Feature request - mute soundbar

You didn’t miss it, but you can set the ‘Music Level’ so that you hear more surround speakers than soundbar when playing music.

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/4804?language=en_US

Well, that is some kind of workaround albeit not the one I'd preferred. A 'Mute soundbar when playing music' switch would be a much nicer thing don't you think so?

I think Sonos would be hesitant to add that feature, simply because it would cause potential buyer’s to question whether their soundbars played music sources well.  I don’t know how that would effect trueplay tuning either. 

I do think options are good though. so I would vote for a lot of flexibility/automation with a home theatre setup.  Perhaps be able to setup routines so that certain speakers play different channels depending on source.

If source is TV/dolby digital 5.1 - play 5.1 audio.

If source is TV/stereo - play stereo on front and rear speakers

If source is Spotify - play stereo on rear only 

If source is a podcast - play mono on front  speakers only.

There have been lots of different requests around what happens in different situations.  Might be nice to just open it up for configuration.

Well, I see the logic in your suggestions but I leave the implementation details up to the Sonos developpers - the app now is very straightforward and easy to understand. IMHO a simple mute function fits better in that logic then some more elaborate if - elsif .. - then scheme  but that's not my call to make …

And any audiophile would understand why stereo left / right doesn't really need an extra front (soundbar). Just my 2 cents ...

I don’t think anyone is arguing with your suggestion. My opinion is that the Sonos company is less interested in that ‘audiophile’ market, and much more interested in simplicity, so that a grandparent can connect and operate the system, without being overwhelmed by various options that allow confusion. 

And yes, that’s a fine line to straddle, I would expect. There are a lot of ‘just add this setting’ posts that if they were all implemented as options in the controller, might make it difficult for a layman to understand. And likely increase the volume of support requests because the system doesn’t ‘just work’ as many purchasers expect.

To be brutally honest, no audiophile would have left and right speakers lurking just behind their shoulders, which is roughly where surround speakers should normally be positioned.

My point was that Sonos doesn’t want to plant the seed in customer’s heads that their soundbar’s don’t sound good with music sources by suggesting that you might want to turn it off for music playback.   Maybe I’m wrong, I’m just guessing.

I personally don't need this feature as I like the 360° audio in my living room, but I am all for more options. The closer the Sonos App can get to mirroring the functionality and flexibility of a premium amplifier, the better Sonos will be for it, imho.

Just wanted to chime in to say that this could/should be implemented into to the surrounds level adjustment bar, with the rightmost range (+15) being to totally mute the Arc/Beam/Playbar.

I would say 'don't hold your breath" though. The community has asking for an invert/flip stereo option for years, and we still don't have it. (I mean- its a pretty basic feature that even the baseline stereo in my college car- a 1992 Chevy Cavelier- could do. ). But then again- they did introduce the Height level fairly quickly! So they do listen.

Sure, for the mono speaker consumer, which is indeed a big part of Sonos' customer base.

But the surround sound market is a different "kettle of fish". If you are going for a big-ticket Arc you will either need to know a bit about the tech or you will have to learn it.

The functionality the OP is suggesting need only appear in the App for people who have surround setups (just as the surround level options only appear for people with surrounds, and height level option only appears for people with the Arc)

And I assume Sonos wants it's mono speaker consumers to move into their other product lines. The Ikea Symphonisk line in particular is clearly intended to bring people into the Sonos ecosystem so they go on and buy more Sonos products. 

Sonos is still the market and quality leader in terms of wireless audio, but of course technology is ever evolving and the current tech which enables Sonos to be an industry leader is eventually going to be cheap and commonplace. Sonos right now is like Nintendo just before Sony and Microsoft entered the console world. What will keep Sonos on top (or even in the game) is its innovation, adaptability and its focus on quality. If they don't keep innovating they will end up more like Sega. 

Not really.  I have a friend who bought a plplaybar+sub+play:1s, had Best Buy set it up, and has never even bothered to use the Sonos app.  No interest in even using it for music.  I’m not saying that’s typical, but there certainly are those who want an easy wireless TV setup and nothing else.

Well sure.  Sonos used to (maybe still does) show data for investors on the volume of customers that own more than one product.  It was thought of as a pretty healthy figure.  Don’t forget that there are also customers who own a dozen or products, a whole home system.

Technically, Amazon and Google have more devices in homes than Sonos.  A lot more.  Hard to claim they are the market leader.  Quality perhaps, but that is subjective.  There have been quite a few other companies that have tired to take a chunk out of the ‘quality wireless’ speaker market, but not a lot of success.  Many products have come and gone already.  That’s not to say that Sonos doesn’t need to keep innovating, and their investor call yesterday seems to show that they understand that.  Personally, I don’t think Sonos needs to worry too much about other companies doing a better job at wireless then them, but big tech companies winning over customers with cheaper speakers that don’t do music better, but do other things and tend to cut Sonos out of the home ecosystem.

But that’s way off topic.

Well, I recently replaced my good old audio system by a multi-room Sonos system. The 2 large speakers in the living room are now gone and instead there is a surround system (sub, 2x One SL , beam) and the very first thing that popped up in my mind was 'Hey, can I turn off that beam when playing music ?' ... which resulted in this request.

Afaik, classic 5.1 and 7.1 surround systems don't use the front speaker when playing music but those have front left and right speakers of course.

Anyway, if it ever gets implemented, I will tick that box right away 🙂