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Voice assistant not working when playing music

  • 7 December 2020
  • 17 replies
  • 1030 views

I've just got a sonos move.  All was great until I tried to use voice assistant during playback, you know to change the volume etc!  

 

Voice works fine until music is playing and then the sonos just doesn't pick up the prompt (alexa, or hey google).  Its the same if I'm using Alexa or Google VA and also however music is being played, e.g. Spotify or tunein etc.  

 

Pause the music and it works fine again.

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Best answer by masheri 28 December 2020, 13:45

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17 replies

Userlevel 6
Badge +16

Hi @tom83, Thanks for reaching out, and welcome to the community. Sorry to hear about this issue on your Sonos Move on Google Assistant and Alexa. Both Google Assistant and Aleza are having the same issue? I’ll ask you to submit a diagnostic report to investigate further what could be causing this issue. You may reply to the thread with the confirmation number to assist you with this issue.  

Let us know how it goes and we're here to answer any further questions you have.

Hello,

 

I'm having the exact same issues. Tried both alexa and Google assistant. 

 

Do I have to submit the diagnostic report too?

Userlevel 6
Badge +16

Hi @Traian24, Thanks for reaching out, and welcome to the community. Sorry to hear that you have the same issue with your Voice Assistant. I want to ask some questions to further check on this issue.

  • When did it start happening?
  • Did it work before or it’s the first time that you tried to add Voice Assistant on your Sonos?
  • Have you tried to add it on another device controller where you have the Sonos App?
  • Are there any changes made on the settings on the Sonos App and Google Assistant or Alexa App?
  • Does it happen only when playing music or a specific music service or on all music services?

Answers to these questions will help us determine what could be causing this issue.

Kindly submit a diagnostic report to investigate further what could be causing this issue. You may reply to the thread with the confirmation number to assist you with this issue.  

Let us know how it goes and we're here to answer any further questions you have.

 

Hey Simon! 
 

Having the same problem on my brand new Move, with Alexa.

I just got the Sonos Move for Christmas and I am having a similar issue.  I can get Alexa to play a song from Spotify with an Alexa command, but when I say “Alexa stop or off or pause”, while the song is playing there is no chime letting me know that my voice was heard like when I asked to play a song.

I am unable to stop the music from playing unless I physically stop the music.

I’m not sure if I should return the item and get another one or is this a known issue with the Sonos Move?

I’m having the same issue.  Google assistant work fine when not playing the radio, but simply ignores me even with the volume turned right down.

Is this a known issue

I’m having the same issue.  Google assistant work fine when not playing the radio, but simply ignores me even with the volume turned right down.

Is this a known issue

I’ve also now tried using Alexa instead of GA, but I’m still having the same issue.

This is my first Sonos product (a Move), and specifically bought for voice control.

nealth...I found the following instructions somewhere in the Sonos Community and it solved my issue with Alexa not acknowledging the command to stop playing the music once the music started playing.  At first it was only following the first command to play music but not stopping it or pausing etc...try these steps, hope it helps!

 

Weirdly, it Alexa is responsive now when music is playing.

I changed nothing other then reading somewhere that Trueplay seemed to have some bearing.  I simply disabled it and then re-enabled it and everything sprung to live.

Userlevel 6
Badge +16

Hi there @nealdh, Thanks for reaching out, and welcome to the community. Sorry about what happened. But I’m glad it’s working now for your Alexa. You can submit a diagnostic report for us to check the status of your Sonos system If there are any issues with Alexa on your Sonos. 

Hello @masheri, thanks for reaching out, and thanks for assisting. Those troubleshooting steps are helpful for this type of Alexa issue. 

Let us know how it goes and we're here to answer any further questions you have.

Diagnostic report 977081723 submitted

Hi, I am also having this problem with Google Assistant and Alexa on my brand new Move (bought today). When music is playing, even at low volume, it doesn't respond to the wake word.

I've submitted a diagnostic report (766649220). 

I am also having the exact same issue with a new Sonos Move using Spotify and the Google Assistant. Works fine when nothing is playing but as soon as something is playing it doesn’t respond. I’ve tried disabling Trueplay and re-enabling but that hasn’t resolved the issue.

 I’ve submitted a diagnostic report (992164650).

Userlevel 5
Badge +8

This happens spontaneously on occasion for reasons unknown. It usually goes away after a day or two, or you can try the full remove and restore voice assistant procedure.

Normally the Sonos speaker is able to pick out your voice saying “Alexa” or “Hey Google” over the music because it subtracts the sound of its own speaker from what the microphone is hearing. Maybe something goes wrong with that.

Hi,

I am also having this problem with Google Assistant on my brand new Move (bought today). When music is playing (using Spotify), even at low volume, it doesn't respond to the wake word.

I’ve submitted a diagnostic report (1940956658).

 

Userlevel 5
Badge +8

I’ve noticed something odd about my Sonos One stereo pair lately. I also have an Echo Dot in the room, so I can run Google Assistant on the Sonos speakers and still use Alexa for other things that are unique to Alexa. If the Sonos speakers are playing music, I can say “Hey Google” at normal speaking volume, and GA on the Sonos speakers will hear me over the music and respond, due to the sound cancellation technique that the speakers use. As expected, I have to say “Alexa” much louder in order for the Echo Dot to hear me over the music when it’s not the Echo Dot speaker that’s playing the music.  

Here’s the strange thing: when I say “Alexa” loud enough to get the attention of the Echo Dot over the music playing on the Sonos speakers, the Sonos speakers go quiet for a few seconds to allow me to say the follow-up command, just as if I had said “Hey Google” to get the attention of Google Assistant on the Sonos speakers.  

So how does that happen? Sonos is set as the default music speaker for the room in the Alexa settings. Is Alexa smart enough to notice that the Sonos speakers are playing from another source and quiet them momentarily? That’s smarter than I would have expected, but it’s the most likely explanation. If the Sonos speakers were recognizing the word “Alexa” even though not currently set to use Alexa as the voice assistant, then I wouldn’t have to shout to be heard.

Userlevel 4
Badge +6

I’ve noticed something odd about my Sonos One stereo pair lately. I also have an Echo Dot in the room, so I can run Google Assistant on the Sonos speakers and still use Alexa for other things that are unique to Alexa. If the Sonos speakers are playing music, I can say “Hey Google” at normal speaking volume, and GA on the Sonos speakers will hear me over the music and respond, due to the sound cancellation technique that the speakers use. As expected, I have to say “Alexa” much louder in order for the Echo Dot to hear me over the music when it’s not the Echo Dot speaker that’s playing the music.  

Here’s the strange thing: when I say “Alexa” loud enough to get the attention of the Echo Dot over the music playing on the Sonos speakers, the Sonos speakers go quiet for a few seconds to allow me to say the follow-up command, just as if I had said “Hey Google” to get the attention of Google Assistant on the Sonos speakers.  

So how does that happen? Sonos is set as the default music speaker for the room in the Alexa settings. Is Alexa smart enough to notice that the Sonos speakers are playing from another source and quiet them momentarily? That’s smarter than I would have expected, but it’s the most likely explanation. If the Sonos speakers were recognizing the word “Alexa” even though not currently set to use Alexa as the voice assistant, then I wouldn’t have to shout to be heard.

I noticed this too with an Echo Dot! The Sonos speaker seems to be smart enough to know that, but only when using Alexa unfortunately. If I have Google Assistant enabled on Sonos (or Alexa, or no voice assistant at all, as linking your Sonos account to the voice assistants seems to be enough) and have a separate Google Nest Mini nearby and speak to it, the volume on the Sonos speaker doesn’t quietly down temporarily. I really do hope this gets fixed, I doubt it will though.