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Microphone randomly turning on or off on new Sonos Arc with just Sonos Voice Control

  • 29 October 2023
  • 71 replies
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S
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I’ve just recently installed a Sonos Arc with eArc from a Samsung TV. I’ve noticed while I am watching video from a FireStick 4K Max, occasionally (seemingly randomly), the Arc will turn on or off the microphone. I haven’t noticed this happen while watching cable TV or through other HDMI sources (blue-ray, etc).

I haven’t been able to narrow down any more details around when this happens other than it seems to be randomly and only with the Firestick input. I haven’t found anything similar on searches, but has anyone else experienced similar or how to get this to stop? I’m not using Alex or any other voice services other than Sonos Voice Control.

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Best answer by Corry P 18 December 2023, 11:37

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106rallye
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See 

 

S
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@106rallye I saw that one, but it is different from my situation, because it’s only happening with apparently firestick and I don’t use alexa, only the Sonos Voice Control by itself. I’m trying to find if anyone may have a solution short of going through Sonos customer support.

S
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For anyone interested, I am using a TV mount for the Sonos Arc, which places the Arc about 1-1.5 inch gap below the TV. The microphone on/off issue seems to be related to being so close to the TV and causing the touch microphone button to randomly get selected, even though nothing is physically touching the buttons. I don’t know if it is coincidental to only being on the firestick when this happens, since I haven’t seen it happen on any other TV source.

 

I’ve turned off the touch buttons through the Sonos app, after enabling the microphone, and so far the microphone has stayed on with just the Sonos Voice Control selected, without alexa or google being used. If it happens again, I’ll post back here again, but so far this seems to resolve this issue.

Corry P
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Hi @ShaunG 

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

 

We are actively investigating this issue, but do not currently have an ETA for a fix. We will follow up here as soon as we have an update or fix available.

You’ve already found the workaround to disable the touch controls - this will keep the voice assistant active in the meantime.

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
J

I have the same issue with my newly purchased Sonos Arc. Didn’t have this issue with my Beam (Gen 1) which it replaces. Mic going on and off randomly. I have tried removing and reinstalling Alexa (my voice assistant) which was suggested as a fix via another thread to no avail. Hopefully the boffins at Sonos have a solution for us? Thanks:)

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@Corry P It’s good to know Sonos is paying attention to the forums. Thanks, and hopefully there is a solution found. It isn’t ideal having to keep the touch controls disabled, because I would like to use them. It is interesting that just the electromagnetics from my Samsung 65” SN95B TV is enough to trigger the mute button. I’m also using a Sanus TV mount and Sanus mount specifically for the Sonos Arc, if any of that information helps on your end.

 

@Jaymc72 I am not using the voice assistant, other than the Sonos Voice Control (no alexa). Have you tried to disable the touch controls to see if that is the problem, or is it related to Alexa being used?

J

Thanks ShaunG, I think it’s essentially the same issue - ie Sonos mic turning on and off randomly 

Thanks for your idea, I’ll try this. Still a bit of a work around and compromise (I feel) on something that should just work. As you mentioned, good to know Sonos are paying attention here. Looking forward to hopefully hearing of a fix.:)

D

I am having the same issue of the microphone turning on and off randomly. Cannot use Google Assistant reliably due to this.

B

since yesterday i have a sonos arc a sub and 2 era 300. i have the same problem with the microphone that randomly turns on and off. this really sucks. going to call sonos today for support.

B

I use the surround setup, the microphones of the Era 300 are then disabled and cannot be enabled via the app. so I depend on the arc's microphone to control my smart home devices. In another forum I saw someone who had adjusted the distance of the arc relative to the TV, which solved the problem for him. We have more than 10cm distance between the TV (Philips 65oled807) and the arc. That distance seems greater than the photo I saw as a solution in that other forum. In addition, I think that a soundbar is made to be close to the TV.

Corry P
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Hi @Ben01184 

If you add either Alexa or Sonos Voice Control (or both) to a speaker before it’s bonded as a surround speaker, the voice assistant(s) will remain, and the microphone(s) will be active.

So, please remove your Era 300 surrounds from the Arc, add your Voice Assistant of choice to one of them, then bond them back to the Arc once more to use a Voice Assistant on your surround speakers while you wait for this issue to be resolved.

Remove surround speakers

Set up Amazon Alexa with a voice-enabled Sonos speaker

Control Sonos with Sonos Voice Control

Add surround speakers to a Sonos home theater

Google Assistant can only be added to surrounds if the Home Theatre primary device does not support Voice Assistants, and cannot be added to Era models at all.

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
C
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Does not fix the issue, as soon as sub or surroud speakers are added the microphone is disabled again. You can enable again but after some minutes it´s disabled by self. Only disable touch control “””fix””” the issue. (Last OS version is used and Alexa was added to Arc and afterwards sub and surround speakers)

M

Have a similar issue, I have Google assistant enabled on my Arc and in the last few days it announces randomly “Microphone is off” and the only way to enable it is to physically turn it back on. Happend twice today 

 

B

Hi @Ben01184 

If you add either Alexa or Sonos Voice Control (or both) to a speaker before it’s bonded as a surround speaker, the voice assistant(s) will remain, and the microphone(s) will be active.

So, please remove your Era 300 surrounds from the Arc, add your Voice Assistant of choice to one of them, then bond them back to the Arc once more to use a Voice Assistant on your surround speakers while you wait for this issue to be resolved.

Remove surround speakers

Set up Amazon Alexa with a voice-enabled Sonos speaker

Control Sonos with Sonos Voice Control

Add surround speakers to a Sonos home theater

Google Assistant can only be added to surrounds if the Home Theatre primary device does not support Voice Assistants, and cannot be added to Era models at all.

I hope this helps.

Dear Corry,

Thank you for your quick response and proposed solution. Unfortunately, all our smart home devices are linked to Google Home. I bought the Arc because it should be able to work with it.

Can you indicate when an update is expected for this problem?

Corry P
Userlevel 7
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Hi @Ben01184 

I can’t give you any estimate, no.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
C
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Is there a clear feedback from Sonos that the issue is not related to hardware, it´s a software bug and can be fixied ? 

 

Have the same issue with complete new ARC and want to aboid to buy a product with hardware issue !

Corry P
Userlevel 7
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Hi @Chagn 

I don’t have that information - sorry.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
N

Same issue, started while playing with my PS5. Was about an hour into game. Started looking for solutions,  and decided just to removed alexa voice assistant from Arc.  

M

I have the same issue and I understand Sonos is working on a solution but today was a new level , Google voice assistant has turn of and on the mic approx 15 time all on its own 

starting to wonder if she’s board and wanted to play all on her own 😂

C
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@Mrs.Oizo 

If you enable the mic and afterwards you disable (be fast :) ) the touch control on the soundbar with sonos app it works but you have not touch control avaliable.

 

Hopefully Sonos provide soon a solution, maybe they can add option to disable touch only for micrphone and the volume still works.

Corry P
Userlevel 7
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Hi @ShaunG et al

We now recommend that anyone affected by this issue get in touch with our technical support team directly for a resolution. Thank you.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
C
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I was already in touch and got as info that the issue is known but no solution avaliable yet. Maybe you can calrify internaly what´s happen ?

 

Corry P
Userlevel 7
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Hi @Chagn 

The guidance for what our agents should do with such cases has changed - if you get back in touch, they will take care of you.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
C
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Thanks, after the 3rd contact with support -- Arc will be exchanged, hopefully the new one does not have the issue again.

S
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That's a less than satisfactory solution that isn't a solution. Why can't the resolution be put in here instead of requiring us to jump through hoops to get an answer that you likely already know?

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