Sonos Beam Sound dropping out with Virgin 360

[sharonamiller]

My Sonos Beam worked perfectly with the old V6. Since the upgrade to 360 TV the sound repeatedly drops out. This doesn't happen with Digital TV or when listening to music. This is driving us mad! Any ideas how we can solve this problem would be much appreciated.

[Harrodinio]

Thanks for your reply. The Sonos Beam is connected directly to the Hdmi arc port on my TV so the audio from the 360 box is going to another HDMI. I'm just confused why it worked perfectly as the V6 box. It's the upgrade to a 360 box that seems to have triggered the interference.

I have an engineer coming next week and the solution put forward by your customer services team is to get them to install a new V6 box as the upgraded box can't be downgraded.

That seems a strange thing to do as I'm assuming you're trying to migrate more people to TV 360. I wondered what the chances might be of them replacing the 360 V6 box with one of the dedicated 360 boxes?

I am not sure if there are any differences in hardware. I never record anything so that wouldn't be a problem if the 360 boxes don't allow recording, for example. 

[casbar]

Not much help as I have a Sonos Arc, but I have upgraded to 360 from a V6 box and everything still works perfectly. I did have an issue with my Arc cutting out with my V^ box and it was wi fi issue, my wi fi was channel hopping, but on advice of Sonos, I locked the wi fi to channel 6 I think and since then I have had no more issues. I did think that Sonos should be able to handle any channel, but the fix works and I have had no sound issues since, so will stick with it.

[Harrodinio]

Thanks for your thoughts... I've already spent a couple of hours on to Sonos customer service and changed the channels, rebooted everything etc etc, as per their guidance. Problem still persists though. They are adamant it's an issue with Virgin as it worked perfectly fine before the upgrade. The Sonos system works fine while the 360 box is in standby so music is unaffected, as is the Fire TV box that I also have connected to my TV. But switch the 360 on and all hell breaks loose... 

[casbar]

Last thought, assume the Beam works ok if you are just watching TV direct and not using the 360 box. If that is the case, then it does point to a feed issue from the 360 box. They have changed the sound settings once you upgrade to 360. Try going into the sound setup on the box and fiddle between PCM, which apparently gets auto set on upgrade and follow, which passes sound directly as it arrives in the 360 box. PCM (old Dolby 5.1) sorts out some sound sync issues that some experience. I haven't checked to see what my box is set too as it is working ok, but am going to have a fiddle tomorrow. I run Netflix and Amazon direct from my TV apps so I get Atmos sound. I haven't yet checked to see if Atmos is being passed by BT sport Ultimate on the 360 box

[Harrodinio]

Thanks for the suggestion... I'd already tried those, I'm afraid and they made no difference. I've got four options on the TV audio menu - pass through, Auto, PCM and off. But all four ended with the same hit and miss sound. I've tried new cables, switching off the WiFi mesh, adding a Boost, moving the Beam, moving the 360, moving the router. But nothing has made any difference. Very frustrating.... 

[casbar]

Does the sound bar work ok when just using the tv ie with the tv on but the 360 box off? That would narrow to if it is the virgin box. Also you said you have tried the tv sound settings, but the V6/360 box also has sound settings which control the sound from the box to the TV, the TV then controls how the sound is passed to the Sonos Beam. Not an expert here, but had to play with mine when I first got the arc as I upgraded from an older sound bar. 

[roy247]

Hi,

If you want dolby atmos you need the 360 set to follow content.

As a process or elimination if you turn wifi off on the Sonos so you just have the 360 to TV to Sonus using HDMI-ARC do you sill have the same problem. What wifi mesh have you tried turning off.

[Harrodinio]

Yes the sound is OK from all sources apart from the 360. Internal TV apps, Fire TV, streaming audio - all fine. I've also tried the audio settings in the 360 box and have tried changing all the options in the 'Follow audio' box. Still the same on all of them. Bizarrely, if the audio is Dolby Atmos, it seems to last longer without cutting out. But that could just be coincidence... 

[Harrodinio]

I tried turning WiFi off and connected the Beam direct to the router but it just seemed to send the rest of the Sonos system into disarray. Nothing worked despite resetting the system. So that's when I got the Boost... Changed the channels on Sonosnet. No difference. I have a Hub 5 to replace my old hub but I'm waiting while the weekend to install that. Plus I can't see that making any difference as the issue does seem to emanate from the 360 box as it was fine when it was a V6 box... Nothing else has changed. 

[roy247]

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@Harrodinio wrote:

I tried turning WiFi off and connected the Beam direct to the router but it just seemed to send the rest of the Sonos system into disarray. Nothing worked despite resetting the system. So that's when I got the Boost... Changed the channels on Sonosnet. No difference. I have a Hub 5 to replace my old hub but I'm waiting while the weekend to install that. Plus I can't see that making any difference as the issue does seem to emanate from the 360 box as it was fine when it was a V6 box... Nothing else has changed. 

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Sorry when I said turn off the wifi I meant what happens if the Sonos has no network connection and is just hard wired 360, TV, Sonus to rule out any network interference.