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Playing Beam and single Sonos One with TV sound output

  • 7 April 2021
  • 5 replies
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I’m a novice with sound issues.  I have a recently purchased a Beam, which I have been playing with my Samsung TV sound output.  Because of space issues the Beam soundbar is on a shelf to the right of the TV, which results in a one directional sound when watching TV.  I now have purchased a Sonos 1 (2nd Gen) and placed it on a shelf to the left of the TV in an attempt to get a more balanced sound output.  I gave the Beam and the Sonos 1 different “room” names and “grouped” them as per the app instructions.  I then set the volume levels in the app to the same settings and confirmed that the TV sound was coming out of both speakers.  The trouble is that when watching TV, the volume of each speaker keeps changing.  Each gets very quiet for a time at different times while watching.  They quiet to the point that it seems to the listener that the sound has gone off in one of the speakers.  It hasn’t, however. it just gets very quiet relative to the other speaker. QUESTION:  Is there a way to keep the volume of each speaker locked in to maintain the same volume level at all times after an initial setting through the app or otherwise?

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Best answer by Airgetlam 8 April 2021, 07:20

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5 replies

Now, that’s a conundrum. I had all sorts of “no, it’s not….but wait, that’s not what he’s saying” happening when I read your issue.

And don’t fret being a novice. Often, too little knowledge is more easily overcome than hard and fast “assumptions’ that turn out to be incorrect in the way that Sonos interacts with networking.

In general, there should be a delay between the Beam and the Sonos One (there is no Sonos 1), of around ~75 ms. But there should not be any variable volume issues, which makes me wonder a couple of things.

First, how is the Beam connected to the Samsung? Are you using an optical connector, or is it via the HDMI ARC process?

The volume of the Beam should be controlled by the TV’s remote, or the controller app, but the volume of that Sonos One (the grouped room) should be only by the controller app.

Second, is there a possibility that you’ve got some sort of wifi interference that might be blocking the wifi going to the Sonos One? It should never be blocking the Beam, since that is hard wired, either optically, or via HDMI ARC.

Thanks for your comments.  I forgot to mention that when the Sonos One is not connected, there is no variation in sound from the Beam.

The Beam is connected via the HDMI-ARC connection on the TV.  [The TV is a Samsung Frame TV with a fiber optic connection to its One Box]  

I don’t know about interference, but I can reposition the Sonos One to see if that helps. It’s possible that there may be physical interference.  I can test it tomorrow.

The Beam sound can, as you say, be controlled by both the TV app and the Controller app on my phone, and the Sonos One is controlled by the Controller app. I’ll report on interference after my test.

I’d guess, based on your further comments, there may be some interference between the Sonos One and the Beam….but in general, being digital devices, it should either play, or not play, and not vary in volume. You may want to submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this problem, and call Sonos Support to discuss it.

There may be information included in the diagnostic that will help Sonos pinpoint the issue and help you find a solution.

When you speak directly to the phone folks, there are more options available beyond just the diagnostic analysis.

Thanks for your further thoughts.  I moved the Sonos One to a place where there is no physical interference, but that doesn’t appear to have changed anything,  I haven’t been able to test yet for an extended period of time. Both devices do play, and only vary in relative volumes. 

One thing I have observed is that when the Beam and the One are grouped, and the volume of the Beam is raised or lowered intentionally, the volume of the One does not automatically match the changed volume of the Beam.  I would have thought that when the two devices are grouped and the volumes of each are matched, that they would stay matched , i.e. when the Beam volume is intentionally increased, the One volume would be increased to the same degree so the balance between them would remain the same.  Is there a way to make that happen?  If not, every time the Beam volume is adjusted, the One volume would need to be readjusted independently to maintain volume balance.

 

Before I follow your latest advice, I want to watch TV with the two devices grouped for a couple of hours.

Thanks for your further thoughts.  I moved the Sonos One to a place where there is no physical interference, but that doesn’t appear to have changed anything,  I haven’t been able to test yet for an extended period of time. Both devices do play, and only vary in relative volumes. 

One thing I have observed is that when the Beam and the One are grouped, and the volume of the Beam is raised or lowered intentionally, the volume of the One does not automatically match the changed volume of the Beam.  I would have thought that when the two devices are grouped and the volumes of each are matched, that they would stay matched , i.e. when the Beam volume is intentionally increased, the One volume would be increased to the same degree so the balance between them would remain the same.  Is there a way to make that happen?  If not, every time the Beam volume is adjusted, the One volume would need to be readjusted independently to maintain volume balance.

 

 

If you are using the remote control for volume, it would only effect the volume of the Beam.  The actual intention for grouping is that your 2nd room (Sonos One) is another room in the house, and changing the volume in the TV room by remote control would not effect the volume in other rooms.  However, within the Sonos app, you can change the volume of the whole group though.

To me, it seems like this Beam + One idea is really just skirting around the main issue, that is the space issue below your TV.  Is there not enough room under the TV?  If so, then one solution is to raise the TV on blocks a bit to accommodate the Beam, or mount the TV to the wall if applicable.  If these aren't options, that I would look at replacing the Beam with a Sons amp.  That would allow you to wire two passive bookshelf speakers on your bookshelf.  Not sure if that would work esthetically, but I get the impression that you have your TV in the middle of one large bookshelf, and hiding the speaker wires might not be a big concern.