Answered

Sonos Voice Control voice response way too loud .... How to change response volume level ?

  • 23 February 2023
  • 31 replies
  • 1886 views
K
Userlevel 3

Turned on Sonos Voice Control and it works great.  Problem is that the volume of the Voice Control reponse is much to loud.  No matter what the level of music playing is the Sonos Voice Control reply seems to remain constant … but the volume is problematic as it is so loud.

 

Hoping there is a way to control and change the volume of the Sonos Voice Control response voice.  Does anyone know how to do this and are you experiencing the same problem where the voice response is much much too loud ?

 

The command “Hey Sonos Voice Control Softer” does lower the level of the voice control response.  If I set the music level louder though the voice control level seems to then match the music level volume.  Problem is that playing music at 70 or 80% sounds fine and not too loud but then the Voice Control level response changes and sounds much louder that the level of the music that was playing.

 

Want to be able to play music at a pleasant level and have the Sonos Voice assistant response level stay the same and at a lower level that does not hurt my ears.    This is causing me to not want to use the assistant.

 

icon

Best answer by Corry P 24 February 2023, 11:19

View original

31 replies

C

I had a similar problem with the Sonos One. Rebooting the device helped me, I think the software gets stuck in the ducking mode sometimes, which is when the volume lowers when taking a voice command. Then you later increase the volume to an acceptable listening level again but the voice assistant chimes and responses don't get ducked, resulting in those being at blasting volumes.

My era100s paired with a beam started doing this recently as well which I hope a reboot will fix that as well. Close to max volume on the speakers and music doesn't get nearly as loud as they did upon first installation.

D

Same problem here. Bought 2 Era 100s at Christmas and the Voice Control volume is significantly higher than the Spotify Connect and the BBC Radio Streams and the News Broadcasting stream volumes. It’s not the recordings… I’ve tried it on a wide range of music. Recent grime albums and seventies folk are all quieter than Voice Control. It doesn't matter which Voice Control - Alexa and Sonus both scare the neighbour’s cat unless I drop the volume before calling the activation word… this is not a great experience.

Observations -

  • Alexa VC changes volume while talking. it’s not stable.
  • The Sonos App Volume Limit behaves weirdly.  It doesn’t cap absolute volume, instead it scales volume down.  There are differences between the apps when I do this... I can’t be sure but I think the volume drift occurred when I first set this to 37%.

The thing is unusable at the moment - please can we have an update?

 

DS

 

J

Agree! Sonos, please add this feature. I’m gonna skip the voice assistant until then. 

V
Userlevel 1
Badge

Really a shame, I have three Sonos speaker sets around my house, (plus a pair of roams) and regrettably cannot use Sonos Voice Control, BECAUSE IT IS WAY TOO LOUD!  When a voice assistant (from just one room) can be heard in multiple rooms of a house, but the music is limited to the room intended for use then obviously, there is something that needs to be fixed.  Sonos is my “goto” for audio.  (And I switched from that name that everyone billed as the top of the rock when Sonos came out with the play1’s, upgrading to the latest and greatest in subsequent product releases).  However, this one downer regarding the voice assistant volume setting is such a disappointment.  I can only hope that Sonos takes their premier audio expertise and the wishes of its users to heart and does something “for us” as loyal users of their product and eliminate the frustration that exists.  I know I will never use the voice assistant feature until it gets fixed, but of course I do continue to enjoy the premier quality of the music that the speakers provide to me.  

K

Has this been fixed yet? It should be logged as a bug and not a feature request. P1 priority critical bug. 

C

I agree with having separate controls for adjusting the volume of the voice assistant.

The speaker in my room stays in the same position. I might stay in the same position as well, but depending on the current volume level the voice assistant mutes the current music and then either talks to or SHOUTS AT me.

Especially with radio stations, you might have to first increase the volume a decent amount before hearing anything. The assistant though doesn't take into account how "loud" something is playing but at which volume level.

Please introduce an optional setting to set the voice assistant to a user-defined fixed volume level!

T

Agreed with everyone.  I just bought an era 100 for my bathroom.  The sound is just amazing as far as the music goes, but the voice blows my head off everytime I give a command.  It seems 10 times louder than the actual music.

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @zls 

I have no update to share with you - if the feature is implemented, it is unlikely that either you or I will know about it beforehand.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
Airgetlam

Apologies. I thought @mjmj74 mentioned Google Assistant. 

Bruce
S
Userlevel 7
Badge +15

My understanding is this thread is specifically related to the volume of Sonos Voice Control (SVC) and not related to Amazon or Google.

I don't believe Google or Amazon (neither of which allowed independent volume control for reasons none of us know but many tried to justify) have been mentioned.

Airgetlam

Sonos, Amazon, in the case of Alexa. Sonos and Google, in the case of the Google Voice system. In fact, Google already has a requirement that they can’t be installed with any other voice system, which is why you can run Sonos and Alexa at the same time, but Google’ assistant must be run alone. And frankly, Google moved the bar on allowing the Google assistant to be used, which is why it isn’t available on the newer Sonos Era speakers.

For the Sonos Voice Assistant, I’ve no idea on. But it’s certainly my perception, based on posts in this forum, the percentage of users on Sonos’ voice system is dwarfed by those on Amazon’s and Google’s Voice Assistants. Or, if you prefer ‘Alexa’ and ‘Hey, Google’. 

Bruce
S
Userlevel 7
Badge +15

Which two companies or partners are you referring to?

When there was no option to have separate volume controls for Alexa responses the ‘defenders’ said it must be because of something out of their control and not a Sonos issue.

This issue, from my understanding, is 100% a thing Sonos can control and implement.

It's ‘Sonos Voice Control’….

Airgetlam

As Sonos hasn’t implemented a solution, I wonder if it is written into the legal agreement between the two companies that requires it to be this way. Unfortunately, I’m not sure how we could see that. And of course, Sonos would rather keep silent, and not annoy their partners…

There are lots of request that I’ve seen over the years that aren’t implemented, and we’ve never been given explanations. Some might be code related, some hardware, and some legal restrictions, it just isn’t always clear. 

Bruce
Z

Just wanted to add my voice the chorus. I just bought a couple Era 100s and as others have mentioned the volume of the voice assist renders it virtually unusable, especially when listening to “quieter” genres like classical and jazz, which I do a lot. Pretty disappointing and seems like it’d be a relatively easy fix. I really hate that Giancarlo’s voice is going to waste. 

@Corry P it’s been 9 months since this thread was opened, can we have an update? Is Sonos any closer to implementing a solution here? 

B

Agree this needs addressing and very disappointing that Sonos don’t seem interested in fixing it. Voice assistant responses are way too loud on my Era 100 - completely out of wack with the experience on Amazon’s own speakers. I thought Sonos was supposed to be the premium product!?

B

This problem was first reported nine months ago on this thread, and nothing yet has been done. That’s pretty pathetic! I’m so disappointed in Sonos that they couldn’t come up with a software upgrade by now.

F

Agree, my grandma struggles to do anything other than make a call on her phone so the app is a no go, but she can use the voice assistant except it’s way louder than anything it’s playing and its very annoying. It’s the same on my move and roam.

M

Separate assistant volume control needs adding asap. I purchased 6 new Sonons Ones last year as I wanted Google assistant in each room yet can't use it via Sonos in its current state as the assistant is way too loud. I won't be upgrading or expaning my Sonos system further until this is resolved.

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @Michael3984 

This thread is tagged as a feature request, so you have already registered your interest in this as a feature by posting here.

You should not be hearing any assistant at 100% volume, however, only 40%. While it’s likely that you are hearing the assistant at 40% and your podcasts are just quieter, if you do feel your assistant is at 100%, I recommend taking action. Please hold the power button for approximately 12 seconds to force a full reboot of the speaker. 

Or, to assure yourself that it’s not at 100%, turn up the volume to 50% - if the assistant is already at 100%, it can’t be louder if you increase the volume to 50%.

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
M

+1 to this. Is there anything I can do to upvote -- a separate feature suggestion list or anything?

I just bought a Sonos Roam which is great, I’ll listen to my podcasts at around 40% volume, and then when I ask about the battery level the speaker terrifies me with how loud it is in its reply. Like it actually hurts my ears if I’ve got the speaker in my shower.

This needs to be set to a reasonable real-life human voice level like 40% in the first place, rather than the speaker’s maximum volume of 100%. And then it’s nicer to be able to adjust it as well -- but there’s also zero reason the voice assistant volume should be deafening in the first place. It’s absurd. A gigantic glaring flaw in a product that’s otherwise aesthetically so tremendously well thought-out.

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @Boommusic 

Older music tends to be recorded differently to modern music. Arguably, the engineers of old were doing things properly. These days (since 80’s or 90’s, I think), tracks are mixed such that the entire track hits volume peaks all the time - this made the track stand out when played on the radio, so everyone now does it so their music isn’t drowned out by the rest.

I often notice that older recordings sound much quieter than modern tracks - old Queen tracks, Don McLean etc. If you are able to find remastered versions of older tracks, you may well find them to be at the same perceived volume as newer tracks, and therefore at the same volume of your voice assistant too.

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
B

This is an issue playing Bee Gees music, but not Barry White. Maybe some songs a louder than others? Would be good to have Sonos voice match volume of recorded song so we're not given mini heart attacks 

S
Userlevel 7
Badge +15

A separate volume Control for SVC would be great.  Not from the main volume controls but a setting (it could be a percentage, a fixed or a ‘Volume +/- x type.).

The lack of a setting was always blamed on third party (nothing new there…) but there's no reason I can think of to not include one for SVC.

I also rarely use it now so Giancarlo doesn't shout at me.   My neighbours don't need to know my battery level..

S

Please implement a voice assistant volume control. 

 

The current volume levels are very irritating

S
Userlevel 1

I've stopped using voice control on the Sonos for this very reason, and have no intention of using it again until it's been fixed. Unfortunately this also means that I use my Sonos less and have abandoned the idea of updating my current setup.

Reply


Terms & ConditionsCookie settings