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How to balance TV & music playback on Beam

M

Hi everyone,

 

I have a Sonos Beam (Gen 2) connected via optical to my Sony TV (it has no (e)ARC connection) coupled with 2 Era 100s and I am trying to set them up correctly so that I can hear music (streaming from my NAS) and watch TV (Netflix, Disney+, Prime, cable TV) without constantly fondling with the Surround settings when switching between both play modes.

I found settings for watching TV (in the Surround settings TV level up to +10 or more, Music level to -10 or less, Music Playback Full), but when I then switch to streaming music the sound only seems to come from the Beam and the Era 100s as Surround speakers are not noticeable. When I setup everything for listening to music (in Surround Settings TV and music level to 0, Music Playback still Full) and then switch to TV, voices are overshadowed by the background music and in general to low in volume.

It's also hard for me to understand which settings influence what. E.g. for Speech Enhancement I hear no difference, likewise for the Music Playback option while watching TV. Is there a guide somewhere what option should do what?

Ideally, the settings would be remembered per Input Source, so I can have separate settings for TV and music streaming. Is this somehow possible?

And are there any other options that I should try?

 

Thank you already,

Myrtanim

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Best answer by melvimbe 18 May 2023, 15:36

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2 replies

melvimbe

The settings for “TV level” only apply for audio coming from the TV, your optical connection.  The settings for “Music level” only apply when streaming audio.  “Music Playback Full” means that you want the rear surround speakers to play stereo when streaming audio.

Based on what you described, you probably want TV level at +10, Music level at 0, and Music playback full.

Note that when watching TV and the source is in stereo, you aren’t going to hear anything (maybe a tiny bit of ambient noise) from your surround speakers.  You will only hear audio from the rear when watching sources that are recorded in surround sound.

Speech Enhancement only applies with the TV source, and you’ll only hear it from the Beam.

Ideally, the settings would be remembered per Input Source, so I can have separate settings for TV and music streaming. Is this somehow possible?

 

That’s pretty much how it works already, but Sonos refers to streaming sources as ‘music’, even though you can technically hear music through the TV.

Danny
T
Userlevel 3
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It's a great question & one that I have been thinking about. I have 2 era 100s a gen 2 beam, but I do have a e arc connection. We have found with new films the sound quality is so much better, with older films say 2010 & lower that is when you struggle to hear voices when the surround kicks in. Just play around with it, you will get it right.

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