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nietzschex
Contributor I
July 19, 2018
Answered

How to activate Alexa mics on Sonos One surrounds?

  • July 19, 2018
  • 57 replies
  • 15977 views
I have a Beam with two Sonos One surrounds, and it's my understanding that the mics on the Sonos Ones are by default OFF, and that the Beam is the only one with mic input for Alexa. Is there a way to turn on the mics on the Ones? I ask because I'm usually closer to the Ones than the Beam when using Alexa, and Alexa on the Beam usually has trouble hearing me (I usually have to yell). Thanks!
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    Best answer by Ryan S
    As soon as you Enable the Sonos skill within Alexa then all Sonos Alexa devices have the capability to take voice commands. Can you please open the Sonos App>Settings>Room Settings>{Your Sonos One} and ensure that Voice Services are Enabled? If not please click Enabled and follow the prompts.
    This would work for everything but with the Beam and Sonos Ones.

    When bonded with a Beam, Sonos Ones will have Alexa disabled on them. We found during testing that the best experience was when the Sonos Ones microphones were turned off. CEC based Alexa commands don't work through the Sonos One, so if those were hearing your commands instead of the Beam, it wouldn't pass them to the TV. I'll pass the word along to the team that you'd like to be able to turn the microphones back on, and more importantly, that the Beam is having trouble hearing you. That shouldn't be the case.

    You might want to give us a call on our support line and see if they can help get the setup cleaned up a bit and improve the Beam's listening.

    57 replies

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    GabrielLogan
    Enthusiast I
    January 23, 2019
    Not sure I was clear. Somebody here said that the surround mic is deactivated because a request to Alexa through the surround about CEC feature wouldn’t work. But I’m not sure this is true because I can ask Alexa on my iPad to switch on the TV and it works. No reason that it doesn’t work with the surround.
      Bernado
      Trending Lyricist III
      January 25, 2019
      I turned off the mic on my beam as it was more trouble than worth, not hearing commands and mishearing non-commands and dipping music momentarily whilst it was 'thinking'.
      I've come to realise of the many reasons to buy Sonos, Alexa integration is most definitely not one of them.
      UKMedia
      UKMedia
      January 25, 2019
      I turned off the mic on my beam as it was more trouble than worth, not hearing commands and mishearing non-commands and dipping music momentarily whilst it was 'thinking'.
      I've come to realise of the many reasons to buy Sonos, Alexa integration is most definitely not one of them.

      I can see where you are coming from and I don't have the Beam so can't really comment on the specific product but I find Voice Control of the Sonos system overall to be great and something I wouldn't want to lose.
      Remember: Sometimes Red Wine helps :)
      Bernado
      Trending Lyricist III
      January 25, 2019
      I turned off the mic on my beam as it was more trouble than worth, not hearing commands and mishearing non-commands and dipping music momentarily whilst it was 'thinking'.
      I've come to realise of the many reasons to buy Sonos, Alexa integration is most definitely not one of them.

      I can see where you are coming from and I don't have the Beam so can't really comment on the specific product but I find Voice Control of the Sonos system overall to be great and something I wouldn't want to lose.

      I think if viewed as an added bonus feature I'd agree though if Alexa integration is an important factor I feel there are technically (though may be not aesthetically) better ways of achieving voice controlled audio systems.

      For me it was a significant part of my decision making process when getting my Beam and Ones surround system so my non-technical other half could access streaming music playback easily.

      The frustrations I mentioned above combined with the quite frankly stupid inability to set a static Alexa Voice volume instead of it raising with the general volume (don't even mention the awful relentless confirmation 'BONG'), are quite literally a turn off for me and my family I'm afraid.
      VarthDaver
      Lyricist I
      May 24, 2019
      This still seems to be blocked even with the roll out of Google Assistant. Please give us the option to enable the mic on our one surrounds when paired with the beam. It's the reason I got the setup, and in already tired of yelling at it across the room.
      aglenn78
      Lyricist I
      June 14, 2019
      I live in a big studio apartment and the beam mic doesn’t always pick up my voice bc it’s over by the tv. There’s a Sonos one right next to my bed that I wish I could use to control Alexa instead of yelling across the room. Pls give this control back to the user! Thanks.
        GabrielLogan
        Enthusiast I
        July 18, 2019
        What should we do to get an answer from Sonos?
        Nothing is clear, please Sonos, provide an answer! Either this is technically not feasible and explain why, or please add this features that everybody having one Beam and 2 Ones as surround want to see implemented!

        Thank's!
          jgatie
          jgatie
          July 18, 2019
          What should we do to get an answer from Sonos?
          Nothing is clear, please Sonos, provide an answer! Either this is technically not feasible and explain why, or please add this features that everybody having one Beam and 2 Ones as surround want to see implemented!

          Thank's!


          Your answer is on the very first page, marked as the best answer.
          andrewket
          Lyricist II
          August 18, 2019
          Has there been any progress on this? Any forward looking statements from Sonos? I wouldn’t have purchased One’s as my surrounds had I known about this limitation.

          At the very least I’d like to be able to choose which mic is in use on a 5.1 setup. My rear right one is in a much better place to hear me. I may end up installing another dot, which is insane.
            russelgl
            Lyricist I
            November 13, 2019

            I once purchased the Beam and Sub, had nothing but problems with it, returned them. Kept the Sonos ones, but now  having the mic problem, just stopped working and yes I did disable sonos and re-enable it in my skills and  yes i tried to turn on the mic, still not working. I am now replacing all sonos components and will never have another sonos device in my house and I will never recommend sonos to anyone wanting he experience sonos promises, but never delivers.

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