In my Kitchen I have a Sonos Beam and two Play1’s (not Ones) grouped in a surround set and connected to my Samsung TV via ARC. Works great!
In my Kitchen I also have an Echo Show and because it drove me crazy that both Alexa devices (the Show and the Beam) would switch on when I said Alexa I have turned the Voice control off on the Beam.
I can control my Beam through Voice control on the Show. BUT when I ask for Alexa the Beam and the 2 surrounds do not lower their volumes (ducking) so that Alexa can hear my request. All the Sonos’ in the rest of the house do duck (zone feature please!)
Please advise how I can solve this or is this a design issue that Sonos speakers with built-in speakers do not support ducking?
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+21If you are listing to audio from the TV then the Beam, Playbar and Playbase don't duck.
I have the Beam and it 'ducks' the TV Audio when using the Alexa component that is built directly into the Beam itself ... I assume that it controls that using the HDMI-ARC connection ... I think though that other (separate) Amazon Alexa devices do not duck the Beam, as they currently have no control over the TV audio.
Agreed, regarding TV audio. TV audio will not duck. I'm not a big fan of this as I do want ducking in most cases. Still, I can see the logic since ducking TV audio might be considered a big interruption to what's going on with the video, and users can manually mute the TV if they wish.
It also appears to be true that Sonos devices with built in mics will not duck when playing music sources either. That seems to be the case for me, and that is logical if you assume users are not placing Sonos alexa enabled speakers in the same room as other alexa enabled devices. That clearly isn't everyone though, and there are good reasons for having certain echos (like the show) in the same room.
Sonos could 'fix' this by allowing users to configure whether they want a speaker to duck with any alexa command from a non-Sonos speaker. It's not really the right answer though, as you really want specific speakers to duck based on commands to specific alexa enabled devices. As I understand it, this is something that Amazon needs to do on their side.
It also appears to be true that Sonos devices with built in mics will not duck when playing music sources either. That seems to be the case for me, and that is logical if you assume users are not placing Sonos alexa enabled speakers in the same room as other alexa enabled devices. That clearly isn't everyone though, and there are good reasons for having certain echos (like the show) in the same room.
Sonos could 'fix' this by allowing users to configure whether they want a speaker to duck with any alexa command from a non-Sonos speaker. It's not really the right answer though, as you really want specific speakers to duck based on commands to specific alexa enabled devices. As I understand it, this is something that Amazon needs to do on their side.
Precisely. I want / need the beam to duck when playing music. Hope it gains this function soon. My house is filled to the brim with Sonos and Alexa. Let’s hope they treat their loyal customers properly and appreciate how heavy users like to use their products.
+2Interestingly, my TV in the conservatory which is connected to a Connect:AMP (autoplays on a stereo pair of Play1s) does duck the TV volume when I invoke Alexa, but frustratingly the PLAYBAR connected to the Living Room TV doesn’t 😞
+2Just to articulate my point a bit clearer i’ve recorded an example here, see how Alexa ducks the volume from the Line-In on the Sonos Connect:AMP (which is driving the 2 Play1’s in the room) - i’m unsure why this doesn’t happen with the Playbar when watching TV:
https://youtu.be/R-YCcwoFjk8
https://youtu.be/R-YCcwoFjk8
+26Hi Mayhew, what you're describing is the expected behavior. The TV input on the Playbase and Playbar are currently omitted from the volume lowering unless you have a Sonos One as surrounds for that room. The line-in is not similarily omitted.
+2Hi Ryan,
Thanks for your reply, I know this is expected behaviour - I was merely trying to point out that the limitation seems artificial rather than any particular technical limitation.
Cheers
Guy
Thanks for your reply, I know this is expected behaviour - I was merely trying to point out that the limitation seems artificial rather than any particular technical limitation.
Cheers
Guy
+2Grrrr! Just bought a Sonos Beam and found this annoying bug!
I’ve got the Beam in the bedroom, but I only use Alexa on my Echo Spot as I find the Alexa support better on the amazon hardware. In every other room (even the living room with a PlayBar) it i’m playing music via Alexa on a Sonos speaker and then I invoke Alexa on the Echo it will dip the sound, but with the beam it doesn’t.
Please fix this Sonos as some of us prefer to use Alexa on Echo devices!
I’ve got the Beam in the bedroom, but I only use Alexa on my Echo Spot as I find the Alexa support better on the amazon hardware. In every other room (even the living room with a PlayBar) it i’m playing music via Alexa on a Sonos speaker and then I invoke Alexa on the Echo it will dip the sound, but with the beam it doesn’t.
Please fix this Sonos as some of us prefer to use Alexa on Echo devices!
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