Apple TV sounds issues on HomePod after OS18 update

Posting this in case it helps anyone else. After my Apple TV updated to OS18 I updated the HomePods as well. The HomePods (two of them) were in a stereo pair before the update. After the update I began experiencing problems such as:

1. HomePods not doing what I tell it to do with the Apple TV remote:
   1. When turning the volume up or down the Apple TV remote would show the volume indicator going up or down but the actual volume didn’t change.
   2. Pressing the mute button on the Apple TV remote would cause the volume indicator to indicate that the volume was muted, but the volume remained unmuted.
2. The volume would intermittently become louder and softer.

When I looked in the Home app, I saw two HomePods instead of the pair. If I looked at the HomePod settings I saw that settings under the Music & Podcasts and Siri sections were grayed out and not usable. I tried to reset the HomePods but they didn’t respond to the Reset option in the Home app. I tried unplugging them for a few minutes and plugging them back in and that didn’t help. Next I tried to Ungroup them and regroup them. After I Ungrouped them I had the option to Create a new pair on one HomePod but not the other. When I tried to create a new pair I selected both HomePods and clicked Done to create the pair. A spinning circle appeared for a minute or so and returned to the same screen with the Cancel and Done options without creating a pair. Next I removed both HomePods from the Home app planning to add them back. This is where things got interesting. One HomePod immediately began the setup process and let me add it back to the Home app flawlessly. The second HomePod took 4-5 minutes to eventually begin the setup process. After I completed the setup process it remained in the Configuring state longer than the first one did but did eventually complete the Configuration stage and then recognized the other HomePod that was configured and asked to create a stereo pair. I tapped the option to do that and they joined a new pair. After doing this, the volume control and mute buttons worked again and the volume inconsistency was resolved as well. Not sure why updating the HomePods to OS18 seemed to put the pair in an inconsistent state such that I had to remove and re-add them or why one HomePod took so long to reset and configure. Both were bought at the same time and are the same model. Anyway, I just wanted to put this out there in case this helps anyone else.