Play 1, 3, 5 Need a "Talk Radio" or "Spoken Word" Audio Quality Setting

  • 24 June 2014
  • 2 replies
  • 428 views

Userlevel 1
Can we have a way to set-up Play1 for "small rooms" so that "spoken word" or "talk radio" can be heard over the shower water without having to crank the volume? I think it has something to do with speaker output power and equalization. I am unable to achieve that through the standard Sonos settings. It prevents me from using Sonos to listen to NPR during morning routines and at bedtime. My old Sony shower Radio (3 C batteries) still beats Sonos Play1 in terms of talk radio shower-ability! Background: I have a small bathroom that I have a Play1 in. I used to use a 15-yr old Sony shower radio (single speaker, 3 C batteries). It was perfect for listening to NPR. I could leave the shower door closed, water running, and bathroom door to bedroom closed and not only clearly hear the radio, but also not wake anyone sleeping in the bedroom. Now that I'm using Play1 in the bathroom, I have to turn the volume to near 100% to make sense of the "talk" on NPR or other spoken word media. The whole house (and neighbors, if windows are open) can hear it, too.

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2 replies

Userlevel 2
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Ditto, Sonos we need a dedicated "speech" profile.
I have to disable loudness and lower the base every time I listen to some spoken radio/podcast, but then it does not sound good for music.
Please implement this, as far as i understand you intend to have something like this automatically for the new sonos beam.

Alternatives could be:
- give us the option of saving eq profiles, so we can fast switch between them
- give us the option to quickly access the eq setting directly from the playback main window (I now need 6 taps or something like that)
Bumping this suggestion.

I definitely agree. I have the same scenario with a Bathroom Sonos. It feels very "womp womp womp" with the radio streaming. On top of poor audio quality for speech, I worry about my neighbors (apartment building) who no doubt hear a bunch of rumbly bass through their bathroom. That wouldn't happen with a regular/cheap radio.

I love the full sound profile of Sonos, but for such an advanced/expensive product, it should also demonstrate superior flexibility for listening scenarios such as this.