Question

Echo Dot Sonos not working

  • 2 January 2018
  • 7 replies
  • 472 views

My echo dot works by itself and plays music on my Sonos 5 when asked via the inline source but if it’s connected via the cable I can’t get Alexa to talk - help?

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7 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +20
Hi

This is because of the 'ducking' feature with the Echo Dot. Have you connected the Echo Dot to the Play:5 for a specific reason?

The upside is that requested commands output on the Play:5, the downside is that the first few secs of output will be lost due to ducking. If you disconnect the Echo from the Play:5, you can still control Sonos by voice but you will need to include the room name in the command. e.g. 'Alexa, Play x on Kitchen'
I only have a play:5 in the lounge where my dot is - my Sonos 1 is upstairs. I originally thought I had to connect to my Sonos system through an in-line lead as I’d read that the dot required this. Have I got my set up wrong?
Userlevel 7
Badge +20
I only have a play:5 in the lounge where my dot is - my Sonos 1 is upstairs. I originally thought I had to connect to my Sonos system through an in-line lead as I’d read that the dot required this. Have I got my set up wrong?

Hi

Yes, it's a lot easier. 🙂 Once you have completed the Set-up of the Sonos One (Can you confirm that you have a Sonos One and not a Play:1?), then any Echo device can control your Sonos system. There is no need to have the Echo Dot connected via a line-in wire to your Play:5.

The only difference for Voice Control from the Echo Dot compared to your Sonos One is that you need to include the room name of your Sonos player. e.g. 'Alexa, play soft jazz on Lounge Sonos' (I recommend that you use the naming standard Room Name + Device Type e.g. Lounge Sonos, Lounge Echo Dot, Bedroom Sonos, etc)

Remember, if you change any names of your devices log on to the PC version of the Alexa App (https://alexa.amazon.co.uk)>Smart Home>Devices and select 'Forget All', followed by 'Discover' WARNING: If you have set-up Alexa Routines, then this will delete ALL actions from ALL Routines!
Userlevel 2
Badge
People have been complaining about this since October, and Sonos always merely replies we are looking at it.
I suspect they started their Christmas holiday on the 1st of November, and if we are lucky, they may be back at work after Easter
People have been complaining about this since October, and Sonos always merely replies we are looking at it.
I suspect they started their Christmas holiday on the 1st of November, and if we are lucky, they may be back at work after Easter


Perhaps you are right, a major billion dollar corporation has people on vacation from November till April.

Or they are waiting for Amazon to complete the AVS Multi-Room Music SDK that is supposed to be launched soon. This is Amazon's toolkit for fully incorporating 3rd party multi-room speaker systems with Alexa devices. Right now the only thing available is the Connected Speaker APIs, which does not fully address multi-room features.
Userlevel 7
Badge +20
People have been complaining about this since October, and Sonos always merely replies we are looking at it.
I suspect they started their Christmas holiday on the 1st of November, and if we are lucky, they may be back at work after Easter


And for a forum where people are trying to help others, I know where I rank your input to resolving the OP's issue!
Userlevel 7
Badge +26
People have been complaining about this since October, and Sonos always merely replies we are looking at it.
I suspect they started their Christmas holiday on the 1st of November, and if we are lucky, they may be back at work after Easter


As awesome as a holiday that long would be, the team would much rather get things done. There's a lot happening behind the curtain which you might have missed. Most recently the team has been working on bringing Spotify, Flash Briefing, and updates to the Sonos One microphone code into the limelight, which are all now out. Sports Briefing was just made available yesterday for the Sonos One too. They're still working on many things, and getting Ducking just right is one of those things.