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Minimum Volume is too loud to enjoy background music

S
Userlevel 3
The minimum volume on a Play 1 for instance (volume level 1) is too loud to let the music play as background.
It's "no music" or "too loud music" on volume level 1 Nothing in between. Ideally I could lower the music volume like an old amplifier. It's as simple as that. We use the Sonos system on the lowest volume side and the minimum volume is just way too high. I'm surprised that nobody else raises this.
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Best answer by Ryan S 9 October 2018, 22:26

Hi everyone, starting today with Sonos 9.2 there's the ability to use the mobile controller for Android or iOS to set a maximum volume for each of your Sonos players. The reason I bring it up in here, is that if you have the maximum volume set at 50%, the whole volume bar will still go from 0-100, but 100% will now reflect what your volume limit is set to. This has the added benefit of being able to get more granular control of players at low volume, as the volume steps will scale up or down with the max volume.



So, if you never set your players above a certain volume, this is a great chance to improve the control at lower volumes. Play around with it and see if this helps.
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142 replies

Stuart_W
Userlevel 7
Badge +21
You aren't the first so Sonos are aware that a few customers note this.
Playbar + Sub + 2 x Play 1/ Stereo Play 3s/ Play 1 Stereo in Kitchen, Play 1 in Bedroom, Study & Bathroom, Sonos One in Conservatory
P
Userlevel 1
I would also enjoy more control for low volume levels.
J
I feel like I'm missing something here.

I do tend to listen to music loudly, so I went up to my bedroom to test quiet music on a play:1.

Using the slider I can go from total silence to so quiet it can't be heard in a quiet room unless near the speaker and on up incrementally.

What am I not understanding?
P
Userlevel 1
I don't have ipad or other tablet in use. Those may have larger volume control, I don't know.

When I use the app in my phone, the control tends to be too small. It's difficult to control the volume with my large fingers especially in the low end. It would be great to zoom in to the controls, giving more room for small adjustments. Or the app could be used horizontally as it would give more space for the volume control, meaning larger volume slider.

When using the PC app control is very small as well.
D
Userlevel 1
Same here, PLAY:1 in the bedroom: the minimum volume is too loud, trying to lower the volume the music is off then. No matter if controlling through iPad, iPhone or the volume button on the PLAY:1
P
Userlevel 1
Lowering minimum volume is the most wanted feature for me these days. I have tried iPhone and iPad controller as well as - on the speaker. Level 1 is much too loud for background music, especially during night. As a long time Sonos user I could see this is coming back over and over again and it is still not solved. Sonos, please...
J
I feel like I'm missing something here.

I do tend to listen to music loudly, so I went up to my bedroom to test quiet music on a play:1.

Using the slider I can go from total silence to so quiet it can't be heard in a quiet room unless near the speaker and on up incrementally.

What am I not understanding?

Did you do this at 3am in the morning? If you did this during the day the there would be too much ambient noise.

Set your alarm, try again and report back.
K

Using the slider I can go from total silence to so quiet it can't be heard in a quiet room unless near the speaker and on up incrementally.

What am I not understanding?
I don't understand either; and control, that I just tried on the Mac, works well too. One has to keep tapping with the cursor arrow on the left or the right of the button to have it move in incremental small steps that give fine enough control. Dropping volume this way on the Android with a finger tapping to the left of the button is a little difficult though, because of how close the mute button is to the slider button at low volumes.
PS: and what is Level 1 - no such thing marked or indicated anywhere, AFAIK.
H
Userlevel 3
Badge +6
To get to the lowest possible volume, I slide the slider all the way to the left (zero volume) and tap on the line once to the dot's right. Is this how everyone is doing it?
K
That's a good way to do it, but when I just did it on my Mac controller at my desk in a quiet room, with speakers flanking the computer and close to my ears, it took me a couple of taps - more like 4 - before I could hear music with some clarity. Hence I remain puzzled as to why this too loud complaint is made.

And the same results from my handheld.
H
Userlevel 3
Badge +6
That's a good way to do it, but when I just did it on my Mac controller at my desk in a quiet room, with speakers flanking the computer and close to my ears, it took me a couple of taps - more like 4 - before I could hear music with some clarity. Hence I remain puzzled as to why this too loud complaint is made.

And the same results from my handheld.
Yes, hence my question above - works for me as well.
S
Userlevel 7
Badge +15
In a very quiet room (let's say in bed at night), turning the volume all the way down on a Play 1 and then pushing the Volume up button once is too loud and the wife can hear it. Repeated with a Play 5 it is quieter.
K
Don't push it once it is all the way to the left, tap next to it, to the right of the button. I would very surprised if you need less than 3-4 taps, each tap does a very small advance of the button/sound levels.
S
Userlevel 7
Badge +15
I know that - but I'm talking about the physical.buttons above. Unless I'm mistaken, there isn't a smaller increment than a single tap?
K
Ahh, I see what you mean. Yes, the physical tap is too "coarse" as can be seen by the reflected move in the controller. Fair point, but some above have also complained about the controller via the app, which muddies the waters. Hopefully Sonos reading this picks up this important difference.
Cazualchatter
Userlevel 3
Badge +5
i agree the physical buttons have a lower gradient of volume control than the apps. Almost feels like sound is reducing in slow motion if you use the physical buttons as compared to the apps..
Music + Movies on 2x Play 1s + Sub + Playbar. Amazon Echo Dot + Google Home Mini. Beautiful impulsive music.
Airgetlam
To be honest, what I ended up doing was moving the Play:1 from next to the bed to somewhere further away (across the room), which allowed me better control over how loud it appeared to be to me.

Of course, I sleep alone, so there's no one else I'm trying to please other than me. I recognize that my solution isn't a perfect fit for everyone. I have this issue in hotels, where sometimes it's hard to find an appropriate place to put the speaker.
Bruce
G
I totally agree and can't believe thìs isn't fixed already! It should be an easy problem to solve!
Some of you are talking about tapping the volumecontrol. Well I've tried and still can't get lower volume.

I would like to propose a test, so that we all know we are talking about the same volume level. Here's how we do it.

Put alarmclock on volume-level 1 (just a minute ahead or so). Listen carefully how high the sound is.
Now, the big question is, can you manually adjust the volume to a lower level? I cannot! I can adjust it to the same level as the alarmclock set on volume-level 1, but i cannot get lower. '(And it is too loud... Please fix this Sonos.)
B
Badge
Dear all. Same feelings : Lowest level is too high. Has nothing to do with apple controls : went as low as possible, then pushed just once on play bar button which immediately went to level zero. As a proof this was really the mute : the led switched to green. Apart from that it is my feeling that the increments when you use iPhone or iPad buttons are to large and that the volume button on the screen is difficult to fine tune. Room for improvement.
K
Tap to either side of the button in the controller to have it move in 1% changes. That gives fine control over the volume changes.
K
Userlevel 6
Badge +13
My surround setup could do with a 1/2 setting between 0 and 1, late at night it can be a bit too loud on first click from zero.
K
Is that the first tap to the right of the dot in the controller? Every tap moves the dot by 1 step out of the 100 step range, so I am surprised to read that this is still too coarse.
K
Userlevel 6
Badge +13
Yep, first tap. For me it's just the first increment that would be handy to have in two steps.
K
Hmm....someone with player/base units can comment. I have only music playing units and it takes 3 taps to the right of the zeroed button in the controller - when the mute light is on as it is at zero - to even hear some sound from them with my ears near them.
Stuart_W
Userlevel 7
Badge +21
I've just tested with my playbar and the iPad controller.

When moving the slider all the way to the left and then 1 tap at the end of the line I could barely hear the TV (It was dialogue).

The to screenshots show the slider in the 2 positions.



I suspect many of the people who stilll have this issue are NOT tapping the correct place on the controller.

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Playbar + Sub + 2 x Play 1/ Stereo Play 3s/ Play 1 Stereo in Kitchen, Play 1 in Bedroom, Study & Bathroom, Sonos One in Conservatory

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