Echo & Alexa Forums

General Category => Echo Technical Support => Topic started by: gff667 on February 23, 2016, 05:52:57 pm

Title: Microphone question when listening to music
Post by: gff667 on February 23, 2016, 05:52:57 pm
I was listening to Prime music, and while playing a song Alexa doesn't hear me when I try to change the volume, or tell it to stop. I have to get right next to it and say stop. The mic picks up my voive from the other side of the house, but can't hear when it's playing music at volume 5.

Anyone else have this issue??
Title: Re: Microphone question when listening to music
Post by: PaulKTF on February 23, 2016, 06:04:52 pm
Yes, I have that same problem and I know others do too. You are not alone. :)
Title: Re: Microphone question when listening to music
Post by: renegade600 on February 23, 2016, 06:20:46 pm
music is going to interfere with the microphones and there is nothing you can do at this time - all you can do is to wait for a pause.  I dont play music much but have the same problem with the alarm, timer and news briefs.  I read in another forum that if you are playing music or have some other noise during voice training, it helps. 
Title: Re: Microphone question when listening to music
Post by: mike27oct on February 24, 2016, 04:44:53 am
Exactly, and instead of yelling at the darn thing and not getting results, walk up and turn the volume wheel down like any other radio up too loud, make your request and then tell  Alexa, volume 5, or whatever.

I'm sure somebody wants an "app for that" and there is one.  It's in the Alexa app; just go into Now Playing and tap pause. Hey; don't even need to go into Now Playimg, the pause and play button is at bottom of Home screen, along with a volume control slider. Cool. (How long has that been there?)
Title: Re: Microphone question when listening to music
Post by: NYC-Style on April 26, 2016, 03:28:45 am
Has there been any progress on this yet?...I'm having the same issue.  And it's not the music interfering with the microphone as the issue just recently started.  :
Title: Re: Microphone question when listening to music
Post by: fstbusa on April 26, 2016, 08:21:56 am
Mine actually heard me really well when listening to music up until about a month ago... then all of a sudden it can't hear me even if I yell from across the room.... really frustrating!! >:( >:(  I swear an update foobar'd it.
Title: Re: Microphone question when listening to music
Post by: Slygrin on April 26, 2016, 02:32:49 pm
I have the issue if I have the volume too loud for her to hear me well. The Dot suffers from this more than my Echos. My guess is the Dot's speakers are closer to the microphones than the Echo's are.
Title: Re: Microphone question when listening to music
Post by: DParker on April 26, 2016, 03:10:18 pm
Mine actually heard me really well when listening to music up until about a month ago... then all of a sudden it can't hear me even if I yell from across the room.... really frustrating!! >:( >:(  I swear an update foobar'd it.

I have two Echos.  Both are up-to-date on software (version 3202), and neither one of them are suffering from this issue, nor have they shown any noticeable signs of reduced responsiveness at all.
Title: Re: Microphone question when listening to music
Post by: mike27oct on April 26, 2016, 07:13:17 pm
Bottom line; there is a price to pay if volume of these devices are up too loud.  Duh.
Title: Re: Microphone question when listening to music
Post by: fstbusa on April 27, 2016, 08:15:04 am
Bottom line; there is a price to pay if volume of these devices are up too loud.  Duh.

when you wanna rock... you gotta rock!  8)
Title: Re: Microphone question when listening to music
Post by: mike27oct on April 27, 2016, 02:00:48 pm
Uh, can anyone tell us what the volume control ring on the top is for?  Hint: It is not to turn on the espresso machine.  Duh, again.
Title: Re: Microphone question when listening to music
Post by: PaulKTF on April 27, 2016, 02:16:00 pm
It's one of a few ways you can lower the volume but you should still be able to lower it with a voice command no matter what volume it is already set/playing at.
Title: Re: Microphone question when listening to music
Post by: mike27oct on April 27, 2016, 02:26:19 pm
Your opinion; I don't agree.  That volume control is there for a very good reason, and very LOUD volume is one of them.  Not much else to say, really.
Title: Re: Microphone question when listening to music
Post by: NYC-Style on April 28, 2016, 01:40:58 pm
I think what some folks don't get is that this was not an issue initially.  Regardless of volume level the response word was consistently recognized...the troubling part is that the lack of response can occur even when volume is at level 4... :o  And with that being said maybe the bottom line should be..."do not create a device and set a volume level which would render it unresponsive."  I would like to think the folks in R&D tested the max volume level where the device can still respond...which I'm sure they did...which is why this wasn't a problem initially.
Title: Re: Microphone question when listening to music
Post by: Ventiman on February 25, 2017, 06:10:04 am
Use the remote, may be extra but they fix the issue when it is LOUD. Not all echo owners own smart phones remember, hence the remote.
Title: Re: Microphone question when listening to music
Post by: renegade600 on February 25, 2017, 03:24:04 pm
another option is to bluetooth speakers and keep alexa across the room from them.  you have a better shot at voice commands than if alexa is right next to the speakers. 
Title: Re: Microphone question when listening to music
Post by: mindmagic on February 26, 2017, 05:07:32 am
It also depends on what you're listening to. I use mine mainly for radio, and some stations broadcast at a much higher volume than others. One can deafen me at vol 6, while another needs to be turned up to at least vol 8.
Title: Re: Microphone question when listening to music
Post by: flyfrom13five on July 21, 2017, 02:03:02 am
I have a solution to this problem.  The first week I had the Echo show, it worked fine.  Play music at Volume 10 and ask Alexa any command and she responds no problem.  After 3 weeks Alexa would not respond if music was playing above Volume 4.  I set it back to factory settings, and Alexa starting to respond just like the first week.  However, once again, this only lasted for 3 weeks.  Amazon is pushing settings to my device, really annoying.  Not exactly a 3rd world problem, but still annoying.
Title: Re: Microphone question when listening to music
Post by: mindmagic on July 22, 2017, 04:05:57 am
"Volume X" is relative. One of the radio stations I listen to outputs at a much higher volume than others, and another one is particularly quiet. Loud music playing on a stronger station at (say) Volume 5 is going to cause more interference than quiet music would on a weaker station.