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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Hi @Sparks74 

It sounds like you have a different issue - especially since the issue this thread relates to is resolved. I recommend you open a new thread where you are more likely to receive help from the community.

I do, however, recommend that you first try rebooting your TV by unplugging it from power for at least a full minute.

I hope this helps.

Thank you both for your help and advice - I’ll open a new thread.

 Thanks 

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Hi @Sparks74 

It sounds like you have a different issue - especially since the issue this thread relates to is resolved. I recommend you open a new thread where you are more likely to receive help from the community.

I do, however, recommend that you first try rebooting your TV by unplugging it from power for at least a full minute.

I hope this helps.

Seeing this thread resurrected, I want to express how important this fix was. This week, I bought two ERA 300 and Sonos stands to upgrade my surround. 
 

I 100% would not have done that if my home theater setup was still on 5.1 without Atmos because of the pop. I know it’s often more exciting for businesses to focus on new products. But fixing flaws in already sold goods directly impacts future sales. 

Hi ProfessorFrag

What is the fix you refer to?   The plopping sound still happens on my Arc (bought only 3 weeks ago), whether or not Dolby Atmos content is being played?

thanks

Userlevel 6
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Seeing this thread resurrected, I want to express how important this fix was. This week, I bought two ERA 300 and Sonos stands to upgrade my surround. 
 

I 100% would not have done that if my home theater setup was still on 5.1 without Atmos because of the pop. I know it’s often more exciting for businesses to focus on new products. But fixing flaws in already sold goods directly impacts future sales. 

I’ve read this thread after experiencing “popping” noises and loss of audio on my arc (also paired with 2 x era 300s and sub mini). Without fail, every evening, there will be a popping noise (sometimes when also using my iPhone randomly scrolling, but might only be coincidental), and audio also disappears for 3-5 seconds.

This happens not only with Atmos content, but also watching a movie where the Sonos app showed up as Dolby 5.1.

I wouldn’t describe the popping noise as loud or scary - just very random and very annoying!  It’s more a “plopping” sound.

The arc is connected to LG G36 tv and I have 2 x 300s set up in surround mode, with a sub mini.

Any advice how to fix would be appreciated- my wife is complaining it’s a waste of (significant) money and wants it all returned - and it’s hard to argue with her to be honest! 

It might depend on what the cause of the popping is. I’d recommend, especially since you seem to be experiencing it frequently, to submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this problem, and call Sonos Support to discuss it.

There may be information included in the diagnostic that will help Sonos pinpoint the issue and help you find a solution.

When you speak directly to the phone folks, they have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your network and Sonos system.

New to this community, thanks for the add.

Sonos Arc with sub and Era 100s for surround, Era 300s in dining room and bedroom.

Purchased less that 2 weeks ago.

Got the dreaded popping sound when streaming Apple Music throughout the house.

Have not had it happen watching TV (streaming through Apple TV4K & Sony TV) yet.

 

Does disabling Spatial Music on the Arc and Era 300s remove the popping?

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.

 

 

We have a new kid in our house and I warned them that it may pop really loudly (they get scared easy) but… it didn't happen. Playing whatever, never happened. I'm messing in settings muting when I could and hoping it doesn't happen but… it didn't happen. I thought I was just getting lucky but then I googled and was shocked. My wife is relieved. I can stop steeling myself against a constant jump scare threat.

 

Thank you to the team for finally tracking this down. It's crazy how much stress this caused in my life.

Note that @Robyn4999 has chosen to open up a separate thread here:

 

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After several days without any issues, my random loud pop followed by reduced volume is back. I was watching a show on HBO/MAX, it wasn’t even Dolby atmos.

Is this on the new 15.11 update?

Have you submitted a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this problem, and called Sonos Support to discuss it? If there is a recurrence of this happening, I’m sure they would love to have hard data to hand to the programmers. 

After several days without any issues, my random loud pop followed by reduced volume is back. I was watching a show on HBO/MAX, it wasn’t even Dolby atmos.

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I finally had time to sit down and listen to Atmos music since the fix. I’m happy to report that I did not have a pop in an hour of listening, which is unprecedented. So add me to the voices saying the fix is the real deal.

Of course I did still have latent anxiety about getting hammered by the pop while listening. I wonder how long it will take for that to go away.

HA!  I also feel the same way.  I have been absolutely ENJOYING my setup for the first time in almost 3 years since I got it, but not fully as I have minor PTSD over the whole situation still :x

 

I am beyond happy with this being fixed finally.  I only wonder where all the naysayers are now that it was confirmed a Sonos error handling issue :)

Userlevel 6
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I finally had time to sit down and listen to Atmos music since the fix. I’m happy to report that I did not have a pop in an hour of listening, which is unprecedented. So add me to the voices saying the fix is the real deal.

Of course I did still have latent anxiety about getting hammered by the pop while listening. I wonder how long it will take for that to go away.

Userlevel 1

Fingers crossed it’s worked. After 2 years I’ve finally turned Dolby Atmos back on on my Series X. Let’s hope we don’t get any loud pops. Will report back. 

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Been watching & listening to Atmos content all weekend thanks to receiving the long awaited Sonos Arc fix and the heavy rains. No issues at all and the sound has been terrific. 
 

Set Up: Sonos Arc, Era 100 Surrounds, Sub Mini, Apple TV4K, Sony X900H
 

Thanks to everyone who’s gone out of their way over the years to troubleshoot and help folks through home brew fixes. A real community effort. Thank you also to the Sonos engineers who finally were able to figure out this complex issue. Cheers to all of you! 🍻

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Based on Sonos’ description, it sounds like a bug in Arc’s error handling was at the core of everything. While it handled some errors correctly, there was a subclass that it instead threw out as a max volume pop, followed by going into limp mode so to speak. 

I haven't had much time to test the update yet. But if it really works now, I would be interested to know what the problem was and why it took 3 years to fix it.

 

Sonos rep Corry was pretty specific in his statement here:

 

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I haven't had much time to test the update yet. But if it really works now, I would be interested to know what the problem was and why it took 3 years to fix it.

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I haven’t yet had time to test the software fix, holidays and all. Do we have reports from affected users yet if Arc/Beam2 are fixed now?

I’ve been using Arc and beam Gen 2 since the update and no pops yet 🙂 true play has been rerun as well (coincidence as changed the room layout slightly) well done @Corry P @Mark.Wi and team. So far fingers crossed

Userlevel 6
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I haven’t yet had time to test the software fix, holidays and all. Do we have reports from affected users yet if Arc/Beam2 are fixed now?

I still have the same issues with Atmos, which involve audio loss every 15 minutes (for 1 second). The update didn’t yield results in my case.

Me too on Beam Gen 2 but approx every 19-20 mins for me

See above - it is best to submit a Sonos system diagnostic report from within the Sonos App, note it’s reference and then contact/chat with Sonos Support Staff via this LINK and see what the Staff can perhaps suggest to resolve the matter.

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I still have the same issues with Atmos, which involve audio loss every 15 minutes (for 1 second). The update didn’t yield results in my case.

Me too on Beam Gen 2 but approx every 19-20 mins for me

If that fix didn’t deal with your issue, I would recommend that you submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this problem, and call Sonos Support to discuss it.

There may be information included in the diagnostic that will help Sonos pinpoint the issue and help you find a solution.

When you speak directly to the phone folks, they have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your network and Sonos system.

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I still have the same issues with Atmos, which involve audio loss every 15 minutes (for 1 second). The update didn’t yield results in my case.

That's not the problem that was fixed here. Your problem is completely different. I had this problem before, but it was due to my television.

 

The primary problem here is the bang that occurs with Dolby Atmos MAT.

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