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Torkil
Contributor I
January 12, 2023

Beam emitting sound at volume level 0

Hi

I’ve recently got a Google TV stick and connected it to my Sony TV. I’m using a Beam for sound. 

With the new stick we often experience problems controlling the sound. The Google TV is controlling the volume through the TV, and the on screen volume display is moving at is should, but at volume level 0 there is still sound coming from the beam. 

If I look in the Sonos app the Google TV is controlling the volume just at is should, the app is also showing the volume at 0 when this happens. 

This only happens when the devices start up efter being turned off, e.g. in the morning or when we come home from work. Any suggestions? 

Mvh.

Torkil

 

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16 replies

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Ken_Griffiths
Ken_Griffiths
January 13, 2023

I’m not familiar with audio protocols but that sounds odd to me. That would imply that the volume level is embedded in the stream, is that so? 

I would think the sonos should be able to silence any audio feed regardless of the source if it is told to go to volume 0.

Mvh.

Torkil

The CEC protocol is outlined here. It is part of the HDMI specifications and is used for command & control - powering on/off connected peripherals and volume control etc. (up-to 15 devices). For example, a TV remote control can also control a Cable TV box and a Blu-ray player:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Electronics_Control

Ken_Griffiths
Ken_Griffiths
January 13, 2023

So your Google TV/remote is controlling the volume in this instance via the TV and then to the Beam and it’s not doing it’s job via CEC, whereas as soon as you take the Google product out the mix, the Sony TV and it’s remote work perfectly and correctly set the sound-out to zero volume. So that’s why I’m thinking it’s the Google CEC control that is going awry, but that’s just my best guess here... If it was a Sonos issue, then I would have expected your TV remote to not have worked, but you said that was fine. 

There are reports of issues with Google TV sound control so that too points towards the Google device but see what their Support Staff say about the issue. HTH

TorkilAuthor
Contributor I
January 13, 2023

So your Google TV/remote is controlling the volume in this instance via the TV and then to the Beam and it’s not doing it’s job via CEC, whereas as soon as you take the Google product out the mix, the Sony TV and it’s remote work perfectly and correctly set the sound-out to zero volume. So that’s why I’m thinking it’s the Google CEC control that is going awry, but that’s just my best guess here... If it was a Sonos issue, then I would have expected your TV remote to not have worked, but you said that was fine. 

There are reports of issues with Google TV sound control so that too points towards the Google device but see what their Support Staff say about the issue. HTH

The Gooogle TV device and/or remote is not playing nice with the rest of the setup, I agree with this. 

But I still think it is odd that turning the volume on the beam to 0 directly via the sonos app doesn’t quiet it. There’s no CEC or anything else involved with this, just Sonos. 

And CEC is actually working as expected in this scenario, as the TV and the Sonos app both show the volume as 0. There should be no sound but there is.

Still waiting for Google to get back to me after I asked for actual tech support.

Mvh.

Torkil

Airgetlam
Airgetlam
January 13, 2023

CEC includes the part of the TV set sending an audible signal to the Beam. There absolutely is CEC communication going on. 

Bruce
    Ken_Griffiths
    Ken_Griffiths
    January 13, 2023

    So your Google TV/remote is controlling the volume in this instance via the TV and then to the Beam and it’s not doing it’s job via CEC, whereas as soon as you take the Google product out the mix, the Sony TV and it’s remote work perfectly and correctly set the sound-out to zero volume. So that’s why I’m thinking it’s the Google CEC control that is going awry, but that’s just my best guess here... If it was a Sonos issue, then I would have expected your TV remote to not have worked, but you said that was fine. 

    There are reports of issues with Google TV sound control so that too points towards the Google device but see what their Support Staff say about the issue. HTH

    The Gooogle TV device and/or remote is not playing nice with the rest of the setup, I agree with this. 

    But I still think it is odd that turning the volume on the beam to 0 directly via the sonos app doesn’t quiet it. There’s no CEC or anything else involved with this, just Sonos. 

    And CEC is actually working as expected in this scenario, as the TV and the Sonos app both show the volume as 0. There should be no sound but there is.

    Still waiting for Google to get back to me after I asked for actual tech support.

    Mvh.

    Torkil

    Am I correct in thinking here, that as soon as you remove the Google TV from your setup and switch the Beam over to use the TV remote instead, that the Sonos App volume control and/or TV volume control can then be set to the same zero value and no sound at all comes from the Beam. If that is so, then it still means, to me at least, that it’s a fault with the Google TV CEC control and that it’s "volume 0" setting is actually incorrect and still sending audio to the speaker, which is obviously above that zero volume.

    As mentioned earlier the Beam is a speaker and will only play what is sent to it and it appears the Google TV is sending audio to the TV and onto the Beam and telling the connected devices over CEC protocol that the audio being sent is currently at a "volume level 0” setting when in fact the audio it is sending is above that audio level on the volume curve.

    I don’t know why you wouldn’t think it was the Google TV in this case, because as soon as you remove it from the TV and switch remotes, the issue is completely resolved from what you’ve mentioned already in your posts.

    If you want to test things further, then perhaps attach another ‘different’ CEC enabled device to one of the TV HDMI ports (eg. Fire TV, Apple TV, Cable TV, DVD Player etc.) and use its remote over CEC and just see if that causes the same issue - my guess is the device will be fine …and that too may help to point the finger as the Google TV being the ‘culprit’ in this instance. 

    I’m not too sure what else I can add, but those are my thoughts based on what you have mentioned so far about the issue.

    TorkilAuthor
    Contributor I
    January 13, 2023

    As mentioned earlier the Beam is a speaker and will only play what is sent to it and it appears the Google is sending audio to the TV and onto the Beam and telling the connected devices over CEC protocol that the audio being sent is currently at the "volume level 0” setting when in fact the audio it is sending is above that audio level in the volume curve.

    Thanks both of you. I agree the finger is pointed solely at the Google TV/CEC if the protocol embeds the volume with/in the audio stream. 

    I’ve had a Fire TV 4K stick for years and it works just fine. 

    Mvh.

    Torkil

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