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Microphone sensitivity for the “Alexa” wake word is low

K
I still have to use either, but here is the Stuff magazine take on this, from their review:
"Finally, Alexa seems to be less responsive on the Sonos One, at least compared to the Echo, meaning you have to speak a little bit louder for it to hear you. Considering my Echo will sometimes pick up an unintended ‘Alexa’ reference while I’m chatting in another room, this probably isn’t as significant a shortcoming as it sounds.
Read more at https://www.stuff.tv/sonos/one/review#RDh9IciKOQwAQ2K0.99

But something that is a concern that Sonos ought to look at, if what you say is more applicable.
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Best answer by Ryan S 20 December 2017, 23:30

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262 replies

Ryan S
Userlevel 7
Badge +26
We appreciate the input everyone, and we’ve received the feedback on voice recognition sensitivity with Sonos One. The team is hard at work making cloud software updates to improve the experience, and will continue to make additional updates as needed.

The Sonos One is a smart speaker, and as with all of Sonos, is designed to get better over time.
Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.
T
Badge
having the problem here and i muted the One's mic function and switch back to my echo dot for voice commands.
M
+1 same issue here - i think is very bad that Sonos has not yet fixed this.
N
Terrible experience, my sonos one is on my bedside table and it still doesn't respond unless I shout! sometimes it says it's playing something and nothing happens? Also won't turn on other sonos speakers....This might just be going back!
G
It took me ages to to get the wife to agree to get the Sonos. the amount of flak I've taken since getting it is not worth the hassle. telling everyone that you are getting the best speaker out there and with Alexa to boot which then turns into a new sport of the wife showing all her friends just how useless me and Alexa are is not much fun. If you can't get the shouting issue sorted can I suggest you get Alexa to understand swear words instead ? let me know if you need help with the words as I am fast becoming an expert !!!!!!
S
Userlevel 1
I'd like to "echo" what has been said here. This product has potential to be great but poor support will let it down , come on Sonos, get this sorted quickly!
L
Same here. The mic doesn’t work most of the time. If you have to repeat you command 3 times, it is close to useless.
D
Userlevel 1
We appreciate the input everyone, and we’ve received the feedback on voice recognition sensitivity with Sonos One. The team is hard at work making cloud software updates to improve the experience, and will continue to make additional updates as needed.

When, Ryan, when is this going to be solved? A week, a month, a year? Just saying it will be better somewhere in the future is not good enough.
S
I did some follow up testing. I placed my Echo Dot next to my Sonos One and went into the other room about ten feet away. With my back to the Dot I was able to speak in a normal voice and control it. I then switched to the Sonos One and standing in the same location and facing the same direction I was unable to get Alexa to respond even when yelling. I pretty much have to be a few feet away facing the speaker for it to hear me. I'm curious how the microphone layout in the One compares to the Echo. I know that it's being said that this is a software issue, but I still wonder....

We appreciate the input everyone, and we’ve received the feedback on voice recognition sensitivity with Sonos One. The team is hard at work making cloud software updates to improve the experience, and will continue to make additional updates as needed.

When, Ryan, when is this going to be solved? A week, a month, a year? Just saying it will be better somewhere in the future is not good enough.
chicks
Tested vs a Dot. When i say "Alexa" in a normal voice, Dot will always trigger, from 15' across the room, while I'm facing the One from 3' away, which doesn't. Have to raise my voice, usually until I'm shouting, unless I'm within a foot of the One. Seriously deficient, hard to understand how it was released like this.
K
No experience of the One, but I am very impressed by just how well Dot - or even Echo - does this even in a room that isn't a very quiet one. With some complaining about over sensitivity, this seems like a bit of a challenge for Sonos. One consolation for buyers is having paid just what was the price of the play 1 till the One release and the easy cure of this issue by adding a Dot.
V
Same issue here. extremely annoying. And Sonos saying this will get better in time is just not good enough. Can Sonos explain how this is linked to cloud in any way. I think this is to do with mic sensitivity.
C
Just got the Sonos one after enjoying experience with Dot. I can't believe how terrible the experience is with Sonos. I've been so pleased with their products in the past (own several Ones w/o Alexa, Playbar, and Sub) and this is the first disappoint. So bad in fact, that it isn't worth keeping...
AjTrek1
Userlevel 7
I have lived with the Sonos One since release date. In fact I have two in stereo pair. My observations thus far....

1. No difficulty with the Sonos One and Alexa picking up my voice when in the same room. Full disclosure they are in my bedroom which is much smaller in size than other rooms in the house. Also, there is no ambient noise to cause interference.

2. I can direct the Sonos One to play music (streaming Amazon Music or Sirius XM) in any room without it playing in the bedroom. Likewise I can stream Amazon Music to one room and Sirius XM to the bedroom simultaneously.

3. When I first setup the Sonos One I had difficulty getting it to control my Hue lights. So introduced my Echo Dot which for some reason made everything work. I also changed the wake command on the Echo Dot to Amazon. Everything still worked as I could play music through the Sonos One and control the lights. Now B4 you call me an idiot...I did correct the setup to be able to use the Sonos One's to control my Hue lights without the Echo Dot. In fact the Dot isn't on line.

Reference 3 above...Although, I can't prove or disprove my theory I think the Sonos One needs to be setup properly so that no Echo product is required to make it work. If the Sonos One and an Echo product are in the same room (with Alexa as the wake command for both) the Echo product maybe overriding the Sonos One. As I said I can't prove or disprove my theory but it's worth a try if you are using both in the same room or using an Echo product as a go-between to control one of the Sonos One Alexa skills.
Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.
S
While using the Dot does work much better, the main reason I purchased the Sonos One was so music would default to playing on my Sonos when using Alexa. I have a child and he and his friends are always asking Alexa to play music. With the Dot you can't configure music to play out of the Sonos by default, you have to specify which Sonos speaker you want the music to play on. Trying to get kids to remember to do that is a never ending battle. It always results in music being played on the Dot itself. It would be great to be able to select the Sonos speakers to be the primary speakers until they resolve the microphone issue.

No experience of the One, but I am very impressed by just how well Dot - or even Echo - does this even in a room that isn't a very quiet one. With some complaining about over sensitivity, this seems like a bit of a challenge for Sonos. One consolation for buyers is having paid just what was the price of the play 1 till the One release and the easy cure of this issue by adding a Dot.
M
Same problem here, unless I use my John Lovitz Master Thespian voice. So incredibly bummed, I was SO stoked for how streamlined my Alexa/Sonos experience was going to be, but now...it's just terrible. And for some reason, I'm a bit wary of Ryan's "it's gonna be a software fix" assurances. I only have a few weeks to return this since I purchased it on Amazon, and boy, is my wife gonna laugh at me if I'm forced to do so. -sigh- Kinda wish Amazon had just really upped their sound quality game with the most recent releases.
D
Userlevel 3
Badge +4
I can't believe it's going to be a software fix either. To give you more time you could return it to Amazon as it's defective and buy another one from Sonos to get the 100 day return window.

Same problem here, unless I use my John Lovitz Master Thespian voice. So incredibly bummed, I was SO stoked for how streamlined my Alexa/Sonos experience was going to be, but now...it's just terrible. And for some reason, I'm a bit wary of Ryan's "it's gonna be a software fix" assurances. I only have a few weeks to return this since I purchased it on Amazon, and boy, is my wife gonna laugh at me if I'm forced to do so. -sigh- Kinda wish Amazon had just really upped their sound quality game with the most recent releases.
nicka99
Userlevel 7
Badge +17
unless they have the identical mic hardware as an echo I dont think it can be linked to software alone so am also wary of these statements. Im holding off my purchase until the feedback from the many sources that have commented on this issue (press reviews, amazon reviews, this forum) tell of an improved situation.
J
Sensitivity to wake word is also my only, but huge disappointment. I hope to hear some news on an update, as it gets a little more irritating each day. I may ultimately return it to Amazon.
S
Userlevel 1
I got an update today. Seems to have improved the sensitivty. Still not perfect but defintitely better.
F
I honestly don’t think this is just microphone sensitivity issue.

I have the same problems and have more success if I raise my voice to say Alexa (often with the Dot in the bedroom responding!).

But I also have a lot of weird beeps throughout the day from both of my the Sonos One as if it heard Alexa while I am talking or while the TV plays. Basically, the Sonos One is getting a lot of false positives. I check my Alexa logs and there are about a dozen recordings of it listening and misunderstanding no one said “Alexa”. It’s a complaint on several threads.

I suspect turning up mic gain on the Sonos is easy for a developer. A change could be made in under a day for that. The problem is that now it hears more background noise and errant sounds... and very likely now cause a lot more people to hear freaky recording beeps.

I suspect the Sonos algorithm to phonetically detect the ALEXA keyword is not as advanced or fleshed out as Amazon’s.
L
Just received my Sonos One today, and I agree that it is much less sensitive to my commands than my other Echo devices.

I saw a reply in this thread from Sonos mentioning that the sensitivity is controlled by software. It would be helpful to hear from Sonos regarding any kind of status on the fix/update. Thanks!

Also, great work on the update to support voice controls for Spotify, Sonos team!
J
Same problems with Alexa wake word sensitivity, I thought it was a fault with the hardware, shouting Alexa 3 to 4 times then moving within 1 inch of the speaker to repeat, was not part of the deal, returning if not fixed in the next 90 days.
D
Userlevel 1
Is sonos still working on the topic or did You give up?
K
I’m have lost all hope this this released Sonos One. Very concerned now the bad name Sonos is getting my many investments into my house full of speaker will be a total loss in value. I will look at returning my 2 new play ones. Will be calling to return Monday. I may start dumping others as well. Had a house full of family and Alexa just would not do like always what I had to yell at her from 5 feet away. I was part of the preorder. I was confident it was going to be get to remove my echos and convert my play1s to ones. I just got a couple couple google homes and based on reviews I may just remove all the Alexa’s also from my house.
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