Alexa voice volume compared to music volume.

  • 9 January 2018
  • 21 replies
  • 8334 views

Userlevel 2
Hello everyone. I have two Play 1's and a new Sonos one I got for christmas. Here is my setup. I have the two Play 1's setup in my living room and the Sonos one setup in my kitchen for Alexa & music. Both rooms are beside each other so it's nice to have a surround sound like music on the main floor of the house.

Using the Sonos app I can control the volume of the music in either room and I've also created a group to have the music streaming on all three speakers at the same time and can control the volume as a group which is great.

Here is my suggestion for a feature I would like. I would like to be able to control the volume of Alexa's voice. For example if we have low music playing in the back ground and you ask Alexa something you can barely hear her. If the volume is say mid level you can hear her anywhere in the room. So when were done listening to low level music I turn the volume up for the kitchen so that if we need anything from Alexa we can hear her properly. The only downside of turning up the kitchen speaker is that if we start to stream music again it will come blaring out loud in the kitchen.

If we can control the volume by individual speaker or room in the app or group. Can we get a separate volume control for Alexa? That would be a nice feature. Who agrees with me?

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21 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +20
Hi, NeoJuice. Welcome to the community and thanks for your post. This is something we hope to introduce with time, though we do not have a concrete time-frame as to when, just yet. I can definitely see the benefit of this and I'm sure many others would agree. Please let us know if you have any further questions.
Userlevel 7
Great suggestion..NeoJuice

Since Edward R has said the capability has no time frame for introduction there is an alternative solution; but it negates the reason you purchased the Sonos One. Using this suggestion depends upon how great your need is to resolve your issue. Here it is...

Turn off or Mute the microphone for Alexa on the Sonos One.
Purchase an Echo Dot ($49 USD)
Follow the video in the link below to integrate the Echo Dot with your Sonos system

Cheers and Good Luck!

https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4158/
Userlevel 2
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I agree. Alexa volume and Music volume should be independent of each other. If you regularly have your speaker on volume 5 and above and then you command Alexa, she's too loud
I agree. This is the biggest nuisance of the Alexa Sonos integration.
Agreed. The default voice volume should be lower until there’s a separate setting
Userlevel 3
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Alexa is TOO DAMN LOUD
Totally agree. I listen to loud music and would welcome the ability to Fix Alexa's voice at volume two or any level I choose. As really annoying she is always too loud unless I turn the music ĺevel to 2 before saying "Alexa"
Userlevel 3
Badge +4
Even at minimum volume Alexa's voice is way too loud. In fact, I can mute the music on the Sonos One and Alexa's voice is still shouting at me. We have the Sonos One in our ensuite and I can't use Alexa in the morning because she would wake my wife. This is a terrible oversight - please fix it!
Very welcome feature
Userlevel 7
Badge +22
Yea there is a long request thread on - the volumes need to be independently controllable (and the Alexa ready tone needs to be able to be turned off). Hopefully as the skill gets out of beta some of these items will be covered.
Userlevel 4
Strongly agree. I *always* want Alexa's voice volume to be a certain fixed level, and this is so whether I'm playing quiet background muzak or bone-shaking metal.

More precisely I want Alexa's voice to be just enough to be clearly heard whatever the background noise level, because my kitchen's extractor fan is sometimes loud. But I'd be satisfied with simply independent levels for voice assistant and music.
Add another new Sonos One user with two speakers to the people that hate not having the capability to change the volume of the Alexa volume. I too cannot use the speaker with Alexa in the bedroom since it will wake my wife.

This is a much needed change!! I will look into the Echo Dot recommendation but we should not have to purchase a separate Echo Dot as a work around.

We really need this change and really appreciate Sonos listening to the user base and making the change for us!
So, I've searched everywhere for an answer to my volume issue. I have a Sonos Playbar, two Sonos Play 1 surrounds, and a Sonos Sub. When watching TV I set the volume to a good level and life is good. The Playbar is connected to the TV via optical. When I turn the TV off and use the Alexa voice skill to play music on the same Sonos system, it starts out LOUD. If I set the volume level via "Alexa, volume 2 on the bedroom sonos", it is still pretty darned LOUD. If I set the Volume level to 1 using the Alexa command, it's way too soft. Volume level 5 and above are rock concert sound levels that endanger the sheetrock. If I use the Sonos app, I have plenty of volume granularity and I can set to the perfect level. Is there any way to adjust the HUGE range between what Alexa thinks is Sonos volume level one and Sonos Volume level 2??
Yes absolute need for these features. Separate volume for Alexa voice and more incremental volume control for the Alexa volumes 1, 2 and 3 range.
There are similar discussions on the Amazon Echo forums regarding separate controls for voice vs music, plus Alexa volume 1 does not correspond to the lowest volume on the Sonos speaker, but around 10% (based on the Sonos volume slider). I'd love to see an Alexa volume of 1 that is lower, as even 1 is too loud to use at night. If I use the speaker buttons or app volume slider I can get a lower music volume, however the Alexa voice still jumps in at volume 1 ie significantly louder. A separate controller for Alexa voice with more that 10 levels, starting below 10% volume would be good.
Userlevel 1
Badge +5
I agree. This is the biggest nuisance of the Alexa Sonos integration.
The volume of the assistant is disproportionate to the volume of the TV and music. A separate volume control for the assistant voice is an unfortunate omission from the Sonos implementation.
It would also be great if the voice assistant response could come through all Sonos devices.
It's more than 2 years now that Sonos doesn't fix this issue. I sold my playbar and hold only two Sonos One
Userlevel 3
Badge +2
As much needed this feature is I believe it'll never happen, if it was possible it'd be done by now.
Does anyone know if Google Assistant experiences this same volume issue?
Userlevel 2
Badge +2

I haven’t noticed this problem until the last Sonos software update. Now it is very noticeable that Alexa responses to my commands  on my Sonos Ones and Beam are much louder than my TV volume. 

 

 It is really annoying. I use Alexa quite frequently, and this is unacceptable. 

 

I can’t believe this has been an issue for over a year and has not been addressed.