Adjust the volume of a GROUP through Soundbar

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
January 31, 2023
20 replies
1726 views

I bought my Sonos system specifically to make a home theater setup and almost never listen to music in the room they are set up.

The ONLY way to link more than just 2 speakers to the Sonos Soundbar is by linking them together wirelessly as a GROUP instead of connecting them as an external sterio-pair.
(You COULD have 1 connected as a stereo-pair & 1 on its own & link them as a group but since you would have to forfeit individual influence over the volume of the attached set & they are not completely centered anyway, that seemed counterproductive in my particular situation)

Once I manage to get the tuning & volume lined up how I like, they actually work well. TRUEPLAY doesn’t work in any sense, the speakers I could successfully turn it on on actually ended up sounding terrible. Overall, Once I got it how I liked, it worked well.

The ISSUE I am facing is that I can’t keep them in sync. The remote/ir only influences the speaker that’s attached to the TV directly & I’m over the limit that I’m able to do unless I use the method as detailed.
The only way to keep things in sync is to use the sliding bar on the app, which adjusts all the bars proportionally. I can’t even access it from my Lock Screen. It said that was possible but I followed the steps & it didn’t work.

PLEASE tell me there is a way to control the full group without the hassle of pulling up the full volume bar on the app. I would REALLY like a way to control it with a remote that I can keep with my theater setup. It would also be great to hear that the limit on linking only 1 pair of speakers to a soundbar is being eliminated.
Any news would be greatly appreciated!!

(As far as the limits on linking devices together to form a “Room” being so limited, I am wondering why? I assume they link as Rooms and/or Groups via the same form of connection but Groups have far less restrictions. If the Group is merely a Room that is broken up by a generic limit & being reformed each time, then is there a benefit to the limit existing like this in the first place??)

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J

John B

(As far as the limits on linking devices together to form a “Room” being so limited, I am wondering why? I assume they link as Rooms and/or Groups via the same form of connection b

Hi. You assume wrongly. The nature of the connection is totally different. To use the soundbar and Ones as a single room you must add the Ones as surround speakers. The system is then able to play multichannel 5.0 (5.1 with a Sub) formats. The soundbar plays FL, Centre and FR channels and sends the rear left and right channels to the Ones. They act as a single unit and so only need one volume control. For music you can choose to have ‘dual stereo from the soundbar and rear speakers if you choose.

If you have two rooms and group them, that will be fine for music. For movie there will be a slight audio lag on the Ones. If the Ones are in the same physical room as the soundbar and you want to use them for movie sound it only makes sense to use them as surrounds, not group them.

D

DrewKrs27Author

That doesn’t really answer my question

Anime Audiophile

D

DrewKrs27Author

(As far as the limits on linking devices together to form a “Room” being so limited, I am wondering why? I assume they link as Rooms and/or Groups via the same form of connection b

Hi. You assume wrongly. The nature of the connection is totally different. To use the soundbar and Ones as a single room you must add the Ones as surround speakers. The system is then able to play multichannel 5.0 (5.1 with a Sub) formats. The soundbar plays FL, Centre and FR channels and sends the rear left and right channels to the Ones. They act as a single unit and so only need one volume control. For music you can choose to have ‘dual stereo from the soundbar and rear speakers if you choose.

If you have two rooms and group them, that will be fine for music. For movie there will be a slight audio lag on the Ones. If the Ones are in the same physical room as the soundbar and you want to use them for movie sound it only makes sense to use them as surrounds, not group them.

That doesn’t really answer my question. I have a set of fives & ones right now. I’m moving in July & I’ll have to rebuild my theater then but presently, with each speaker in unusual spots so they fit, I have no idea which to even pair to the Arc.
Moreover; even if I pair a set, I STILL need a way to adjust the volume of the GROUP since there is another pair that I am unable to link.

Anime Audiophile

N

nik9669a

Senior Virtuoso

(As far as the limits on linking devices together to form a “Room” being so limited, I am wondering why? I assume they link as Rooms and/or Groups via the same form of connection b

Hi. You assume wrongly. The nature of the connection is totally different. To use the soundbar and Ones as a single room you must add the Ones as surround speakers. The system is then able to play multichannel 5.0 (5.1 with a Sub) formats. The soundbar plays FL, Centre and FR channels and sends the rear left and right channels to the Ones. They act as a single unit and so only need one volume control. For music you can choose to have ‘dual stereo from the soundbar and rear speakers if you choose.

If you have two rooms and group them, that will be fine for music. For movie there will be a slight audio lag on the Ones. If the Ones are in the same physical room as the soundbar and you want to use them for movie sound it only makes sense to use them as surrounds, not group them.

That doesn’t really answer my question. I have a set of fives & ones right now. I’m moving in July & I’ll have to rebuild my theater then but presently, with each speaker in unusual spots so they fit, I have no idea which to even pair to the Arc.
Moreover; even if I pair a set, I STILL need a way to adjust the volume of the GROUP since there is another pair that I am unable to link.

You need to use an app (on phone, Mac or PC) to control a group’s volume. The slider controls the volume to the whole group, or tap on it to bring up individual room volume sliders. If that’s the question you’re asking?

D

DrewKrs27Author

(As far as the limits on linking devices together to form a “Room” being so limited, I am wondering why? I assume they link as Rooms and/or Groups via the same form of connection b

Hi. You assume wrongly. The nature of the connection is totally different. To use the soundbar and Ones as a single room you must add the Ones as surround speakers. The system is then able to play multichannel 5.0 (5.1 with a Sub) formats. The soundbar plays FL, Centre and FR channels and sends the rear left and right channels to the Ones. They act as a single unit and so only need one volume control. For music you can choose to have ‘dual stereo from the soundbar and rear speakers if you choose.

If you have two rooms and group them, that will be fine for music. For movie there will be a slight audio lag on the Ones. If the Ones are in the same physical room as the soundbar and you want to use them for movie sound it only makes sense to use them as surrounds, not group them.

That doesn’t really answer my question. I have a set of fives & ones right now. I’m moving in July & I’ll have to rebuild my theater then but presently, with each speaker in unusual spots so they fit, I have no idea which to even pair to the Arc.
Moreover; even if I pair a set, I STILL need a way to adjust the volume of the GROUP since there is another pair that I am unable to link.

You need to use an app (on phone, Mac or PC) to control a group’s volume. The slider controls the volume to the whole group, or tap on it to bring up individual room volume sliders. If that’s the question you’re asking?

As I said, the only way I am able to control it at the present time IS with the Sonos app. I’m looking for a better solution. Like programming a remote or something.

Anime Audiophile

Smilja

@DrewKrs27, The Sonos app is a WiFi remote control. In order to control group volume you’d need a physical WiFi remote -- something like this.

»And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space, Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.« (›Windmills Of Your Mind‹ [1967]. Music by Michel Legrand ; English lyrics written by Alan & Marilyn Bergman)

melvimbe

Sonos does not make a separate remote, so obviously a 3rd party is your only option. I have both the lutron and ikea remotes that can be connected to Sonos. The lutron remote works very well, but you have to tie to the remote to specific room, not a named group.

The ikea remote is not as reliable, and I don’t know if you can tie it to a group or not. I can’t access settings remotely and I’m not at home. ikea is also upgrading their smart home stuff and I’m not exactly sure what’s available or what will be available soon.

I don’t use the Harmony remote anymore, and not sure if that was a capability.

Bottom line, you aren’t using your Sonos system as it was intended to be used, so it’s not surprising that there isn’t an elegant remote solution for your unique setup. There maybe a way to get it done through a remote I’m not aware of, or some custom programming solution someone else has done, but I’m not aware of it.

Danny

jgatie

That doesn’t really answer my question

Yes, it does. Grouping is ad-hoc, on the fly, and meant to be temporary. It also is buffered by about 75ms to account for the higher latency of the 2.4 GHz band needed to penetrate walls, floors, etc. Bonding, which is the term used for surrounds or a Sub, is a one-way, direct link, private 5 GHz low latency (~30ms) connection meant to be used in the same room synched with a TV source. It requires reconfiguring the radios and a series of handshakes to set up correctly, which is why adding/removing surrounds and/or sub takes a little time. The difference in latency is why the lag is present when you group the low latency TV source with the high latency connection of the other room.

D

DrewKrs27Author

That doesn’t really answer my question

Yes, it does. Grouping is ad-hoc, on the fly, and meant to be temporary. It also is buffered by about 75ms to account for the higher latency of the 2.4 GHz band needed to penetrate walls, floors, etc. Bonding, which is the term used for surrounds or a Sub, is a one-way, direct link, private 5 GHz low latency (~30ms) connection meant to be used in the same room synched with a TV source. It requires reconfiguring the radios and a series of handshakes to set up correctly, which is why adding/removing surrounds and/or sub takes a little time. The difference in latency is why the lag is present when you group the low latency TV source with the high latency connection of the other room.

What an AMAZING explanation of how to adjust volume. My question has been solved. NOT. I would LOVE to link all of my speakers to my Arc but I still have too many for that.

I appreciate the explanation, I had assumed that it had to be different in some way or it wouldn’t exist at all. I still haven’t heard a reason as to why they put a limit of only one set of background speakers, though, either.

You can be as condescending as you want but unless you are able to ACTUALLY answer the question in some capacity, you are still not being helpful.

Anime Audiophile

D

DrewKrs27Author

That doesn’t really answer my question

Yes, it does. Grouping is ad-hoc, on the fly, and meant to be temporary. It also is buffered by about 75ms to account for the higher latency of the 2.4 GHz band needed to penetrate walls, floors, etc. Bonding, which is the term used for surrounds or a Sub, is a one-way, direct link, private 5 GHz low latency (~30ms) connection meant to be used in the same room synched with a TV source. It requires reconfiguring the radios and a series of handshakes to set up correctly, which is why adding/removing surrounds and/or sub takes a little time. The difference in latency is why the lag is present when you group the low latency TV source with the high latency connection of the other room.

What an AMAZING explanation of how to adjust volume. My question has been solved. NOT. I would LOVE to link all of my speakers to my Arc but I still have too many for that.

I appreciate the explanation, I had assumed that it had to be different in some way or it wouldn’t exist at all. I still haven’t heard a reason as to why they put a limit of only one set of background speakers, though, either.

You can be as condescending as you want but unless you are able to ACTUALLY answer the question in some capacity, you are still not being helpful.

You haven’t even given me a suggestion as to whether I should link the Fives or the Ones to the Arc. All you’ve done is sound arrogant.

Anime Audiophile

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