[Updated] Apple TV Dolby Atmos content causing audio on Sonos Arc to pop & then sound cuts out, issue affects Xbox users too

New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…….

Original story (published on November 15, 2021) follows:

If you are someone who is into home theatre systems, chances are pretty high that you have heard of Sonos Arc. The premium soundbar is Sonos’ first Dolby Atmos-powered soundbar and offers one of the best price to performance ratio in its segment.

Apart from just being a soundbar, the Sonos Arc also doubles up as a smart speaker with access to popular voice assistants such as Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri, and numerous music streaming services.

Both users and critiques have praised the Sonos Arc for its immersive Dolby Atmos experience and superb software support. TechCrunch has termed it as the best wireless soundbars available in its price range.

That being said, Sonos Arc instantly gained popularity despite its late entry into the crowded soundbar space and made a space for itself. But, as is with every product out there, nothing is perfect and the Sonos Arc is no exception to this rule.

According to recent user reports, the Sonos Arc makes a loud pop which is usually followed by audio loss when playing Dolby Atmos content on the Apple TV 4K. This has frightened some since they thought that their soundbar got damaged.

While the issue is resolved by simply restarting the Sonos Arc, many are frustrated since the issue occurs quite frequently and ruins the overall user experience. Apparently, some Xbox users are affected as well.

Last night, while watching a movie on Netflix, we heard a loud “POP”! At first we thought it came from the fireplace, but we quickly realized that nothing was coming from the Arc center channel. The Sub and rear speakers were performing as expected, but the Arc was dead silent. The app did not indicate any issues with the setup and the Arc indicator lights were working. I even tried to activate the voice assistant. Alexa appeared to be responding, but silently, with sounds coming from the Arc.
(Source)

Often there’s a loud pop / bang noise and then the Sonos Arc stops outputting sound. I have to switch sources and back for it to work again. Really troubling and I fear something is wrong with the hardware. I bought this earlier this year. I notice it happens a lot when I start playing on my Xbox Series X. Also got an Apple TV 4K and sometimes it’s happened there as well I think. It sounds very much like a gunshot – very loud. I have it connected to my LG CX.
(Source)

Some say that the issue goes away when they consume non-Dolby Atmos content, indicating that the problem lies somewhere in the firmware.

With Sonos yet to acknowledge the issue, it is still uncertain when it will be resolved. In the meantime, those affected have no option but to continue using it as is or disable Dolby Atmos.

We hope Sonos soon finds the root cause of the issue since it is making the Arc unusable for many. As always, we will keep an eye out for more information on the matter and update this article as and when required.

03:12 pm (IST): Users of other audio devices such as AVR are also reporting the same issue. This bug is reportedly happening on the 2nd-gen Apple TV 4K models, while the 1st-generation aren’t affected.

Note: We have more such stories in our dedicated Apple Section so be sure to follow them as well.

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