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Will Alexa work in a 5.1 Setup with playbar and Ones?

  • 17 September 2018
  • 34 replies
  • 4879 views
R
I have a 5.1 setup with a playbar, 2xPlay1 and subwoofer. Further more some Play Ones in other rooms. Im thinking about replacing the 2xPlay1 with Ones. But will Alexa work in the 5.1 Setup? Or will they have to be "main/primary" for it to work?
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Best answer by Belly M 17 September 2018, 16:44

On the Sonos Amp announcement thread I asked...

Belly M wrote:
What about voice control?
Any plans to enable the mics in Sonos One’s when used as rears?


Ryan replied:
The mics on a pair of Sonos Ones are only disabled when bonded as surrounds with a Beam. They are fully up and running when voice is enabled and they’re being used with a Playbar, Playbase, or Sonos Amp. The Amp also has CEC over HDMI-ARC, the same as the Beam. So you’d be able to use voice control with your TV too, assuming it’s compatible.
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34 replies

T
Badge +2
Hey trymph, the "switch to TV" command will have the Beam or other Sonos home theater device play the TV input, but it won't have any other Sonos players that don't have that input play from a different player. So if you have Sonos Ones with a Playbar, set up as a surround sound setup, you should be able to say "Alexa, switch to TV" and have the Playbar swap over to the TV input. But you won't be able to tell another room to start playing that audio using the voice control.

The button press command is one of the best ways to go other than using the app for this. You may be able to make it work with groups, but make sure you go into the Sonos Settings and under Room Settings > Playbar turn off ungroup on autoplay.
T
Badge +2
Thanks Ryan............will try with groups via sonos but maybe will work on echo (vs Sonos speaker or echo/Play1 combo) anyway I wanted to know what the ungroup on autoplay did so searching found the following: thanks to all community for answers given some research

I’ll try thanks. What is that meant to do though by doing this?
It ensures that any grouping defined in the Sonos app is broken when TV output is detected.
Ken_Griffiths
trymph,

It’s the Amazon Alexa Groups you will need to research. Perhaps start with this link:

https://en.community.sonos.com/announcements-228985/sonos-now-playing-with-alexa-groups-6817588

The only issue is such grouping will auto-group your speaker with the PlayBar and I’m not sure you wish to do that on every occasion, so I still think perhaps pressing and holding the the play/pause button on your Kitchen speaker (when required) might prove to be the best option for your particular given situation.

In any event the grouping options are still worth a read as that may open up lots of options for your Sonos/Alexa setup.
T
Badge +2
trymph,

It’s the Amazon Alexa Groups you will need to research. Perhaps start with this link:

https://en.community.sonos.com/announcements-228985/sonos-now-playing-with-alexa-groups-6817588

The only issue is such grouping will auto-group your speaker with the PlayBar and I’m not sure you wish to do that on every occasion, so I still think perhaps pressing and holding the the play/pause button on your Kitchen speaker (when required) might prove to be the best option for your particular given situation.

In any event the grouping options are still worth a read as that may open up lots of options for your Sonos/Alexa setup.
T
Badge +2
Thanks Ken...will look @alexa groups closely....also the ungrouping auto function...but just tapping play button to hear playbar ON kitchen ONE is alot easier than using sonos app on phone....but now its become a personal challenge....
Regards
K
Userlevel 6
Badge +13
I use l long press on play all over the house, works very well!.
Ken_Griffiths
Thanks Ken...will look @alexa groups closely....also the ungrouping auto function...but just tapping play button to hear playbar ON kitchen ONE is alot easier than using sonos app on phone....but now its become a personal challenge....
RegardsThe Logitech Harmony Hub is capable of doing what you are looking for trymph .. you can set an 'Activity’ to group/ungroup your speakers and also control your TV channels and volume on each of the speakers etc. Otherwise the easiest and cheapest method is 'the button press'.
T
Badge +2
@Ken.....As always thanks for your advise. I added both my Kitchen ONE and Playbar to my Alexa preferred setting in the Kitchen Group. I had also previously turned OFF the ungroup auto play for the playbar in its group or room on sonos app prior (still a bit confused between rooms/groups on alexa vs sonos). When I turned on the TV the Playbar AND my Kitchen ONE both were playing and in sync. When I told Alexa to "stop" she paused the ONE but then resumed playing same audio still as the TV Playbar. When I pressed the play button on the top of ONE audio stopped on the ONE and the led light when green; Playbar unaffected. Later in the evening I asked Alexa the weather with voice and the ONE responded as expected; dont think the TV/Playbar was on at the time however. This is good!
Between my X-1 Xfinity and LG remotes I'd rather not get started with another remote like Harmony. I still have yet to try my Play1/Echo combo in the Den room/group/sonos name. I have a feeling echo works where sonos doesnt based on my experience with the ringdoorbell2 (mentioned b4 that ring says echo skills work but on the drawing board to work similarly with sonos). BTW I also installed the LG "smarthinQ" app in my android samsung phone and registered with amazon & LG where TV does show as a device in alexa app; cant recall if the alexa app sees it as an alexa enabled however FYI.

Regards
T
Badge +2
@Ken.....As always thanks for your advise. I added both my Kitchen ONE and Playbar to my Alexa preferred setting in the Kitchen Group. I had also previously turned OFF the ungroup auto play for the playbar in its group or room on sonos app prior (still a bit confused between rooms/groups on alexa vs sonos). When I turned on the TV the Playbar AND my Kitchen ONE both were playing and in sync. When I told Alexa to "stop" she paused the ONE but then resumed playing same audio still as the TV Playbar. When I pressed the play button on the top of ONE audio stopped on the ONE and the led light when green; Playbar unaffected. Later in the evening I asked Alexa the weather with voice and the ONE responded as expected; dont think the TV/Playbar was on at the time however. This is good!
Between my X-1 Xfinity and LG remotes I'd rather not get started with another remote like Harmony. I still have yet to try my Play1/Echo combo in the Den room/group/sonos name. I have a feeling echo works where sonos doesnt based on my experience with the ringdoorbell2 (mentioned b4 that ring says echo skills work but on the drawing board to work similarly with sonos). BTW I also installed the LG "smarthinQ" app in my android samsung phone and registered with amazon & LG where TV does show as a device in alexa app; cant recall if the alexa app sees it as an alexa enabled however FYI.

Regards

Update... While TV output plays on both the Playbar & Kitchen ONE asking Alexa to stop has no affect; telling Alexa to change to some music source successfully outputs the music to both Playbar & Kitchen with the TV still on. Manually hitting the play button atop the ONE turns it green and stops both Playbar & ONE; TV output to Playbar will resume when i use the TV remote to up the volume while Alexa stays silent with the green light on. Alexa will resume appropriate verbal commands without turning off the TV and playbar stays on TV output while Alexa follows my new audio verbal command. ....Works for me though........just a FYI

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