Does the issue happen with local library music, streaming service music, or both?
· *Both streaming and local* *library* music are affected.
Do you encounter any playback errors with the "System Output" Zone?
· The System Output has *no problem*, it's only my other Zone.
How is the affected Zone connected to your RoonServer machine?
· Network - Ethernet
Which network audio protocol is the Zone using with Roon?
· Airplay
Since this is an Airplay Zone, have you tried toggling Airplay Compatibility Mode for this Zone in the Device Setup window?
· There is no change in behavior.
Does the device show up at all in Roon Settings -> Audio?
· Yes, it shows up there, but it isn't Enabled
Does the "Enable" button unlock the Zone?
· I can Enable the Zone, but the Zone disappears
Does the device play audio from another source when using the same connection?
· The device has no problems with another audio source
Have you checked that Roon is whitelisted in any firewalls?
· I've checked the firewall and the issue remains
If the device has multiple output options, do the other options work as expected?
· Only one output type is affected while the other output type works as expected
Is the device using the latest firmware as per the manufacturer?
· Firmware is up-to-date but the issue remains
Do you have an approximate timestamp of when the issue last occurred?
· When I purchased the Sonos Arc Ultra in May, 2025.
What are the make and model of the affected audio device(s) and the connection type?
· Sonos Arc Ultra
Describe the issue
I have multiple Roon ready devices (Eversolo, Bluesound, Escape P6) and everything works fine. I also have a Sonos Arc Ultra and Sonos Beam. I can play through Roon to the Beam using Airplay 2 but Airplay shows as playing but with no sound out of the Arc Ultra. I am able too play Qobuz connect using Airplay 2 out of the Arc Ultra. Sonnos Connect does work through Roon on the Arc Ultra but this is not an option as I frequently group the Bluesound speakers which do not work with Sonos connect. I have tried about everything I can think of. Everything is connected through CAT6 ethernet. I am also sending this to Sonos.
Describe your network setup
Network is in a new home using Eero router and a Netgear hub. Everything is connected via CAT6 with no wireless.
Thank you for your post. We’d be happy to clarify what’s going wrong here and provide next steps and a little broader context. Long story short, Sonos has different eras of Airplay protocols built into different devices, and Roon is not yet fully updated to be cleanly compatible with the newest versions. We’re working on it and there are a few steps you can take in the meantime.
The Sonos ARC is an Airplay2-only endpoint. Roon’s current Airplay implementation relies on Airplay1, which means that it relies on legacy compatibility for certain Airplay2 endpoints.
In a nutshell, Roon and the Sonos ARC can handshake with Airplay2/1 back compatibility, but the device won’t accept the subsequent audio stream because it’s expecting Airplay2.
Roon has work in the pipeline to update our Airplay compatibility with the more contemporary Airplay stack built into newer Sonos devices (2022 on). At this time, you’ll need to try the following workarounds:
Add the Sonos ARC to the Apple Home app on an Apple device. If you’ve already done this, try removing it. This will clear any stale connection data and may temporarily restore the fallback between Airplay2/1. Also enable Compatibility Mode in Roon Settings → Audio for the Airplay Sonos ARC Zone.
If step 1 doesn’t work, try power cycling your router and Netgear hub, and then power cycling Roon and the ARC in order.
Let us know if you’re still stuck. There are additional workarounds we can provide, but they might require some additional hardware to serve as an Airplay “bridge” to the ARC and any other Airplay2-only devices.
Have you tried to enable Compatability mode for the Airplay device? You can do this by going to Device Setup (right click zone name in the bottom right) → Advanced → Compatability mode. Please give that a try and let us know if it helps.
I not only tried all stops including compatibility mode, but deleted and reinstalled the Sonos ARC. Same thing that Roon finds the speaker, shows as playing but there is no sound. Everything else plays including Qobuz connect and Radio Paradise.
Can you provide more detail around this? Do you see a specific error, or does the Sonos not appear as an option?
Our team has set up more verbose logging over in our Early Access branch of Roon that we’re hoping will give us the additional information we’re after.
If you could, please move your Roon Server and Roon remotes over to Early Access temporarily, and we’ll request a fresh diagnostic report. Here’s more info on how to migrate to Early Access:
Let me know if you’re able to temporarily migrate over, and if so, please reproduce the issue and share the name of the track you attempted to play.
I was able to install Early Access. Here is the error I get when trying to add to Apple Home. There may be some compatibility issues with my Eero router and Apple Home but I followed all the troubleshooting instructions from Apple and it still won’t connect.
After several hours, I finally got Apple Home to add the Sonos Ultra. I think the issue was that right out of the box I used an ethernet connection and never set up wifi. I had to do a factory reset but it is now added to Apple Home.
I then went through the previous steps of power cycling. I enabled compatibility mode but unfortunately, it shows playing but there is no sound.
Thanks for giving that a try @Mark_Gatliff and my apologies for not providing that information.
Now that you’re on early access, could you reconnect via Ethernet and reproduce the issue? Share the specific track name and our team will take a closer look.
We’ve discussed this with our senior QA and development teams. The team is investigating some possibilities here and, as soon as that investigation is complete, we’ll be sure to follow up ASAP.
You have our apologies for the trouble here, and we’ve greatly appreciated your patience as we continue investigating this tricky issue. We’ll be in touch as soon as we can.
Thank you for your patience. For transparency, here’s what’s happening:
Roon supports Airplay2, but relies on specific Airplay 1 back-compatibility on the part of the endpoint for audio decoding and, in some cases, parts of the device pairing process. It’s essentially an Airplay 2 wrapper with some Airplay 1 components inside.
The Sonos ARC Ultra is designed to work with true AirPlay 2 only, so it doesn’t have that back compatibility to the extent Roon expects. It refuses to pair with the legacy protocol in most cases. If you go through Apple HomeKit, then iOS sends Airplay2 announcements on behalf of Roon that appear to work, but the speaker (Sonos Airplay 2) still won’t decode the Airplay 1 audio stream coming from Roon. You see playback proceeding but have no sound.
The team has several tickets moving through the pipeline to update our Airplay compatibility to prevent these errors from occurring. There is a ticket specifically tracking the problem with the speaker model you’ve reported here. We’ll notify you as soon as we have a workaround or next step. Thank you for your patience.
