Automatic volume of the Playbar while playing music


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Hey guys,
when I start listening to music on the Playbar the volume is always set to the middle of the range. This is quite loud when I start listening to a radio station.
Is there any possibility of changing 'the instant volume' of the Playbar when I start listening to music? I'd like to have it a little bit more quiet.
Thanks for your help!

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18 replies

Badge +1
Hello soothemoto.

The PLAYBAR retains the same volume that was being used when listening to the TV audio. It shouldn't be jumping around to a higher volume. If you play from the TV, lower the volume on it to around 30 or less and change it to music does it jump up?
I have the same problem. When changing the source from listening to TV audio to music audio, the Playbar comes on very loud. Is there a way to have the audio come on at a set volume so that it does not blast loud when starting the music audio. kind of annoying...
Userlevel 4
Badge +3
Hi JeffLM, unfortunately this is not possible in the app at the moment. The actual volume of the PLAYBAR is not changing, just the source content has a higher base volume level usually with music tracks. You may just have to turn down the volume with the remote or on the app before starting music. A setting like this would be a good idea I think; I'll forward on the feedback to the developers and they can decide if they want to pursue it.
I think it would be a good idea as people (customers) seem to forget how loud they actually have the volume when they watch TV. Then the next day they turn on music and it blasts out very loud. Lol. Thanks!
Heh. I have a friend who has this issue. I ended up setting up a macro in her Harmony remote for turning down the volume significantly while turning off the TV, so that if there was a child sleeping when it was turned back on, it wouldn't be too loud.
Yes, Please fix this problem.
I too when listening to my TV, The SONOS Playbar volume is around the 50% setting for me to listen to the TV audio. But when I listen to Pandora the SONOS volume needs to be at 15% or 20%.
I have a Vizio TV. The Vizio TV optical audio output is only available at a "set" option. When switching back to Pandora or other music playback options in SONOS, the volume is way too loud.
SONOS should either create a variable audio input setting within the Preferences of the SONOS software. Something you would set and leave in order to match your tv audio output to the music playback.
Another option that SONOS could do is have the volume setting be separate for the different audio source. When the Playbar recognizes the optical input, It uses that volume setting "A". When it switches to the other audio playback it would then switch to volume setting "B" and differentiate between the two audio source settings.

Like another com mentor said about setting up a macro with a Harmony remote. That's a great work around. But I don't have one yet and won't be buying one for a while.
I was using my Play3 in the living room for music. Then finally broke down and bought the Playbar for the living room and planned to move my Play 3 into my bedroom. But that won't be happening anytime soon till this issue is resolved. It's a hassle to have multiple people in the house. One watching TV and then the other person comes later on and turn on music just to have the Music come on at an extremely loud level because the TV was used earlier. For $700, this shouldn't have to be a problem.

Joe
Userlevel 5
Badge +9
Tom B, I would love to see this being able to be applied to all devices, not just in the Playbars case of TV vs Music sources. I have 4 Connect Amps and the volume level on them needs to be much higher than the Sonos Speakers. Whenever I group combinations of Playbar/PlayX with the Connect Amps I have to do individual volume work on the Connect Amps. Would love to preset this bias in so that a common volume level can be set across the group. The discrepancy is such that depending on the volume level I set for the group, the Connect:Amps are always to loud or quiet. If I could bias them somehow, I think that %difference wouldn't be as great.
Badge +1
I too would like to see a volume variation. It dose sound like it should be a easy application add update.
I also would like to see a volume variation. My problem is also the diff. in wolumen between Radio and Playbar.
Another vote for input-dependent volume levels for the Playbar. Clearly a lot of people have this problem (just look for it here in the Community), and Sonos has done nothing about it to date.
Userlevel 1
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Agreed. I just got a Playbase yesterday. Same problem with TV requiring the volume to be much higher then music listening. Input-dependent volume levels, or at a minimum, the ability to adjust gain on the optical input would be great.
Userlevel 3
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I would second that. There's currently a setup to add gain for line-in as well as a default autoplay volume. Would be nice to have the same for playbar. Everytime I want to play music on it after watching TV, the volume is way too loud.
Is there any update on this topic yet? My playbar + play 1 surround setup scares the crap out of met every time i turn to music. (it's not due to my taste of music)
yep, same issue here with my 3.1 setup (playbase, 2xPlay:3, Sub). I would highly appreciata a fix here.
Userlevel 3
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Hi,

Would you have any updates regarding this? I believe a feature request was made?
Don't want to sound like a broken record but I have to agree with everyone else on this thread - my beam+ones are ridiculously loud when selecting music after watching TV. Alexa shouts at me too!
Come on guys - after investing a lot of money in your premium products surely it's not too much to ask.
It would be great if the Beam/Playbar/Playbase would save the volume which is currently set when changing from music playback to TV and restore it automatically when changing back. And vice versa.
Userlevel 7
@All

I hear your frustration but IMO it's not a Sonos issue and has more to do with the source and how audio levels are sent.

So you want Sonos to develop a memory algorithm to keep the volume constant when changing sources. OK...are you willing to pay more because that type of programing has to be developed by someone and the individual has to be compensated for their time. After that the questions becomes can it be accomplished via firmware update or is a complete redesign of the circuit boards required.

What about other products that play different sources like an AV Receiver for example. You may have a complete HT setup attached including a CD/DVD player, AppleTV, other AV apps and a myriad of other component's. Do they have automatic level control? That's not to say that some don't but the majority do not and those that do come at a premium. Oh and I almost forgot...what about the expensive 4K TV you purchased? I really hate that commercials are louder than the regular programing. :8

The more logical approach would be that Sonos would automatically return to zero volume level when a source signal is not received after a set time. However, then someone would probably ask that it be a selectable feature as some would forget and think their Sonos was malfunctioning. :@

Not trying to be typical Sonos "Fanboy;" but might consider trying the tools already available within Sonos:

Volume Normalization
https://support.sonos.com/s/article/326?language=en_US

Setting a volume limit on Sonos players

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/3118?language=en_US

Cheers!