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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

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184 replies

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...
P
Userlevel 1
I would also enjoy more control for low volume levels.
F
Userlevel 3
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The max volume feature does nothing with regards to low volume. Personally, I don't understand why Sonos keeps adding these corner case features when there is a huge customer base asking for more fine grained control on lower volumes since 2014.

Unless the hardware isn't capable of delivering sound quality at lower than current minimal levels I could understand, but I assume this is just a volume scale between 0-100 that treats every step as equal. Treat the first 0-10 with more fine grained control and the other 90 with less accuracy. Quite simple solution and shouldn't take days to implement.
J
Userlevel 1
Agree with all here. Min volume is just too loud. Sonos please fix this.
Ryan S
Userlevel 7
Badge +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.
Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.
G
Userlevel 3
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Unfortunately this doesn’t solve the issue. We have now a better accuracy to control low volumes but the minimum volume remains the same... Still too loud in a fully quiet room. Next update I hope.
I will continue to use AirPlay when I need very low volume.
P

Pathetic.

I have ended up rather comically using the EQ on sonos to lower at least some frequencies for volume on my Ikea Symfonisk, EQ is for EQ not for volume surely (anyway the difference is only marginal\0

Nearly 4 years of requests to sort this and nothing done.

Please Sonos just admit it, you CANNOT fix this via a software or firmware update can you?

Please rather than just keep stringing all these customers along. very poor for a supposed high quality audio product.

Oh, and BTW….. to all the posters who keep rattling on that they have no problem with this, please just keep it to yourself and go to another thread. 

  You are talking about your subjective experience not objectively about the amplitude of the signal between 0 (off) and 1 (too loud for many of us). TBH You are totally missing the point ie. that some of us DO want to listen to music really quietly eg in a silent  bedroom 12 inches away from my head to go to sleep by. This thread is for surely user who would like precisely this?All the posts saying this is not a problem for you changes nothing and you are just clouding the issue and whether you personally and subjectively find it too quiet at Volume No. 1 is irrelevant to be honest. 

As one poster said, best to close this forum down if after so long Sonos do nothing; that is apart from community manager Ryan  throwing in a red herring trumpetting the modifications to higher end volumes …..  as if it changes anything to the actual minimum volume… all quite farcical really.

D
Userlevel 1

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.

Thanks for this suggestion, I tried this as it is quoted as best solution. 

But with max volume at 50%, the two lowest volume steps are silence and then with the next volume step it jumps to the same volume level as the first step with max at 100%. Thus it does not help for getting a lower background volume level on my Play One's.

Stuart_W
Userlevel 7
Badge +22
You aren't the first so Sonos are aware that a few customers note this.
Arc + Sub (Gen 1) + 2 x Play 1/ Stereo Play 3s/ Era 100 Stereo in Kitchen, One Stereo in Bedroom, SL One in Study, Play 1in Bathroom & Conservatory
G
Userlevel 3
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I solved the problem, and fair to say, it was an issue of “incompatible user” in combination with unclear UX/UI in the Sonos App. 

So what you need to check is the following, if you - just like me - are using a Playbar with 2x Play 1. In my case I apparently increased the volume of the surround speakers.

So how to solve: Go to your system settings, and select the group with the playbar. Then go to the “Surround Audio” settings and make sure you set both sliders; Tv Level, and Music Level to 0. 

I had them initially at arround +9 and what happens is that the base volume of the Sonos system is then increased with the number configured on the sliders resulting in a much louder volume. Overall, I think the sliders are not clear enough. But they simply set your surround speakers to a higher or lower volume level compared to the Playbar.

Right now the first step in the volume slider is just noticeable, almost whispering. Hope this helps other people. 

Thank you for your answer. I know this procedure, I just gave this as an example to demonstrate that Sonos Ones can provide very low volume when used as surround. Therefore, it should be feasible to lower the minimum volume of a Sonos One when not part of surround system.

This is also true for a pair of Sonos One. If you set the volume to the minimum it is still to high for a lot of users. If then you set the balance to the right speaker then the left speaker can provide very low volume. Why could not we reach this very low volume on a One itself?

Just to say this is not hardware limitation but software only! And then very easy to fix for Sonos! What the problem to reduce minimum volume?

Stuart_W
Userlevel 7
Badge +22
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.

2 Attachments
Arc + Sub (Gen 1) + 2 x Play 1/ Stereo Play 3s/ Era 100 Stereo in Kitchen, One Stereo in Bedroom, SL One in Study, Play 1in Bathroom & Conservatory
F
Userlevel 3
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“The best answer” on this thread is just ridiculous and I assume written and then voted as truth by a Sonos Marketing/PR person.

The maximum volume has zero impact on the actual minimal volume. When I set it to 20% maximum volume (Playbar and 2x Play 1) the only thing that happens is that the volume slider responds later but the actual audible minimum volume is exactly the same.

My suggestion to Sonos, less focus on Alexa and Siri gimmicks. Focus on the ABC’s of your products, and make it possible to lower the minimum volume. A topic that is highly requested by the community for over more than 3 years now.

If else, then just close the community because you clearly have no intention of actually listening to customer feedback.
U

This feature doesn’t help on my Amp where ‘1’ on the volume slider is still too loud late at night for the TV. The volume limiter affects upper volumes but not the lowest. That’s really unhelpful!

A
Please reduce the minimum volume. I really enjoy listening music when going to sleep but with sonos it's just much too loud. I've had a squeezebox before which was not perfect but the minimum volume was great. Btw I use a Play 1 in my bedroom.
S
+1. Buyed Play1 today for my bedroom for a soft music when I go to bed. The minimum volume is much too loud. Would also recommend a way to be able to set a really minimal volume.
J
Userlevel 1
Hello Sonos! Any update here? Looks like we're more than a year into this thread without a response...
D
Badge
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.

I’m afraid this doesn’t help. In my living room I have a Sonos playbar, sub and two play 5’s. I set the maximum volume to 20% and it still goes from zero to too loud. There is still no inbetween.
S
Userlevel 1

Same issue here using Spotify on symfonisk next to my bed.  Absolutely unusable for background music while reading or just chilling. 

 

Sonos needs to fix this. Also the trick doesn't work with the 50% as I just simply get no sound on the first level and the exactly the same minimum volume on the second tap. Which is still the same too loud volume.

 

Really disappointed by this.  

R
Unfortunately this doesn’t solve the issue. We have now a better accuracy to control low volumes but the minimum volume remains the same... Still too loud in a fully quiet room. Next update I hope.
I will continue to use AirPlay when I need very low volume.

I have the same problem. Only when I use AirPlay I get the desired low volume from my set-up (2x One, Beam and Sub).

When I play exactly the same Spotify song through the Sonos app the minimal volume is MUCH LOUDER and too loud for background listening. The first tap on the volume slider in the Sonos app has no effect (still silent). And with a second tap on the volumeslider the sound is way too loud. Setting a maximal volume (i.e. 50%) does not do anything. This is really annoying and clearly software related. When I use AirPlay with my iPad Air 2 the volume control is much beter a can be set at a nice minimal volume. Moreover the first tap on the volume slider with AirPlay does actual something and produces a very minimal volume. This means it's not hardware related.

Sonos please fix this! This issue has been addressed over 2 years ago. I spend a lot of money on my set and this is not something you would expect from a 'premium' brand.
G

Same! It’s impossible to study with “background” music. This seems a rave even on the lowest volume. Sonos needs to address this issue.

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.
P
I'd like to add my experience here. I suspect part of the reason people have different experiences is that there is a considerable range of different volumes on different music sources. This is also a bit of a challenge for somebody designing a volume control. I find that the Sonos controller volume controls (less so the hardware switches) are fine for well mastered recordings with wide dynamic range. The problem comes with recordings designed for "pop" radio. These are all too often compressed to hell during the mastering, allowing the mastering volume to be pushed to the loudest possible for every part of the track, sadly at the expense of musical dynamics. This is because unfortunately louder music tends to sound better than quieter, and on a radio station playing track after track the ones that have the highest volume tend to stand out. The Sonos volume controls just aren't designed to handle this type of track. You end up using a tiny fraction of the left hand end of the volume, which is at best a fiddle and at worst you simply don't get the volume you actually want. The answer is to make the volume control more logarithmic (increasingly sensitive at low volumes), but this depends on the hardware level of control. It may be that the hardware volume has fixed steps and so there's little that can be done in software.
S
Userlevel 7
Badge +15
Everyone reporting it here and in previous threads all have a defect?
I'd suggest more granular control is needed at low volume - inc. from the hardware volume buttons too.
E
Yes, please. The lowest volume is still too loud on my PLAY1.

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