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cutting in and out - but only on Amazon UNLESS I ask Alexa to play the same thing!

  • 23 September 2021
  • 41 replies
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J
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Hi there, I’ve got 6 SONOS devices in the house, all work perfectly at the same time or individually. However, over the last week or so I’ve noticed if I choose an album or playlist on the SONOS app via Amazon Music then almost all the speakers skip, hang, stutter or delay in playing the song. 

So as a 3rd line IT engineer with 21 years experience I started looking at the obvious. Router, dup IP’s, Wi-Fi interference etc and couldn't fix the issue. However I’ve discovered that if I ask Alexa to play the same album or playlist the issue never happens. It also wont happen if I use SONOS radio, TuneIn Radio or BBC Sounds etc 


For example, I can open the SONOS app and search for Fleetwood Mac Best Of. I find the album and press play. All the speakers start skipping and juddering, some don't play at all for 30 seconds and then start cutting in and out. If I press stop and then say “Alexa….. play Fleetwood Mac Best Of” - Alexa will find the same Album on the only streaming service I have (Amazon Music) and play it without fault.

 

I’ve repeated the procedure 50 times and its consistent.


Any ideas or advice? 

 

I have submitted a diagnostic - the number is  538115433

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Best answer by Richard_51 25 September 2021, 15:34

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41 replies

S

The other thing I noticed around the same time as this issue occuring is that quite often I get messages saying that Amazon music is streaming on another device, when trying to start on Sonos.

 

Not sure if related or of anyone else had seen this also??

S

Also looking at the release notes I would say that this started around the release date of 13.3 of the software which was 21 sept 2021.

My system is set to automatically update so could be related also.

Airgetlam

Generally, at least in my experience, the “streaming on another device” is a result of wifi interference inasmuch as the device that’s playing the Amazon stream is, for some reason, unable to send a notification back to the Amazon server that it has ended the play session. This does suggest intermittent issues, as the device is actually able to play the stream, but somehow fails to get the “I’m done” message back to Amazon. 

The way I frequently fixed it was by logging in to Amazon, using their web client, and killing all streams. That’s not a terribly attractive solution for the long run. I ended up doing a lot of “massaging” of my network to reduce the possibility of miscommunication so that Amazon was actually aware that I had ended my stream. That included several items in that linked FAQ, from looking for other sources of interference, to changing my radio channel for wifi, to actually assigning IP addresses for all network devices in my router’s DHCP table. I no longer have that issue. 

Since you seem to think this started around the time of the release of Sonos’ 13.3 software release, it’s entirely plausible that you’ have a duplicate IP address issue here. It’s not uncommon for routers to get in a odd state for various reasons, and lose track of where they are in the DHCP table. For better or worse, when Sonos applies a new software update, the devices end up asking for new IP addresses from the router. If the router is indeed confused, it can hand a duplicate address to the Sonos device, which then needs to “fight” with something else to get that data stream properly.

Fairly easy to test that particular part of the theory, by simply unplugging all Sonos devices from power, then rebooting your router. Once the router has refreshed it’s OS and DHCP table, plug back in the Sonos device, which will ask for new IP addresses and get “fresh” ones from the router. 

However, if you think there’s something odder going on, I’d encourage you to submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this problem, and call 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.

Bruce
J
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The other thing I noticed around the same time as this issue occuring is that quite often I get messages saying that Amazon music is streaming on another device, when trying to start on Sonos.

 

Not sure if related or of anyone else had seen this also??

YES! mine does exactly the same, about 20% of plays will tell me Amazon is playing elsewhere

J

This does point to local communication errors. I think it unlikely it is linked to an update. If a generic bug had been introduced in an update there would be hundreds of posts about it by now.

@jamescodefour and @Spence189 , are you operating Sonos with a wired Sonos device (SonosNet mode) or with everything on WiFi?

J
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This does point to local communication errors. I think it unlikely it is linked to an update. If a generic bug had been introduced in an update there would be hundreds of posts about it by now.

@jamescodefour and @Spence189 , are you operating Sonos with a wired Sonos device (SonosNet mode) or with everything on WiFi?

All on WiFi but I have tested using SonosNet with just 1 PLay1 hardwired. Same problems. I get the same issue if I move all the devices into the same room with the wireless AP in the same room. I have test my WIFi throughput and looked for overlapping channels. My AP support DCS (dynamic channel selection) which looks for competing channels near by and swaps accordingly. I’ve also fixed channels and tried two different brands of AP. As mentioned this issue came out of the blue around 10 days ago.

Airgetlam

There is always the slight possibility that someone has hacked your password and is using Amazon music elsewhere. Might be worth, as a test, changing your password there, and re-setting up the Sonos with the new password. This is admittedly very rare, more often this is the situation John B and I were discussing. 

Bruce
J
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Thanks @Airgetlam - I've checked this too. 

 

I’ve just opened a Spotify account and added this to the Sonos app. It plays perfectly on all speakers with zero lag/skipping etc. The issue is 100% with Amazon/Sonos not the speakers etc

J

Thanks @Airgetlam - I've checked this too. 

 

I’ve just opened a Spotify account and added this to the Sonos app. It plays perfectly on all speakers with zero lag/skipping etc. The issue is 100% with Amazon/Sonos not the speakers etc

So that would be lossy files playing without a hitch on your Sonos? Like all your other lossy files?

J
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Since Amazon uses different servers to feed different types if streams, that points the finger at Amazon’s server, for the most part, and particularly the one that they’ve given Sonos to point to when using the Sonos software, rather than other pieces of software. Although it’s randomly possible there’s an issue between your system and that server, versus your system and the other server. 

The thing that would make me question this explanation is the fact that everything is OK with a single speaker; it’s only when the user goes multiroom that issues occur. 

When Amazon HD became available on Sonos, only lossy format was used when initiating by Alexa.  There was talk of this being changed in due course, but the results of the diagnostic earlier in the thread suggest it is still the case.  Now, Amazon casting to Sonos uses Alexa (even though not voice-triggered) so I bet that is streaming lossy too.  So my money is on systems that are borderline stable on lossy formats but can’t cope with lossless over multiroom.

I’m not sure about this. Because the issue still occurs if I place all the units in the same room, hardwire one into my router and then power them all on (using Sonos Net)

J

Well, you now have a whole variety of ways to play lossy tracks on Sonos over multiroom perfectly: Amazon cast, Amazon triggered by Alexa and Spotify within the Sonos app. The one scenario that struggles is Amazon HD through the Sonos app, which is the only one playing lossless.  This most definitely does not prove cause and effect. But it's certainly suggestive. Even the lossless stream plays fine on one speaker, suggesting that it is inter-speaker communications that is the problem.

J

What I would suggest you do now is wire one speaker to your router. Fix the router 2.4GHz channel as 1, 6 or 11 and set SonosNet to a different channel. Check in About My System that all Sonos devices have WM=0 next to them..

We could then take a look at the network matrix. Get the IP address of one of your speakers and type into a browser http://IP address;1400/support/review.  Obviously substitute in the IP address of your speaker. Click on Network Matrix and post the diagram on here. You may wish to obscure the mac addresses as some people believe this to be a security risk.

R

I am also having this problem and have now cycled through nearly all of the combinations of wired connections and eero nodes.  Same problems still occurring, only with Amazon.

 

M

I am having similar issues with a play3 and play1 group.  Does not matter if I only have one speaker streaming or am streaming to both.  I get through one song fine and then the stutter starts.  This just showed up within the past week after years of no issues.  Impacting only Amazon music.  There has been a change… by the way this is an S1 app issue.  Have not looked at S2

A

I have an identical problem which only occurs when playing Amazon Music in a multi-room scenario on Play 1's.

It started a few weeks ago with Sonos 1, I recently bought a Beam, upgraded to Sonos 2 and the problem persists. All Play 1's have been updated. 

Interestingly it doesn't seem to occur with mono recordings (see early Rolling Stones) and the first two tracks of Sam Fender's Seventeen Going Under play fine, it's not until the 3rd track (Aye) that the stuttering begins. 

B

This problem is still happening. So annoying. It’s happening across all my devices, play 1’s, Sonos Connect, and Sonos Amp. I was on the phone for a while with a Sonos tech yesterday with no luck. Did the unplugging everything and back in and what not. She told me that I needed to find new locations for a couple of my speakers. I said I never had trouble before and now all of a sudden I do, so something changed on your end not mine. Hopefully someone with Amazon and Sonos with fix this soon. We have spent too much money to have this problem. 

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