Best answer by Ryan S
View originalJust adding a +1 on this issue. I’m relatively new to Sonos (six One SLs and a Beam Gen 2) and very disappointed that the One SL (stereo pair) minimum volume level is too high for falling asleep, or even for background for reading, using Spotify or Pandora. I have the bedroom speakers past the foot of the bed, so they’re not even close to me, but in a silent room it’s too much. I have used Trueplay and tried volume limit after volume limit. The minimum volume level, even if it takes more “clicks” to get from zero to 1 depending on the volume limit percentage, does not change, and continues to be too loud. Turning off Loudness and setting the bass and treble sliders to their lowest helps *very* slightly but is not enough (and also makes the music sound worse).
Sonos! Is there any way we can please have a lower minimum volume? Even one “step” between 0 and 1 would be helpful - more than one between them would be a dream come true. It seems a lot of us would be incredibly grateful!
+22
Tapping the hard switch on the unit or the slider in the controller app?
The slider in the controller app. You know how Sonos support recommends sliding the slider all the way to the left, then tapping once on the right side of the slider to increase the volume one increment. When I do that the “one increment” is too loud. If the max volume is set to 50%, then I have to tap the right side of the slider “two increments” before the music comes on too loud (at the same volume as when the max volume was set to 100%)
Also, I turned off “loudness” under EQ, that brought the overall volume down a tiny bit. And I turned off Trueplay and tried sliding the treble and bass all the way down. Neither of those items made a difference.
I also tried setting my volume settings to “quite” in Spotify, but that didn’t help either.
As I have said many times, it takes a few taps before I hear anything from my play 1 units, with no reductions in max volume set for it.
Sonos Support are therefore best qualified to see what is going on with people that experience something very different.
+1
I have a similar problem. But it’s more to do with the increments than the lowest volume.
We have Amazon Flex linked to Sonos Playbar. This works okay. But volume increments on Playbar are from 0 to 100 using the Sonos app.
If I use the up and down volume buttons on my iPhone the volume increases by small amounts. It starts off in units of 1 or 2, but higher up the scale the increments are larger. That’s fine with me, and I can use the scroll bar to control in small steps (1 especially at higher volumes is fairly subtle.
However, if I use Alexa to control volume 1 is now seems to be equivalent to 10. So the steps are quite large. And an increase from 2 to 3, is quite a lot. We already have the maximum limit set to 75% which is mostly to avoid the kids setting the volume too high. But helps a little with the volume controls.
However, it would be better if Alexa had more refined steps. I’m sure a few months ago, I could control Sonos using Flex with for example: Set volume to 23. This was ideal as the 1-100 scale is far more usable. Other posters have also mentioned having that more refined control in the past.
Can this be added (or re-added!) to Alexa. Or, have a choice in settings to have 1-10 or 1-100, if there is a need. Changing from 1-10 to 1-100 shouldn’t have any particular issues,. Naturally if it was the other way round, it could blast out music unexpectedly. In fact, that is exactly what happened to me. I had previously used Alexa to say volumes as say 10. But suddenly 10 became full volume. Not ideal when kids are asleep.
10 steps is not enough. Give us 0 - 100 please Amazon /Sonos
Just out of curiosity, how far are the speakers from your ears?
Because minimum volume on Roam is fine, what about other new product such as beam gen2 or Arc? Someone having new products could comment on this?
Because minimum volume on Roam is fine, what about other new product such as beam gen2 or Arc? Someone having new products could comment on this?
Recently bought a Sonos Amp, wish I read all this before.. lowest volume is way to loud. Would not recommend Sonos to anyone because of this
+1
Have you tried reducing the max volume in the Sonos app settings?
I’ve done that for Playbar and One.
Might help?
+1
If I say to my Sonos speakers “Hey Sonos, set the volume to one percent” I find I struggle to hear the audio clearly from 5 or 6 feet away and that’s using the larger Sonos Arc TV speaker, without altering the volume-limiter from its default 100 setting. Sonos have to cater for everyone I guess and one percent seems fine with my level of hearing things.
I suspect the issue might be more for those people who have Sonos devices which don’t have built-in voice control. For example, we have Playbar connected to Flex to enable Alexa.
When I posted above, I could only use 1 to 10. So, 1 is 10%. So, moving from 3 to 4, is already at 40% which is fairly loud eg at nighttime.
Flex doesn’t seem to be recognising any commands now so can’t recheck!
If I say to my Sonos speakers “Hey Sonos, set the volume to one percent” I find I struggle to hear the audio clearly from 5 or 6 feet away and that’s using the larger Sonos Arc TV speaker, without altering the volume-limiter from its default 100 setting. Sonos have to cater for everyone I guess and one percent seems fine with my level of hearing things.
I suspect the issue might be more for those people who have Sonos devices which don’t have built-in voice control. For example, we have Playbar connected to Flex to enable Alexa.
When I posted above, I could only use 1 to 10. So, 1 is 10%. So, moving from 3 to 4, is already at 40% which is fairly loud eg at nighttime.
Flex doesn’t seem to be recognising any commands now so can’t recheck!
Volume level 1 though is actually a limitation of Alexa and represents a 10% volume level - this is something Amazon do, but both the Sonos App and their own SVC assistant has more granularity and as mentioned a 1% volume level can be selected. It’s perhaps Amazon that needs to be canvassed for this change, I think. If using an S2 setup, the easy answer maybe to add a ‘Roam’ or ‘One’ to the setup with SVC installed alongside Alexa and then have the best of both (and a nice new shiny speaker too). S1 users though will need to use the App and/or volume limiter.
+1
If I say to my Sonos speakers “Hey Sonos, set the volume to one percent” I find I struggle to hear the audio clearly from 5 or 6 feet away and that’s using the larger Sonos Arc TV speaker, without altering the volume-limiter from its default 100 setting. Sonos have to cater for everyone I guess and one percent seems fine with my level of hearing things.
I suspect the issue might be more for those people who have Sonos devices which don’t have built-in voice control. For example, we have Playbar connected to Flex to enable Alexa.
When I posted above, I could only use 1 to 10. So, 1 is 10%. So, moving from 3 to 4, is already at 40% which is fairly loud eg at nighttime.
Flex doesn’t seem to be recognising any commands now so can’t recheck!
Volume level 1 though is actually a limitation of Alexa and represents a 10% volume level - this is something Amazon do, but both the Sonos App and their own SVC assistant has more granularity and as mentioned a 1% volume level can be selected. It’s perhaps Amazon that needs to be canvassed for this change, I think. If using an S2 setup, the easy answer maybe to add a ‘Roam’ or ‘One’ to the setup with SVC installed alongside Alexa and then have the best of both (and a nice new shiny speaker too). S1 users though will need to use the App and/or volume limiter.
Not sure if I am missing something - but we have Sonos One with Alexa, and asking for volume to 1 actually sets to 10%. Similarly asking for 1% sets to 0 (muted). 5 (%) = 50%.
Besides that is on Play One. I don’t seem to be able to use One to set Playbar volume.
Any ideas?
+1
We have playbar in lounge and One in kitchen. So, having Voice Control via One is not convenient anyway. That’s why I bought an Amazon Flex to enable voice control on playbar.
+22
Not sure if I am missing something - but we have Sonos One with Alexa, and asking for volume to 1 actually sets to 10%. Similarly asking for 1% sets to 0 (muted). 5 (%) = 50%.
Besides that is on Play One. I don’t seem to be able to use One to set Playbar volume.
Any ideas?
Install SVC alongside Alexa and try it with that assistant. Alexa does not have the granularity level of volume control like SVC. Alexa works with integer values where the scale is 1=10% volume level. It’s unfortunately how the Amazon assistant works on Sonos. SVC can be installed alongside aswell and that allows volume values between 1% upto 100% - so maybe give that a try.
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?
That's an excellent point. If we change the balance the volume drops. So if you can afford to buy an extra speaker, disconnect the speaker element and use it as a phantom channel in a virtual left/right setup, you are all sorted. As long as you like mono. But it seems extreme to have spend that money and resources to accomplish something that basic.
+1
Not sure if I am missing something - but we have Sonos One with Alexa, and asking for volume to 1 actually sets to 10%. Similarly asking for 1% sets to 0 (muted). 5 (%) = 50%.
Besides that is on Play One. I don’t seem to be able to use One to set Playbar volume.
Any ideas?
Install SVC alongside Alexa and try it with that assistant. Alexa does not have the granularity level of volume control like SVC. Alexa works with integer values where the scale is 1=10% volume level. It’s unfortunately how the Amazon assistant works on Sonos. SVC can be installed alongside aswell and that allows volume values between 1% upto 100% - so maybe give that a try.
Not sure what you mean by ‘Install SVC alongside Alexa and try it with that assistant’?
Can you clarify, please?
We have Alexa added in S2 Sonos app. Do you mean another app? Or…?
We have playbar in lounge and One in kitchen. So, having Voice Control via One is not convenient anyway. That’s why I bought an Amazon Flex to enable voice control on playbar.
I dont really think I can help you. Maybe add a portable Roam to your lounge with SVC installed, or just use the Sonos App and volume limiter (if required), or perhaps see if the TV remote volume control itself will help.
You can temporarily add SVC to the Kitchen ‘One’ at least, just to see if it provides you with the volume granularity required and if so, then get the Roam installed on a Qi charger in the lounge.
Hi! I spended a lot of money to “improve” the sound system in our bedroom and just realized
that it is totally useless. I’m so ##!++!# Wish I would have found this thread before I bought this crap.
It’s like SONOS is making fun of us. There is an option to switch of the LEDs. I read this before
I decided to buy SONOS speakers and thought: Wow, finally a company wich is aware of annoying LEDs in dark rooms, how great is that. And now I realized that I can’t fall asleep because the first volume step is way too loud, regardless wich setting, tweak or workaround I tried. But my bedroom is pitch black dark thanks to the switched off LEDs…
Thank you SONOS, good prank!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/LightDims-Original-Strength-Electronics-Appliances/dp/B00CLVEQCO
Maybe my english skills are not the best, but you didn’t understand a word.
Why do you think I have a problem with the LED and post a link for LED covers???
I wrote that the LED can be switched off in the SONOS app and that this is a great
feature for bedroom use, but also a joke if on the other side the minimum volume is too loud
for bedroom use.
And this ongoing “move your speker further away” advice is just annoying.
Imagine some people have rooms that do not a allow an other placement and/or
have mounted the speakers to the wall (like me) and/or like a specific placement
because they care about room design.
The problem is the speaker/app itself, not any use scenario.
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.
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