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Alexa voice volume too loud

  • 11 January 2018
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It would be great if there was a separate Volume just for the Alexa voice on the Sonos unit—-separate from the music volume. I could see the Sonos volume being fixed for Alexa, and regular volume control for the speaker content. I would think I would want my Alexa voice volume fixed.
Totally agree on this issue. Sonos SHOULD have separate control on volume control for Alexa and music. In my case, Alexa is too loud when music is at a appropriate level.
I have just set my Sonos one up and this is the first thing I have noticed is that the Alexa voice is far too loud and I had to search straight away for a solution.
I have tried the above suggestions but the voice is still far too loud and i will be unable to use Alexa voice in the later evenings and early mornings.
Really disappointed with my first Sonos speaker as the sound quality is fantastic but the Alexa voice is just too loud.
This is so annoying! Completely agree. The Sonos One is great apart from Alexa being far too loud. I’m so surprised that there’s no option to lower the volume. It makes me jump every time I ask Alexa something!

Is this going to be resolved soon?
Hello,
I have the same problem - I have a Sonos One and listen to music via Spotify. Alexa's voice is MUCH too loud in relation to the music - for example, if I am listening at a "normal" volume to classical music, Alexa's voice booms throughout the room and startles people. Is there a way to control Alexa's volume independently? By the way, @Ken_Griffiths , I find it pretty condescending what you write about other people's preferences. A) I think my preferences are pretty reasonable, and Alexa's volume is truly mismatched 😎 why would it technically be that hard to implement such functionality, especially within a great company like Sonos?
David
After spending a bit of time talking to support today they confirmed that the massive difference between the Alexa voice and the music you are listening to is "intended". Which would be a truly weird design choice.

I have found a workaround. By disabling Alexa on my Sonos One and adding the Sonos skill to an old Amazon Dot I can get most of what I need.
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The ability to set Alexa voice to a static level is desperately needed. Streams on Tune In have wildly fluctuating volume levels and often require raising the volume to achieve a moderate listening level, in these frequent scenarios Alexa's voice is far too loud.

I also don't really get the need of fixing Alexa's voice to the device volume level, the active audio fades anyway before she kicks off so it's not as though she needs to compete with it.

Count me in as another who's disabled Alexa which is a real shame, I bought the gear as a music playback solution for my other half who's not good with technology but good at talking!
She found the whole thing very obtrusive and I have to agree.
Is anyone from Sonos even looking at this thread any more??? Seems like Sonos has no problem turning down the volume on the Community 😞
Add another vote for more granularity in Sonos/Alexa volume increments. Having just 1-10 is not at all acceptable.

For background music, I always need to use the Sonos app, rendering voice control control over Alexa.

Clearly this is an other ignored issue (alone with independent volume control of Surround speakers).

Anyone know if Google Assistant, now supported by Sonos, provides more granularity? Really don't want yet another voice eco-system in the house - but if that is a solution I'd jump ship and use Google instead.

Thanks
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Hi pjn, if you set you Sonos One to have the volume around 2-5% does Alexa still sound very loud?

What music source do you usually listen to for music?
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Thanks for the details on the library, that shouldn't affect the volume of Alexa's replies, but for some music sources, people turn Sonos up louder than others. I'll let the team know what you're seeing with Alexa's reply volume. There is a default minimum volume for replies that it won't go under, perhaps what you're seeing is that default minimum is too loud. I don't have the specifics on what that volume is, but I'll let the team know what you're seeing/hearing.
Having same problem with my Beam, Alexa is way too loud. My 8 month old jumps every time Alexa talks and pretty sure all my neighbours can hear it too. Ruins the experience and now not using it in the evenings when my baby goes to sleep. I really wish this could be fixed. So frustrating.
Ironically, I couldn’t hear Alexa on my new Beam. I used the direction above and asked Alexa to change volume. She did. I changed it a few times until it suited me. Works perfectly.
You will find though Gary that the volume of Alexa, does change in relation to the volume of either the TV, or Music .. but that’s how it is meant to be.

If you turn the TV up loud, Alexa gets louder... if you turn the TV volume down, she should get quieter ...and it’s the same with the music too. Which is how Sonos have designed it.

It works okay for me, but the 'relationship' between the Alexa volume and the audio output does not appear to please every single user.

As they say “You can’t please all the people, all the time”.
Just wondering, has the Alexa volume problem been fixed/improved yet? It is 10/24/18. I'm thinking about purchasing the Sonos One again but not if this problem is still present.
At least it’s not just me! Alexa shouts! LOL
I’ll follow to find the solution. Thanks.
@Edward R and all other people having this issue,

Many users are unhappy with the volume of the voice of Alexa (I am one of them). For some people it way to loud, for others it is way too low.
I understand that your vison is to keep those two, the volume of Alexa and the volume of the music, related to each other and therefor there is still no solution or an independent volume control for Alexa.

To make everyone happy and keep the volume of Alexa related to the music volume, maybe it is a good idea to create a setting where you are able to define how much louder of lower the volume of Alexa should be in relation to the music volume in percentage.
So if you increase the music volume, the volume of Alex's voice will increase too, but will always have the right volume for everyone.

Please let us know what you think about it, because it is taking too long now to get a proper solution for is very annoying issue.

Thanks!
Why is it taking such a long time to solve this problem? What for is the firmware update...?
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@Ryan S
Optional volume control for voice assistants would be great to keep neighbors happy 🙂
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Sonos... please fix this. It makes Alexa unusable and it’s a bad look for your brand to have such an unpleasant experience with your product. Separate volume or different volumes similar to beeps on a camera... anything
Hey guys,

This was driving me absolutely bonkers with the sonos one.

Not sure, but I tried saying “Alexa, lower your speaking voice” and got the volume to go down, I did this multiple times and have used Lower and Increase to get to the volume I found acceptable.

Hope that helps!
Just tried both the above methods with my Sonos One. Both lowered the volume of my music only, with Alexa volume remaining the same (i.e. loud). Has anyone else had success with these methods? Thanks.
Ironically, I couldn’t hear Alexa on my new Beam. I used the direction above and asked Alexa to change volume. She did. I changed it a few times until it suited me. Works perfectly.
Ironically, I couldn’t hear Alexa on my new Beam. I used the direction above and asked Alexa to change volume. She did. I changed it a few times until it suited me. Works perfectly.
You will find though Gary that the volume of Alexa, does change in relation to the volume of either the TV, or Music .. but that’s how it is meant to be.

If you turn the TV up loud, Alexa gets louder... if you turn the TV volume down, she should get quieter ...and it’s the same with the music too. Which is how Sonos have designed it.

It works okay for me, but the 'relationship' between the Alexa volume and the audio output does not appear to please every single user.

As they say “You can’t please all the people, all the time”.
It seems practical to me.
It seems practical to me.
Yes, me too. It’s only a few users who don’t like it, presumably. Those who are happy of course don’t usually post anything here in the community.

I'm not too sure if pjn's issue above, is that his Alexa has got stuck on a particular volume level... but that’s maybe a 'glitch', so hopefully a switch off/on will resolve it, or it’s maybe a case of speaking to Sonos Support.

I assume others though, are just not happy with the levels Sonos have put in place... and want a little more control over the levels set.