Volumes keep getting out of sync on chained amps

[andrewmalpass]

I’ve got my amp ultra permanently chained to an amp as surround speakers.

Trying to work out why when I come back to it, the volume of the master and slave amp is not the same.

I’ve set the volume steps to be the same for both amps.

What should I be doing?

 

[Mr Ee]

when I come back to it, the volume of the master and slave amp is not the same.

Can you expand on that?
Come back to it hours later? Days later?
How far off are they?

It reads like you only change the volume on the amp ultra, and expect both to have the same volume number displayed in the app.

 

[andrewmalpass]

Can you expand on that?
Come back to it hours later? Days later?
How far off are they?

It reads like you only change the volume on the amp ultra, and expect both to have the same volume number displayed in the app.

What I would like is that when I set the volume levels on the two chained devices, for example I set the surround and main amp volume to 12, they both lock together at parity. It works when I adjust the voume with my phone, but when I use Alexa to adjust the volume, it only adjusts the main amp volume.

I have experimented by adding both amps as the default speakers for the room, and setting only the main amp as the room's default speakers.

If I have both amps set as the default speakers for the room, it will unlink the two amps and play on the main amp when I request music.

If I have the main amp only set as the default speakers for the room, it preserves the chained device setup, but only adjusts the main amp volume when I ask Alexa to adjust the volume.

Is there no way to have it control the volume of the entire chained set of devices?

 

[Mr Ee]

Ok, so using the phone (and presumably wiim app / remote) works fine, it's an Alexa volume control issue.
I don't use Alexa - hopefully someone who does can add something here, or you can try raising a ticket in the wiim app.

 

[Burnside]

What I would like is that when I set the volume levels on the two chained devices, for example I set the surround and main amp volume to 12, they both lock together at parity. It works when I adjust the voume with my phone, but when I use Alexa to adjust the volume, it only adjusts the main amp volume.

What do you mean by “chained” - linked in the WiiM app?

When you say you adjust the volume with Alexa, how and what do you ask?

I have experimented by adding both amps as the default speakers for the room, and setting only the main amp as the room's default speakers.

If I have both amps set as the default speakers for the room, it will unlink the two amps and play on the main amp when I request music.

So by unlinking, do you mean the speakers no longer show in the WiiM app as one linked group? How are you requesting music and on what device?

If I have the main amp only set as the default speakers for the room, it preserves the chained device setup, but only adjusts the main amp volume when I ask Alexa to adjust the volume.

Is there no way to have it control the volume of the entire chained set of devices?

I’ll need to try what you’re doing when I have a clearer picture of your setup. Off the top of my head, I wouldn’t expect Alexa to be aware of any linkage between devices in the WiiM app and requests for volume might only impact the device being asked.

Also, having the devices in an Alexa room (which you don’t explicitly say you have) may change the behaviour, but again I’d need to play around with the setup to check.

 

[Wiimer]

, for example I set the surround and main amp volume to 12, they both lock together at parity.

I agree with that request, but it's not possible at this time. I recommend submitting a request ticket through the feedback section of the WiiM app.

It works when I adjust the voume with my phone, but when I use Alexa to adjust the volume, it only adjusts the main amp volume.

As far as I know, you can't adjust the volume of a WiiM group using Alexa voice control. (@Burnside seems to be saying the same thing.)

I tried using a custom action in an Alexa routine to indirectly trigger another routine and adjust the volume of two WiiM devices simultaneously. Unfortunately, it didn't work.

Is there no way to have it control the volume of the entire chained set of devices?

You can adjust the group volume using the remote for the group's master device.

 

[andrewmalpass]

What do you mean by “chained” - linked in the WiiM app?

When you say you adjust the volume with Alexa, how and what do you ask?



So by unlinking, do you mean the speakers no longer show in the WiiM app as one linked group? How are you requesting music and on what device?





I’ll need to try what you’re doing when I have a clearer picture of your setup. Off the top of my head, I wouldn’t expect Alexa to be aware of any linkage between devices in the WiiM app and requests for volume might only impact the device being asked.

Also, having the devices in an Alexa room (which you don’t explicitly say you have) may change the behaviour, but again I’d need to play around with the setup to check.

Chained = linked yes.

And yes when I say unlinked, the master and slave device are separated when asking for music in the room in which they are both set as the default speaker for music. If I set only the master device in the linked unit as the default speaker, music is played through both devices as they do not unlink. So there is some awareness that they are a unit when requesting music, but not when requesting volume changes.

I do have the devices in a 'room' in Alexa - a group.

 

[Burnside]

I think I can see - or guess - some sort of logic in what’s happening. Firstly, Alexa has no knowledge of WiiM linked groups. So when both are default speakers, Alexa sends an audio stream to each, and perhaps WiiM sees them as two separate streams so unlinks them.
With just the main device as preferred speaker, Alexa sends one stream and the WiiM main device acts as you’d suspect in a linked group and passes the audio to the second device.

Re volume changes, I wonder if putting both devices into an Alexa MRM group and setting that group as the room group preferred speakers might make a difference? Or maybe asking Alexa to change the room or MRM group volume would do the trick e.g. “Alexa, set the living room volume to 6”?

 

[andrewmalpass]

I agree with that request, but it's not possible at this time. I recommend submitting a request ticket through the feedback section of the WiiM app.



As far as I know, you can't adjust the volume of a WiiM group using Alexa voice control. (@Burnside seems to be saying the same thing.)

I tried using a custom action in an Alexa routine to indirectly trigger another routine and adjust the volume of two WiiM devices simultaneously. Unfortunately, it didn't work.



You can adjust the group volume using the remote for the group's master device.

I can adjust the volume using the app too, and unless I specifically adjust the individual volumes the app does what I want - keeps the volume levels aligbed as I adjust. So if I increase the volume for the linked devices playing music, they both increase.

I think the feature request needs to have an offset allowed. So for example I could set both master and slave to parity, and then volume link would just ensure that when the master vol is 20 the slave is 20. But also if I manually select master =20 and slave = 17 for example, there should always be a -3 offset to the slave. So when master is at 4, slave is at 1. In the event that the offset isn't possible, for example when the master is set to 2, then the slave should be at 0 until the master is increased back to 3.

So the options I see to implement this would be:

1 - allow the user to select the correct level for the master and slave device in the app and then select an option to hard link the volumes. The relative volume levels should be enforced unless it would result in one of the units being at a negative volume, or would exceed max vol, in which case the volume should be 0 or max.

The formula for this would be something like:

If master vol is = slave vol, then master always == slave vol.
If master vol > slave vol then take the difference of master - slave and store as a variable called reduce_slave_by, then slave vol == max(current master - reduce_slave_by, 0)
If slave vol > master vol then take the difference of master and slave and store as variable called increase slave_by, and then slave vol == max(current master + increase_slave_by, max volume)

The user could also manually adjust the variables, so the request could be that the offset is defined rather than starting from a volume difference.

The change should enable the volumes to be hard locked, so that any adjustment of the volume of the linked unit whether in the wiim app, via alexa or using the volume controls on the units or remotes would result in an instruction to change the volume of both units of the linked devices relative to the defined offset.

 

[andrewmalpass]

I think I can see - or guess - some sort of logic in what’s happening. Firstly, Alexa has no knowledge of WiiM linked groups. So when both are default speakers, Alexa sends an audio stream to each, and perhaps WiiM sees them as two separate streams so unlinks them.
With just the main device as preferred speaker, Alexa sends one stream and the WiiM main device acts as you’d suspect in a linked group and passes the audio to the second device.

Re volume changes, I wonder if putting both devices into an Alexa MRM group and setting that group as the room group preferred speakers might make a difference? Or maybe asking Alexa to change the room or MRM group volume would do the trick e.g. “Alexa, set the living room volume to 6”?

That makes sense until the devices are unlinked and the device that was the master is playing music and the device that was the slave is inactive.

 

[Burnside]

It should also be noted that Alexa volume increments are 1-10 i.e. 10% steps, unless you use a workaround in a routine and set the volume slider for non multiples of 10%

 

[andrewmalpass]

I think I can see - or guess - some sort of logic in what’s happening. Firstly, Alexa has no knowledge of WiiM linked groups. So when both are default speakers, Alexa sends an audio stream to each, and perhaps WiiM sees them as two separate streams so unlinks them.
With just the main device as preferred speaker, Alexa sends one stream and the WiiM main device acts as you’d suspect in a linked group and passes the audio to the second device.

Re volume changes, I wonder if putting both devices into an Alexa MRM group and setting that group as the room group preferred speakers might make a difference? Or maybe asking Alexa to change the room or MRM group volume would do the trick e.g. “Alexa, set the living room volume to 6”?

Is MRM a multi room group? I think I’ll need to create a group specifically for the slave device to try this so k give it a go later. My suspicion would be that it will unlink them though.

 

[Burnside]

Is MRM a multi room group? I think I’ll need to create a group specifically for the slave device to try this so k give it a go later. My suspicion would be that it will unlink them though.

Yeah, sorry I should, have said. I was thinking along the lines of the primary and secondary WiiM devices both being in an Alexa multi room music group and set as preferred speakers in the room group, as well as being linked in the WiiM app. My thinking is that WiiM’s Alexa implementation is aware of MRM groups and may treat them differently.

 

[andrewmalpass]

I agree with that request, but it's not possible at this time. I recommend submitting a request ticket through the feedback section of the WiiM app.



As far as I know, you can't adjust the volume of a WiiM group using Alexa voice control. (@Burnside seems to be saying the same thing.)

I tried using a custom action in an Alexa routine to indirectly trigger another routine and adjust the volume of two WiiM devices simultaneously. Unfortunately, it didn't work.



You can adjust the group volume using the remote for the group's master device.

Submited, ticket is 552414