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Volume levels too high after 15.2 update

T
Userlevel 5
Badge +4

Good evening,

 

My system updated to 15.2 today and following this update, all of my speakers’ volumes are easily double what they were before. 
 

I run one of my Play 1’s at volume 4 at night and have done for years, but volume 4 is now way too loud and even setting it to 1 is very loud. 
 

I have 2x Play 1’s, 1x Play 3 and the latest Five and it’s the same on all of them. 
 

I’ve had to set a volume limit of 50% on each speaker but now all of my volume references for me and my family are all over the place which is incredibly annoying. 
 

Any ideas?

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Best answer by Corry P 23 August 2023, 10:31

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170 replies

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 5
Badge +4

This is still not fixed in update 15.9. 

 

Any updates on progress for fixing it @Corry P ?

J

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

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
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?

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

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

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

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

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.

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…

 

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!

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).

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

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

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. 

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

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 

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
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..

C

I paid a lot of money for my Era 300, and I can’t use it in the bedroom at night because volume 0 is silent and volume 1 is far too loud. I don’t understand how anyone would make this intentional behavior. 
 

I’ll likely get rid of this speaker and get a HomePod now, because Sonos lacks the most basic function of a speaker: volume control. 

A

I paid a lot of money for my Era 300, and I can’t use it in the bedroom at night because volume 0 is silent and volume 1 is far too loud. I don’t understand how anyone would make this intentional behavior. 
 

I’ll likely get rid of this speaker and get a HomePod now, because Sonos lacks the most basic function of a speaker: volume control. 

Thats also my fact! I am using Sonos for years now and build up a great music system in my household for lot of money. Now i am using Apple Music which addIn is provided by Sonos - thats a buying argument - and i noticed, that if i am using a source like TuneIN, i am able to fall asleep while i am playing some sleep tracks from there on Sonos Volume Level up to 4! If i do so on Apple Music, i am not able to fall asleep on Sonos Volume Level 1!! So if that is not a bug, maybe the fact that Sonos has no available Normalize Option is a fact for a bug!? So i would also appreciate if Sonos would be able to “fix” that bug as soon as possible as we are already having this bug since 18 Month now! This is not a appropriate reaction time for this level of company! Thanks.

Ken_Griffiths

I’m not getting this issue (strangely) I have Beam, One Surrounds & Sub Mini in the main bedroom and I ran a test using the dB meter App on an iPhone XR. I played Apple’s ‘Pop in Spatial Audio’ playlist and got the results (as attached screenshots).

The quiet bedroom averaged out at 30dB and the playlist playing on the Beam HT averaged 32dB at 1% volume level. The Beam HT was set at all default settings. My room clock (which I removed from the bedroom prior to test) gives a similar 32dB reading (it’s not that loud either) - so I’m not finding this too loud to listen to at night - in fact I would likely set the music output at a higher volume level to drift off to sleep to and that’s whilst playing on a full HT setup.

The phone that took the reading by the way was positioned approx. 6 feet away from the Beam at the same height as the Beam (middle of bed) and I sleep about 10-11 feet away from the Beam with the surrounds on the two bedside tables.

It would be interesting perhaps to see what readings other people are getting in their rooms, perhaps from their same, or different, Sonos speakers.

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Stanley_4
Userlevel 7
Badge +22

First big question here is which music service or source are you using.

All my Sonos, 6 kinds, all have nearly inaudible audio at setting 1. Using Amazon or the Music Library.

T
Userlevel 5
Badge +4

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. 

I’d also like to echo this sentiment, I’ve been with Sonos for over a decade and have mixed airplay capable speakers and am an Apple One subscriber. The fact this is being ignored as a valid design change is staggering and I have actively held off buying any new static Sonos speakers until this Apple Music issue is fixed (I’m in the market for 2x Era 100 style speakers and 2x soundbars).

I still cannot believe Sonos are treating their customers so badly and implement design ideas without testing.

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