up. Did you try it?

Yes, i just disabled CEC (both Apple TV and TV), and still had the Loud Pop in the HBO Max (The Last Of Us) in Atmos.

Gone back to 5.1 too 😢

 

Did you fully reboot your TV and devices after disabling CEC?  This is important as CEC settings seem to hang around as the TV never acutally gets turned off….it only turns off the screen

Turned off everything fully

SidAlmond
Lyricist III
February 14, 2023

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. 

There’s a solution posted a few posts up. Did you try it?

Yes, i just disabled CEC (both Apple TV and TV), and still had the Loud Pop in the HBO Max (The Last Of Us) in Atmos.

Gone back to 5.1 too 😢

 

Did you fully reboot your TV and devices after disabling CEC?  This is important as CEC settings seem to hang around as the TV never acutally gets turned off….it only turns off the screen

Just so I’m clear, CEC was disabled on the Apple TV 4K and Xbox Series X (the two devices that I’m affected by) as well as the TV? A lot of tests say 3 hours, which is a decent amount of time, but has anyone tested for a longer period of time? While disabling Atmos in both devices is annoying, I haven’t really missed it as I’ve been watching my Atmos content directly from webOS and it really hasn’t affected me in any meaningful way!

Sid