Sonos Beam low volume

Hi,
I also have some volume issues, but I'm almost sure the differences/problems are in my TV box (orange 4K box):

Before changing my setup with the beam I used a yamaha rxv3900 and already the volume needed to be quite UP using this tv box (between -35 and -30db), my previous (SFR) box with the same setup needed between -60db and -55db.

So I suppose it's the same the the beam.

The difference now is DD vs stero: some tv channels are in stereo and the Orange TV Box send a very low volume thru hdmi (and in this case the volume is controllable with my orange remote, and it's low event at 100%), and some other channel (or netflix app in the orange box) are in DD5.1, and DD5.1 is sent directly to the beam, in this case the volume is at lot more louder and is not changed by the orange tv remote.

So for me it's not a sonos/beam problem, but more a orange problem: they did not any uniformization in volume between channels and the stero volume is by default very low (and I did not found any option to change this setting).
[the orange tv box audio is set to HDMI/Home Theater 5.1 mode]

Same problem here. Ran my LG OLED B6V with playbar flawless but with the beam the volume at Netflix and Other streamingservices are way to high when switching sources from tv. So when the kids switch source, se all go nuts.

Not impressed with the playbar at all Sonos. Got my 100 days returnpolicy to lean at..thinking of using it.

Same issue. Just sent a diagnostic. Was the issue solved for anyone? Low, embarassing volume on TV while plays great on any streaming music service...

Check the volume on your satellitebox, mine was in the lower part, thats what caused the diffrence in volume here.. (shame on me)

That remote is never used, its in the closet. So i wonder what happend..

I am having the same issue with TV / Netflix / Plex being much lower than when playing music through streaming.

It's very annoying and scaring the sh## out of everyone when switching sources.

Can you please look more in to this Sonos?
If not, I might return this product..

I have a Philips TV.

Same issue here. I have a Samsung TV and using my Beam with HDMI ARC. Volume on Spotify and radio is great, but when I turn on my TV, the volume of the Beam is very low and I have to turn it up to like 80%. When I turn off my TV and turn the radio back on, I scares the sh*t out of me! Please fix this Sonos!

Same issue here. I have a Samsung TV and using my Beam with HDMI ARC. Volume on Spotify and radio is great, but when I turn on my TV, the volume of the Beam is very low and I have to turn it up to like 80%. When I turn off my TV and turn the radio back on, I scares the sh*t out of me! Please fix this Sonos!
Are you sure it isn’t your TV that is doing this? I’m not having the same issue with my LG TV... surely the Beam can only output the signal that the TV sends to it. If it was the Beam at fault, then surely everyone, me included, would all have the same problem, my volumes are the same when using PCM stereo and the volume is just 'slightly' louder when using 5.1 DD surround sound, but that’s because my Surround Speakers LS & RS are added into the mix, but my Beam volume level is there or thereabouts the same, whether I’m watching TV or Netflix or playing Spotify/Amazon Music on the Beam.

In terms of Music, I can increase the volume of the surrounds by switching their settings from 'Ambient' to 'FULL', that obviously will increase the volume from those, but it only applies to a Sonos/Alexa music source.

Perhaps speak to Samsung Support about your issue and see what they say. There maybe some way to increase the TV audio output volume via your HDMI-ARC port, to bring it into line with the Spotify audio volume.

Same issue here. I have a Samsung TV and using my Beam with HDMI ARC. Volume on Spotify and radio is great, but when I turn on my TV, the volume of the Beam is very low and I have to turn it up to like 80%. When I turn off my TV and turn the radio back on, I scares the sh*t out of me! Please fix this Sonos!
Are you sure it isn’t your TV that is doing this? I’m not having the same issue with my LG TV... surely the Beam can only output the signal that the TV sends to it. If it was the Beam at fault, then surely everyone, me included, would all have the same problem, my volumes are the same when using PCM stereo and the volume is just 'slightly' louder when using 5.1 DD surround sound, but that’s because my Surround Speakers LS & RS are added into the mix, but my Beam volume level is there or thereabouts the same, whether I’m watching TV or Netflix or playing Spotify/Amazon Music on the Beam.

In terms of Music, I can increase the volume of the surrounds by switching their settings from 'Ambient' to 'FULL', that obviously will increase the volume from those, but it only applies to a Sonos/Alexa music source.

Perhaps speak to Samsung Support about your issue and see what they say. There maybe some way to increase the TV audio output volume via your HDMI-ARC port, to bring it into line with the Spotify audio volume.

Thanks for the reply. I've checked my TV audio settings. The output is set out "External speakers", which makes all the other settings greyed out, except PCM / Dolby. When I switch from PCM to Dolby, the volume is higher, but still not in line. All other audio settings are greyed out.

I will contact Samsung support to see if they can help me.

Hi everyone,

I've been following this thread since I got my Beam. I've spent many hours researching why I was getting low volume output from my Samsung (2014) TV, and I've now reached a conclusion.

I was always able to get decent volume output from the TV when the source was the INTERNAL tuner, or Smart TV apps accessed directly from the Samsung Smart Hub. This was lovely, rich DD 5.1 sound - the Beam working exactly as I expected. However, for any external HDMI source (PS4, BT YouView STB, Chromecast, etc.) I was getting only bog-standard stereo sound, which sounds rubbish and really quiet by comparison.

The Beam was connected to my TV via HDMI-ARC. All external devices connected to other HDMI ports. I must have tried every combination of settings, but could never get DD 5.1 passed through to the Beam from those external HDMI sources. This was confirmed by checking in the 'About My Sonos System' section of the iOS app.

So here is the problem: older TVs (especially Samsungs) will not pass-through DD 5.1 via HDMI-ARC or Optical/TOSLINK from any external HDMI source. My TV can output DD 5.1 from its own internal sources, but will not re-direct DD 5.1 from an external source to the Beam. I've read that this is something to do with the EDID 'handshake' between the TV and the external HDMI source. That might not be 100% technically accurate (before anyone jumps in to correct me), but I believe that is the gist of things.

So, if you have an older TV and are struggling with this issue, I suggest you do some research into your TV model to see whether it is capable of passing through DD 5.1 from external HDMI sources via HDMI-ARC. If not, your Sonos Beam will not be able to output DD 5.1 from these sources. It seems there is no fix.

However, there is a workaround that I have found. It's not ideal, but it's preferable (for me) to spending £££ on a new television.

My set-up is now as follows:
- STB and PS4 connected to TV via HDMI (for video only).
- STB, PS4 and TV all independently wired with Optical TOSLINK to carry audio output.
- All Optical TOSLINK cables feeding into an Optical Switcher (I purchased this one from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/CSL-Toslink-transmission-receiver-speakers/dp/B015O5DHOG/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8).
- One more Optical TOSLINK cable from the output slot of the Optical Switcher into the Optical-to-HDMI adapter that came packaged with the Sonos Beam. This connects in to the Beam.

So I am essentially feeding all audio sources via Optical TOSLINK directly into the Beam, omitting HDMI-ARC and bypassing the TV as a middleman for audio from the external HDMI sources.

It works like a charm - DD 5.1 now plays from all sources now (assuming that you have adjusted the settings on your device to output DD 5.1 audio via Optical and/or that the content itself is coded for DD 5.1).

The only downside is that you lose the functionality that you get with HDMI-ARC (Alexa voice controls for the TV, etc.) AND you have to remember to switch the source on the Optical Switcher, but otherwise it's working as I hoped.

Hope that this clears up a lot of things for folks struggling with this issue. Happy to answer any questions about my setup.

Thanks