Resolved Siri volume different between Homepods?

[DanielCoffey]

I am having an issue where one of my two Homepods has a much lower Siri announcement volume than the other despite settings and volumes being the same and I cannot correct it via a reset.

Both are original Homepods running 16.3.2 and have Automatically Adjust Siri Volume to OFF. They are in different rooms in the Home app and both have the playback volume set to the same 24%.

Music volume on both is subjectively about the same given slight differences in room sizes. One has a normal and comfortable Siri volume, the other is MUCH quieter.

I know that media volume and Siri volume used to be separate but now they are tied together. I am feeling that the quieter Homepod has somehow got "stuck" at a different volume.

If I ask the quieter Homepod to "speak louder" Siri does so, raising the volume by 10% which feels more suitable for the room but of course this makes the playback volume too loud.

If I turn Automatically Adjust Siri Volume to ON then both speakers reply at a higher volume that varies according to distance but that one Homepod seems more prone to really raise its voice to a high level even if I am standing right next to it when issuing the command.

I have tried to Reset Homepod, powered it off and reassociated it with the Home app but there was no change to its behaviour.

Any thoughts?

 

[DanielCoffey]

Any thoughts on this? Music playback is correct and exactly how I remembered it but I don't seem to be able to cure the low Siri spoken volume despite a full reset.

 

[dotme]

Siri volume is supposed to still be independent of media volume.

On the quite one, try "Hey Siri, speak louder" or "Hey Siri, set YOUR volume to 70%"

How to change Siri volume and speaking rate - Apple Support

Learn how to change how loudly, softly, or quickly Siri speaks on your iPhone, Apple Watch, Mac, or HomePod.

support.apple.com

See link above, scroll down

 

[MBAir2010]

cool wish I can make one louder than the other one!

 

[DanielCoffey]

I have already tried those I am afraid. Since (I think) 16.3, the tooltip for the Automatically Adjust Siri Volume states that "When this is off, Siri will speak at the same level as the media volume". Adjusting Siri's volume now also adjusts the media volume which is not what I want.

My second Homepod does not exhibit this low Siri volume problem at all.

 

[dotme]

I see what you mean about the tool tip. I can't tell if this is functionality erosion, or the KB writers aren't keeping up with the code. I swear the HomePod OS team at Apple feels totally rudderless sometimes.

Just out of curiosity when you say "Hey Siri, Set Your Volume to 70%" does the HomePod Siri confirm the request still? Mine used to (haven't tested today) with something like "OK I'll set my volume to..." and it always held that percentage as long as that switch under accessibility was off.

 

[DanielCoffey]

Here's my test condition on the "faulty" Homepod...

Automatic Siri volume off, media volume 20%, Siri is very quiet, music is normal.

Me : Hey Siri, set your volume to 30%.
Siri : OK, I'll speak up.

Me : Siri play the playlist Soandso.
Siri (normal volume) : Alright. Here's the playlist Soandso.
Music begins too loud.

Me : Hey Siri, what is the volume?
Siri : (normal volume) The media volume is 30%

Me : Hey Siri, set the volume to 20%
Siri : (too quiet) Alright, setting the media volume to 20%
Music is now normal.

The second (newer original) Homepod does not have this issue and although the Siri and media volumes are tied, they are both at the same level. The older Homepod seems to have developed and retained an offset between the Siri and Media volumes that I cannot reset.

 

[dotme]

Apple says you can ask what "the volume" is for media and what "your volume" is for Siri. If you ask the HomePod both questions, are the percentages the same? It does sound like it's a stuck offset, although how that problem could persist through a factory reset is a bit of a mystery. Would be interesting to see if it reports the same values for both volumes when asked though.

Does the music sound full? No chance you've lost one or more of the tweeters or the woofer? Reduce Bass disabled?

About the only other thing I could think of to try would be to set the Siri volume where you want it using the "your" voice command, start playing music, then use control center on the iPhone to "control other speakers and TVs" in order to select the playing HomePod and slide the media volume lower that way. But I'm clutching at straws here.

It isn't paired to an AppleTV I assume? I've seen some strange things happen in that scenario.

Edit: One other thing I thought of just for giggles would be to change the Siri "voice" to a different Voice number on the problem 'Pod, and see if that kicks things back into alignment. Can always change it back afterwards.

 

[DanielCoffey]

Me : Hey Siri, what is the volume?
Siri (quietly) : The media volume is 20%

Me : Hey Siri, what is your volume?
Siri (quietly) : I am speaking at about 20%

Yes the music sounds normal and Reduce Bass is OFF. No it is not paired to an Apple TV (which we do have).

Starting playback at 20% media volume and asking Siri to raise the volume (music gets louder) then setting it back towards my preferred volume shows that the slider on my iPad follows the set volume accurately. What I am hearing for media volume is accurate and correct. It is just Siri spoken announcements on that specific Homepod that is incorrect.

Now comes the interesting bit... I changed the Siri voice and when announcing the new Siri voice the volume is normal but as soon as I ask a question it is quiet. I change the voice again and get greeted at a normal volume but the next question is answered quietly.

Thanks for trying to help. I do appreciate it.

Of course I am no longer under AppleCare for this HomePod but it is getting to the point where I think I may need specific Apple assistance. Sadly we don't have an Apple store near us.

 

[DanielCoffey]

SOLVED : There is nothing wrong with the Homepod at all. I swapped the two Homepods round so that the "faulty" unit was in the least used position and the issue stayed in that one room. It instantly appeared on the perfect unit and the "faulty" one started behaving normally.

I think it must be something to do with the spatial awareness check the unit performs whenever it thinks you have moved it. I guess I will have to either find a better spot for it or move some clutter away so that it recalibrates itself.

 

[dotme]

That's really interesting. Glad you got it sorted!