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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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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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S
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Same here in the Netherlands, mic turns off and on by itself

Bought 28 march 2024

Is this a hardware or software problem.

Sonos ask to exchange the arc for a new one.

I'm afraid if I get a new arc it will have the same problem!

@wimvandijk : check the date of manufacture. Mine was august 23. Sonos exchanged it for one from november 23. Issue did not manifest it self. Check my input above.

Series nrumber A107 2401 cy so the arc is from januari 2024 and still I have the microfoon on/off problem 

Then I am out of advice…except that I would still let Sonos replace it by a new one. They check if the issue manifests it self before sending it to you (that’s what Sonos told me before they shipped mine).

wimvandijk
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Same here in the Netherlands, mic turns off and on by itself

Bought 28 march 2024

Is this a hardware or software problem.

Sonos ask to exchange the arc for a new one.

I'm afraid if I get a new arc it will have the same problem!

@wimvandijk : check the date of manufacture. Mine was august 23. Sonos exchanged it for one from november 23. Issue did not manifest it self. Check my input above.

Series nrumber A107 2401 cy so the arc is from januari 2024 and still I have the microfoon on/off problem 

S
Userlevel 2

Same here in the Netherlands, mic turns off and on by itself

Bought 28 march 2024

Is this a hardware or software problem.

Sonos ask to exchange the arc for a new one.

I'm afraid if I get a new arc it will have the same problem!

@wimvandijk : check the date of manufacture. Mine was august 23. Sonos exchanged it for one from november 23. Issue did not manifest it self. Check my input above.

wimvandijk
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Same here in the Netherlands, mic turns off and on by itself

Bought 28 march 2024

Is this a hardware or software problem.

Sonos ask to exchange the arc for a new one.

I'm afraid if I get a new arc it will have the same problem!

F

Same here in France, Mic turns off and on by itself.

Don’t want an exchange but hope a software fix soon..

Bought last week and serial number begun by A105 2308, I guess built by 2024 August.

F

Just wanna report back here that I got the replacement arc and so far so good.  The mic is working as it should be and hasn’t turn off by itself. The new arc is manufactured in Dec 2023.

Airgetlam

Those that I could buy refurbished, I did. Unfortunately, at the time of purchase, not many were available as refurbed. I do have quite a few ‘open box’ devices as well. Certainly I tend to look for refurbished when I can. I’m a parsimonious son of a gun. 

Bruce
F

So @Airgetlam, all the sonos products you own, are they refurbished?  If refurbished == new, why are you paying the premium to buy new ones, given that you can always return a refurbished if you found cosmetic issues.

 

Airgetlam

I expressed a personal opinion . To my knowledge, electronics that are software driven don’t suffer from degradation ‘on the shelf’. Unless you have data to the contrary, which I’d be delighted to see. And as long as the device is the same, I’m not overly concerned about ‘old packaging’. The packaging is not what I’m buying, it’s the contents of the package. An Arc is an Arc, no matter how long ago it was produced. I also don’t care if the car I’ve purchased was made on day 1 of the production, or day 364…if the car is the car, and there have been no updates to it, what does it matter that it sat on the lot for X amount of time? If there were software updates to the car (or the Sonos), I’ll get them. 

An intermittent issue could as easily be extant on a new device as one that has been refurbished. 

Bruce
F

@Airgetlam Thanks for the feedback.  Do you have any data to support your theory?  I would imagine that they must have a set of testing that each device has to go through before it is being shipped to customers and I am not sure why they will reinvent the wheel and have a different set of testing for refurbished unit.  My concern with a refurbished is that it can be a return from someone who has seen intermittent issue, which is hard to reproduce with just a few hours of testing.  And if you read my previous post, the refurbished unit I received came with the old packaging.  Do you rather get an old device which has been sitting in the shelf for two years than a new one?  Unless there are comments in the community that batches built from the past is higher quality.  I am curious to know.

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@Airgetlam Speakers are a wearable item that will eventually fail because of currents passed through the wires. Electronics are also able to wear down as they age and are used. You don't know what was replaced in a refurbished unit and yes, they go through the a ting for full functionality, but that means nothing on the overall longevity of the unit. 

Check out any company that sells refurbished units and you will see a drastically reduced warranty vs the original new equipment warranty. The manufacturers know this too, and account for it in thebreduced warranty. 

I'll take new any day with the full warranty over an unknown condition "refurbished" unit where the manufacturer can only do so much to test and evaluate the product.  Especially when a new unit was paid for, and not a refurbished unit. I'm a computer engineer, for what it's worth. 

It's good to hear Sonos is making right those of us with units that were defective from the box.

Airgetlam

If it were me, and there were no cosmetic issues, I’d prefer the refurbished unit. It likely has received much more testing of all the systems before being sent out than a ‘new’ device. 

Bruce
F

After waiting for a week, Sonos finally agrees to send me a new Arc after I have complained about the refurbished unit they sent me to fix the original mic issue I reported.  I am glad that Sonos listen to customer and is doing the right thing.  Hopefully, it works this time.

S
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@Stalem That's great news, glad it worked out for you!

S
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@ShaunG Thanks for sharing. I checked. My new Arc is truely a new Arc.

S
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@Stalem I would just check the box carefully to see if it is labeled certified refurbished, unless you were expecting to receive a certified refurbished unit already. It was a big surprise when I thought and expected to receive a brand new unit and did not.

 

Also for anyone that needs it, check the box for the long serial number (there are digits in the serial number on the box that aren't listed on the speaker or in the app). It should start with a letter and 3 numbers, then 4 numbers and two letters before the remaining serial number that you see in the app or on the speaker. The second group of 4 numbers is the month and date of manufacture. So mine is "A104 2311CY", which is manufactured in November of 2023. Hope this helps, found through some googling. 

S
Userlevel 2

As I stated before:

Microphone randomly turning on or off on new Sonos Arc (with Google Assistant AND Sonos Voice Control).

Tested with various set-ups and input-sources. Took me 1 phone call with Sonos on Friday 26 January 2024. Monday 29 January 2024 in the morning a brand new Arc was delivered (from Poland to Holland). Tested it and the issue did not manifest. Free shipping for returning the faulty Arc. Good performance Sonos!!! I am very satisfied and happy!

Case closed.

F

@Stanley_4 Thanks for the reminder, when I was talking to support, they told me that I only have 30 days to return according to their policy.  I will double check with them.

Stanley_4
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I have been told that I am getting a refurbished unit because I have passed 30 days return policy.  

 

I hadn’t noticed the change to 45 days for the trial period but if I was in the window I’d sure go for a return and refund versus accepting a refurbished device.

 

https://www.sonos.com/en-us/legal/terms#legal-terms-sale-returns

 

Our 45 day return policy / Your right to withdraw the purchase
We are confident that you will love your new Sonos product, however, if you are unsatisfied for any reason, simply let us know within 45 days. We will refund the full purchase price, and we will even cover the shipping cost back to us.

S
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I reported directly to Sonos. They will send me a new Arc. Btw, it’s the same issue. I am curious about the new one.

F

@ShaunG Thanks so much for bringing up this topic.  I would not know:

  1. Some of us are not lucky enough to get a bad batch that the mic is having this intermittent issue of turning off by itself.  I got my arc from costco at the end of Nov and is having the exact problem as you described.  I had only use the arc for about 20 days and noticed the issue.  But then I was out of town for the holidays and only got a chance to file for a support ticket in Jan.
  2. I was referring to this thread when talking to support.  They agreed to send me a replacement, no question ask.  I was happy with the way how they handled it until I saw your recent post.  My replacement unit arrived yesterday and it is a refurbished unit.  I agree with you that it is a ripoff.  I am returning a brand new item and they are replacing it with a refurbished unit for me.

I have been told that I am getting a refurbished unit because I have passed 30 days return policy.  I wish I learned it earlier and just return it to costco.  I reached out to sonos because I trusted that they can handle my case in a professional way.  And also, they knew about this issue and I was hoping the replacement I get is from another batch.  Now I am stuck with a refurbished unit which I don’t know how long they have been keeping on the shelf.  I assume it is very old because the packaging is still the old format.  I have talked to people from both support and sales team, and they were pointing my case to each other.  I totally agree with you that if you have the option to buy and return to a retailer, don’t buy from sonos directly because going through their RMA process is not a good experience for me.  I got the beam gen 2 two years ago and still love it.  I decided to step up to a bigger version and got the arc.  But with my current case pending, I don’t have the confidence to stick with sonos in the future.  I know many people here love their sonos.  I am just sharing my story so others are aware of this if they are on the same boat.  

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For my last comment on this topic for the resolution… I was contacted by Sonos and asked to speak with a supervisor about the certified refurbished speaker replacement for my specific circumstances. To say the least, I was not happy. However, Sonos has turned that around and made things right by me, so I’m willing to giving Sonos another shot. I continue to say that I do greatly enjoy their products, it has just been an issue with the RMA process that I had the major issues with.

 

In the end, if anyone has any issues with a Sonos product that warrants a replacement, I highly recommend just returning the product to the retail location you purchased it. It is by far easier than dealing with the hassle of the return process, and the surprise circumstances of getting a certified refurbished unit for one you purchased new. If you’ve had the speaker for a while and can no longer return it to the retail location, then I guess you’ll have to go through the RMA process and just deal with getting a certified refurbished unit, which is better than a defective speaker. In my case, my Arc was defective out of the box, so I would expect to receive a same condition replacement, since I had not yet had a chance to have it become a “used” product where a certified refurbished speaker would be acceptable.

 

I hope Sonos is able to take note from the experiences here and make changes to their RMA process and customer interactions. Sonos made right by me, so I’ll continue to support Sonos, albeit with a slight decrease in faith of the phone and chat support. I still highly recommend support through this community forum. Hopefully anyone finding themselves in the same/similar circumstances can consider all of this in making your own informed decision.

 

At least this specific microphone issue is resolved for me. Best of luck to everyone.

S
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@Stalem It sounds like maybe your issue, even though it is with the mic on/off might be a different issue from the one we were having here. You may get more help/comments if you open a new topic for that specific issue? Good luck!

S
Userlevel 2

Bought the Arc, installed it. No problem. Surround speakers and a SubMini. No problem. Manually on/off microphone. No problem. Using Google Assistant. No problem. Now the next thing…I also use the Sonos Connect to play my records. I select (in my Sonos App on iPhone I named it Connect also) my Connect device which is connected with my BT headset through a BT adaptor (optical cable). My turntable is connected to my Sonos Connect with the usual red/white cables. To play the records, I select Line Input in my Sonos App to play in Connect (name in my app).

This way I can listen to my records using my BT headphone. No problem. But…when I select my LivingRoom where my Arc (with surround and SubMini) is located, then the ARC-microphone randomly goes on/off with the lady telling me so. This happens also when I deselect Connect and listen to my records only with LivingRoom selected.

Now deselecting Line In and switching to TV and selecting Livingroom AND my Connect, gives me no issues. I am having TV-sound through my headphone as well as in my living room.

It seems the issue mic-on/off only (in my case) appears when I use Line-In in combination with the selection Living Room.

Reading all other complaints, it seems that when any input-device other than where the HDMI-cable is connected with the ARC is selected, the issue appears.

Just sharing my findings concerning the issue. Hope someone recognizes this and can repeat the case and hope that Sonos can be helped with this finding.

I will trouble-shoot this further.

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@DkayyWell, that was news to me. I just checked the replacement for the brand new speaker I bought a few months ago… I now have a Sonos Arc from 2021… This is the biggest ripoff I have seen in a long time. Not only did I have all of the problems just to get my replacement, but now I receive a speaker that is 3 years old. There is a $180 price difference in the Sonos Arc and the certified refurbished Sonos Arc. This is as bad as a bait and switch. Sonos owes me $180, or a new speaker!

That about does it for me, I think that will be the last Sonos speaker I purchase. I will no longer support this brand. I paid a significant amount of money just a few months ago to receive a brand new speaker, and reported the defect in the unit within days of purchase… just to receive a 3 year old speaker replacement. I also didn’t notice in fine print on the box, it even says certified refurbished.

 

If I owned my speaker for a while and it then developed an issue, I wouldn’t have an issue getting a refurbished unit. My unit was brand new and within the first day or two when I reported the defect in the unit. There is a big difference in the distinction.

 

Looks like I’m off to find a better company to send my money to. This is unfortunate, to say the least.

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