Renowned Enthusiast I

Spotify volume decreased?

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
May 10, 2025
82 replies
5159 views

Hello everyone,

Lately, I've noticed the volume level seems lower when integrating Sonos and Spotify. I've tested this on several Era 100s, Fives, and Sonos Ones, and I find myself needing to increase the volume significantly compared to last week. Do you know if there have been any recent changes to the Spotify integration volume? This occurs whether using Spotify Connect and the Sonos app. Do you have the same feeling?

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Pinned Reply By Mike H

Hey hey folks! Someone on Reddit called this out as well, so I did some digging to investigate what has changed. The short answer is that the volumes is perceived lower due to volume normalization.

Now for the longer answer:

Spotify gives us a volume normalization gain value to apply to each track. Earlier this year, we began applying this gain value whenever users use Spotify Connect. This change was needed because it helps with cases like loud advertisements that play between tracks, which can be very apparent and annoying, especially for free users. They might have experienced a jarringly loud ad when all they wanted was to listen to some chill, relaxing music.

Most of the gain values provided by Spotify are negative, which means they lower the volume. That’s why many users perceive this decrease in volume as a drop in quality, which isn’t the case.

Show previous replies

N

Noiling

Lyricist I

I bought a new setup with Arc ultra, era 300 and sub gen 4. This first thing I did was starting Spotify for testing the system. The bass was underwhelming and sound quality was below average. So I thought about returning all products as this is not what I hoped for. After testing on the LG TV I realized there's a huge difference. My advice: you need to communicate this to your customers. Otherwise people will send your products back.

R

Ralphglover

Lyricist I

I am facing the same issue

L

Lundbab

Lyricist I

I don't think many people would know to initiate the playback from the app.

Isn’t that how most people would play music on their Sonos speakers?

I really can’t talk for everyone, but I would think most people would use Spotify Connect, for easy controlling the music. Add songs to a playlist on the go or fx starting radio from one song, this isn’t possible with Sonos as of right now. I use that allot.

Finding choosing between easy control or better sound quality quiet frustrating.

Edit. Start radio works on iPad (my bad) but not my Android phone.

W

wesleyrosenblum

Lyricist I

Has anyone tried out the latest firmware and seen if there is any improvement?

K

kdth_jhspk69Author

Renowned Enthusiast I

Has anyone tried out the latest firmware and seen if there is any improvement?

I've tested and continues the same in my setup. Lower volume with Spotify Connect 😢

T

TobyWan

Lyricist I

I have been using Spotify Connect to play music through my speakers for YEARS now. I heard about this quality difference on the Sonos subreddit, and decided to test it out. Holy crap! The difference is enormous! Please figure out what is causing this so we can enjoy the same audio quality no matter which way we use to play our Spotify songs.

B

BBQManDan

Lyricist I

This is getting so annoying I'm considering ditching Sonos entirely. Sound quality and volume has reduced dramatically, hard to give an exact value but I'd say it has halved.

A

aspain

have noticed the same, particularly from spotify connect compared to playing directly from the sonos app. it’s really annoying and if/when i switch to watch tv, the volume is way too high from having to compensate for spotify connect’s low volume.

Mike HPinned

Retired Sonos Staff

Hey hey folks! Someone on Reddit called this out as well, so I did some digging to investigate what has changed. The short answer is that the volumes is perceived lower due to volume normalization.

Now for the longer answer:

Spotify gives us a volume normalization gain value to apply to each track. Earlier this year, we began applying this gain value whenever users use Spotify Connect. This change was needed because it helps with cases like loud advertisements that play between tracks, which can be very apparent and annoying, especially for free users. They might have experienced a jarringly loud ad when all they wanted was to listen to some chill, relaxing music.

Most of the gain values provided by Spotify are negative, which means they lower the volume. That’s why many users perceive this decrease in volume as a drop in quality, which isn’t the case.

How we survive is what makes us who we are - Rise Against

A

aspain

Hey hey folks! Someone on Reddit called this out as well, so I did some digging to investigate what has changed. The short answer is that the volumes is perceived lower due to volume normalization.

Now for the longer answer:

Spotify gives us a volume normalization gain value to apply to each track. Earlier this year, we began applying this gain value whenever users use Spotify Connect. This change was needed because it helps with cases like loud advertisements that play between tracks, which can be very apparent and annoying, especially for free users. They might have experienced a jarringly loud ad when all they wanted was to listen to some chill, relaxing music.

Most of the gain values provided by Spotify are negative, which means they lower the volume. That’s why many users perceive this decrease in volume as a drop in quality, which isn’t the case.

thanks Mike, obviously this is a big issue for a lot of folks and is sort of an odd choice for Sonos to make that decision based on ad volume for free Spotify users.

is this something that will be looked into further to mitigate/eliminate volume differences between the two sources? Its kind of a crappy bandaid placed over an issue on Spotify’s side, paid users shouldn’t be punished for this

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