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Issues with wrong echo responding

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mpop1976

Issues with wrong echo responding
« on: March 01, 2021, 08:47:51 am »
I have an echo in my home office, less then 1 foot from where I sit, but when I call for alexa in a normal volume, the echo in my bed room, about 24 feet away, around a corner, thought a shut door, responds.  How can I change it's mic sensitivity, right now I have just mut the mic during the day, so it will not steal the command.

Re: Issues with wrong echo responding
« Reply #1 on: March 01, 2021, 12:28:10 pm »
 there is no way to adjust the mic, best you can do is to move the bedroom one further from the door and lower your voice when giving commands.  also, try a different location for the echo you want to use.   finally, try swapping the echos. 

mpop1976

Re: Issues with wrong echo responding
« Reply #2 on: March 01, 2021, 03:51:50 pm »
there is no way to adjust the mic, best you can do is to move the bedroom one further from the door and lower your voice when giving commands.  also, try a different location for the echo you want to use.   finally, try swapping the echos.
The one in the bedroom is at the furthest point from the door.  The one in the office, is RIGHT next to me, less then a foot from me.

The one in the office is an echo show (very bright screen) the one in the bedroom is a 1st gen (no screen) I don't want to have a bright light in my bedroom (I already have enough trouble sleeping at night)

As some one suggested (on another forum) I did listen to the recording, first I turned off the bed room one (the mute mic) listen to what the office one heard very clear and loud sounds good, then turned on the mic on the bedroom again, when back to the office and gave the same command to the office Echo, bed room again took it shutting down the office one and responded so I went back into alaxa.amazon.com and listen to what the bedroom heard.  It was very staticy and very low volume.  You would have thought that with how low the volume was and how much static there was the bedroom would have known it was not the one it was directed to, but the office one.  So the one that had the worst sound picked it up, when I wanted the one with the better sound to pick it up (aka it sounds good in the office when I am in the office, but the bedroom picks it up even though it sounds like garbage to the bedroom one when I am in the office)

Offline jwlv

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Re: Issues with wrong echo responding
« Reply #3 on: March 01, 2021, 04:52:56 pm »
Different Echo models have either less or more sensitive mics. My home has an open floor plan. There are no walls between the kitchen, living room, and dining room. I have an Echo in each of those rooms, Echo Show 5 in the kitchen, Echo Dot (3 gen) in the dining room, and Echo Dot (2 gen) in the living room. Quite often when I'm cooking in the kitchen and only a few feet away from the Echo Show 5, one of the Dots will respond when I speak to Alexa.

Based on what I've experienced, the Echo Dot (2 gen) has the most sensitive mic. Echo Dot (3 gen) is a close second. The Echo Show 5 is nearly deaf. I could be standing 2 feet directly in front of it, facing it and speaking, and the Dot (2nd gen) would answer instead.

mpop1976

Re: Issues with wrong echo responding
« Reply #4 on: March 01, 2021, 05:07:13 pm »
Different Echo models have either less or more sensitive mics. My home has an open floor plan. There are no walls between the kitchen, living room, and dining room. I have an Echo in each of those rooms, Echo Show 5 in the kitchen, Echo Dot (3 gen) in the dining room, and Echo Dot (2 gen) in the living room. Quite often when I'm cooking in the kitchen and only a few feet away from the Echo Show 5, one of the Dots will respond when I speak to Alexa.

Based on what I've experienced, the Echo Dot (2 gen) has the most sensitive mic. Echo Dot (3 gen) is a close second. The Echo Show 5 is nearly deaf. I could be standing 2 feet directly in front of it, facing it and speaking, and the Dot (2nd gen) would answer instead.

My home does not have an open floor plan, for the one in the bed room to hear me when I am in the office it has to go though a wall (and book cases that are in the office, and free standing bureau in the bedroom). or out the office door and into the shut bedroom door.

Re: Issues with wrong echo responding
« Reply #5 on: March 01, 2021, 06:27:51 pm »
you will just have to live with it if you are not going to try any of the suggestions.   The reason I told you to try to swap the two is to see if it there is a problem with the echo that was the closest.  It is called troubleshooting.   There is absolutely no setting that will fix the problem other than giving it a different wake name.  The only other fix is location.   Think about how sound travels.   If your back it towards the closest one, then it may not hear commands.

Re: Issues with wrong echo responding
« Reply #6 on: March 01, 2021, 07:38:34 pm »
If you just HAVE to have a Show in your office, I have an early model HD10 Fire tablet that works great as an echo show (they have "show mode"). It picks up great and is easily directional by standing in front of it, and less sensitive when to the side or behind it. It is a suggestion for you. I'm not selling mine, but suggesting a possible change to another Show option. The 5 is very wonky in a house where there are mulitple Devices within range of one another. I did Show 5's for a short while and opted to gift those to some family members and moved to echo last gen "Puck" Dots... Not sure if I will go for the new ball ones... Maybe a new Apple Home Pod Mini instead... A bit more on the cost, but they are pretty cool for an apple environment person like me.

Also, I could recommend changing the Wake word name for the dot in one room or the other as well... I have 2 Dot Clocks in my bedroom, and to separate them I set one up as "Computer", the other as "Alexa". I can easily give them separate commands that way.

ONE CAVEAT (for the wake word change situation)... if you start a music set on one dot, no matter the wake word, if you tell another to "Stop" whatever wake word is used has no special application, it stops all echos that are playing music, on the same user account. even if they are not in hearing distance of one another. My mother in-law keeps cancelling out my sleep music, by telling her Dot "Alexa Stop" and mine is in the far end of the house and is Wake-word-set as "Computer"...
2 Echo Dots 2nd gen
2 echo dots gen 3 (no clock) -2 Echo Dot 3rd gen with Clock
1 echo dot Gen 4 with clock
1 Echo Spot
4 10" Fire Tablets
1 15' Echo show
23 Hue Lights 1 Hue bridge - 1 Amazon Smart plug outlet
One Ring Doorbell Pro
4 cell phones with Alexa app installed!
You should see My Apple Device List!

Offline jwlv

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Re: Issues with wrong echo responding
« Reply #7 on: March 01, 2021, 10:02:36 pm »
Regardless of how your house is laid out, my point was that the Echo Show 5 is nearly deaf when compared to other Echo devices.  I have four Echo Show 5's and they all are nearly deaf.

You can try contacting Amazon about this. I'm sure this isn't news to them because it's such a common issue with the Show 5. Find out if Amazon has a fix or something else they can do for you.