Sounds like a case of WiFi interference as the command is not being passed to the speaker in a timely manner.

Are you using a wired or wireless setup? If wireless, can you wire a speaker to your router.

Today I tried it both wired with SonosNet and wireless with my home wifi, in both cases this happens. It is just a very slight sound cut timing difference between the L & R channels. However, I realize it won’t be as noticeable if I move further from the speakers. I guess it happens when I test the speakers on my desk as they sit right in front of me. 

Just curious if anyone also notices this with their stereo pair. 

It’s possible the wireless interference isn’t directly between your speakers and your router, it could be between your controller device and your router.

Or, potentially, it might not be wifi interference, but instead a duplicate IP issue, which could affect either a wired or un-wired setup. 

I’ve not noticed any issue with the four stereo pairs that I have currently. 

Hi @Sonos listener 

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

I have never heard of this being reported before - not common at all!

Are you using the Spotify app to play on Sonos? If so, does the behaviour change when you use the Sonos app to both start and stop playback instead?

It could be interference, as suggested, though if it were, I’d expect to hear about it more often. Please submit a support diagnostic after recreating the issue and reply here with the given number. Thanks.

Hi all, thank you for your responses. I tried Deezer, Sonos Radio and local music streamed from my phone and they all start/pause perfectly in sync. Only Spotify has this problem so I guess it is not a hardware issue at all but more of a Spotify Connect problem (tried with Sonos app, Spotify android app and web browser on my PC).

I tried switching two speakers and it only shows a delay with the right channel (regardless of which speaker being chosen as the right). By delay I mean it’s only a cracking sound of around 50-millisecond between the channels when you stop streaming a song and if you sit in a stereo set up you can hear it quickly flows from left to right. On the other apps, both speakers stop immediately at the exact same time. Other than that, everything is perfect and I enjoy every moment listening to this pair. 

I notice this, but I can ignore it. When the controller says “Stop,” commands are individually sent to each player. If you are sensitive to timing, as I am, you’ll notice that the players stop -- one by one.

When two speakers are bonded as a Pair. the left speaker becomes “Coordinator” for the pair. All music traffic for the pair passes through the Coordinator.

Today I’ve experienced 3 times an even worse problem with Spotify: the left speaker starts 2-3 seconds earlier than the right speaker. It only happens intermittently but it’s kinda annoying. 

The problem I mentioned in this topic still persists with Spotify Premium (I was using the Free plan earlier).

So, the only solution is to move on to another streaming service? Does Sonos recognize this as a problem or is it Spotify’s responsibility? I prefer Spotify because it has the widest variety of music from my country, but it’s a pain to stream on Sonos.

2 to 3 seconds sounds a lot like some wifi interference getting in the way of the transmission of the ‘stop’ command, and the speaker is continuing to play the buffer until it gets the command. 

Have you submitted a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this problem, and called Sonos Support to discuss it?

There may be information included in the diagnostic that will help Sonos pinpoint the issue and help you find a solution.

When you speak directly to the phone folks, they have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your Sonos system and network.

Unfortunately, I’m temporarily residing in a third country where I don’t speak the local language. The 2-3 seconds delay I mentioned now occurs at the ‘start’ command as well. The left channel speaker plays first and then the right channel follows. After that, both play perfectly in sync. Spotify app, especially when using Spotify Connect, has always been very buggy for me whenever I stereo pair the Ones. I’m just wondering if this is something only I notice, like an isolated case? I tried to search in the community and apparently some people also have problems with Spotify Connect, but it was sometimes due to Spotify server outage, which is not happening now.

I’ve just renewed my Apple Music subscription and it works really well just like Deezer, unlike Spotify. I doubt it has anything to do with wifi interference because I’m quite close to the router and practically every corner in my apartment can get full signal. We only have like 5-6 max connected devices in the place.

The interference could be from some nearby device, not something in your space.

If any of your SONOS units are wired to the network, SONOS will build a private (SonosNet) mesh network for all SONOS units except ROAM and MOVE. Fussing with the router and SONOS wireless channels might help. Use 20MHz channel 1, 6, or 11 for SONOS and WiFi. Normally, performance is best when SonosNet and WiFi use different channels.

And living in a foreign country where you don’t speak the language shouldn’t matter. Submit the diagnostic and call in, Sonos will provide a representative who speaks English. 

There is something going on in your network. It’s not a software issue, I’m confident. Let Sonos help you. 

Hi @Sonos listener 

Hi Corry, here is the diagnostic number: 1693301180. Could you please check what goes wrong both when I hit play and stop? You may be able to see the left speaker plays earlier and also stops earlier.

I was using Apple Music for a few days, and it’s been working perfectly. I tried to switch to Spotify using only the Sonos app and it by far does not show any delay whatsoever. However, it seems that the moment I go back to Spotify Connect (manually selecting Sonos in the Spotify app), the problem persists. 

Hi @Sonos listener 

Thanks.

I can’t see anything out of the ordinary. It’s certainly not interference.

I can only presume it has something to do with the Spotify app, or our virtual line-in system that Spotify Connect uses. As no other users have reported this behaviour, I’m not sure what you can do other than to try uninstalling and reinstalling the Spotify app.

Have you another phone/tablet you can test the Spotify app on? If so, please try.

If you haven’t yet tried rebooting your router by switching it off for at least 30 seconds, please do so - it’s always worth trying.

You could also try contacting Spotify, but I suspect they’ll suggest contacting us.

Ultimately, as you can play from the Sonos app without issue, I suggest you use it instead of the Spotify app.

I hope this helps.