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Microphone sensitivity for the “Alexa” wake word is low

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Ryan S
Userlevel 7
Badge +26
@Davehopper, just checking but have you tried turning off the mic and turning it back on with the press of the button on top?

Also, not sure if you heard, but the Sonos One will be getting Google Assistant later this year. The date hasn't been released yet.
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D
I absolutely love the build quality and sound on my Sonos One but I’ve got the same issue with the mic sensitivity too low.
Even when playing music at volume level 2 I have to shout Alexa 3 or 4 times before it hears me from the next room. Also I’ve noticed Alexa on this device is rubbish at Spotify requests. I have a Google Home in another room and if I ask that for a song on Spotify it says sure playing on Spotify where the Alexa will say I’m unable to find that song on Spotify and I have type the name of the song in the Spotify app. I have also noticed the Google Home is far better at answering follow up questions. Will probably return the One while still in return period and try again in a few months.
Ryan S
Userlevel 7
Badge +26
Sonos support team- pls look into this, stopping and restarting the mic fixes the issue, but before I did this it had deteriorated severely.

The team's already on it.

Weird. That actually seemed to make a difference.

We've had a few more reports of this coming up, and the solution for them all has been turning the mic off and back on. If anyone else is having trouble, please do that and let us know how it goes. Also, if it comes up again.
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Master T
Userlevel 6
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Weird. That actually seemed to make a difference.
J
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I was surprised it made such a difference, the Ones had become almost unusable. Hopefully going forward this will not be necessary.

Agreed, they are back to be being very responsive even at reasonable volume.

Sonos support team- pls look into this, stopping and restarting the mic fixes the issue, but before I did this it had deteriorated severely.

Thx
K
I was surprised it made such a difference, the Ones had become almost unusable. Hopefully going forward this will not be necessary.
J
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Turning the mic off and on again seems to work..!
J
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I have Dot 40 feet away from Sonos One and I can be standing 3 feet from the Sonos One and the Dot that is 40 feet away will respond to me. My Sonos One is in the kitchen and I like to use it as a timer. However, I find that I have to get right next to it in order for it to hear me and not the Dot from the other room.
This will be a problem for many for a long time, I suspect. Even the Dot suffers from this if not adequately separated from the speaker being used for it. When separation is provided, it does very well and for the same reason, much better than what the Echo, that must always lack this separation, does.

The point is, it was great after the update, now recently when music is playing its stopped hearing me..
K
I have Dot 40 feet away from Sonos One and I can be standing 3 feet from the Sonos One and the Dot that is 40 feet away will respond to me. My Sonos One is in the kitchen and I like to use it as a timer. However, I find that I have to get right next to it in order for it to hear me and not the Dot from the other room.
This will be a problem for many for a long time, I suspect. Even the Dot suffers from this if not adequately separated from the speaker being used for it. When separation is provided, it does very well and for the same reason, much better than what the Echo, that must always lack this separation, does.
Master T
Userlevel 6
Badge +9
Something has definitely changed. I've been away for a few days, so I can't put my finger on exactly when, but I caught myself yelling at the One(s) today on several occasions. Surprised, I came here looking for ideas. I'll try the ideas suggested above tomorrow when I have a chance.
J
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It’s only when music is playing for me, when there’s no music it seems fine. It was ok after the update, but then stopped hearing me when music was playing a week or 10 days ago
Ryan S
Userlevel 7
Badge +26
Thanks for the reports guys, we'd love to look into this further. I've checked in and there shouldn't have been any changes recently. The team will be looking into this just in case something changed.

Can you please check something for us? Next time this happens, where you have to yell, can you go to https://alexa.amazon.com/spa/index.html and select the card for that command? Then, press on the play icon next to "Alexa heard:..." and it'll replay what the microphone heard.

Is the replay covered up by a lot of music?

I noticed the sensitivity getting worse in the last few days and was able to fix it by turning the mic off and on again on the device. Worked for both of my Ones.
This would be a good test as well.
Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.
K
I noticed the sensitivity getting worse in the last few days and was able to fix it by turning the mic off and on again on the device. Worked for both of my Ones.
J
Badge
100% something has changed. After the update was very good, now have to shout again. Not good!
R
Yes, something has changed. Not to the better. I now have to shout at Alexa when music is playing. Ive first noticed this a couple of days ago.
J
Yes, the sensitivity while audio is playing is poor. I have Dot 40 feet away from Sonos One and I can be standing 3 feet from the Sonos One and the Dot that is 40 feet away will respond to me. My Sonos One is in the kitchen and I like to use it as a timer. However, I find that I have to get right next to it in order for it to hear me and not the Dot from the other room.
M
Userlevel 3
Anyone else noticing that the sensitivity while audio is playing seems to have deteriorated since the big update? Sensitivity in a quiet room is still great, but the last few days I’m noticing that I’m back to shouting if anything is playing.
D
Bought the one for Christmas and it is still having the same problems with slow response when it does hear me, which is far less that the dot and echo I already have.
S
Ok so bought the Sonos One to replace our Echo Gen 2, we used alexa on it for about half a day and reverted back to Echo device. I’ve installed the update tonight but it’s too late to test, will enable Alexa on the one again tomorrow and report back.

I can confirm I have spent the day with this and its improved that much that I have set the echo gen two keyboard to Echo is I can use it for drop-in and I am using the Sonos as he main "Alexa" now. Nice one Sonos.
K
The Apple unit won't do as well as a 1/One pair. The physics/brain response of/to separated speakers for the stereo imaging illusion is not easily defeated.

What will be interesting to see is how two Apple boxes in one room sound together; Apple claims that each responds to the presence of the other and shapes its sound for overall better performance of the two together without saying that they stereo pair. Time will tell how that compares to a Sonos pair, though at the USD 700 price for the Apple pair, only the 5 pair will be more expensive.
chicks
Now that Alexa works so well on the One, I grabbed another one, open box at Best Buy for $165. Perfect condition, probably returned by someone frustrated with the (vanquished) Alexa issue. Score! Now have a stereo pair of Ones in the dining/kitchen area. Sound fantastic together, highly doubt that the upcoming $350 Apple widget will compare, especially in stereo imaging.
S
Ok so bought the Sonos One to replace our Echo Gen 2, we used alexa on it for about half a day and reverted back to Echo device. I’ve installed the update tonight but it’s too late to test, will enable Alexa on the one again tomorrow and report back.
S
I also updated to the latest software and am experiencing much better Alexa response. It is significantly better than before. I’m now able to remove the Dot I was using.

Faith in Sonos is restored! I still think there's room for improvement (and it's still early days) but this update improves things massively for me.
J
Faith in Sonos is restored! I still think there's room for improvement (and it's still early days) but this update improves things massively for me.
chicks
What Radio Paradise like skill is missing? It plays fine on my Dot wired to a Connect Amp even just now.

It works via TuneIn, but there’s a RP Alexa skill, which can be set to stream FLAC, which doesn’t work at all on the One. Won’t do FLAC on the Dot, but will on original Echo.

“Alexa, open Radio Paradise”
Welcome to Radio Paradise! Then silence, on the One.
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