Contributor I

Answered

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

36 replies
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The Lowest Volume on my Sonos One and One SL is too loud.
The amount of volume difference from 1% to 0% is insane. I cannot be the only one who has this issue or thinks this is a problem.
I am trying to watch TV at night, and just having these speakers on at 1% is way too loud.
I have messed with every setting, even played with the volume limit of my paired Beam, but still, the stark contrast from when the speaker literally has absolute zero volume, to just the very next and very first step is wayy too much.

I have wrapped them in towels, even acoustic sound absorbing panels, but there has to be a better way..
It just literally makes no sense why the volume control is so weak

[Which then brings up another question/thought: What do you guys normally set your volume to? I don’t believe I have ever even remotely went past 65% on purpose, and my tv is regularly set in that 12-18 range.]

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Jamie AAnswer

Sonos Staff

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.

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W

wopkevanos

Lyricist I

Found the solution !!

Although counter intuitive, the solution really lies at the Volume Limit setting. I played arround with the setting and moved that slider all the way to 10%. Then my soundbar started to produce some volume at volume 6. The granularity of the volume is now much better to my liking.

Best regards, Wopke

V

VolumeUpdatePlease

Lyricist I

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.

Dogdad

Headliner III

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

V

VolumeUpdatePlease

Lyricist I

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?

T

Tom_69

Enthusiast II

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?

Please check out this thread

Apple Music volume has been broken for 9 months now and still no word on a fix.

106rallye

Hmm. Seeing the pinned answer to that thread, Sonos does not see it as broken: “The current behaviour of the sound volume is intentional and by design.” When Sonos does not see it as broken, I would not expect a fix.

Airgetlam

It remains an issue, IMHO, on Apple’s side. The Sonos system is operating properly.

Bruce

M

M. Groth

Lyricist I

It remains an issue, IMHO, on Apple’s side. The Sonos system is operating properly.

It's not just with Apple though, same issue with Spotify and YouTube Music

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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