Sonos Sub Gen 3 crackling/static sound

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246 replies

A7ibaba
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I really doubt you have any relations to ”audio engeneering” just because of your statement But, whatever man, if that makes you happy blame power line . Or try to use ferrite chokes

G

Hi to everyone,
I’m about to pull the trigger for a sub gen3. I’ve ordered a refurbished gen2, but I didn’t knew I came with only one year of warranty. The gen3 would be only 100 euros more. From what I‘ve read, it looks like the issue only occurs in wifi. Can someone confirm this is the case?

Thanks.

S
Userlevel 1
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@A7ibaba Let’s focus on sharing information instead of doubting each other. Keep the positivity please. We are all here to help.

A7ibaba
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I know and sorry , but spreading desinformation doesnt help

H

UPD: just spoke with Sonos customer support rep this morning. I been given a RMA for replacement. Hope the 2nd one will have no issue. thanks everyone!

B

Original launch unit (with Arc preorder) A200 1.32.1.4-1.1 chirps, hisses, and humms very audibly/loudly.

Just received an advance unit that looked BNIB (sealed retail packaging) RMA A201 1.32.1.6-1.1 and have them side by side.

Noted that both had fingerprints on the woofers (from factory/packaging as I did not touch the insides at all).

During setup/update of the new unit the wifi/processing activity chirping was still audible but significantly muted. 60 Hz buzz is more muted, activity chirping is significantly less frequent and less audible but still present, and the constant hissing is significantly less/almost eliminated.  Am mostly satisfied after a quick 30 min test, but will need to give it some more time to see if it’s still noticeable during movies.

E
Userlevel 1

After talking to Sonos support, I was told the team was still working on this issue. For this reason, I will hold off a bit from requesting another one as I'm sure it will still have the humming/static clicking. Hopefully, a resolution is found soon whether hardware or software update.

A7ibaba
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My sub 3 is working flawlesly , but build number is starting with 6038

G
Userlevel 2
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Hey all,

Just thought I’d give you an update from my end:
I got my replacement unit today and I used the option to send my old one to Sonos within 14 days = I have both at home right now.

After som testing I can conclude that they are both having the exact same problem.
One thing that I found out during testing was that it does matter what the Sub is paired to.
I tested to pair it to: Sonos One, Sonos Five, Sonos Arc and Ikea Symfonisk bookshelf.

Conclusions:
When paired to One, Five or Symfonisk - the sub has one specific crackling/hissing sound - mainly crackling. The volume of this noise is not too bad

When paired to the Arc, the Sub has a much louder, high pitch hissing noise. This I can hear from 3 meters away.

Contacted support again, sent them my findings, and their response was so send me yet another Sub.
If this 3rd Sub exhibits the same problem I will not bother accepting any more exchanges.


A Dropbox link to my recordings of the sound when paired to different speakers:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ntb6uwjl08vhzyk/AAC2gHkIpnHsVgm_b7YZ7ZK6a?dl=0

 

Note: When I made the recordings I had music playing to the speakers, but volume muted.
That is when this problem occur. When there is nothing playing, there is just a very faint crackling which does not bother me at all.

 

Could anyone with an Arc confirm my findings that the problem is worse when the Sub is paired to Arc compared to any other speaker?

I agree with you, it seemed to me that when I play music through TV, which is connected to ARC, the sub makes a louder crackling sound. 

I

Hi all, can you guys please confirm 1st gen does NOT have this issue? I’ve found a 1st gen Sonos Sub at a good price and would like to know if this generation is affected by this issue…

Thank you very much

S

Hi all, another update from me:

I have now gone through 4 units of Sub gen 3 and have finally found one that is “good enough".

It does still have the hiss/crackling sound, but from this unit I can only hear it from 5-10 cm away.

The other 3 units I have tried I could hear it from 3 m away.

 

Still hoping for a permanent fix from Sonos, but I fear that it might be hardware related?

I

This problem seems to go back over 4 months. Why did they act like they had never heared of this issue before? This lack of quality and support is definitely not what I expected from Sonos. Do they even bother to read posts on their own forum?

Hi, there is another thread, look what sonos staff replied  to my post :)

https://en.community.sonos.com/troubleshooting-228999/sub-gen-3-tickling-noise-6848879?postid=16488059#post16488059

I was going to buy the Sonos Sub but now I will wait for sure...

 

M

I have the same issue. Last week ordered the sub gen 3 and arc. When the sub is Connecting with the arc the static noise starts. Hopefully Sonos Gets it solved.

Yesterday my sub has been replaced. The static  sound is still there but not as loud and anoying as my first sub. So happy for now, hopefully sonos can fix the last bits via software.

D

Received mine today (Netherlands) and can confirm the issue is indeed still very much there. I'm still testing but would call it deafening in some cases.

 

Serial 54-2A-1B

I bought mine from bol.com (NL), not sure what to do if all units are the same.

M
Userlevel 2
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Similar experience here, BE market. I think I may be one of the "lucky" ones with a fairly okay sample. Being in the 0.0001% top auditive range of population (since I have become 98% blind) I noticed it right away. As I removed and readded it from the system it went from the rattling to the static noise, which is far less annoying in my opinion. Adding ethernet kind of helped too, but not sure about that. Either way, I can hear it from about 6 metres away but my girlfriend only did when she was holding her ear in the sub (even with 2% vision, a very pleasant sight ha!), which seems less than what some of you are experiencing. Fearful of it deteriorating though. 

I'm planning to contact support and redirect them to this thread, waving the request or counter-proposal for a substitute which is just wasting their time really, especially in this pandemic situation. I hope that legally expressing my desire to return, but only once they are able to replace with a fixed production line extends the window to do so. From the positive help a lot of people seem to have gotten I'd say Sonos cares enough not to screw its' customers over on such technicalities. That alone is rare nowadays. 

Wishing the best to all fellow sub-owners and the people at Sonos who are probably stressed out of their mind to adress this as the complaints roll in. We don't buy these on the short-term, a solution might not be found in such time either. Hopefully they can find a way to fix and replace case by case rather than recalling. 

T

Received mine today (Netherlands) and can confirm the issue is indeed still very much there. I'm still testing but would call it deafening in some cases.

 

Serial 54-2A-1B

I bought mine from bol.com (NL), not sure what to do if all units are the same.

 

Received my replacement unit today (NL). Same serial range 54-2A-1B but is definitely does not have the issues. 

 

When no music is playing and I place my ear almost inside the hole I can here a very silent small zoom, but I definitely can't hear it when I'm in the chair next to it and it doesn't produce all kinds of side noises when music is playing.

 

Happy! And probably lucky.

D

If you hear that idle static noise when putting ear to the sub, you should be also hearing it when music is playing (by putting year to the sub).

D

This evening I moved the Sub from one side of the room to the other. It is now close to the Arc. The hum has remained the same but I can now hear the “crickets” more clearly. This feels like some sort of shielding issue?

P

The more of these comments that appear the more I am convinced that there are at least two sources of the noise, both a result of a lack of shielding in the audio path.

The hum noise is certainly just good old fashioned mains pickup at 50 or 60hz depending upon the local mains supply frequency.

The ‘ticking’ , ‘crackling’ or ‘hard drive’ noise could be due to crosstalk from the switched mode PSU or even a demodulated WiFi signal or similar.

My current unit generates mostly a humming noise although on careful listening I can hear the feint chirp of the switched mode poser supply.

 

 

E

Received my Sonos Sub 3 Gen yesterday. I can confirm the cracking noise as well. Very disappointing.

In case that only music is played you can hear a constant sum noise like a harddrive. If sound is coming from TV over the Sonos ARC you can hear a cracking noise in regular intervals that is louder.

i will get in base touch with the Support on Monday.

At the moment I am not sure how to proceed. It seems that replacements do have the same error. 

Did some more tests. Connected all speakers (ARC, Sub, 2x One SL) using Ethernet to a switch. Disabled WiFI on each speaker.

The cracking noise is gone! In a LAN-Setup the system works as expected.

I am using a FrithBox 7590 as Router in the basement. In the ground floor and upper floor there is a FRITZ!WLAN Repeater 1750E each. The FritzBox 7590 and both FRITZ!WLAN Repeater 1750E build a Fritz Mesh. WiFi is repeated WiFi-to-WiFi on the FRITZ!WLAN Repeaters. At the moment I assume that the annoying noise at the Sonos Sub is caused by this WiFi-Mesh configuration.

Has anyone had this experience too?

What can I change on the Fritz Mesh so that it works with the Sonos system without background noise?

When the going gets tough I replace the Fritz Mesh.But what would you recommend? The WiFi must work on three floors. Preferably with just one WiFi SSID.

This solved my issue. I’ve had the Arc and Sub3 from release date. My issue was a little different as any deep bass in 5.1 or greater would result in a tinny rattling sound from the sub. The ARC replaced the role on my network that my old zone player had as the hardwired device to my router. Everything else was WiFi and I used Channel 6 and 11 to keep it separated. Since the Arc and Sub have no distance issues to my router I connected the Sub via Ethernet and shut off WiFi. Problem solved. No more annoying, intermittent rattle. 
 

Thank you!

D

I too have had these issues with the Sub Gen 3. Purchased end of November. The noises are as described above. Most clearly heard when I pause the TV. But could be heard quite clearly when the tv sound is on and from a couple of meters away when the tv is actually off. A constant noise, somewhat ironically, perhaps most like the noise of a CD loading up. I purchased from John Lewis but phoned Sonos, they asked me to send them a video and within a day issued a replacement. Given everything above I was a bit dubious as to the value of getting a new one. I would recommend it though. There is a very faint noise (electric/digital) from the new one but you have to have your head virtually in the Sub to hear it. Whilst I guess there should be no noise, it isn’t going to affect anyone at the level it is now. Definitely a huge improvement on the first one I got. 

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