Sonos Arc loud pop then audio loss


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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.

Corry P 4 months ago

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.

 

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Have to wonder if is actually an issue with the Sonos, or the TV having trouble switching formats internally, sending a ‘pop’ to the Sonos to play, then not sending any signal to the Sonos at all, essentially breaking ARC until it is reset. 

I reached out to Sonos support (by phone) as well. The tech did a lot of putting me on hold to talk to her level 2, but I never got to talk to that person myself. They seemed unaware of the issue. I mentioned this thread.

The main takeaway was that they said my diagnostics couldn’t be used because they were more than 24 hours old. I should call them immediately after the Pop happens. However, there was one useful piece of diagnostic advice. I haven’t had the pop since (yet), but perhaps one of you can try it.

After the pop, before resetting, while the Arc is still dropped out; open the Sonos app and play music from it. Does that work?

I have a Beam Gen 2 and have it connected to the eArc port on my TV and my Xbox is connected to an HDMI 2.0 port. It happens to me once every few days during several different circumstances and always seems to happen after switching media, but only after being on the new media for a few minutes.

 

This last time it happened I had just finished playing some Halo Infinite and switched to YouTube. After watching a video for 5 minutes the pop happened. Alexa wouldn't respond and there was no audio. I tried streaming Sonos radio from the app and it worked again, including alexa. It did not auto switch back to TV input, so I restarted my Xbox and everything worked again. All without powering off the beam, but a big hassle... 

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Just had the pop again while on the Apple TV screensaver, i.e. with no sound playing. As instructed by support last time, I ran a diagnostic and called it in immediately. I can also confirm that switching to Sonos in-app music and back to TV sound brings the sound back. So that’s faster than a reset or power cycle, you all.
 

This time support instructed me to stop using the HDMI cable that came with my Arc and buy a third-party cable. I’m supposed to call back if the pop happens again. 

Just had the pop again while on the Apple TV screensaver, i.e. with no sound playing. As instructed by support last time, I ran a diagnostic and called it in immediately. I can also confirm that switching to Sonos in-app music and back to TV sound brings the sound back. So that’s faster than a reset or power cycle, you all.
 

This time support instructed me to stop using the HDMI cable that came with my Arc and buy a third-party cable. I’m supposed to call back if the pop happens again. 

Glad to hear that worked for you as well. The last time I commented I was using a 3rd party cable from Amazon basics. It's an Hdmi 2.1 cable just like the one they provide, and it also happened when I was using their cable. I have changed some settings since it last happened to me and will update if I don't hear the pop for a while. 

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Thanks for chiming in with info on a third-party cable. BTW everybody, they have a link to this thread in my case ID. If everybody makes sure to reference this thread and have it added to their case, it might make it easier for Sonos to track the problem across users. 

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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). 

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….

 

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 

I’m having the same issues with the loud pops. I’m using the Xbox Series X plugged in eArc of a Sony X900H. Strange that issue has been going on for 8 months and its still not resolved yet.

It’s entirely possible that it isn’t a Sonos issue at all, but the Sonos is just playing the ‘pop’ signal being sent to it by the TV, which could just be passing on a signal from the originating devices. 

Second time this has happened to me. This time while watching the Witcher on Netflix with Dolby Vision

 

Diagnostic Info 1238124446

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@kevinomiconomics For future reference: what model TV are you experiencing this with?

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Update from my end

After having no issues for a couple of months with my Series X, I got a Apple TV for Xmas and immediately got the issue happening twice while watching Ted Lasso.  Diagnostics: 1361513750 and 1202439941

 

I have since rebooted my system and haven’t had the issue since.  I’m wondering if the working software gets slightly out of sync and leads to the pop

 

Either way I called Sonos support and they are sending me a new HDMI cable, but I have a certified HDMI 2.1 cable.  Could that possibly the common denominator here?  What cables are everyone using and are they doing it over ARC or eARC?

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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.

@kevinomiconomics For future reference: what model TV are you experiencing this with?

It’s occurring with a Sony X900H.

Userlevel 1

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.

 

Hi All

 

Unfortunately I’m also experiecing this exact same problem and it appears to be getting more frequent.

  • Arc + 2x One SLs
  • Sony A80J
  • Xbox One Series X
  • Using HDMI cable the Arc came with.

 

First time it happened whilst playing MS Flight Simulator and it was so loud I jumped out of my seat. Then it didn’t happen again for a few weeks, then I found this thread and tried a few things suggested like disabling Dolby Atmos, Auto HDR, but it didn’t make any difference. Also I want Dolby Atmos as thats why I bought the Arc.

Now it pops loudly without fail when playing other games too such as Forza Horizon 5. I have to power cycle to get it back (although i can select music through the app and this plays without need for cycle). So far it doesn’t appear to have degraded the sound but I am worried its only a matter of time.

I have submitted 3 diagnostic reports right after it has happened today - 1286287503, 664679292 & 1164353300.

Can someone please advise what I can do? I don’t see any acknowledgement of the issue from Sonos unless I missed it?

 

Kind regards

 

Chris

 

Hi All

 

Unfortunately I’m also experiecing this exact same problem and it appears to be getting more frequent.

  • Arc + 2x One SLs
  • Sony A80J
  • Xbox One Series X
  • Using HDMI cable the Arc came with.

 

First time it happened whilst playing MS Flight Simulator and it was so loud I jumped out of my seat. Then it didn’t happen again for a few weeks, then I found this thread and tried a few things suggested like disabling Dolby Atmos, Auto HDR, but it didn’t make any difference. Also I want Dolby Atmos as thats why I bought the Arc.

Now it pops loudly without fail when playing other games too such as Forza Horizon 5. I have to power cycle to get it back (although i can select music through the app and this plays without need for cycle). So far it doesn’t appear to have degraded the sound but I am worried its only a matter of time.

I have submitted 3 diagnostic reports right after it has happened today - 1286287503, 664679292 & 1164353300.

Can someone please advise what I can do? I don’t see any acknowledgement of the issue from Sonos unless I missed it?

 

Kind regards

 

Chris

 

Chris,

Its usually best to contact Sonos Support direct with these type of issues.. you should be able to chat with a representative via this LINK to discuss the issue and perhaps see what they suggest.

Hope you can get it sorted.👍

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Thanks I will do that.

 

Also worth adding, I have not had this issue as yet with the Apple TV 4K playing Atmos content (unlike some others on here). I did have a few issues with cables on that device and ended up buying the recommended Belkin Ultra High Speed HDMI cable which solved all my issues on that front. I will try using that cable with the Xbox perhaps something going on there. Although would have expected the Xbox Series X bundle cable to be adequate but who knows worth a try.

 

Chris

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Not using the Sonos provided cable here – one of three pack of 48Gbps 8K Cable Matters HDMI leads.

Has been fine for the most part of a year, until mid-October.

Seems a majority of us are using Sony Bravia, and the X900H series. The Android 11 firmware was released not long before this October time frame… 🤔 

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I still stand by my Dolby MAT theory – it’s the only consistent point between Apple TV and Xbox Series X. 

Forgot to mention this, but yes I was watching content through my Apple TV 4K. 

Same issue for me as well.  Loud pop, then no audio until disconnecting and reconnecting. 
 

Xbox Series X

Sony 900h

Sonos Arc

sonos 1s used for surrounds continue to play audio even though the arc does not.  Those do not pop either.

Userlevel 1

Hi All, Happy New Year.

 

Quick update, so changing out the cable between Xbox Series X and Sony A80J had no effect, still pops. It was worth a try!

 

I have now also contacted support to report the issue and I was told that the senior engineers are aware and working on an update currently in Beta so hopefully something comes out soon to address.

 

Hopefully everyone else on this thread has logged it with support :) Thankfully its really easy.

 

Chris

 

Xbox series X

arc

sub gen 3

One SL x 2

 

Playing my Xbox series one x - loud bang from sub, lost sound output -

reset and is now working 

Diagnostic submitted: 94361675

please advise 

 

As above 

 

this just happened again  -

Loud bang - this time all audio was lost for 5 minutes after rebooting - 

 

LG tv 55 inch - 2019 

No response from Sonos yet

 

another diagnostic report submitted

2047236300

 

Sonos please Advise

 

thanks

 

 

 

 

As above 

 

this just happened again  -

Loud bang - this time all audio was lost for 5 minutes after rebooting - 

 

LG tv 55 inch - 2019 

No response from Sonos yet

 

another diagnostic report submitted

2047236300

 

Sonos please Advise

 

thanks

 

Hi @MartinStartin

You perhaps need to contact Sonos Support direct, as the Staff may not pick up everything here in the user community. Here is the LINK to contact/chat with them online. Hope you get the issue resolved soon.👍

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