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Audreyc
Contributor I
August 8, 2018
Answered

Beam sound issues due to name

  • August 8, 2018
  • 3 replies
  • 667 views
We are thrilled with our new Beam Apart from a slight issue. Whenever anyone on the TV uses a word anything remotely like Alexa, the sound in the TV goes off for a few seconds whilst the Beam is waiting for an instruction . It really is very frustrating...I’ve just been in to try to change the wake word on the Beam and can’t..Does anyone else have the issue with sound drop outs like this? Surely this is an issue that needs sorting promptly?
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    Best answer by UKMedia
    The drop in volume, or ducking as it is also known as, is a feature of Alexa devices to enable it to clearly hear commands after it is triggered. The quantity of false triggers is dropping and has improved greatly on the Sonos One, as the device is tweaked and Alexa learns. I would expect the same to occur with the Beam.

    3 replies

    UKMedia
    UKMediaAnswer
    August 10, 2018
    The drop in volume, or ducking as it is also known as, is a feature of Alexa devices to enable it to clearly hear commands after it is triggered. The quantity of false triggers is dropping and has improved greatly on the Sonos One, as the device is tweaked and Alexa learns. I would expect the same to occur with the Beam.
    Remember: Sometimes Red Wine helps :)
    sagan1100
    Contributor I
    August 22, 2018
    I've had this problem as well. After contacting support and doing various things to try and fix it (unsuccessfully), it appears this is an issue if you are using the optical cable for sound output from your TV to the Beam. If you are using the HMDI-ARC configuration, then the Beam apparently ignores TV output with regards to Alexa. If you are like me and and have an older TV without ARC support and have to use the optical input, then the Beam does not see the sound from the Beam as coming from the Beam and Alexa will trigger from TV audio.

    He did mention that the more people that report the issue, the higher probability that their engineering team will look closer at the problem. To me it seems like something that could be addressed with a software patch.
    Nedgley123
    Lyricist I
    November 1, 2018
    I use HDMI Arc and am experiencing the same issue, so optical is not the issue. This happens every time I use the Beam, so every day.
    More worrying is the occasional and severe ‘crackling’sound through the Beam when watching and listening to the tv. This happens several times weekly and means I have to stop watching the tv, switch off and switch on again.
    I own 8 Sonos speakers and Beam was the last purchase. It is the least impressive Sonos product I have purchased. It can be patchy as mentioned, plus the ‘Alexa’ issue and this from the only Sonos product that is hard wired to the source from which the issues stem.
    Wireless perfected but wired an issue??
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