Trending Lyricist I

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My great Vinyl dilemma: the line in source level Bug and sonos lack of response

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So I am ecstatic over using a new play 5 gen 2 as my sweet little hi fi compact setup in my bedroom for playing vinyl and digital there. sonos does a better job translating vinyl to the digital realm and back than any other sub $1000 system. I bought and returned a few, including the Bluesound. play 5 gen 2 a BIG step up in SQ.

But I now have a 2 month problem that Sonos is aware of and won’t fix. my turntable has always had better than cd fidelity at source level set to level 9. well now level 9 is with a bug and won’t work. levels 1-8 work fine, but at a cost of lower fidelity from the digital volume reduction, making it pointless to spin records. yes, level 10 is still operative, but only if you select 9. selecting 10 leaves you at the last level you were on. thus 9 is now skipped altogether. the end result is if you toggle from 8 to 9, what is really happening is (listening) you are going from 8 to 10. closing app and reopening verifies all this.

why the big deal? because level 10 distorts with my albums and 8 or less sacrifices fidelity. this all started about 2 months ago.

so...I have emailed and called Sonos REPEATEDLY about this problem. they keep giving a standard line that it’s identified as a bug to fix and prioritized to fix it. but after one month of calls and emails (they know me well now) nothing fixed. finally in exasperation I asked for an engineer to call me. after no less than 3 separate requests for this, finally a Kevin C. from software engineering calls me. he’s very nice, but explains that he cannot divulge where the team is in the process. he states essentially he’s not allowed. when I stated that I just wanted to know if the bug will be fixed in a month or two more, he states he can’t tell me. when I asked if he can reassure me that it will EVER get fixed, he states he cannot.

so I am going to the Community on this. Is ANYONE else observing this bug and bothered by it enough to speak up here? PLEASE POST HERE IF YOU FEEL THE WAY I DO ABOUT THIS BUG. I clearly need a louder megaphone to move the needle on this issue.

Thanks to all!

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Ryan SAnswer

Retired Sonos Staff

Hey Tlcocks, I just checked in for you with the team on that ticket and the status. It is still being investigated and worked on. I know it’s frustrating not having an ETA or not knowing what the exact status is, but those things can change and we don’t want to give an ETA that isn’t definite. The right team is on it, but they have other things on their plate as well. The support team will make sure to let you know when it’s resolved, but they can’t keep you updated with every change that the ticket goes through.

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melvimbe

Wow. My other more succinct thread was WIPED. Wonder if my bringing it up here will get this thread WIPED too. COMMUNISM! 😂 LOL

Your other thread would not have been intentionally removed unless it broke community policies, and couldn’t be edited/fixed. Most likely, there was some other error that’s preventing the thread from display. This current thread is not bad at all, and can’t imagine Ryan would post to it if there was an issue.

Danny

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TlcocksAuthor

Trending Lyricist I

Got it. Thanks. Yes, I suppose the tension between jgatie and I was the reason. Seemed minimal though. No worries.

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TlcocksAuthor

Trending Lyricist I

So I would ask if someone reading this thread would simply plug a cable into their line in jack (you don’t even need a source attached at the other end) and test to see if there are toggle glitches between the levels. Put it on 8, then 9, then back two screens. Then reopen and see if it’s now on 10. This simple sequence demonstrates the glitch. Wanna see if this is universal. Sonos said they reproduced this in their lab, but weren’t sure how universal it was.
another way of checking is go from 8 to 10. Then reopen and see if it’s still 8.
thanks to all!

airforceteacher

Headliner I

Confirmed with my Play:5 Gen 2

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TlcocksAuthor

Trending Lyricist I

Thanks, airforceteacher

K

Kumar

My experience is that this is a non issue/storm in a teacup. I have my Echo sources running level 10 with no audible distortion. While I have no idea if the 9 bug is present in my Connect Amps, when I have tried all levels to 10 before selecting 10, all worked fine with just small incremental increases in sound levels from one level to the next.

I see no technical reason why the analog line outs from my Echo devices will be any different from those from OPs phono amp, except for small differences in signal voltage levels.

K

Kumar

Also, all that the line in levels do is change the input sensitivities of the line in; there is no reason for this to impact fidelity. Except of course in the well known psycho-acoustical manner of resultant lower sound levels sounding less good, something that happens to everyone. The answer is to compensate by boosting Sonos volume levels to bring back the “lost” fidelity.

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Kumar

why the big deal? because level 10 distorts with my albums and 8 or less sacrifices fidelity. this all started about 2 months ago.

Before going to the quoted, note that a turntable is perhaps the worst way to check for distortion given the many opportunities for the set up to introduce distortion to the signal before Sonos takes it over at the Line In jacks. Opportunities that have been eliminated by the invention of digital audio. So if you want to blame Sonos, first use a quality digital signal to ensure that the ball for distortion does lie in the Sonos side of the court.

Even using the questionable TT signal, the quoted can still be tested/challenged. Using level 8 will deliver the same sound levels as 10, so long as there is space to the right of the volume level slider in the Sonos control app to boost sound levels a tad to reach those achieved at level 10. If enough of this space exists, does the boosted 8 level now sound distortion free compared to the unboosted 10 level?

And, if so, with sound levels the same at 8 and 10, how have you determined that the level 8 provided sound has less fidelity?

And to rule out a hardware defect in the 5 unit, however unlikely, get a new unit on a returnable basis and see what it does in comparison to your unit.

Or, keep venting.

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TlcocksAuthor

Trending Lyricist I

Thanks Kumar for weighing in. I have 3 Sonos pieces in my house, and they all do the same thing with level 9 unable to be selected. Sound takes big leap from 8 to 9 and when you back up 2 screens and reopen source level it says 10.
so regarding the tt, it is indeed louder than cd with same record on 10. It’s quieter than cd on 8. Yes, I verified with a good digital source all you said above. Perhaps my at vm540ml cart upgrade is louder than other carts. I think it’s louder than the stock cart.
regarding how the input level is technically adjusted (is digital volume or other?), I don’t know. Technician had confirmed my guess that it’s a digital volume adjustment. That’s what my ears tell me. I just know a quick volume toggle with the master volume when I’m using 8. Still sounds ok, but not great. I was used to using the level 9 before I lost it and really felt I had better fidelity. And it matched up with cd volume. I know SQ is subjective though.
I just miss level 9.

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TlcocksAuthor

Trending Lyricist I

Oh, and I use a Rega Fono MM mk3 external phono stage. Pretty good piece.

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