Sonos Beam - Action/Music Too Loud

  • 5 August 2018
  • 14 replies
  • 24545 views

Userlevel 1
Hey guys,

I recently bought a Sonos Beam (around a week ago) and although the sound is great, I am still having the same issue I was having prior to even having a soundbar, which was the main reason I bought one in the first place.

I have Voice Enhacement enabled and even 'Night Mode' where it supposedly suppresses louder noises and raises lower volumes.

But I am having constant issues with still having to adjust the sound constantly throughout watching a film/TV show.
The dialogue is perfect but then any music or sound effect comes on and it is craaaaaaazy loud.

I've looked on the SONOS app and cannot find any fix or solution to this. Unless I'm missing something.
I am very concerned and am unfortunately considering returning this for another soundbar with more in-depth controls.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance.

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14 replies

Userlevel 1
Purchased a Playbase + a couple of Play 1's for my parents at Xmas and are having the same nightmare issues as above - the centre channel is simply to quiet and not "defined" enough They (especially my dad who suffers from hearing loss), are constantly adjusting the volume during scene changes. Yes, some content is worse than others (especially all this mumbling that seems to be the rage nowadays), but across the board, the centre channel - and therefore the dialogue, is down in level in relation to everything else.

"Dialogue Enhancement" mode makes a small improvement, but not much. Problem is it also makes voices sound "telephone like" at times, due to boosting the narrow midrange frequencies it does.

Come on Sonos. Pull your finger out and provide level adjustability for the centre channel - just like you do for the surround channels. Otherwise, I simply cannot recommend these products.

Very frustrated and annoyed at having shelled out around £800 for this little lot only for it not to be as good as it could be...

Dan
I have same issue with a LG TV when playing 5.1 audio the sound effects is too loud (but sound great) the Sonos has no option to adjust the dynamic sound level. Some TVs has this option built in that you can adjust the difference between loud and quiet signals. My previous Yamaha sound bar had a setting to allow me to do this. Also my previous AV amp had the setting. Your only option is to switch to stereo which does not sound as good or put on night mode. A big drop in sound quality ?
I have the exact same problem! What is the source of the content? I was watching man of steel via my ps4 yesterday. Sonos Beam is connected to lg65b7p via HDMI arc. There was no difference at all between night mode on or off, same for speech enhancement. It was terrible and I was deceived of the promises of the Sonos Beam. But then watching a movie on Netflix via the built in software of the tv and it’s a lot better. I didn’t need to keep the remote control in my hand to keep changing the volume . I still think maybe more control should be available for example to increase speech volume independently. And hopefully Sonos will fix this in a future update.
Userlevel 3
Badge +2
OP - What is your TV? I have the same issues with an LG OLED C6. It affects some content more than others. I phrased it as being too quiet for dialogue and other centre channel sounds, but if I turn it up so these are audible then it is too loud for effects.

I did not have the problem with my previous soundbar but accept the processing options on it may have suppressed this.

But it seems so extreme that it cannot just be "normal". As noted, others suggest the problem is worse following the Beam software update to 9.0.
a fix is only to disable DD output, just use stereo and volume balance is normal, check it in our case

How would I do that? I’ve checked everywhere on my TV settings and cannot find this :/

You say in your first post you had this issue prior to purchasing the Beam, could it be you need to speak to your TV customer support team here, as the Beam will only reproduce the sound that is being passed to it. It sounds like it is more of a TV problem rather than a Sonos Beam problem.

What make/model of TV is it and have you 'googled' to see if it’s a known issue? It might be the case that you need to update the TV firmware/software to its latest version etc.
Userlevel 1
a fix is only to disable DD output, just use stereo and volume balance is normal, check it in our case

How would I do that? I’ve checked everywhere on my TV settings and cannot find this 😕
Userlevel 1
Badge +1
a fix is only to disable DD output, just use stereo and volume balance is normal, check it in our case
Userlevel 1
Have you checked what is available in your tv settings as well?

My TV sound settings become blurred out when I choose to use the SONOS Beam.
Userlevel 4
Badge +6
Have you checked what is available in your tv settings as well?
Userlevel 1
Yeah, I’m going to raise it with them tomorrow.
So before Version 9, you had none of the above issues, but now you do?
That’s crazy if an update has caused this.

Do you have quick fixes for this? For the time being?

Thanks again.
Userlevel 1
Badge +1
you should contact support because before Version 9 i had no such volume issues.
reviews have been mostly done with Version 8.6 i assume or not long enought tested to get this issue...

i made an video for the support of the audio fluctuation, lets see
as more people getting in toich with support as faster it will be fixed and Sonos gets aware of the issue.
Userlevel 1
Another thing I was thinking is maybe the Dialogue is too quiet as apposed to the Effects/Music being too loud.

I REALLY want to like and keep this soundbar but I am really losing my mind with it.
Userlevel 1
Seems that it’s the same issue all round.
I’m really confused as this product is getting 10/10 reviews everywhere. Which makes me think maybe I’m doing something wrong?

There doesn’t seem to be any other options for me. It is what it is. Setup on the app and that’s it.
Any other settings are done on the TV but are blurred out when I change it to the SONOS Beam.

It’s plugged in via the optical adapter provided in the box.

I’m all just a bit confused by it all and I am VERY close to changing this product in the next couple of days. Disappointing 😕
Userlevel 1
Badge +1
maybe its related to Dolby Digital, do you have volume balance issue with stereo?
Nightmode can reduce it but you have still this balance volume, but the general sound gets worther in my opinion.

from which source you are watching movies and how is the connection with yout TV?
HDMI or opticial?

If you have the problem only with DD5.1, please contact Sonos Support (email or by phone)

Seems to be more and more people are experiencing this behaviour with Software Version 9:
https://en.community.sonos.com/home-theater-228993/sonos-beam-dd5-1-problem-6810138

Regards,
Tom