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Issuing an Alexa command mutes all Sonos speakers

  • 8 October 2017
  • 8 replies
  • 951 views
S
When music is playing through any of my Sonos speakers, and someone issues a command to the Echo, all Sonos speakers mute. Is there a way to change this? The idea is great, and I'd be perfectly happy were it set up to mute what's playing in the room with my Echo. But if I'm on my rooftop patio, listening to music, and my wife is in the kitchen and asks Alexa to set a timer, it's annoying to have the music I'm listening to mute as well.
I can't seem to find any settings in either the Alexa app, Alexa Sonos Skill settings or Sonos app to control this behavior at all.
It's particularly frustrating when you have a four year old who thinks it's hilarious to repeatedly ask Alexa to tell him a joke. Over and over and over again. So when that happens, it's next to impossible for me to enjoy music on my patio.

Ideally the way I see it, there should be a way to link the effect between specific Echo/Alexa devices and Sonos speakers. (For instance, my house has three echos. There are different Sonos speakers near all of them. So if someone issues a command to the Echo dot in the master bedroom, that Sonos speaker should mute, leaving all others untouched. Or if the command is picked up by the Echo in my living room, than the sound should be muted for the CONNECT that's linked to my receiver in the living room)
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Best answer by Ryan S 10 October 2017, 22:21

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8 replies

C
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I second this. Muting every single zone when a single Alexa device is activated isn’t entirely desirable. I’m currently giving voice commands in the kitchen whilst the volume dips off in the bedroom - not ideal as my baby boy is sleeping in the bedroom under the aide of white noise through a Play 2; he wakes every time this happens. I hope this can be resolved soon.
H
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Me too! Currently listening to music in my study which is constantly music as my youngest son asked Alexa for help with his homework in the kitchen.
K
Badge +1
I wish I had this problem. Mine doesn't mute at all, so Alexa can't hear any commands after the Sonos has been told to play any music!!
G
Agree with this. I have 3 zones with separate Echo dots for each and I can hear the complaints from the other side of the house as I use voice control and mute their speaker for a few seconds. The muting should really be linked to the room you are in as it is not needed elsewhere and is irritating to those affected. Having said that... although voice control is a bit clunky at the moment being a Beta it is pretty clever stuff... Just need it on Deezer now. (Preferably before my Amazon Music Unlimited trial runs out :D)
I
This is a real pain and it's causing mayhem. If I can't find a way to fix it I'll have to remove the Sonos skill. 😞
Ryan S
Userlevel 7
Badge +26
Hi everyone, we answered a similar thread here regarding the ducking feature. It's the same thing you're running into right now. We're currently looking into ways to improve the experience with Amazon.
Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.
G
I have 13 sonos zones in my house and 4 echo dot's. this setup was great until the ducking started. My kids use the dot to control the sonos in their rooms but mutes music in the entire house. There should be a "room" setup for the sono's / echo's so that the ducking only happens on the Sonos's where the echo is residing.
S
To I agree. The echo now allows you to nominate an echo for each room/zone and if the Sonos is in this group. The skill should know to only mute that Sonos in the group. I am developing a skill for the echo. And when I am doing my testing with multiple phrase entries. I am driving my eldest son insane because of this feature
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