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Wendyzx6
Trending Lyricist I
March 10, 2024
Answered

Audio problem with sub

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone can help. I play a 40hz pure sine wave through my Sonos sub at night to mask infrasound that I can hear. It works well when the audio file plays properly. However, it has started to 'pulse' for some reason. I also get a message flashing up on the screen of my phone saying that it's unable to play the file as it's not encoded properly but then then the message disappears quickly. I'm wondering if anyone knows what could be causing this. Could it be due to a weak WiFi signal? Would a Sonos Bridge help? My sub and Play 5 speaker are 8 years old so not sure if they would be compatible. The Loudness is off on the sub, I have increased Sub Audio to 6 and the overall system volume is at 3, so very low (just enough to mask the infrasound). Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

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Corry P
Corry PAnswer
Sonos Staff
March 15, 2024

Hi @Wendyzx6 

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

Sorry to hear of the troubles you are having with your Sub - I can see you’ve been putting up with this for quite some time!

However, given the info that you provided in your last communication with our technical support team, I recommend that you find/create a new file with the 40Hz sine wave and re-upload it to YouTube Music, replacing the file that you are currently using.

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
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Corry P
Corry P
Sonos Staff
March 15, 2024

Hi @Wendyzx6 

Great! Thanks for updating the thread!

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
    Wendyzx6Author
    Trending Lyricist I
    March 18, 2024

    @buzz @Corry P @Stanley_4 

    Sorry folks, spoke too soon. The pulsing and error message have returned despite the sub being wired in 😭. The only thing that stops the pulsing is turning up the volume to approx. 8 which although quiet in terms of daytime noise levels, is loud at night time. Whilst it's masking the LFN I can hear, it's too loud to sleep 😥. 

    The file I'm playing through YT Music is an mp3 file. Do you think it would make a difference if it was saved as a wave file with no audio compression?

    buzz
    buzz
    Grand Maestro
    March 18, 2024

    If you play a different source are there any issues?
    From my seat in this drama, I can’t yet rule out a problem with the file, the YouTube feed, the network, FIVE, or the SUB.

    Is anything plugged into the Line-In Jack on the FIVE?

    Let’s rough up the SUB a bit. Pick up one end of SUB a quarter of an inch (6mm) and drop it. Take care that SUB will not be able to roll over on you, First do this with power removed. Other than the thump on impact, there should not be any major stress sounds.  Now that you are familiar with the “thump”, power up SUB and repeat the drop (no music yet). The “thump” should be unchanged. Finally, play some music and repeat the drop. You should only hear the music added to the “thump”. By now you are very familiar with the “thump”. If there is a music dropout or obvious noise that doesn’t belong, there is a mechanical issue inside the SUB. A healthy SUB will not care about any of this.

    You can repeat this abuse with the FIVE. You don’t need to drop the FIVE, you can slap it with an open hand. There should be no unusual response from SUB as you slap the FIVE.

    Since we have not yet proven the 40Hz file is OK, I don’t think it should be used for this test.

      Wendyzx6Author
      Trending Lyricist I
      March 18, 2024

      Hi @buzz, thanks again for your reply. I'm not aware of any issues with any other audio file but this one is fairly unique in that is consists solely of a 40hz pure sine wave tone which is played at a very low volume so that it is just audible. No.part of it requires tk co.e through the FIVE so I imagine if it's a hardware issue, it'll be the sub. I can confirm nothing is plugged into the line-in jack on the FIVE. 

      I'll give what you suggested a go this evening and see if there is any change in the sound which could indicate a mechanical problem 👍.

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