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Sonos App volume control

  • 19 February 2018
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Adjusting the volume on the Sonos app while playing music will also adjust my iPhone ring volume. How do I separate the volume control as such that the speaker volume control is independent?
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Best answer by Keith N 20 February 2018, 21:56

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Hi there, alant78. Thanks for posting and welcome to the Community. Can you tell us a little more about how you are adjusting the volume? Are you using the side hardware control buttons or are you using the volume slider in the Sonos Controller app? Thanks for clarifying.
Hi Keith, both reacts the same for my iPhone. Is it normal?
Userlevel 7
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Interesting... Have you tried removing the app and re-installing from the App store? If you are still having problems after doing so, I would recommend giving our support technicians a call to have a look at this in real time.
Hi Keith thanks for your advice. I re-installed the app again and the issue is gone. Tks Again
I've figured out that I'm having the same issue, on both iPhone (iPhone 5/iOS 10.3.3) and Sonos 8.4) and iPad (iPad Mini/iOS 11.3 and Sonos 8.4): Adjust the music volume using the screen slider and the device volume changes, too. Even better, if I change the volume on the iPad and go to the phone, the phone's volume changes, and vice-versa. And yet one better: if I use the desktop app and change the music volume, the iPhone and iPad both also track. The only difference seems to be that the portable devices' hardware follow the Sonos app slider, where the desktop hardware doesn't follow the app's slider.
I've gone into settings and disabled hardware control on both. I've deleted and reinstalled the app on both devices. I can't say for sure how long this has been going on, though I've been aware that "something" seemed to be changing the phone volume and I've occasionally missed calls and messages because the ringer volume was oddly low. Any other ideas how to fix this?
Userlevel 7
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Hi there, helarson. Thanks for posting and welcome to the Community. If you are still having troubles with this, I would recommend giving our support technicians a call to troubleshoot this in real time. While they aren't able to set up a remote session to a mobile device, they can gather more information and get a closer look at what is going on. Thanks!
When I started using the Sonos app I could use my Android phone to play videos or music on Youtube or other app and stream it to bluetooth speaker and use my phone's hardware button AND simultaneously be streaming music via the Connect to my hifi and control the volume from within the Sonos app and the 2 systems were independent of each other. I was very impressedby Sonos' brilliance!
Then it stopped doing that and when I adjusted the ringer volume on my phone it would change the volume on my music even when the Sonos app wasn't open.
This was annoying,but since Sonos keeps pushing updates every second week I thought they'd address it. Too late for me I'm afraid. This morning the music was playing at low volume. My young fella was playing Angry Birds on the phone with the Sonos app obvioudly closed and when he increased the game volume the music volume went up to ear splitting levels and by the time I ran to the room there was the stench of burnt electronics. Both the midrange drivers on my pair of $20 000 speakers are blown and the $10 000 subwoofer is producing a rattle that wasn't there before. I love my music system with a passion and I'm mighty PISSED OFF at Sonos for this!
I'm a peaceful and law abiding citizen who always acts with kindness and respect to his fellow man. I don't even get a parking ticket. But right now I'm in an unbelievably FILTHY mood.
If there's anyone who can suggest what legal options I could pursue I'm all ears....
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I'm sure that before previous updates, if sonos app was open in the background on my android phone, adjusting the volume control on my phone would change sonos player volume. It only works now when I have the sonos app open and active.
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When I started using the Sonos app I could use my Android phone to play videos or music on Youtube or other app and stream it to bluetooth speaker and use my phone's hardware button AND simultaneously be streaming music via the Connect to my hifi and control the volume from within the Sonos app and the 2 systems were independent of each other. I was very impressedby Sonos' brilliance!
Then it stopped doing that and when I adjusted the ringer volume on my phone it would change the volume on my music even when the Sonos app wasn't open.
This was annoying,but since Sonos keeps pushing updates every second week I thought they'd address it. Too late for me I'm afraid. This morning the music was playing at low volume. My young fella was playing Angry Birds on the phone with the Sonos app obvioudly closed and when he increased the game volume the music volume went up to ear splitting levels and by the time I ran to the room there was the stench of burnt electronics. Both the midrange drivers on my pair of $20 000 speakers are blown and the $10 000 subwoofer is producing a rattle that wasn't there before. I love my music system with a passion and I'm mighty PISSED OFF at Sonos for this!
I'm a peaceful and law abiding citizen who always acts with kindness and respect to his fellow man. I don't even get a parking ticket. But right now I'm in an unbelievably FILTHY mood.
If there's anyone who can suggest what legal options I could pursue I'm all ears....


What were the £20k speakers out of interest? Did you get this resolved? Not sure how you play sonos through separate speakers though given its a speaker system, and sonos don't make hardware in that price range. I've had some good kit in the past (Hegel, ATC, ProAc, Roksan etc) and with all of those systems either my ears would bleed or the amp would have over driven and blown the tweeters. I ran some of them to max vol and discovered what 120dB is like in a closed room, but no burnt drivers.
The only Sonos device capable of driving passive speakers and a 3rd party sub at the time of that post was a Connect:Amp. So the real question to ask is why in the world would anyone spend £20k on speakers that can't even handle 55 watts of power?

Or, as I suspect, the story is a big ol whopper.
Weeell Mr jgatie. On what basis do you suspect that this story is a whopper?First of all, you didn't read what I wrote. I wrote that I've a Sonos Connect,NOT a Connect Amp. My speakers are driven by monoblocks and don't need a Connect Amp, that was an assumption you just pulled out of thin air. The Connect is linked to the DAC via an optical cable. The reason I have this setup is because my preamp has no ethernet connectivity and I needed a way to stream hi res audio and the Connect was the only device I found after trialling many, that could do it.
Having the Connect on my system then means that when I stream music I have to use the Sonos app, with its builtin volume control and that's where the problems originated from.
I've no other Sonos devices.
You can look as much as you like and you'll find that I've not posted anything else on the Sonos chat. not that I recall anyway. The idea that I've so much time on my hands that I concocted an elaborate story of damage to my speakers is crazy. I've better things to do!
Please have a little faith in humanity and don't assume that people are always out to scam someone. And thanks for asking, my drivers were so damaged that they couldn't be economically repaired and I'd to buy a new set. Luckily there were 2 people on the entire internet that had them for sale and I bagged a set.
What were the £20k speakers out of interest? Did you get this resolved? Not sure how you play sonos through separate speakers though given its a speaker system, and sonos don't make hardware in that price range. I've had some good kit in the past (Hegel, ATC, ProAc, Roksan etc) and with all of those systems either my ears would bleed or the amp would have over driven and blown the tweeters. I ran some of them to max vol and discovered what 120dB is like in a closed room, but no burnt drivers.
Hi Steve
My speakers are Jamo R909 open baffles supported by a Paradigm Sub 2.
I've a Sonos Connect,NOT a Connect Amp. My speakers are driven by monoblocks and don't need a Connect Amp. The Connect is linked to the DAC via an optical cable. The reason I have this setup is because my preamp has no ethernet connectivity and I needed a way to stream hi res audio and the Connect was the only device I found after trialling many, that could do it.
Having the Connect on my system then means that when I stream music I have to use the Sonos app, with its builtin volume control and that's where the problems originated from.
I've no other Sonos devices.
My midrange drivers were so damaged that they couldn't be economically repaired and I'd to buy a new set. Luckily there were 2 people on the entire internet that had them for sale and I bagged a set.
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Well, you got it fixed, that's the main thing. And I guess a lesson learnt in volume matching...
Dunno what you mean by "volume matching" as there is nothing to match, other than to just use the Sonos app. The good news is that October's update mentions "maximum volume". No other details are given, so I did some digging. The guidance from Sonos is as follows: "With Sonos version 9.2, you can set a maximum volume at a per room level. Within More > Settings > Room Settings > Volume Limit, you can pick what level the maximum volume should be."
I followed those instructions and was able to indeed lock the maximum volume level that my preamp, through the Sonos Connect, could subject my speakers to. So no more burnt drivers. It's an implicit acknowledgement from Sonos that this issue needed resolving, but still a shocking indictment on them that something so critical took so long to fix, with people's ears and speakers damaged along the way, when it should have been embedded in the system from the get go. Ah well, c'est la vie.....
Stream hi res audio? Via the Connect?

Curiouser and curiouser.
@Zentheone, I would look at changing the Connects setting so it that it has line level volume output. This way, volume cannot be changed at all through the app, just through your amp. If you don't want to do that, I'd look in to getting your young fella a tablet of his own, without the Sonos app.

I don't see Sonos changing how the volume controls work on android, as many customers like the feature as is. I'm not even sure they can as the Android OS may be deciding which application has the focus for the volume control buttons at which time.

Either way, I can't imagine Sonos is remotely at fault for what happened with your speakers. They do not control the power going to your speakers in anyway. If anything your amp (monoblocks) would be at fault, but they can't be responsible for the speakers you chose to pair with the amps either.
@jgatie what's "curiouser and curiouser" about the fact that I am streaming music in FLAC format via the Connect? 1st you assumed i was making things up,and incorrectly assumed that the Connect didn't exist before October this year, well I'm not sure what you call the white box connected to my DAC that's been streaming my music since around 2014 with "Sonos" on the front&"Sonos 2004" written on the base? Now you're you've moved on to implying that hi res streaming via Connect is also made up. Admit it mate you made quite a few wrong assumptions based on info that you thought was correct but simply isn't.
Here's what I assume, I assume you're trolling and not remotely interested in facts or constructive conversation that's of use to the Sonos community. Like I said, I've far better things to do so this is my last post to you on this topic. And can i urge you to be a bit more open to the possibility that there's a lot more going on in the world than you think you know and not always assume the worst motives in people as a default position. All the best
First of all, the Connect does not drive passive speakers.

Second, you mentioned hi res audio. Any audiophile spending $20k on speakers would know hi res audio refers to resolutions greater than the 16 bit 48 kHz the Connect is limited to (it can play 24 bit, but it is truncated to 16). Most of the time hi res audio means 24 bit and 96 or 192 kHz.

As to Sonos being the only thing that will let you stream FLAC, there are about a half dozen or so Connect like streamers out there, some of which actually do stream 24 bit 96/192. Denon and Bluesound for instance So the statement "i urge you to be a bit more open to the possibility that there's a lot more going on in the world than you think you know" applies to yourself as well.

Anyway. melvimbe is correct. Also, if you have that amount of power at hand, it would be a good idea to limit the amp gain to prevent all that power from going to the speakers regardless of the input. That's separates 101.
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My point of view is that you've not properly configured a very expensive system, which given the cost you might have checked out the functionality of the integration to sonos much more deeply. Sorry to say but I think you messed up, which is one thing; but then to come and demand legal attention from sonos, and implicitly ask for owner help by posting on their forums really doesn't make a strong case at all. I think maybe you are lucky it didn't blow up your house or worse.