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yossie
Trending Lyricist I
December 10, 2022
Answered

ARC (when playing TV via ARC) goes quiet for ~15 seconds after Alexa command.

  • December 10, 2022
  • 30 replies
  • 907 views

My setup: ARC + 2 x oneSL (surround.)  My ARC is defined as a Speaker in Alexa.  It is not in the same group as the Echo.

When watching TV, if I say ‘Alexa turn on lights’ - it does - and provides audio feedback via Echo speaker.  BUT, then the sound coming from ARC goes and stays very low for ~15 seconds before returning to normal.  If I say ‘Alexa stop’ during this period, the volume pops right back up.  This seems to happen if the music is coming from the Echo as well (though, in this case, saying ‘echo stop’ actually stops the music too.)

My Echo is located behind my head, close to me, and it is the one that answers - not the Sonos speaker, when I talk to it.  Alexa audio playback happens, as desired, on the Sonos.

Thanks for any and all assistance in fixing this uniquely annoying issue.

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Best answer by yossie

I removed the Alexa voice assistant from my ARC altogether (shows no voice assistant.)

I deleted the Sonos Device and Speaker from my Echo .  I left the Sonos skill installed.

On my echo I added a “speaker” - re-discovered the ARC, and verified that the ARC is now a speaker in my Echo Group.

I validated the follow-up is disabled on the Echo.

I reset (unplugged) both devices.

I still get the ~15 second “ducking” on my ARC after my Echo answers a question:

  • me: echo, play radio station
  • echo: playing radio station on sonos
  • sonos: starts playing
  • me: echo what time is it
  • echo: it is XX:XX
  • sonos: volume drops very low ~15 seconds before returning to normal

Followup:  Once I removed the Sonos from the Echo Group, but left it as the default speaker, things appear to work right now.

30 replies

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Ken_Griffiths
Ken_Griffiths
December 13, 2022

Do you have ‘brief mode’ enabled in the voice responses area of the Alexa app?

yossieAuthor
Trending Lyricist I
December 13, 2022

I DO have brief mode selected.  I didn’t have whisper mode, but I will turn it on, though I can’t imagine how it might impact this issue.

Ken_Griffiths
Ken_Griffiths
December 13, 2022

I DO have brief mode selected.  I didn’t have whisper mode, but I will turn it on, though I can’t imagine how it might impact this issue.

No I doubt Whisper mode would have any bearing - I take it you have checked the properties of both the Arc Alexa component and the echo device to ensure ‘follow-up’ mode is disabled on both those devices?

Ken_Griffiths
Ken_Griffiths
December 13, 2022

Maybe post a screenshot of your relevant Alexa ‘enabled’ group too so I can take a glance and see if I can see anything else that maybe the cause.

yossieAuthor
Trending Lyricist I
December 13, 2022

I have disabled followup on my Echo (Devices->Echo and Alexa->Living Room Echo->GEAR->Follow-up Mode - OFF.

Where is “Arc Alexa component” to be found?  My ARC has no voice assistant defined at this time so the ARC shows up in Alexa as a Speaker connected Via Sonos with no GEAR.

Ken_Griffiths
Ken_Griffiths
December 13, 2022

I have disabled followup on my Echo (Devices->Echo and Alexa->Living Room Echo->GEAR->Follow-up Mode - OFF.

Where is “Arc Alexa component” to be found?  My ARC has no voice assistant defined at this time so the ARC shows up in Alexa as a Speaker connected Via Sonos with no GEAR.

Ah yes, didn’t you uninstall that component?

Whilst it’s not installed you cannot add it to the first section controlling area of the Alexa enabled group - it’s a component that is usually embedded inside the speaker room name in the device list - give me a minute and I will see if I can create an animation to post here to show you precisely what you should see… i may need to edit things though to hide my address etc. 

Ken_Griffiths
Ken_Griffiths
December 13, 2022

So my Arc is called ‘Living Room’ and in the animation it’s shown with a green arrow in the Alexa device list - if I select it, it then shows the Alexa component (embedded) called ‘Sonos Living Room Alexa’ (the name I assigned to it) so that’s where you will see the follow-up mode as ‘off’ for that device, but it needs the assistant in place to put the Arc - Living Room - into the controlling section of the Alexa ‘enabled’ Group. Hope that makes sense and that the ‘rough & ready’ animation attached is self explanatory.

Ken_Griffiths
Ken_Griffiths
December 13, 2022

@yossie,
You can perhaps refer back to my much earlier post to see where ‘Living Room’ (Arc) is placed in the controlling area of the Alexa Group (screenshot).

In my use-case, the Arc just ‘ducks’ the playing audio the same as the echo device, to hear the user voice instruction and then the TV audio returns immediately with little, or no, delay - there’s no 15s delay and it certainly does not stay ducked any longer than the echo dot in my setup.

yossieAuthor
Trending Lyricist I
December 13, 2022

So my Arc is called ‘Living Room’ and in the animation it’s shown with a green arrow in the Alexa device list.

Meaning that you have Alexa voice assistant installed on the ARC.  I don’t.  I am trying to use it as a speaker only.  I will keep on trying..

Ken_Griffiths
Ken_Griffiths
December 13, 2022

So my Arc is called ‘Living Room’ and in the animation it’s shown with a green arrow in the Alexa device list.

Meaning that you have Alexa voice assistant installed on the ARC.  I don’t.  I am trying to use it as a speaker only.  I will keep on trying..

You ‘might’ have to disable the speaker in the Alexa App to achieve the non-ducking outcome in that case, but anyhow hope you manage to sort it.👍

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