Answered

Alexa voice volume too loud

  • 11 January 2018
  • 72 replies
  • 82104 views
M
Userlevel 3
  • M Z
  • Contributor I
  • 2 replies
Hi there,

I already read some posts about other people heaving problems with alexa's voice volume on the Sonos One. Some say it's not loud enough, when they have low music playing. Some say it's too loud.
For me, the problem is, that Alexa is way too loud. When I mute the Sonos One and ask Alexa a question, she responds at a volume absolutely inapropriate. So I won't ask Alexa a lot in the evening, because I'm scared to wake someone up.

Is this just normal on the Sonos One, is this a bug? And is Alexa supposed to be muted, when the Sonos One is muted?

I would appreciate any advice. Does anyone have similar experience with the Sonos One?
icon

Best answer by Edward R 15 January 2018, 16:04

View original
This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

72 replies

E
Userlevel 2
Badge +2
+1 for independent control settings for Alexa voice volume. (And a setting to toggle off the Alexa feedback tone!)
L
Userlevel 1
Just came here to confirm Alexa is also shouting at me. 😞
xxxreme
Userlevel 1
Is there an ETA on fixing this issue? It’s been nearly 5 months of dealing with this loud volume issue.
Chris
Userlevel 7
Badge +22
Yes their needs to be an ability to adjust alexa vs. sonos volumes.
Respect the Queue (1)Move (2)Beam (1)ARC (1)SonosOne (1)Playbar (4)Play5 (4)Play1 (3)Play3 (1)Port (2)Connect (1)Connect:Amp (3)Sonos Amp (1)Sub + (9) Echo + Smartthings
A
Userlevel 2
Badge +3
Hi
Can you add me to this request. I’ve just set up two lovely new Play Ones and Alexa’s voice is booming out at me when I make a request. Hope this can be sorted as the volume is way too loud.
Thanks
S
Userlevel 1
Badge
I’m also having this issue. Alexa’s voice is often much louder than the volume the Sonos One is set to. It actually fluctuates sometimes too... the voice is loud one sentence, and then quieter with the next.
G
Userlevel 2
Badge +2
This really problematic. First I want my music to be louder than the Alexa voice the way it is set, the Alexa voice is about 10 db louder than the music. It makes it almost unusable for me, certainly while there are other people around.
B
Userlevel 2
That's my one real criticism as well. Alexa is far too loud.
S
Userlevel 1
Me too. Its waaaay too loud (compared to music) for me to use it. It could be annoying to others in the house, particularly early morning/evening. There should be a way to set up Alexa's volume, e.g. relative to the music or fixed etc.
U
Userlevel 1
Omg I just bought a Sonos one and I’m thinking of taking it back because the loudness of the beep and Alexa voice. I have an echo and a spot and a dot and when I say Alexa all I hear is the booming beep from Sonos One - it’s so loud sometimes it scares me. They really need a setting to limit the volume regardless of the sonos one volume if not disable the beep all together. This is a FATAL flaw.
S
Userlevel 1
Just received my Sonos Beam yesterday, and overall I'm supremely impressed with it - my first Sonos product (gateway speaker maybe?) and love almost everything about it. However, I can confirm that the same issue is prevalent with the Beam too - namely the Alexa voice is way way way louder than anything else I am playing on the Beam; intrusively so. Adding my voice to the chorus of people highlighting this as a major issue, especially as Alexa integration is being sold hard as a key feature of the Beam. Again, this is a tremendous product, and hopefully Sonos can fix the Alexa voice volume, rather than having it be a fatal flaw. (Interesting that none of the glowing reviews I read/watched (and I read/watched many) picked up on this).
J
Userlevel 1
Hi, as people asked already, does anyone know an ETA on a fix for this?
M
Userlevel 1
JUMPING ON - help - this is clearly a prob for many, and effectively eliminates being able to use the system in evenings - the majority time that i am home and want to use the system. Sonos pls provide ETA on providing a fix.
M
Userlevel 3
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.
Is there any sign that the abovementioned issue will be fixed anytime soon? Sonos is releasing the Beam and I'd really like to buy it - but I don't want another device with Alexa shouting at me all the time :8
M
Userlevel 3
Hi, Edward. Thanks a lot for your feedback. I look forward to get an update on my Sonos One that's going to fix this issue.

Another recent problem is music playing from amazon stopping without any reason. I set up the Sonos Skill for Alexa and the Alexa voice assistant as advised in some other posts. Unfortunatelly it didn't solve the problem. Is there a known issue explaining this problem?
Edward R
Userlevel 7
Badge +20
Hi, M Z. Welcome to the community. This is a popular topic at the moment and we have received quite a bit of feedback regarding this. We are currently exploring options as to how to remedy this, so your input is much appreciated. Should this be introduced, we will announce it, but that is all the information we have available until such time, I'm afraid. Please let us know if there is anything else we can do for you. Many thanks.
O
Alexa volume and tone control are essential. I'm starting to wish I'd bought a Dot instead. No voice notifications, no drop in... feels like I've been cheated out of some basic features (even if it is beautiful and better for music)

Is work underway to address these things?
Ryan S
Userlevel 7
Badge +26
We're doing a lot of work with the Alexa team on the Sonos One, and for the Sonos Beam that was just announced. So you'll keep on seeing new features and the experience improving. When it comes to Alexa's replies, she should reply at an average volume, based on the current volume setting of your speaker. So if your Sonos One is at volume 70, she'll be a lot louder than if the speaker was set to 20. If you had the speaker on mute, the volume is still "set" to the volume it was at before you muted it.
Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.
P
When it comes to Alexa's replies, she should reply at an average volume, based on the current volume setting of your speaker. So if your Sonos One is at volume 70, she'll be a lot louder than if the speaker was set to 20.

Due to thin walls between me and my neigbours, I tend to play my music around the 12-15% range, but Alexa's voice is still far far too loud for comfort. I've pretty much stopped using Alexa now because of the volume.
P
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?

Hi Ryan, just tried it now at both 2% and 15%. Alexa voice appears to be exactly the same volume for both. All my listening is from my local NAS-stored collection. Thanks.
Ken_Griffiths
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.
Forgetting the music side of things for one minute. Try this...

Say...
“Alexa, set your volume to 1” ... then ask Alexa the time.
then say ...
“Alexa, set your volume to 5” ... then ask Alexa the time again.

If the Alexa volume does not change, then there is a problem.

I would switch off the power to the device for 30 seconds and switch it back on and try it again.
M
This serious problem has been reported for over a year. The fix is to separate the music volume from the Alexa volume, i.e. provide two separate, independent settings. Jesus Christ, will you just get it done? What's the matter with you, Sonos?
I
I just set up my Beam and instantly noticed this problem. Alexa voice is simply too loud to use in a quiet house at night. Please can the dev team sort this. Thanks.
L
Have to agree .. just got Sonos Beam to add to my system and Alexa is soooooooo loud. Cannot use at night with kids in bed
Ken_Griffiths
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!
You can also say...
“Alexa, set your volume to (integer)” where (integer) is a simple whole number value between 1 and 10.

10 is obviously Alexa's max volume.
Terms & ConditionsCookie settings