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Why is the maximum volume so low?


I just purchased a single Play:5. I have to turn it about 3/4 of the way up to hear it much at all, and at max volume, it is not nearly what one would expect from a speaker of this quality. I have the volume setting all the way up, plus the bass and treble at max. Nothing seems to help. Is there another setting I'm missing? Thank you.
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62 replies

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  • Sonos Staff
  • 2045 replies
  • February 27, 2014
That is unusual, the PLAY:5 should certainly be audible even at the lower volumes and at 3/4s volume you should have no problem hearing it.  It will be quite loud and you should not need to adjust the treble / bass much at all.

What's the music source you're playing from?  

  • Contributor I
  • 1 reply
  • March 25, 2014
John M wrote:
That is unusual, the PLAY:5 should certainly be audible even at the lower volumes and at 3/4s volume you should have no problem hearing it.  It will be quite loud and you should not need to adjust the treble / bass much at all.

What's the music source you're playing from?  

I have just set up the Play 5 and I agree it,s not loud at all on full volume , when I read the write up,s I thought I was buying a too powerful speaker for the room , not the case at all ! oh and I,m using an ipad !

My Play5 is volume deprived also. at 1/2 volume I can barely even hear it. I'm using an iphone 5s with both iTunes and Pandora. What's the fix here?

  • Enthusiast I
  • 36 replies
  • July 16, 2014
Add me to the list, very quiet at half volume.

Ryan S
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  • Retired Sonos Staff
  • 12372 replies
  • July 16, 2014
As John said, what you're describing is quite unusual as the PLAY:5 can get very loud. Local iTunes music could be encoded quieter, and at times Pandora tracks might be low as well. Sonos players don't edit the volume encoded in the tracks themselves, so you could have a few that are digitally set lower than others. This shouldn't be the case will all of your Pandora or local songs however.

If you're using the Line-In on your PLAY:5 will want to adjust the Line-In level as shown on this page. This adjusts the gain level on the Line-In connection to be louder when you have the cable plugged in from your iPad (for example) to the PLAY:5. The higher the value, the higher the volume. 

You can also turn on the Loudness setting inside the Equalization settings. Tracks usually are louder with the Loudness turned on.

If the PLAY:5 still seems low on multiple Sonos sources, can you please submit a diagnostic from your system and reply back here with your confirmation number?

Thanks

Chris
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  • Lead Maestro
  • 17595 replies
  • July 16, 2014
John M wrote:
That is unusual, the PLAY:5 should certainly be audible even at the lower volumes and at 3/4s volume you should have no problem hearing it.  It will be quite loud and you should not need to adjust the treble / bass much at all.

What's the music source you're playing from?  

What is your music source

  • Lyricist I
  • 1 reply
  • August 29, 2014
3972472

  • Lyricist I
  • 1 reply
  • December 25, 2014
MILES wrote:
3972472

I just set up a new PLAY 5 and have same issue. I have PLAY3s, Sound Bar and Base, and all work beautifully. New PLAY5 has just been set up in different room and is inaudible at anything lower than half volume. Loudness button is on, and problem exists no matter whether iPad, iPhone or MacBook Air is used as controller, and whether Pandora, Beats or my own music from iTunes is played. Call me a disappointed Sonos customer.

Chris
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  • Lead Maestro
  • 17595 replies
  • December 25, 2014
MILES wrote:
3972472

If same source is playing fine on the Play:3 and Soundbar but very little sound out of the Play:5 I would tend to think the Play:5 is defective that you got.

  • Lyricist I
  • 1 reply
  • January 2, 2015
I'm having the same problem. Just set up PLAY 5 two or three weeks ago. I also have a couple PLAY 3's and the y sound fine. The PLAY 5 is inaudible until the indicator is between 1/2 to 3/4 Max volume.

Hermie
  • 138 replies
  • January 2, 2015
I have two Play5's as Stereo pair and about a quarter up is more than enough. But then, when I'm in one of those moods and SWMBO is not around I crank it up higher, still not reaching half though.

  • Lyricist I
  • 1 reply
  • May 14, 2015
Ryan S. wrote:
As John said, what you're describing is quite unusual as the PLAY:5 can get very loud. Local iTunes music could be encoded quieter, and at times Pandora tracks might be low as well. Sonos players don't edit the volume encoded in the tracks themselves, so you could have a few that are digitally set lower than others. This shouldn't be the case will all of your Pandora or local songs however.

If you're using the Line-In on your PLAY:5 will want to adjust the Line-In level as shown on this page. This adjusts the gain level on the Line-In connection to be louder when you have the cable plugged in from your iPad (for example) to the PLAY:5. The higher the value, the higher the volume. 

You can also turn on the Loudness setting inside the Equalization settings. Tracks usually are louder with the Loudness turned on.

If the PLAY:5 still seems low on multiple Sonos sources, can you please submit a diagnostic from your system and reply back here with your confirmation number?

Thanks

Hi I've just purchased 2x play 1's and a Play 5, I can hear every word and sound from the play 1's at the lowest volume, yet the play 5 I can hear nothing on low and when I turn it up full the sound is to say the least pathetic, have I got a faulty Play 5 as I cannot imagine it to be functioning properly with such awful sound and no way a £169 Sonos speaker can sound 10 times better than a £350 one... My diagnostics confirmation number is 4560923. Thanks

  • 19667 replies
  • May 15, 2015
Ryan S. wrote:
As John said, what you're describing is quite unusual as the PLAY:5 can get very loud. Local iTunes music could be encoded quieter, and at times Pandora tracks might be low as well. Sonos players don't edit the volume encoded in the tracks themselves, so you could have a few that are digitally set lower than others. This shouldn't be the case will all of your Pandora or local songs however.

If you're using the Line-In on your PLAY:5 will want to adjust the Line-In level as shown on this page. This adjusts the gain level on the Line-In connection to be louder when you have the cable plugged in from your iPad (for example) to the PLAY:5. The higher the value, the higher the volume. 

You can also turn on the Loudness setting inside the Equalization settings. Tracks usually are louder with the Loudness turned on.

If the PLAY:5 still seems low on multiple Sonos sources, can you please submit a diagnostic from your system and reply back here with your confirmation number?

Thanks

Hi.  The Play:5 sound is really good so you may have a faulty unit.  It may (or may not) take Sonos a while to pick up a diagnostic number buried in an old thread like this.  If convenient for you, I'd give them a call if you don't hear anything today.  They are very helpful.

  • Author
  • Contributor I
  • 2 replies
  • May 26, 2015
I have not been happy with my Play:5.  I bought two to use as a stereo set in my main room, and took them both back in favor of two--wait for it--Play1s.  They sound much, much better!  Sound not as muddy, and I can crank them up higher.  I never did try a Play3, but no need to now.

I eventually had to go back and re-purchase a Play5 but only so I could play music from YouTube, etc. with a direct plug in to the computer.  Too bad Sonos only made  the Play:5 capable of doing this.  Even now, the sound is far inferior (to my ears) than even a single Play:1. 

Since then, I have added a pair of Play:1s to several other rooms, and have been happy with the sound quality and level.  My problems since then have concerned drop-outs, and I'm still working to get those fixed.  I've had the system for a little over a year.  I got a Seagate NAS drive in order to play my music without having to turn my computer on, only to have problems and to learn from Sonos that Seagates are not the best for this purpose.  Too weeby to push the sound of large audio files out.  Now I have a brick, and will need to buy a different brand (possibly WD, which Sonos says is better.)

Wish I'd known this before. 

Good luck, all.

  • 19667 replies
  • May 26, 2015
User172363 wrote:
I have not been happy with my Play:5.  I bought two to use as a stereo set in my main room, and took them both back in favor of two--wait for it--Play1s.  They sound much, much better!  Sound not as muddy, and I can crank them up higher.  I never did try a Play3, but no need to now.

I eventually had to go back and re-purchase a Play5 but only so I could play music from YouTube, etc. with a direct plug in to the computer.  Too bad Sonos only made  the Play:5 capable of doing this.  Even now, the sound is far inferior (to my ears) than even a single Play:1. 

Since then, I have added a pair of Play:1s to several other rooms, and have been happy with the sound quality and level.  My problems since then have concerned drop-outs, and I'm still working to get those fixed.  I've had the system for a little over a year.  I got a Seagate NAS drive in order to play my music without having to turn my computer on, only to have problems and to learn from Sonos that Seagates are not the best for this purpose.  Too weeby to push the sound of large audio files out.  Now I have a brick, and will need to buy a different brand (possibly WD, which Sonos says is better.)

Wish I'd known this before. 

Good luck, all.

Interesting post.  I agree the Play:1s are amazing for their size, but wouldn't personally be so hard on the Play:5.  Just personal opinion though.

I am extremely sceptical about the suggestion that a Seagate NAS would not work OK with Sonos, unless is the Mirra Personal Server, which does not support the type of file sharing that Sonos needs - but I would then expect it not to work at all, rather than work badly.  Before you ditch the NAS I would make sure your problems aren't caused by wireless interference or IP address conflicts first.

Do you only have problems when streaming from the NAS? 

If you are running in wifi mode consider getting a Bridge or a Boost and using SonosNet.  As a short-term experiment first, you could wire one of your speakers to the router to see if using SonosNet helps.

  • Author
  • Contributor I
  • 2 replies
  • May 26, 2015
User172363 wrote:
I have not been happy with my Play:5.  I bought two to use as a stereo set in my main room, and took them both back in favor of two--wait for it--Play1s.  They sound much, much better!  Sound not as muddy, and I can crank them up higher.  I never did try a Play3, but no need to now.

I eventually had to go back and re-purchase a Play5 but only so I could play music from YouTube, etc. with a direct plug in to the computer.  Too bad Sonos only made  the Play:5 capable of doing this.  Even now, the sound is far inferior (to my ears) than even a single Play:1. 

Since then, I have added a pair of Play:1s to several other rooms, and have been happy with the sound quality and level.  My problems since then have concerned drop-outs, and I'm still working to get those fixed.  I've had the system for a little over a year.  I got a Seagate NAS drive in order to play my music without having to turn my computer on, only to have problems and to learn from Sonos that Seagates are not the best for this purpose.  Too weeby to push the sound of large audio files out.  Now I have a brick, and will need to buy a different brand (possibly WD, which Sonos says is better.)

Wish I'd known this before. 

Good luck, all.

Thanks for your suggestions.  I will call Sonos again and have them work with me on it, then.  I have a Bridge (since the beginning) and am using it.  And now, more and more, music directly off my computer (through a Sonos folder) isn't working very well, either, and I am getting more drop-outs with YouTube, etc. as well, than I used to.  So, I'm beginning to agree with you that the problem isn't necessarily the Seagate NAS drive.  But Sonos has worked with me extensively to try and figure out the problem, and that's the only thing they could come up with, in the end.  My furthest speaker is in the garage, and that may be causing problems, too.  But I have a 1200 SF house, all on one level, and the garage speaker is less than 30 feet away from the NAS/Bridge/Router.  So, doubtful again.  I just need to devote some serious time to this (again), when I can, and hopefully will figure it out eventually.

Thank you for writing.  I'll keep trying! 

Hermie
  • 138 replies
  • May 26, 2015
User172363 wrote:
I have not been happy with my Play:5.  I bought two to use as a stereo set in my main room, and took them both back in favor of two--wait for it--Play1s.  They sound much, much better!  Sound not as muddy, and I can crank them up higher.  I never did try a Play3, but no need to now.

I eventually had to go back and re-purchase a Play5 but only so I could play music from YouTube, etc. with a direct plug in to the computer.  Too bad Sonos only made  the Play:5 capable of doing this.  Even now, the sound is far inferior (to my ears) than even a single Play:1. 

Since then, I have added a pair of Play:1s to several other rooms, and have been happy with the sound quality and level.  My problems since then have concerned drop-outs, and I'm still working to get those fixed.  I've had the system for a little over a year.  I got a Seagate NAS drive in order to play my music without having to turn my computer on, only to have problems and to learn from Sonos that Seagates are not the best for this purpose.  Too weeby to push the sound of large audio files out.  Now I have a brick, and will need to buy a different brand (possibly WD, which Sonos says is better.)

Wish I'd known this before. 

Good luck, all.

I have a Bridge, Playbar and two Play 5's as a Stereo pair. Almost all music is stored on a Netgear ReadyNAS 314 and I must say this works very well.

Normally my volume doesn't go over about one third, because that is loud enough for me. But then, I can turn it up very, very loud, so that works fine here. Great sound too!

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  • Trending Lyricist I
  • 28 replies
  • April 4, 2016
Wife got one Play 5 as a gift from a friend to add to our entire Sonos setup. Having same issue as OP. Have to turn up volume 50-75% to hear well. All other Sonos components are working fine.

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  • Trending Lyricist I
  • 28 replies
  • April 4, 2016
Niko79 wrote:
Wife got one Play 5 as a gift from a friend to add to our entire Sonos setup. Having same issue as OP. Have to turn up volume 50-75% to hear well. All other Sonos components are working fine.


I did factory reset and still same issue. My diagnostics # is: 6010066

  • 2853 replies
  • April 4, 2016
Are you listening to the line-in by any chance?

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  • Trending Lyricist I
  • 28 replies
  • April 4, 2016
No. All wireless.

Stuart_W
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  • World-Class Superstar
  • 4164 replies
  • April 4, 2016
Open a support ticket with Sonos. Maybe worth submitting a diagnostic and giving Sonos a call

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  • Trending Lyricist I
  • 28 replies
  • April 4, 2016
Yup. Will do so soon. Thanks!

Ryan A
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  • Sonos Employee
  • 536 replies
  • April 7, 2016
niko79 wrote:
Yup. Will do so soon. Thanks!


I reviewed the diagnostic and will send you an PM in a moment.

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  • Contributor III
  • 14 replies
  • April 8, 2016
Is this problem still not resolved?

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