Enthusiast II

Answered

Ducking

Forum|Forum|8 years ago
October 17, 2017
48 replies
4926 views

Reluctantly, I disabled the Alexa skill for Sonos today. The whole house ducking was causing too many complaints form everyone in the house. Ducking a Sonos speaker in a room so far away from the person using Alexa just doesn't make sense. I really would like to use voice commands with Sonos; but I guess I will have to wait even longer for Sonos to correct this problem.

I have three Echo dots connected to Sonos either through line-in jacks or Connects. This was originally done to work around the Audible issue. The bonus of doing this was that all output from the Dots sounded great going through the Sonos speakers. Even, simple things like: "Alexa, what is the weather?" sound very good. Well, they don't with ducking, because you can't hear them at all now.

Perhaps the long-term fix is to assign Alexa devices to specific Sonos products. A short-term fix would be to add the option of turning ducking off. I would be willing to accept that Alexa might not be able to hear me with this option.

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Best answer by Keith N

Hi there, mwiseman. Thanks for checking in. No news to share regarding this just yet. In the meantime, be sure to keep current on Sonos Controller app updates!

I will be sure to update this thread with any new information as it becomes available.

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Chris

Lead Maestro

Hopefully we see something soon. Sonos has publically stated they wish to resolve this correctly

Respect the Queue (2)Move (3)Beam (1) Era100 (2)ARC (1)SonosOne (1)Playbar (4)Play5 (4)Play1 (3)Play3 (1)Port (2)Connect (1) Roam (2) Ace (1)Connect:Amp (4)Sonos Amp (1)Sub + (9) Echo + Smartthings; (2)Play)

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jnak

Prominent Collaborator I

With the proliferation of Alexa devices, this ducking has become a major annoyance. We have five Sonos zones including one Sonos One, two Echo Dots, and now an Ecobee Switch+ with Alexa. Our family room TV plays through a Sonos Connect:Amp. So if the kids are watching TV, and I ask the Swtich+ in the bedroom about the weather, the sound on the TV ducks. Very, very annoying. I understand that Alexa doesn't know where each Sonos is, so it just ducks them all. But it can't be that hard to group or link a Sonos zone to a specific Alexa device, so the ducking is tied to that device?

Chris

Lead Maestro

Not hard but requires pieces to be done at both Sonos and Amazon levels in order to provide functionality and the facilities to make that grouping. And they have said they are working on just that.

Respect the Queue (2)Move (3)Beam (1) Era100 (2)ARC (1)SonosOne (1)Playbar (4)Play5 (4)Play1 (3)Play3 (1)Port (2)Connect (1) Roam (2) Ace (1)Connect:Amp (4)Sonos Amp (1)Sub + (9) Echo + Smartthings; (2)Play)

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MushyMiddle

Trending Lyricist I

If Sonos is contemplating fixing this, it needs to be flexible. I have five Sonos devices and four Echo devices across four rooms. Because Sonos won't allow streaming of SiriusXM to more than one group, I often have to re-group my Sonos devices, depending on where i need to listen. Really, there should be some association between an Echo device and a Sonos device (or devices) so that the concept of physical location is maintained, otherwise any solution would be useless to me, and I'd have to keep this skill disabled.

jgatie

If Sonos is contemplating fixing this, it needs to be flexible. I have five Sonos devices and four Echo devices across four rooms. Because Sonos won't allow streaming of SiriusXM to more than one group, I often have to re-group my Sonos devices, depending on where i need to listen. Really, there should be some association between an Echo device and a Sonos device (or devices) so that the concept of physical location is maintained, otherwise any solution would be useless to me, and I'd have to keep this skill disabled.

If it is anything like the other associated groups on the Alexa app, you should be able to assign an Echo device to a Sonos device (or devices) and only they will duck when Alexa is used on the Echo.

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MushyMiddle

Trending Lyricist I

@jgatie:

Nope - doesn't work, but yes, you can group devices in "Groups". Has no effect on the ducking issue - talking to Alexa in the kitchen ducks Sonos in the bedroom. Thanks for pointing out the grouping, though. Will be useful if Sonos (or Amazon) ever fixes this.

jgatie

@jgatie:

Nope - doesn't work, but yes, you can group devices in "Groups". Has no effect on the ducking issue - talking to Alexa in the kitchen ducks Sonos in the bedroom. Thanks for pointing out the grouping, though. Will be useful if Sonos (or Amazon) ever fixes this.

I wasn't claiming that it would work now. I was just saying that is the mechanism by which Alexa assigns default devices to particular Echos now.

gavingks

Enthusiast I

Frankly I would like the option, at Sonos Speaker level to enable or disable Ducking completely. this could either be through the Sonos or Alexa App. the value of Ducking is significantly reduced given that she does not reply via the Sonos system anyway. so if i ask about the weather only the Echo devise can answer, so likely i need to be in that room. Please address ASAP

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mwisemanAuthor

Enthusiast II

I haven't visited this topic in a while. Has there been any update on a fix for ducking?

Keith NAnswer

Sonos Staff

Hi there, mwiseman. Thanks for checking in. No news to share regarding this just yet. In the meantime, be sure to keep current on Sonos Controller app updates!

I will be sure to update this thread with any new information as it becomes available.

Building community is like building a garden. You build the frame, till the ground, plant the seeds, feed the plants & sometimes you gotta pull the weeds.

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