Hi everyone,
Thank you for your patience as we continue to work through this issue. Here’s what we know so far:
The Sonos 15.2+ release contained some changes to the Sonos network. These network changes have caused both S1 and S2 devices in the majority of network setups to reject FLAC-format audio streams from Roon.
This error manifests as a playback failure followed by this error in Roon: “Roon Lost Control of the Audio Device.”
Since Roon reencodes audio streams into FLAC automatically when playing to a Sonos-networked endpoint, users will require one of two workarounds:
One workaround is to change protocols by connecting to Sonos endpoints via Airplay.
Another workaround is to prevent Roon from reencoding audio streams to FLAC with Sonos devices by running Roon with the -nosonosflac Flag enabled. For step-by-step instructions of the Flag workaround, please see this staff post above: Sonos - "Roon lost control of the audio device" after Sonos Update [Ticket In, See Workaround] - #55
Certain network combinations to Sonos devices using ethernet and WiFi are unaffected by this problem, as is the case with helpful user @AMT’ network. That there are exceptions to this new issue makes sense, given that Sonos endpoints can pass audio stream (and other network traffic) both between each other and to/from the router.
The team is actively reproducing this issue and narrowing down a permanent solution. Your notes and detailed descriptions from this thread are useful data points in our investigation.
We recognize some of you are beyond the point of frustration. The workarounds are not ideal. However, for those who are without music - using Airplay or disabling FLAC playback to Sonos with the Flag will restore playback to your system in the meantime.
I will post an additional update here as soon as I have one to share. Thank you again for your patience.