Best answer by Ryan S
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How to activate Alexa mics on Sonos One surrounds?
I have a Beam with two Sonos One surrounds, and it's my understanding that the mics on the Sonos Ones are by default OFF, and that the Beam is the only one with mic input for Alexa. Is there a way to turn on the mics on the Ones? I ask because I'm usually closer to the Ones than the Beam when using Alexa, and Alexa on the Beam usually has trouble hearing me (I usually have to yell). Thanks!
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The whole Sonos/Amazon Echo integration is a farce. It simple doesn't work in the way anyone would actually use it. When I bought my One the intention was to get Sonos around my entire house, complimenting my Alexa's. All it does though, is compete with it and bring everything to a grinding halt. The Speakers in the garden (connected to a Sonos Connect:Amp for not a small amount of money), which has no Alexa capability, dims the sound when my 7 year old daughter asks the Alexa in her bedroom 30 metres away and on a different floor of the house to play unicorn songs! It's a joke! There was no thought put into the implementation at all, and despite these well documented faults, they are continuing to integrate it into more devices.
I am looking to get rid of my Sonos completely. I have better things to do than constantly fiddle with it because their developers can't build a robust system.
I am looking to get rid of my Sonos completely. I have better things to do than constantly fiddle with it because their developers can't build a robust system.
Userlevel 1
I absolutely agree....
This is really poor that when using Sonos Ones as surround speakers, then Alexa is not an option to use on them.
This is really poor that when using Sonos Ones as surround speakers, then Alexa is not an option to use on them.
Userlevel 3
+1
I was truly disappointed when, after spending nearly $1000 on Sonos gear, I found my Sonos Ones crippled once I added the Beam. I bought the Sonos Ones and a Beam specifically for full room coverage with Alexa. The One's are marketed as one of the best Alexa speakers on the market. There is no mention that Sonos would disable Alexa if you used them in a surround setup.
Sonos seemed to offer such a great, versatile system: you could use the Beam and Ones as a brilliant sounding 5.x surround setup; you could switch over to music and they would work together to fill your room; you would have three top-of-the-line smart speakers with sensitive microphones to pick up Alexa commands around your room. Except for the last part. We have to yell across the room to have the Beam pick up our voice when the One's are sitting 6" behind our head.
Please Sonos, at least give us the option to turn Alexa on/off on the Ones in a surround setup. If the choice is to enable Alexa on the surrounds without the ability turn on/off my TV, or remove Alexa from the surrounds completely, I'll gladly choose the former. I use Alexa far, far more than I use Sonos to turn on/off my TV.
I hope you can fix this and bring out the full value in our Sonos systems.
Thanks!
Sonos seemed to offer such a great, versatile system: you could use the Beam and Ones as a brilliant sounding 5.x surround setup; you could switch over to music and they would work together to fill your room; you would have three top-of-the-line smart speakers with sensitive microphones to pick up Alexa commands around your room. Except for the last part. We have to yell across the room to have the Beam pick up our voice when the One's are sitting 6" behind our head.
Please Sonos, at least give us the option to turn Alexa on/off on the Ones in a surround setup. If the choice is to enable Alexa on the surrounds without the ability turn on/off my TV, or remove Alexa from the surrounds completely, I'll gladly choose the former. I use Alexa far, far more than I use Sonos to turn on/off my TV.
I hope you can fix this and bring out the full value in our Sonos systems.
Thanks!
I have the same issue. Since I added my Play 1's as surrounds my Beam (which was very responsive) now doesnt hear me very well at all. I have to get up and go and speak to it close quarters !
Userlevel 1
I am having exactly the same problem too. Beam never hears me. Especially when playing music or tv. It should not be hard to have the ability to pass voice command from one to beam and beam to tv with a software update.
Userlevel 7
+26
This would work for everything but with the Beam and Sonos Ones.
When bonded with a Beam, Sonos Ones will have Alexa disabled on them. We found during testing that the best experience was when the Sonos Ones microphones were turned off. CEC based Alexa commands don't work through the Sonos One, so if those were hearing your commands instead of the Beam, it wouldn't pass them to the TV. I'll pass the word along to the team that you'd like to be able to turn the microphones back on, and more importantly, that the Beam is having trouble hearing you. That shouldn't be the case.
You might want to give us a call on our support line and see if they can help get the setup cleaned up a bit and improve the Beam's listening.
Userlevel 7
+20
As soon as you Enable the Sonos skill within Alexa then all Sonos Alexa devices have the capability to take voice commands. Can you please open the Sonos App>Settings>Room Settings>{Your Sonos One} and ensure that Voice Services are Enabled? If not please click Enabled and follow the prompts.
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