Volume normalization
I would think it isn’t something Sonos can do because it doesn't know what's coming down the pipe. But the Alexa initiated play is also something like Spotify Connect in the sense that Spotify knows what is being piped to Sonos at all times, so why this should not work as it - I suppose - does when music is playing via Spotify on the phone, isn't down to Sonos, I suggest.
And when it does work, is volume normalisation really effective? In the car or on headphones, playing from the phone, does it do a good job of maintaining sound levels the same in a long playlist?
Thanks for comments.
- Yes, well aware of compressors (I have a recording studio and have been recording & sound-engineering since the 1980s). This would be a solution but it is self-defeating: the whole point of getting Sonos was to go wireless and to get rid of cables, wiring and sprawl. We want a one-box solution.
- re. Licences - we pay for all the relevant public performance licences in the UK so this is all in order.
I would think it isn’t something Sonos can do because it doesn't know what's coming down the pipe. But the Alexa initiated play is also something like Spotify Connect in the sense that Spotify knows what is being piped to Sonos at all times, so why this should not work as it - I suppose - does when music is playing via Spotify on the phone, isn't down to Sonos, I suggest.
And when it does work, is volume normalisation really effective? In the car or on headphones, playing from the phone, does it do a good job of maintaining sound levels the same in a long playlist?
Volume normalization is very highly effective and has been used in terrestrial and satellite radio for decades.
it does change the audio quality but this isn’t much of a concern for casual BG listening.
Thanks for comments.
- re. Licences - we pay for all the relevant public performance licences in the UK so this is all in order.
I brought it up not to question whether you had the right license for public performance, but that perhaps the answer is with a streaming service that caters to your needs better.
We use Sonos in our retail outlet. It’s generally fantastic.
BUT sudden surges or drops in volume are very inappropriate in a retail setting - we want a constant level of (gentle) background music to build a calm retail atmosphere.
Big booms are the most disruptive, but major drops in volume are also unwelcome. If it goes too quiet, it is really noticeable and adds a kind of tension to our space where previously there was a nice feeling of calm.
We would absolutely love to see Volume Normalization added to Sonos. You could add a “normalization speed” setting - i.e. how responsive is the normalization. Clearly it should be fast if there is a sudden big boom -- but if it goes quiet you don’t want to amplify it too much unless it stays quiet for a long while.
Or best of all, the system could “listen ahead” to a stream and determine the optimal level of normalization so there is never any sudden change in sound pressure.
Many Sonos products even have a microphone built in (for Alexa). Surely added some kind of sound-level monitoring is not a massive engineering problem, but I see that this issue has been open for several years.
Would be great to see this solved.
In such a use case a well curated playlist that addresses this issue in its making is the answer. Up front investment of time, but it will get the job done.
it does change the audio quality but this isn’t much of a concern for casual BG listening.
That would depend on how it is implemented? My expectation of this would be that it delivers the same result as moving the volume slider does, a shifting of all the sound levels in the track to the left or to the right, so that all tracks in the playlist are played equally loudly.
Fairly new Sonos user here. This system is almost perfect, and what’s missing is volume normalization!
It’s a pain to Airplay all the time. On top of that, all the audio on my laptop is streamed to my speakers, which is not desirable when there are extra sounds I only want to hear on my internal speakers / AirPods (notifications, watching a quick YouTube video, etc).
It’s OK if I’m playing and album, as the volume is normalized across songs anyway (plus I want the dynamics in this case), but when listening to a playlist with songs from different albums (or, mind you, different streaming services), I really need to keep my hand on the volume controls.
So yeah… here’s another vote for this feature from me! 👍
Cheers
TLDR:
Hi
Convinced normalization was a feature in the Sonos 1 app but has disappeared from the new Sonos 2 app. Would love to see it reinstated please. Having major volume issues with the new app.
Many thanks
It can never be a feature of a controller or, more specifically, the players unless normalisation tags are provided along with each track. The services don’t offer this to Sonos, and the solution for local music library files has been half-baked for years and years.
Thanks for clarifying. I think I was thinking of Amazon Music.
+23
HOW is this functionality not built in yet? Everything else I own has normalization, but when I run things through Sonos, kiss it goodbye. It’s maddening on a TV to switch between streaming services, have your ears blown out, and scramble for the volume. Please fix this.
Normalization between TV content and streaming content is not possible. Think about it.
Normalization between content on the same service is technically possible, but not implemented on Sonos.
To all the folks saying it isn’t possible: Why?
Wouldn't it be nice if we had a Sonos FAQ about why instead of a stone wall?
To be clear, I’m only asking for normalization WITHIN one app: Spotify. It’s silly that my crappy Bluetooth headphones can normalize the volume between, for example, “I Drove All Night” by Cyndi Lauper and “Sledgehammer” by Fifth Harmony (two songs with vastly different gain and peaks) but Sonos speakers can’t...
+23
I brought it up not to question whether you had the right license for public performance, but that perhaps the answer is with a streaming service that caters to your needs better.
There are many business-specific music services listed at https://www.sonos.com/en-us/business - hopefully they offer normalization.
I’ll add my 2 cents as well. I listen to talk-radio a lot thru Sonos - when the program switches from news, talk, weather, phone in listeners I am constantly chasing the volume. I’m not only surprised, but disappointed, that Sonos with all it’s hi-tech knowledge built in to it’s system has not, or will not, address this issue. Please put your technological acumen to work on this - very distracting.
To be clear, I’m only asking for normalization WITHIN one app: Spotify. It’s silly that my crappy Bluetooth headphones can normalize the volume between, for example, “I Drove All Night” by Cyndi Lauper and “Sledgehammer” by Fifth Harmony (two songs with vastly different gain and peaks) but Sonos speakers can’t...
I only use Spotify via Sonos speakers, using the native app and I echo all the why nots.
Actually, the quoted bit as to how well this seems to work for headphones is news to me, and almost seems magical. Though this is not a reason for Sonos to continue to not have it!
+20
@Anonymous User. Unfortunately, they do not share their feature development schedule, plans or intentions. As such, we cannot say when (or even if) requested features will be put into development. It’s as much a surprise for us as it is for our users when a feature gets introduced.
Naturally, we do find out slightly ahead of time to be able to announce the introduction of a feature. If such time comes, we will be sure to let you know.
Normalisation has been operative for local library tracks -- after a rather incomplete fashion -- since the very earliest players. Memory isn't a factor. What's missing for tracks streamed from online services is the requisite gain factor to make the volume adjustment. Either it isn't in the stream metadata or Sonos has no agreed way to extract it.
They have your money. Why would they care?
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