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 5 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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Has there been any updates I’ve missed, this thread has died lately. 

Nothing major. We now have some workaround hacks, each of which work for some users:

  1. Disable CEC and power cycle (works for me).
  2. Disable Dolby Vision (does not work for me).
  3. Disable Trueplay (haven’t tried).
  4. Disable Atmos (works for everyone, bug ugh).
  5. Don’t use Apple TV, Xbox, or PS5 (Lol! Some people actually think that’s a legitimate solution.)

 

I think as a consequence of these hacks and continued radio silence from Sonos, there’s just not been much to discuss.

Userlevel 1

Thanks. I have double bug, I have the pop from Atmos and the Sony bug that drops audio completely. At this point, I wish I would have gone with two different solutions. 

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Well, I’ve about had it with this. The final straw now was the Sonos decision to discontinue their email support option. I had a dialogue with the technicians there, but on my most recent response, I now get the auto-reply: “This email address is no longer monitored, instead you can reach us by submitting your question via the web at http://support.sonos.com.” Amazing. Thanks, Sonos. Is anyone interested in pursuing a class action. I don’t know how feasible it will be, but I am at least interested in looking into the issue. I really wish it didn’t come to this. If they had demonstrated ANY commitment to addressing the issue or making things right for those of us affected, we wouldn’t be at this point. I’m waiting for them to whitewash this entire thread soon, to be honest.

Number of class action suits threatened by Sonos users over the years - Hundreds.

Number of class action suits actually filed - One (and the “class” consisted of exactly one complainant)

Number of class action suits won - Zero

Save your lawyers the time and wait for it to be fixed. 

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Called Sonos support today and was told that their level 2 team was “closed for new escalations” whatever in the world that means. They couldn’t elaborate and I was told that “maybe they have meetings today.” They also attempted to call the Level 3 team and said they “were not available.” I was told that someone “should” reach out to me. Advised to call back next week if no response.

 

@jgatie I disagree that it is not worthwhile. Though it might not be successful, the only way that we have seen any attention towards these issues is through more visibility. I think we have very clearly seen that 1000+ posts over three years hasn’t prompted Sonos to care all that much - but the Verge article and others seems to have at least gotten some attention. They have shown that they are only going to response when there is sufficient public pressure and visibility. 

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Well, I’ve about had it with this. The final straw now was the Sonos decision to discontinue their email support option. I had a dialogue with the technicians there, but on my most recent response, I now get the auto-reply: “This email address is no longer monitored, instead you can reach us by submitting your question via the web at http://support.sonos.com.” Amazing. Thanks, Sonos. Is anyone interested in pursuing a class action. I don’t know how feasible it will be, but I am at least interested in looking into the issue. I really wish it didn’t come to this. If they had demonstrated ANY commitment to addressing the issue or making things right for those of us affected, we wouldn’t be at this point. I’m waiting for them to whitewash this entire thread soon, to be honest.

Just sell all of your Sonos speakers. They don´t care.

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Has there been any updates I’ve missed, this thread has died lately. 

Nothing major. We now have some workaround hacks, each of which work for some users:

  1. Disable CEC and power cycle (works for me).
  2. Disable Dolby Vision (does not work for me).
  3. Disable Trueplay (haven’t tried).
  4. Disable Atmos (works for everyone, bug ugh).
  5. Don’t use Apple TV, Xbox, or PS5 (Lol! Some people actually think that’s a legitimate solution.)

 

I think as a consequence of these hacks and continued radio silence from Sonos, there’s just not been much to discuss.

Sell your speakers and write in all forums you can, that they don´t care.

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To be crystal clear the first post in this thread is 2 years old. Live with it or sell your Sonos speakers. They don´t care and can not fix it. I have sold my speakers to a person that only uses his phone to control them. 

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Shame on you Sonos

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We did have a user many pages back that was affected and had a TV that used Dolby MAT for output. No Xbox or Apple TV had ever been hooked up. 

Just give up ProfessorFrag Sonos don´t care. You care but they are not.

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Called Sonos support today and was told that their level 2 team was “closed for new escalations” whatever in the world that means. They couldn’t elaborate and I was told that “maybe they have meetings today.” They also attempted to call the Level 3 team and said they “were not available.” I was told that someone “should” reach out to me. Advised to call back next week if no response.

 

@jgatie I disagree that it is not worthwhile. Though it might not be successful, the only way that we have seen any attention towards these issues is through more visibility. I think we have very clearly seen that 1000+ posts over three years hasn’t prompted Sonos to care all that much - but the Verge article and others seems to have at least gotten some attention. They have shown that they are only going to response when there is sufficient public pressure and visibility. 



i wonder what happened with tom warren set, did they fixed it for him, tried to ask him in twitter but he didn't respond 

its shame that sonos don't have anything to say about this issue, no ETA for fix

Called Sonos support today and was told that their level 2 team was “closed for new escalations” whatever in the world that means. They couldn’t elaborate and I was told that “maybe they have meetings today.” They also attempted to call the Level 3 team and said they “were not available.” I was told that someone “should” reach out to me. Advised to call back next week if no response.

 

@jgatie I disagree that it is not worthwhile. Though it might not be successful, the only way that we have seen any attention towards these issues is through more visibility. I think we have very clearly seen that 1000+ posts over three years hasn’t prompted Sonos to care all that much - but the Verge article and others seems to have at least gotten some attention. They have shown that they are only going to response when there is sufficient public pressure and visibility. 

 

No judge is going to allow a class action suit to go forward simply to bring attention to what is basically a consumer dispute.

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Called Sonos support today and was told that their level 2 team was “closed for new escalations” whatever in the world that means. They couldn’t elaborate and I was told that “maybe they have meetings today.” They also attempted to call the Level 3 team and said they “were not available.” I was told that someone “should” reach out to me. Advised to call back next week if no response.

 

@jgatie I disagree that it is not worthwhile. Though it might not be successful, the only way that we have seen any attention towards these issues is through more visibility. I think we have very clearly seen that 1000+ posts over three years hasn’t prompted Sonos to care all that much - but the Verge article and others seems to have at least gotten some attention. They have shown that they are only going to response when there is sufficient public pressure and visibility. 



i wonder what happened with tom warren set, did they fixed it for him, tried to ask him in twitter but he didn't respond 

its shame that sonos don't have anything to say about this issue, no ETA for fix

2 years from the first post. They will not fix it. Sell it or return the speakers if you can.

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i wonder what happened with tom warren set, did they fixed it for him, tried to ask him in twitter but he didn't respond 

its shame that sonos don't have anything to say about this issue, no ETA for fix

If I understand it correctly, @tomwarren disabled eARC (thereby dropping from Dolby MAT to DD+ Almos) to avoid the issue. I think his attention shifted to other topics once he was no longer affected.

Or you can hop on the conspiracy crazy-train and speculate that Sonos let Chris Welch etc know that they will lose their preferred access to Sonos execs and upcoming products if they keep on this issue. :)

@Joakim B 
I’m not so sure there is that much of a difference between Atmos (compressed/uncompressed) audio, compared to either Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 (compressed) or McPCM 5.1 (uncompressed) surround sound audio to warrant going out and selling the Sonos HT devices. I admit I’ve not got the popping issue, but if I had, I would certainly prefer to just switch off Atmos and shift the height audio to other channels, rather than sell up. I’m personally quite okay with 5.1 surround audio, to the extent I would not personally sell.

That’s otherwise perhaps a case of "cutting off your nose to spite your face" if you’re seriously considering selling all as a viable option.

Your loss in that situation, would just be someone else’s gain IMHO, as they may not experience the issue with their TV setup, particularly if they are not using the LPCM codec, which seems to be a key component in many of the reported cases in this thread.

I would just wait and see if there is a fix …and just enjoy the 5.1 surround sound in the meantime.

Userlevel 6
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Sell it. After 2 years IMO a fix may not come. Arc has very good value used currently (at least where I live). Probably will for a while. But eventually gen2 comes. Life is too short, best to get rid of the headache. 

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For sure, straight quality wise I would barely be able to tell the difference between Dolby MAT and DD+, even when listening to Apple Lossless Music. 

No, the downside with turning off eARC is that you get lipsync issues in some media. I’m sensitive to lipsync so turning off eARC is a no go for me. 
 

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. 

For sure, straight quality wise I would barely be able to tell the difference between Dolby MAT and DD+, even when listening to Apple Lossless Music. 

No, the downside with turning off eARC is that you get lipsync issues in some media. I’m sensitive to lipsync so turning off eARC is a no go for me. 
 

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. 

You would not need to switch off eARC - just switch the audio output on the connected devices instead - just leave the TV as it is.

Userlevel 4
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i wonder what happened with tom warren set, did they fixed it for him, tried to ask him in twitter but he didn't respond 

its shame that sonos don't have anything to say about this issue, no ETA for fix

If I understand it correctly, @tomwarren disabled eARC (thereby dropping from Dolby MAT to DD+ Almos) to avoid the issue. I think his attention shifted to other topics once he was no longer affected.

Or you can hop on the conspiracy crazy-train and speculate that Sonos let Chris Welch etc know that they will lose their preferred access to Sonos execs and upcoming products if they keep on this issue. :)

Don’t worry Sonos haven’t locked us up or bullied us into silence :)

I have good news from Sonos though:

“Our team has identified a possible fix and is quickly working to field test the solution. While we aren’t able to share a specific timeframe for deployment, we can confirm that progress has been made.”

No timeframe just yet, but it’s encouraging that they’ve identified a potential fix now instead of having issues replicating the problem.

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@tomwarren Great to hear!  Can you give us an idea of how recent this was?

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Not great for such an easily repeatable issue that affects so many users is being pushed under the carpet, and for almost 3 years. 

I think maybe getting more exposure might help getting this issue fast tracked as we’ve heard “we’re working on it” for far too long now. 

Linus Tech Tips have reviewed Sonos products (which were provided by Sonos) previously and they have a forum thread for complaints about sponsors. 

I’ve added a post summarising frustrations here: https://linustechtips.com/topic/1428939-lmg-sponsor-complaints/?do=findComment&comment=16165444

Perhaps if we get enough upvotes they may at least have a WAN show segment and prompt more action.

 

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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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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?

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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?

trueplay off, yes
factory reset before trueplay off, no

 

But I don't really feel like doing factory settings either, then I have to re-connect my surround speakers and the sub and if it doesn't work, then it's for nothing.

 

 

Badge +1

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?

FYI: now many weeks later since prior posts and this (reset to factory but don’t run Trueplay when setting back up) completely solved the problem with Arc + twin 300s. 

Nutshell version: executed initial setup to the “run Trueplay” step but couldn’t Trueplay for a few hours due to uncontrollable noise in the environment. Enjoyed the speakers for those few hours: they sounded as great as we all expect of Sonos speakers. When the noise ceased, ran Trueplay and the Pop-fest immediately followed (only variable changed was running Trueplay)… not just from ATMOS sources but even Sonos HD Radio and when touching the buttons on top of the Arc. Any source whether simple stereo to ATMOS was popping in a way that made us worry about the speaker. We initially believed it was blown speaker(s).

Reset to factory but bailed on the setup process again at the “set up Trueplay” step. No pops since. No other variables changed (same source, same cables, same kinds of content). CEC is on and ATMOS playback, Dolby playback, Stereo & Mono playback, sounds from the interface (button pushes on Arc) yield NO pops at all. 

Gut says that if we ran Trueplay again, the pops would return… which would be a verifying step if we repeated it and got the same (popping) results. But they play and sound great now and we don’t want to re-stir this pot. 

While only a single instance and thus not ideal from which to draw broad conclusions, those frustrated with no other remedy may want to give this one a try. Given the variety of hardware sources, cables, audio types, etc in play, it seems common ground variables like internal software would be much more likely to be the cause than select implementations of ATMOS, CEC, Dolby MAT, cables, AppleTV, Xbox, et all. Since Trueplay is something most people automatically run soon after pulling these out of their boxes, if it is the cause or plays a role, obviously most/all(?) of the speakers with the problem likely ran Trueplay. 

If it’s everybody else that must change their tech to work with Sonos, it seems this will NEVER get resolved. But if it’s internal software, that could be a bug(s) for Sonos to find & fix. Those willing: test & report. If there is something here, it will give Sonos an area on which to focus and maybe a fix for up to everyone. 

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