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"Lowest Volume"?? I cannot be the only one...

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36 replies

Dogdad
Userlevel 6
Badge +14

I would love to see an update on the new Sonos app to lower the minimum volume level (1). In my living room I just saw 57 DB on volume 1 while 8’ away from the nearest speaker. I have $5000 of Sonos speakers which can’t be used for low level background listening. This applies to my living room, office, bedroom etc. 

 

The speakers themselves are capable of much quieter output (at least my older speakers were) while using the S1 app. However I recently purchased a few thousand dollars of the latest speakers which require the new Sonos app. (I have used the S1 app without issue for 8 years and would continue to use it if the new speakers would allow). The new app forces my newest speakers as well as my older ones to have a much too high of an output on the lowest setting. This tells me the issue is in the app software and not the speakers themselves.

 

If Sonos is able to update their app to solve this volume issue, I would give Sonos a 10/10. However  it’s hard to currently recommend a sound system that can’t be used for anything but medium to loud listening.

And some think the volume is too low at lower settings. 

Airgetlam

It would be interesting to know what source you were streaming, and which speaker you measured this 57 db at 8 feet distance.

I’m pretty sure the software that runs on Sonos is the same, no matter how much money, or number of speakers you may have. To my knowledge, there’s no callback to the Sonos servers to check to see what ‘kind’ of customer you are. There are lots of people who have spent less, and some who may have spent more.

As a rule, Sonos doesn’t discuss what they’re working on, but perhaps this occasion might be different. 

Bruce
Ken_Griffiths

Stop trying to justify why they haven’t fixed it yet. A speaker should have granular volume control. If I want to sleep with music I expect to be able to do so without disturbing others, I’ve had complaints from neighbors about this. It’s very frustrating how some of you think people are that inept at tech that they can’t even lower the volume correctly. It’s without a doubt way too loud for these scenarios. Try setting your phone on lowest volume and tell me if any sonos speaker can get that low. It should, but it can’t. I’ve waited years for this. It’s not firmware specific. 

This has already gone forward as a feature request, but as the Staff mention in the below link these things are currently ‘by design’ and it may not be changed - the answer is to perhaps position yourself further away if you find it too loud at 1% - personally speaking I’m okay with it in our main bedroom HT setup with Beam, Ones and Sub Mini. The dB level is 30 or often less, on average. 

 

E

Still waiting!

Z

I am also having this issue.

 

Volume 1 is really loud, greater than 40db. My cheap speakers can play a lot quieter than this

Ken_Griffiths

Just tried playing some nice quiet music on my One in the bedroom. Volume 1 is sooo loud.

What is the dB level you’re hearing? - perhaps try with a suitable mobile App and report back.

In my main bedroom I get between 17dB and 30dB depending on the playing audio source. I’m probably fine with anything up-to 40dB, personally speaking.

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V

I should have mentioned that the 57 Db was measured while listening to Apple Music through the S2 app. It’s possible that other music services might play at lower volumes, but I have not tested this as I solely use Apple Music with Sonos.
 

I’ll clarify that with my Play 3’s, Play 1’s, Play 5’s etc I was able to use the S1 app which has great low volume control. When I recently purchased Era 100’s, 300’s, and Five’s to add to the setup I then had to switch to the S2 app, as the latter speakers will not operate on the S1 app. Now both the older speakers and the newer ones all are operated through the S2 app so that I can group all the speakers in my home together. The older speakers are now forced to run at higher volumes than before due to using the S2 app.


I would think this is a relatively simple update?

Y
Userlevel 1

Just tried playing some nice quiet music on my One in the bedroom. Volume 1 is sooo loud.

What is the dB level you’re hearing? - perhaps try with a suitable mobile App and report back.

In my main bedroom I get between 17dB and 30dB depending on the playing audio source. I’m probably fine with anything up-to 40dB, personally speaking.


That reading is appropriately 2 feet away from speaker to head (on pillow).

Just found the “loudness” button in the equaliser and have turned it off. Much, much quieter now!

 

 

 

Jamie A
Userlevel 7
Badge +16

Hi @tmessy, welcome to the Sonos Community!

Sonos speakers can get very loud, though if the lowest volume that isn’t 0 is too loud, then it’s possible the surround speakers themselves are too close to your listening position. Are you able to move your surround speakers to a different location?

You mention TV being too loud, but does this also happed with music?

As you have already set a volume limit on the speakers, I would also recommend changing the TV/Music level in the home theater surround settings.

If you have done this as well and the volume is still too loud, then please submit a diagnostics and reach out to our support team, as they have the tools necessary to troubleshoot this issue with you.

H

I have a One SL and have this problem only when I stream Spotify after connecting to my Sonos via the speakers menü in Spotify. I guess this is using Spotify Connect.

My solution is to stream Spotify via Airplay to my Sonos. The volume levels are way lower. I have set the volume limit to 25%.

This is a bit unfortunate, because usually I prefer Spotify Connect to Airplay. But it seems that there is something wrong in the integration with Sonos, I hope Sonos can fix it someday. I bought my Sonos thinking I would get a premium product, which is true relating to hardware but I encountered so many bugs and weird behaviour in their software that I would never recommend it to anyone.
 

 

Airgetlam

That’s interesting.

Have you provided this data to Sonos via a diagnostic, and a follow up phone call? How far are the speakers from your ears? Which Sonos speakers are involved?

I listen to my Roam sometimes to go to sleep, and it’s only about 18 inches away, and on that, volume number 1 as indicated in the iOS controller is just slightly audible, and not quite enough to really tell what piece of music is playing. This is NAS and AirPlay 2 streams, though. Not Apple, Spotify, or YouTube music. I certainly prefer for Sonos to not adjust the music volume, and provide me unfiltered access to what I’m listening to. If they were to choose to start messing with the volumes, then I would probably be unwilling to trust them not to apply equalizer affects.

Bruce
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