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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Userlevel 6
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Quick question

Is everyone using the HDMI Cable that came with their Sonos? I highly doubt this would cause the issue but just thinking outside the box. 

While I currently use the included cable, I did try using a fiber optic HDMI cable since that involves an in-cable conversion of the signal. 
 

Pop symptoms were unchanged, which in my opinion very much points to the problem being in the Arc. 

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It's just frustrating that nothing is happening here. @Corry P: How long should we customers wait to get an opinion? We all paid a lot of money for our setup.

Userlevel 7
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Hi @Abo116 

We are still looking into this situation, but I don't have an update to share with you at this time.

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@Corry P 

 

But honestly, how long should we wait now? The problem has existed for several years now and what does sonos expect? We were never really able to use Dolby Atmos and most of them bought the device for exactly that reason.

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@Corry P 

I understand this may never be fixed for me and all the other users in this thread.

 
I think the time has come for Sonos to acknowledge this problem via press release or product disclaimer. Customers deserve to know before they buy. 

Userlevel 4
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Hi @Abo116 

We are still looking into this situation, but I don't have an update to share with you at this time.

Thank you for the update or whatever we should call it. 
 

I would appreciate it if you could ask them what’s going on so we have an understanding as to why a fix for the issue is taking so long. I understand technical issues aren’t always easy to narrow down but it should be easier here as others have given examples of how to replicate the issue on demand. It’s been a few years since the first reports of this has come out and one would expect a fix by now. 
 

I am sorry if this came off as anything other than genuine curiosity. I have no grudges against you but as someone that spent $2,600 for my living room and $450 for my bedroom in audio equipment I have an expectation that my system works flawlessly. 
 

On a side note, I am starting to get calls from clients letting me know this issue is also affecting them. They’re not very pleased when I have to inform them that this is an ongoing issue with no solution in sight. As of now I’ve told them to wait it out but if this continues for much longer I’m going to have to recommend they avoid Sonos and return their equipment moving forward. Please do not make me do this. 

I’m still somewhat concerned that this isn’t a Sonos issue, but instead an issue up the chain. Perhaps with the CEC interpretation of MAT, which might be faulty at the point of ‘change’.
 

If so, Sonos may not be in a position to ‘fix’ this issue, since they’re actually playing what has been handed to them further up the chain.

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I’m still somewhat concerned that this isn’t a Sonos issue, but instead an issue up the chain. Perhaps with the CEC interpretation of MAT, which might be faulty at the point of ‘change’.
 

If so, Sonos may not be in a position to ‘fix’ this issue, since they’re actually playing what has been handed to them further up the chain.

I have yet to see an issue with Dolby Atmos soundbars by Sony, Bose and LG. It’s also not happening with a receiver setup as far as I’ve seen. It’s not unreasonable to expect it to work properly or be entitled to a refund program. I love the versatility of Sonos but I’d give that up and switch to Bose just to be able to use Atmos. 

The issue has been isolated to Sonos and that alone makes it their issue. 

That’s contrary to reports earlier in this thread, certainly, but I’ve not had this issue myself, so have not been tracking it directly. If so, then yes, I agree. 

Maybe see this link to a thread (8 pages) I found online:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/254099712

It still seems like this is not a Sonos issue, as other TV connected products are mentioned.

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@Airgetlam @Ken_Griffiths 

Neither one of you have ever been affected by the pop, right? You just like to frequent every thread about it emphasizing that it’s probably not Sonos’ fault. 

We’ve been down the path of these isolated reports. They may use the word ‘pop’ but are describing fundamentally different symptoms.

Look at this thread. We’ll be breaking 1,000 posts eventually. 

Userlevel 3
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Hi @Abo116 

We are still looking into this situation, but I don't have an update to share with you at this time.

You know this is almost more frustrating to hear than just radio silence.  Two years into this thread and “We’re aware of the issue and are looking into it” simply isn’t good enough.

 

@Airgetlam @Ken_Griffiths 

Neither one of you have ever been affected by the pop, right? You just like to frequent every thread about it emphasizing that it’s probably not Sonos’ fault. 

We’ve been down the path of these isolated reports. They may use the word ‘pop’ but are describing fundamentally different symptoms.

Look at this thread. We’ll be breaking 1,000 posts eventually. 

I’m not sure how many users that may refer to overall here, but it still seems to me that a good many mention Apple TV 4K, or XBox and I did see in that linked thread, the one user mentioned they switched to using a Roku stick and the problem disappeared for them - so maybe that’s worth a try and set aside any Apple TV, or connected problem device and try a different device and just see if the popping stops.

@Airgetlam @Ken_Griffiths 

Neither one of you have ever been affected by the pop, right? You just like to frequent every thread about it emphasizing that it’s probably not Sonos’ fault. 

We’ve been down the path of these isolated reports. They may use the word ‘pop’ but are describing fundamentally different symptoms.

Look at this thread. We’ll be breaking 1,000 posts eventually. 

No I’ve not had the popping issue with the Arc, but I’m not using Apple TV 4K, or Xbox - I have an LG C9 TV with Arc, Sub, Surrounds and connected are:

  • HDMI-1: A V6 VM cable TV
  • HDMI-2: Sonos Arc
  • HDMI-3: Switch - Fire TV 4K/Apple TV 4HD/PlayStation
  • HDMI-4: NVidia Shield TV
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- so maybe that’s worth a try and set aside any Apple TV, or connected problem device and try a different device and just see if the popping stops.


And after all these years with no fix in sight, that’s all I’m expecting from Sonos at this point: put out a statement, an FAQ, a disclaimer, a warning, anything. Sonos Arc is not a good pairing with Apple TV or Xbox. I don’t even expect them to take responsibility anymore. 
 

Potential customers deserve to know before they buy or the string of frustrated users finding this thread will never end. It’s the only decent thing to do.

Glad to find this thread, now following. I’ve had the pop issue with a Sonos Arc / Apple TV 4K for about a year now. I happens randomly and it’s very disappointing. More disappointing this thread is so extensive and the issues is unresolved 

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Maybe see this link to a thread (8 pages) I found online:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/254099712

It still seems like this is not a Sonos issue, as other TV connected products are mentioned.

Not entirely convinced that this is the same issue as we are experiencing.  I read this to be a series of small popping sounds, not a big gunshot type pop that this thread is about

In all my searches on the internet around this issue, nobody produces a pop like the Sonos hardware does

 

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I've only had the problem with my Xbox Series X so far and I've had it a number of times. Today I was able to reproduce it every time I played Forza 5 and then went to the dashboard. A few seconds later there was a loud bang and the LED on the arc burned orange. So I decided to turn off Dolby Vision because I've also read this here in the chat that it's supposed to help. I couldn't believe it, but in the Xbox settings I just unchecked "allow dolby vision" and "dolby vision for gaming" and since then I haven't been able to reproduce the problem. maybe it's just a coincidence, but when I had Dolby Vision active, the bang came every time in connection with Atmos. But this means doing without Dolby Vision and “only” using HDR10.

Userlevel 4
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I've only had the problem with my Xbox Series X so far and I've had it a number of times. Today I was able to reproduce it every time I played Forza 5 and then went to the dashboard. A few seconds later there was a loud bang and the LED on the arc burned orange. So I decided to turn off Dolby Vision because I've also read this here in the chat that it's supposed to help. I couldn't believe it, but in the Xbox settings I just unchecked "allow dolby vision" and "dolby vision for gaming" and since then I haven't been able to reproduce the problem. maybe it's just a coincidence, but when I had Dolby Vision active, the bang came every time in connection with Atmos. But this means doing without Dolby Vision and “only” using HDR10.

I have always had Dolby Vision disabled for gaming but I forgot why. It may have been a VRR thing. Either way I’ve been using HDR-10 and the issue exists. 

Userlevel 6
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I’m afraid I too got the bang with DV off on the XBOX. But if it fixes it for you and losing DV is worth Atmos to you, congratulations! Life has gotten a little better. 

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Gosh it’s disappointing to come back to this thread after so long and still see no fixes or transparency. After each system update I hope for improvement but nothing. My simple set up (Sonos Arc plus AppleTV) sounds great playing Atmos content until the damn gunshot and loss of sound. I was trying to watch the Mandolorian with my kids and it was happening every few minutes. We gave up in the end.

 

Here’s a video of it happening just now: Popping and loss of sound


In the past the frequency of “pops” seems to lessen when I unplug the Sonos and everything else, and then reconnect before I watch anything. Oddly tonight it started popping almost immediately.

Haven’t investigated the CEC fix but seems an odd one to me.

 

sigh.

 

Userlevel 4
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I've only had the problem with my Xbox Series X so far and I've had it a number of times. Today I was able to reproduce it every time I played Forza 5 and then went to the dashboard. A few seconds later there was a loud bang and the LED on the arc burned orange. So I decided to turn off Dolby Vision because I've also read this here in the chat that it's supposed to help. I couldn't believe it, but in the Xbox settings I just unchecked "allow dolby vision" and "dolby vision for gaming" and since then I haven't been able to reproduce the problem. maybe it's just a coincidence, but when I had Dolby Vision active, the bang came every time in connection with Atmos. But this means doing without Dolby Vision and “only” using HDR10.

This has worked for me without fail.  Remember that there aren’t very many games that natively support DV, so to me most games really dont do much more than HDR does anyway.  Atmos sound is far more valuable to have than DV at this stage

Userlevel 4
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I've only had the problem with my Xbox Series X so far and I've had it a number of times. Today I was able to reproduce it every time I played Forza 5 and then went to the dashboard. A few seconds later there was a loud bang and the LED on the arc burned orange. So I decided to turn off Dolby Vision because I've also read this here in the chat that it's supposed to help. I couldn't believe it, but in the Xbox settings I just unchecked "allow dolby vision" and "dolby vision for gaming" and since then I haven't been able to reproduce the problem. maybe it's just a coincidence, but when I had Dolby Vision active, the bang came every time in connection with Atmos. But this means doing without Dolby Vision and “only” using HDR10.

This has worked for me without fail.  Remember that there aren’t very many games that natively support DV, so to me most games really dont do much more than HDR does anyway.  Atmos sound is far more valuable to have than DV at this stage

I’m glad it works for you. As I mentioned above it happens with HDR10 without fail every time in my case. 
 

Sonos needs to fix this nonsense

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I've only had the problem with my Xbox Series X so far and I've had it a number of times. Today I was able to reproduce it every time I played Forza 5 and then went to the dashboard. A few seconds later there was a loud bang and the LED on the arc burned orange. So I decided to turn off Dolby Vision because I've also read this here in the chat that it's supposed to help. I couldn't believe it, but in the Xbox settings I just unchecked "allow dolby vision" and "dolby vision for gaming" and since then I haven't been able to reproduce the problem. maybe it's just a coincidence, but when I had Dolby Vision active, the bang came every time in connection with Atmos. But this means doing without Dolby Vision and “only” using HDR10.

This has worked for me without fail.  Remember that there aren’t very many games that natively support DV, so to me most games really dont do much more than HDR does anyway.  Atmos sound is far more valuable to have than DV at this stage

I’m glad it works for you. As I mentioned above it happens with HDR10 without fail every time in my case. 
 

Sonos needs to fix this nonsense

As I said, I have to test this over a longer period of time, but yesterday evening it banged continuously with Dolby Vision and atmos and after I switched to HDR it didn't anymore. I have tested with HDR for a maximum of 30 minutes so far.

Userlevel 2
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I've only had the problem with my Xbox Series X so far and I've had it a number of times. Today I was able to reproduce it every time I played Forza 5 and then went to the dashboard. A few seconds later there was a loud bang and the LED on the arc burned orange. So I decided to turn off Dolby Vision because I've also read this here in the chat that it's supposed to help. I couldn't believe it, but in the Xbox settings I just unchecked "allow dolby vision" and "dolby vision for gaming" and since then I haven't been able to reproduce the problem. maybe it's just a coincidence, but when I had Dolby Vision active, the bang came every time in connection with Atmos. But this means doing without Dolby Vision and “only” using HDR10.

This has worked for me without fail.  Remember that there aren’t very many games that natively support DV, so to me most games really dont do much more than HDR does anyway.  Atmos sound is far more valuable to have than DV at this stage

I’m glad it works for you. As I mentioned above it happens with HDR10 without fail every time in my case. 
 

Sonos needs to fix this nonsense

As I said, I have to test this over a longer period of time, but yesterday evening it banged continuously with Dolby Vision and atmos and after I switched to HDR it didn't anymore. I have tested with HDR for a maximum of 30 minutes so far.

has unfortunately settled again. Just as Forza 5 went into the game, there was a loud bang... Whether it's HDR or Dolby Vision, it doesn't matter.

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