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Minimum Volume is too loud to enjoy background music



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So, now that we’ve established that I’m hard of hearing, what happens if you move your speaker further away from where your head is, be it bedside table or other location? Is the volume still too high?

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Until such time as Sonos responds, try moving the speaker further away from its current placement. I use a PLAY:1 in my bedside table, but apparently am hard of hearing, as I don’t notice it being too loud to fall asleep to. 

The PLAY:1 that is 8 feet further away is completely inaudible to me at the same volume setting. 

Clearly your hearing.. And I have my bedside table next to my bed.. Not 5 meters away which admit it makes no sense

Until such time as Sonos responds, try moving the speaker further away from its current placement. I use a PLAY:1 in my bedside table, but apparently am hard of hearing, as I don’t notice it being too loud to fall asleep to. 

The PLAY:1 that is 8 feet further away is completely inaudible to me at the same volume setting. 

Hello Sonos! Any update here? Looks like we're more than a year into this thread without a response...

 

Now 3 years without a solution?

@Sonos- please reply, detailing how to enable a sliding volume control ranging from 0 dB to a selected max. 

The currently lowest achievable volume is simply much too loud. (Even with just one “click”) 

The use case is: iPhone, SONOS OS “S2”,  Amazon Music streaming.

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I solved the problem, and fair to say, it was an issue of “incompatible user” in combination with unclear UX/UI in the Sonos App. 

So what you need to check is the following, if you - just like me - are using a Playbar with 2x Play 1. In my case I apparently increased the volume of the surround speakers.

So how to solve: Go to your system settings, and select the group with the playbar. Then go to the “Surround Audio” settings and make sure you set both sliders; Tv Level, and Music Level to 0. 

I had them initially at arround +9 and what happens is that the base volume of the Sonos system is then increased with the number configured on the sliders resulting in a much louder volume. Overall, I think the sliders are not clear enough. But they simply set your surround speakers to a higher or lower volume level compared to the Playbar.

Right now the first step in the volume slider is just noticeable, almost whispering. Hope this helps other people. 

Thank you for your answer. I know this procedure, I just gave this as an example to demonstrate that Sonos Ones can provide very low volume when used as surround. Therefore, it should be feasible to lower the minimum volume of a Sonos One when not part of surround system.

This is also true for a pair of Sonos One. If you set the volume to the minimum it is still to high for a lot of users. If then you set the balance to the right speaker then the left speaker can provide very low volume. Why could not we reach this very low volume on a One itself?

Just to say this is not hardware limitation but software only! And then very easy to fix for Sonos! What the problem to reduce minimum volume?

Userlevel 3
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I solved the problem, and fair to say, it was an issue of “incompatible user” in combination with unclear UX/UI in the Sonos App. 

So what you need to check is the following, if you - just like me - are using a Playbar with 2x Play 1. In my case I apparently increased the volume of the surround speakers.

So how to solve: Go to your system settings, and select the group with the playbar. Then go to the “Surround Audio” settings and make sure you set both sliders; Tv Level, and Music Level to 0. 

I had them initially at arround +9 and what happens is that the base volume of the Sonos system is then increased with the number configured on the sliders resulting in a much louder volume. Overall, I think the sliders are not clear enough. But they simply set your surround speakers to a higher or lower volume level compared to the Playbar.

Right now the first step in the volume slider is just noticeable, almost whispering. Hope this helps other people. 

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We are not alone :

https://community.spotify.com/t5/Other-Partners-Web-Player-etc/Sonos-volume-way-too-high/td-p/4553785/page/3

https://www.reddit.com/r/sonos/comments/egpems/ikea_symfonisk_too_loud_on_lowest_volume/

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Coming back one year later and still the same issue. Please Sonos do something. This is feasible for sure. I paired 2 Sonos Ones as surround of the Beam. I can’t set the surround volume to -15 in the setting parameters for the surrounds. Then the minimum volume of both Ones is what I would love to have on my other Ones themselves. The speaker can technically do this so please allow the software to do it. 
I was waiting Sonos S2 hopping this could be solved. But almost nothing new and no issue solved with this update. 

Pathetic.

I have ended up rather comically using the EQ on sonos to lower at least some frequencies for volume on my Ikea Symfonisk, EQ is for EQ not for volume surely (anyway the difference is only marginal\0

Nearly 4 years of requests to sort this and nothing done.

Please Sonos just admit it, you CANNOT fix this via a software or firmware update can you?

Please rather than just keep stringing all these customers along. very poor for a supposed high quality audio product.

Oh, and BTW….. to all the posters who keep rattling on that they have no problem with this, please just keep it to yourself and go to another thread. 

  You are talking about your subjective experience not objectively about the amplitude of the signal between 0 (off) and 1 (too loud for many of us). TBH You are totally missing the point ie. that some of us DO want to listen to music really quietly eg in a silent  bedroom 12 inches away from my head to go to sleep by. This thread is for surely user who would like precisely this?All the posts saying this is not a problem for you changes nothing and you are just clouding the issue and whether you personally and subjectively find it too quiet at Volume No. 1 is irrelevant to be honest. 

As one poster said, best to close this forum down if after so long Sonos do nothing; that is apart from community manager Ryan  throwing in a red herring trumpetting the modifications to higher end volumes …..  as if it changes anything to the actual minimum volume… all quite farcical really.

Userlevel 1

Just adding my voice to the chorus (again). The minimum volume is too loud on both my playbase (watching Comcast cable) and my playbar with Netflix, Hulu, etc. Even with the night sound button on. C’mon Sonos, just give us a lower volume level with more control and granularity!

I just move the speaker farther away. If it’s next to my head, it may be to loud, if it’s on the bookcase, I can barely hear it at minimum volume. Sometimes, social distancing works for speakers as well.  

 

If sitting quite close to the speaker and there is no background noise it really is too loud for me.

This is using the Play:1 directly via Sonos with either Spotify or TuneIn.

Sometimes I want to play music at my desk really quietly - instead I alternate between lowest volume and just switching it off.

 

This issue is really embarrassing/annoying/disappointing. Sonos please just fix it already, it’s been there forever and people pointed it out years ago :|

Userlevel 1

Same issue here using Spotify on symfonisk next to my bed.  Absolutely unusable for background music while reading or just chilling. 

 

Sonos needs to fix this. Also the trick doesn't work with the 50% as I just simply get no sound on the first level and the exactly the same minimum volume on the second tap. Which is still the same too loud volume.

 

Really disappointed by this.  

Same! It’s impossible to study with “background” music. This seems a rave even on the lowest volume. Sonos needs to address this issue.

Userlevel 1

Hi everyone, starting today with Sonos 9.2 there's the ability to use the mobile controller for Android or iOS to set a maximum volume for each of your Sonos players. The reason I bring it up in here, is that if you have the maximum volume set at 50%, the whole volume bar will still go from 0-100, but 100% will now reflect what your volume limit is set to. This has the added benefit of being able to get more granular control of players at low volume, as the volume steps will scale up or down with the max volume.

So, if you never set your players above a certain volume, this is a great chance to improve the control at lower volumes. Play around with it and see if this helps.

Thanks for this suggestion, I tried this as it is quoted as best solution. 

But with max volume at 50%, the two lowest volume steps are silence and then with the next volume step it jumps to the same volume level as the first step with max at 100%. Thus it does not help for getting a lower background volume level on my Play One's.

Any update on this?

This is so frustrating and I think we all should move back to good old analog receivers with cables 😄 

WAKE UP SONOS! Your UX is very poor on this 😕 

 

The same issue with my new Sonos one, the answer selected not fix the problem… impossible that after so long, Sonos has not fixed this yet :frowning2:

Userlevel 7
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I tried several stations via Tunein, all went to silent with the volume at zero, one click up I had to put my ear near the speaker to hear anything. Quiet background levels for me are in the 6-10 range depending on what is playing.
Usually I listen to Spotify or radio via TuneIn. I always use the volume controller in the Sonos-app. First set it to min volume and then slowly increase step by step as described in many places in this Community.

Are there other services for radio that might work better than TuneIn?
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It is a very frustrating problem as so many folks have no low volume issues. I use my local library, Napster and Amazon mostly and have never had an issue with not volume. If I turn it all the way down and go up just one click I have to stick my ear next to the speaker to hear anything.

What are you listening to, service and track? Manual volume buttons or which controller?
The minimum volume level is really annoying when using the speaker in the bedroom. I bought a Symfoniskt at Ikea yesterday and cannot use it as I planned.

Sonos continues to refer to their s/w update allowing to control the maximum volume level. However, this doesn’t help me at all.

When I called to Sonos today they said that the issues identified in this Community are being used as input to future s/w updates. Hence, we should continue to raise the problem here.
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I still have the same issue and still now answer from Sonos...
I think yes the reason is that for some streaming services the volume is louder than the other. I tried Amazon and Apple Music and this is too loud. With my TV (through the Beam) or TuneIn this is better.
Userlevel 4
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I don't have a solution, but I do think I have the cause. It's not Sonos, it's Spotify (and maybe other 3d party streaming services). When I play tracks stored on my home server, the min. volume is perfectly adjustable. The moment I switch to Spotify, the min. volume jumps a few steps to too loud.

No idea why this is, but this is what I've found. I've the tried the maximum volume setting. Even setting it to 5% has no effect. The first half of the slider gives only silence. Then it jumps from silence to way too loud...


Different sources will have different levels unfortunately. I have two cds I play regularly. They have quite different levels.

With the sonos app having the focus on a mobile device I find I can drop the volume a little more on my bedroom speaker using the devices physical volume buttons. Worth a try.
Userlevel 2
I don't have a solution, but I do think I have the cause. It's not Sonos, it's Spotify (and maybe other 3d party streaming services). When I play tracks stored on my home server, the min. volume is perfectly adjustable. The moment I switch to Spotify, the min. volume jumps a few steps to too loud.

No idea why this is, but this is what I've found. I've the tried the maximum volume setting. Even setting it to 5% has no effect. The first half of the slider gives only silence. Then it jumps from silence to way too loud...

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