Question

inconsistent volume between devices

  • 26 September 2020
  • 9 replies
  • 374 views

I have a samsung tv, sonos sound bar, att u-verse for cable, and a roku. 

When I watch u-verse the sonos sound bar has to be at 75% just to hear the audio. Then switching to Roku it blows the room out because it's still at 75%. 

Why does the sonos need to be at 75% to hear anything from u-verse? I've been trying to figure this out on various message boards and multiple people have issues but no one can figure this issue out. Help?!


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9 replies

Userlevel 5
Badge +16

Hi @hamby86.

Thanks for reaching out.

I appreciate your detailed post here, let me help and try to figure this out.

Kindly verify what type of cable is in use and how these devices are connected?

I suggest checking the TV audio setting and make sure that it is set to use external speakers only. 

Try to see also if there’s an audio output setting that you can choose to set on ‘fixed’ instead of ‘variable’.

I have found an old thread with relevant suggestions that might be helpful on this case, here is the link:

https://en.community.sonos.com/troubleshooting-228999/volume-low-on-playbar-from-tv-6787892

 

Let us know how it goes, we’re always here to help.

I've checked that article out but no solution. 

From the samsung smart hub (where everything plugs into) I have the optical cable going into the Sonos Playbar. My Samsung TV does not have the option to change from fixed vs variable. I've updated the television as well to see if the option might have been in an update. The television is set to external speakers only.

Any other help?

Userlevel 5
Badge +16

Hi @hamby86.

Thanks for your response and update.

Kindly reproduce the issue, then submit a diagnostic report through the Sonos app, and reply with the confirmation number.

I'd start by reviewing your system as well as the status of the devices, and see if there’s anything under the hood that could possibly cause the issue.

 

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to let us know.

Report submitted. This issue has been going on since we purchased the play bar. The diagnostic report number is 1628025179

Userlevel 4
Badge +6

I don't suppose the device has the option to add some gain to the sound?

Nope. It's an att u-verse cable box

Userlevel 5
Badge +16

Hi @Silverthorn, thanks for looking into this, I appreciate it.

 

Hi @hamby86.

Thanks for your response and update.

Upon checking the diagnostic, I am not seeing a significant error detected by the system that can cause the volume to change.

Currently, the Playbar’s volume level is at 32 and getting a Dolby Digital codec/format input.

Kindly test music playback on the Playbar and see if there would be changes on the volume level.

May I ask the series or model number and the firmware version of the Samsung TV?

You mentioned a ‘Samsung smart hub’, does it mean that the optical cable from the Playbar is not directly connected on the TV?

Can you directly wire the Playbar to the Att Uverse cable box?

Test it and please submit a new diagnostic report so I can check the system further and see if there’s anything that could be causing this issue.

 

Let us know how it goes and if you have any questions feel free to reach out, we’re always here to help.

I tested music and if the TV volume was at a normal listening level starting music was incredibly loud. The TV signal is WAY lower than the music even if the Playbar volume slider in the sonos app is the same.

The TV is a samsung update version 1242. The model is UNK65KS8000. This has been an issue since we first purchased the Playbar.

The sonos goes directly to Samsung hub (which is the only way to connect hdmi, audio, etc to this model) per the instructions from Samsung.

Connecting the sonos directly to the att u-verse box did not change the volume issue. The Sonos Playbar has to be nearly maxed out to have normal level of sound. 

Submitting diagnostic report with Sonos directly plugged into att u-verse. The code is: 1407541719.

 

The Playbar functions as normal when plugged into the samsung smart hub for our other devices in terms of sound. The issue seems to be between Sonos Playbar and ATT U-verse hardware. 

Userlevel 5
Badge +16

Hi @hamby86.

Thanks for your reply and my apologies for the delayed response.

Upon checking the diagnostic report, the system detected interference on one or more Sonos components running on your network and a potentially bad ethernet cable

  • If you have a spare ethernet cable, I suggest that you can try to replace it and see if that will fix the problem.
  • Then, for the interference, this article will help you reduce wireless interference around your Sonos products.

 

If the above advice was followed and the issue persists, it would be best to reach out to Sonos Support to take a closer look and continue working at this in real-time. 

I recommend calling in our phone team, for they have more resources available for advanced troubleshooting, and the tools our agents can use would be very useful in this case, there can be an advantage if they need to remote into the computer/controller to see what's going on.

 

If you have any other questions or concerns, feel free to reach out, we’re always here to help.