Sound volume adjusts itself

Hi @Chris Cummings, welcome to the Sonos Community!

Sonos doesn’t automatically adjust the volume, so it’s likely something else is causing this.

The volume can be adjusted via the TV Remote, the Sonos App, or the touch buttons. If the volume continually decreases, then I’d suggest making sure the volume down button on the TV remote isn’t stuck down and that the Sonos Arc touch buttons are clean and free of any dust/dirt.

If this happens again, please submit a diagnostics and reply here with the number. We can see exactly where the command came from to reduce the volume in there.

I hope this helps!

Thanks for the note Jamie

i made sure both my Arc and TV remote were clean and volume control were not sticking. Since it has happened a couple of more times I submitted Diagnostics (#1474048658) as suggested. As I have already mentioned I can overcome the fact that the volume goes to 0 over a few minutes by unplugging the arc to reboot it. Once I plug it back in and it reconnects to the sub and surrounds it works fine for 5-7 days and then it does the same thing. Periodically the arc also seems to lose its connection to the sub and surrounds and can only be corrected by either a complete reboot (unplugging the arc) or going to the Sonos app on my iPhone and disconnecting the sub and surrounds and then regrouping them.

regards

chris

Looking for an update, problem is persisting. Should I return the ARC ?

Hi @Chris Cummings, apologies as this seemed to have slipped by.

Looking into the diagnostics, it would seem that the mute command is coming from the TV. What's strange is that in the audio summary for the Arc, the volume isn’t showing at 0 or muted.

You’ve said the fix is to reboot the Arc, but can you try these steps to let me know if the Arc mutes itself again:

1. Remove the HDMI either from the Arc or TV.
2. Unmute the Arc (turning up the volume / pressing the play pause button)
3. Check to see if the Arc immediately mutes itself again.

Let me know if disconnecting and reconnecting the HDMI cable can help resolve the muting issue as well. Also, looking into the diagnostics, the Arc has only been active for 3 minutes. If the issue happens again, don’t reboot the Arc, as we can lose valuable diagnostic information. Instead, submit a diagnostics right away and keep the Arc running. My suggestions are based on the current diagnostics, but as the Arc has only been online for 3 minutes, we might be missing something that would point us in the right direction.

If the above doesn’t work and you experience the issue again, please reply back here with the new diagnostics number. You can also reach out to our support team for live troubleshooting when the issue occurs, just make sure to not reboot the Arc and Submit a diagnostics when it happens. 

Thanks,

before I could try your suggestion about removing the hdmi from the arc or the tv the issue happened again while listening to music. I was using the Sonos app on my phone to listen to music through my Amazon music account. The tv was not on and the same thing occurred…..I started the music, set the volume and over a short period of time (a couple of songs) the volume slowly went down to eventually go to 0 however the song continued to play. Since the TV is off it’s not likely it is the cause but just in case I did a diagnostic an the number is #1464500963. I will now try your suggestion about disconnecting the hdmi and see if that makes a difference.

chris

Hi @Chris Cummings,

I’ve had a look into the new diagnostics you’ve sent over and can see the volume commands are coming from two sources; your phone and the Sonos Arc’s touch buttons.

Because the Arc has been online for longer, this greatly helps letting me know where the issue is. It starts with the volume down button on the Arc being pressed, then the volume being adjusted by your phone.

As the TV is off, this would explain why the volume is still going down. I wouldn’t say it’s definitely a hardware issue, but the diagnostic lets me know that the issue is caused by the Arc’s touch buttons.

I’d again recommend you check the top of the Arc and wipe it down according to our cleaning guide and, if you run into the issue again, contact our support team for further assistance. These types of buttons on Sonos products don’t really get stuck down, but they can be sensitive to dirt and dust. Support can go into a lot more detail with troubleshooting than we can at the community, and I feel this is the best step forward to getting this resolved, if the cleaning doesn’t resolve the issue that is.

I hope this helps!

Interesting that I have a brand new Arc (just received it today) and had the same problem. The Arc went from 50 to 0 not once, but twice. I closed the Sonos app on my phone and the problem did not recur.  I’ll be watching for this over the next couple of weeks to see if it happens again…

Well I doubted the suggestion to “wipe the top of the arc” but once I did my volume decreasing issues went away. Apparently the volume buttons on top are very sensitive, so any dirt/dust, etc. may cause the volume to raise or lower. Appreciate the advice!

I was having the same problem, and cleaning the soundbar fixed. I can’t believe it lol I was going nuts. 

Having a similar problem. It doesn’t completely mute, but it turned the volume down automatically to a very very soft level. By cleaning the top do you just mean a dry lint free rag across the top? I did try that and it hasn’t helped any help would be appreciated.

yep that’s all I did was a quick wipe down with a dry microfiber, fixed it right away. If that doesn’t work for you it might be a different issue. Sonos customer support can use your diagnostic logs to see where the soundbar is getting the commands. 

appreciate the quick reply….. Sonos customer support is 45 min wait time

This started happening to ours today too. No dust on controls. The light on top of the arc is blinking red. We were told by diagnostic that there is an electrical defect in our amp causing the problem. Our whole system, including the amp, is less than 2 years old. We were told the only fix is to pay over $500 for a new amp because the warrantee is only 1 year even though this is an electrical defect with their product and there’s nothing we did to cause it. 
 

Has anyone else had this problem or found a solution without buying an entirely new product?

Were pretty stuck because our whole theatre system is Sonos with in ceiling speakers so we can’t just switch back to a Bose system. 

Can’t help you now but if you do replace the Sonos you can buy a multi-year extended warranty package from many places. I usually add a Square Trade four year warranty to any Sonos I give as a gift.

Unfortunately, I've been having the exat same issue for over a year now.

Very frustrating. 

Sonos is now directly selling extended warranties for select systems in some countries.

• Sonos Extended Warranty Offer

Did anyone find a fix? My issue is the opposite where it keeps going to max volume on its own.   I tried chat but they said to call during Mon-Friday because they couldn’t figure it out. I tried wiping dust off but it didn’t help. 

If someone has an Apple TV and the Apple TV Remote, I found out that the issue with volume maxing out or and decreasing on its own was not the Sonos Arc. For me it was the Apple Remote. Cleaning it didn’t work. I had to follow the reset instructions for the Apple Remote to disconnect it and reconnect it.  That fixed the issue. 

So I have had the same problem with the volume on the arc going up to full volume.  Wiped it down with a dry microfiber and it now works.  So strange

I fixed this by reseting my Apple TV remote. It must have been sending erroneous cmds. I first pulled the batteries from my Samsung TV remote but that did not work.

I am having the same issue. Volume keeps turning up to 100%. Who’s going to pay when my speakers get blown out. Just started happening. Extremely frustrating. I’ve turned everything off unplugged everything turned it back on.  It works fine and then an hour later, it just randomly starts turning the volume to 100%.

If you have Sonos speakers, they won’t blow out. 

As previously mentioned by the Sonos rep, @Jamie A, if you’re experiencing this issue, you should be contacting Sonos’ technical support team. 

Anyone tried taking the batteries out of the original TV remote?