Answered

Volume levels too high after 15.2 update

Show first post

170 replies

N
Userlevel 2

Hi @maynard 

I understand. All I can really do is pass along your feedback, which I will.


I can only emphasize this once again: the problem isn’t Apple Music new algorithm, we all understand that new codecs require new code to handle them and sometimes it just isn’t possible to do it the old way.

The PROBLEM is that we couldn’t play our favorite music silently enough, there just isn’t enough notches in Sonos interface..  zero notch is silence, first notch is WAY WAY to loud for some of us. 



Maybe we should rename this thread to “Bug in volume control / volume limit”?

Volume limit from Sonos settings looks like it was created to solve our problem, but it is bugged (by accident or by purpose)

Volume Limit 100% - notches are: 0% -1% -2% - 3%, etc
Volume Limit 050% - notches are: 0 - 0 - 1 - 1 (instead 0 - 0.5 - 1 - 1.5)
Volume Limit 025% - notches are: 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 (instead 0 - 0.25 - 0.50 - 0.75 - 1.00)

Could you please at least clarify that it is expected behavior or there is something wrong in “Volume / Volume Limit” settings?

I really liked my Sonos, but since this problem started, I switched to Homepod and rarely turn on my Sonos anymore..

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @maynard 

I understand. All I can really do is pass along your feedback, which I will.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
M
Badge

Thanks for the reply Corry.

Not all my Sonos gear is directly AirPlayable - I’ve been in the ecosystem for more than 15 years. 
 

In any case I don’t want to airplay as I want the background music to remain on when I go out for others to enjoy. Recently my wife has been asking if I could turn down the music to which I’ve replied it’s all the way down. Ended up having to turn it off. It’s all very annoying to have this happen when previously it was working perfectly. 


I don’t want to ditch Apple Music which I get with my Apple One subscription.


This really needs to be rectified. 

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @maynard 

As you are using Apple Music, I assume you have an iPhone? If so, you can AirPlay to your compatible Sonos devices (in your case, your Amp or Ones) and group in which ever other speakers you want to hear from. There are reports here that this results in quieter playback.

Alternatively, a different source may play at a more acceptable level for you. Personally, I get your point and agree - but I haven’t experienced it; as I have never used Apple Music, I have never encountered this issue myself.

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
M
Badge

Hi @Tom_69 

As explained in my previous post, the current behaviour is by design, so we are not attempting to “fix” anything.

Feature requests can take a long time to actualise, and as this one goes against the intended behaviour, there is no guarantee any changes will be made at all.


if you’re not going to “fix” this what can I do to get lower volume out of my system? If this is by design it is ridiculous. I’ve had Sonos for years and use it for background music when working. It’s now too loud. 

Ken_Griffiths

Hi Ken,

Each speaker had been setup individually with the same track and max volume set to 35%.

It would appear that when grouping airplay and non airplay speakers together the app (Sonos) adds the 35% max volume of each speaker together and then increases the max volume to 70%.

To test that I grouped the two airplay speakers I have, One SL and Play 5 gen 2s, together and the volume stayed the same.

I can’t imagine this ongoing issue is that obvious, but the phrase “the biggest problems often have the simplest solutions.” does sound rather apt at this time

I’ve not seen the issue reported before here in the community and sadly I can’t test it myself (as mentioned earlier). It maybe best to take up the matter with Sonos Support Staff, that’s if you’ve not done so already. I’m not even sure if they are aware of the issue as this thread is a different issue, I believe. Anyhow here’s the link to contact them:

https://support.sonos.com/s/contact

P

Hi Ken,

Each speaker had been setup individually with the same track and max volume set to 35%.

It would appear that when grouping airplay and non airplay speakers together the app (Sonos) adds the 35% max volume of each speaker together and then increases the max volume to 70%.

To test that I grouped the two airplay speakers I have, One SL and Play 5 gen 2s, together and the volume stayed the same.

I can’t imagine this ongoing issue is that obvious, but the phrase “the biggest problems often have the simplest solutions.” does sound rather apt at this time

Ken_Griffiths

This may help some people…..

Apples music is loud in my Sonos system.

Set the max volume to about 35% is Sonos app settings.

Start playing Apple Music via the Sonos app to an Airplay compatible speaker, 5 gen 2, One SL etc, and the volume stays pretty consistent.

Add a speaker that isn’t Airplay compatible, Play1 Play 3, Sound bar, and there's suddenly a huge volume increase…

Sadly I can’t test this myself, as I don’t have a non-AirPlay device in the setup here, but is the Play:1/3 soeaker you’re adding to the mix set at the 35% volume level in the App too (or less), before you group them? - I did check the steps with all Airplay compatible speakers and everything works fine with those. That’s setting their volume levels in the Sonos App in conjunction with the Airplay sending device too (an iPad in my case).

M

I think my issues were related to an update that was needed that I was not aware of.  Once updated, everything is back to normal!

P

This may help some people…..

Apples music is loud in my Sonos system.

Set the max volume to about 35% is Sonos app settings.

Start playing Apple Music via the Sonos app to an Airplay compatible speaker, 5 gen 2, One SL etc, and the volume stays pretty consistent.

Add a speaker that isn’t Airplay compatible, Play1 Play 3, Sound bar, and there's suddenly a huge volume increase…

 

Ken_Griffiths

This would have to be done track by track?  I’ve not had this issue until recently.  Any ideas why there may have been a change?  I’ve not changed my music library recently beyond moving some files to a different folder.

With software such as MP3Tag the library tracks can be batch-updated to any/every track selected in its interface - so it’s not necessary to do it track by track - personally I don’t use any normalisation and just play the tracks as intended, but I appreciate that others prefer to use this feature.

M

This would have to be done track by track?  I’ve not had this issue until recently.  Any ideas why there may have been a change?  I’ve not changed my music library recently beyond moving some files to a different folder.

Ken_Griffiths

In the last few days, my Move plays some songs that I’m streaming from my QNAP at low levels and others at high levels, even though the set volume is the same.  I’ve not changed the settings or the music being streamed.

Ah that’s a different issue. Sonos do not apply any volume normalisation to files from any music source and perhaps rightly so in some peoples view.

However, Sonos apparently can and do alter the playback levels using the ITUNNORM or REPLAYGAIN_TRACKGAIN tags in the embedded metadata for a track.

When it comes to general streaming music services though - and this includes things like Plex - it really depends on whether those mentioned tags are passed by the service to Sonos players, or not.

I understand that you can point Sonos to a local Music Library on a NAS or PC etc. and if the tags are present, or you insert them yourself with a Tag editor, like MP3Tag for example, then Sonos will apply the normalisation. 

I hope that helps.

M

In the last few days, my Move plays some songs that I’m streaming from my QNAP at low levels and others at high levels, even though the set volume is the same.  I’ve not changed the settings or the music being streamed.

Ken_Griffiths

I’m not sure if this is related, but the symptoms are similar.  I’m using QNAP and streaming my own music and using the Sonos folders options with MOVE.  About one week ago, I started having the issues outlined above on Sonos MOVE, but for my own music library and not a service.  Is this related and is there a fix?

It’s probably not related - what is the issue exactly?

M

I’m not sure if this is related, but the symptoms are similar.  I’m using QNAP and streaming my own music and using the Sonos folders options with MOVE.  About one week ago, I started having the issues outlined above on Sonos MOVE, but for my own music library and not a service.  Is this related and is there a fix?

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @Tom_69 

As explained in my previous post, the current behaviour is by design, so we are not attempting to “fix” anything.

Feature requests can take a long time to actualise, and as this one goes against the intended behaviour, there is no guarantee any changes will be made at all.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
J

Do we have to email Apple for a fix or it's Sonos that can fix it. Thanks.

T
Userlevel 5
Badge +4

This is still not fixed in update 15.9. 

 

Any updates on progress for fixing it @Corry P ?

Ken_Griffiths

I found this chart below online earlier this evening. The average Home noise is shown as being 40dB … I’m not personally finding Apple Music all that loud at the 1% level in the current App - certainly nowhere near the level that would perhaps stop me using the speakers at any time of the day, as they most certainly are not ‘blasting out’ here.

Any quieter, I would suspect the ‘Average Home Noise’ would likely take precedence. It’s why I was wondering if this is a thing that is only affecting some users and perhaps not everyone?

 

 

T
Userlevel 2


 

I’ve took some measurements.. quite room is about 25db with music on volume level 1 is about 45db … 

No music …

Music on lvl 1

 

Maybe it depends on the speaker configuration. I am using a Playbase with 2 Play1 as rear speakers and a sub connected. The equalizer is set to 0. 

 

best Thomas

 

Ken_Griffiths

Hi @Corry P ,

it has been a while since this issue came up. And the volume thing for Apple Music is still completely broken. Is there a slight chance that Sonos will fix this ? I cannot use Apple Music later on the day cause even at level 1 !! volume the speakers are still blasting the music out. 
 

best

thomas 

Is this just a glitch for some users? - if I set Apple Music to play at 1% volume on a stereo pair of One’s in our Kitchen, then at their centre position approx. 4feet away from each speaker my dB meter App gives a reading of 41dB - I would have no issue playing music at that level at any time of the day.

So just curious, what reading do you get with such an App?

I get an average of 38 in the room when no music is playing from a ticking clock and fridge hum noise.

So it seems I’m certainly not seeing/hearing the reported Apple issue here. 

2 Attachments
T
Userlevel 2

Hi @Corry P ,

it has been a while since this issue came up. And the volume thing for Apple Music is still completely broken. Is there a slight chance that Sonos will fix this ? I cannot use Apple Music later on the day cause even at level 1 !! volume the speakers are still blasting the music out. 
 

best

thomas 

V

It is just ridiculous that there is no fix from Sonos in sight for this topic. The volume level is completely unusable at the moment. When I start playing music let’s say on level 20 it is sometimes very quiet (probably because I used AirPlay or a different music service before, like @Grubble just mentioned). As soon as I move the volume slider it reset to this awful behavior, where level 20 is unbearable loud.

I also tried the volume limit feature. Now when I set the volume to 4 it is too loud. Setting it to level 3 the music is completely muted. Come on, that can not be the intended behavior.

 

Please Sonos fix this. Before 15.2 everything was just fine.

G
Userlevel 1

I finally solved my problem after all months with too loud on level one. I had to get one speaker that managed AirPlay because Play1 and my playbar is too old. Then I start the music from my iPad (you can use any Appleproduct) in the Music-app with AirPlay to that speaker and after that I can manage all speakers with the Sonos app and with Sonobit on my Applewatch. Now level 14 is my normal and 6 is very very low level on the music.

Reply


Terms & ConditionsCookie settings