Nest Hub Max Microphone Volume Extremely Low

[PretzelMan]

I have a Nest Hub Max

If I monitor the camera, the audio is very, very low.  This is NEW.

I used to be able to hear sounds easily if I monitored the camera.  Yesterday, the sound was extremely low.  I thought it was off, but if I put my ear to the speaker on my phone, I could hear faint sounds.

I checked all settings and even did a factory reset of the Hub Max.  Still almost zero sound.  I tried this on both my phone (Adnroid) and iPAD (IOS).  It was the same on both.

If I say "Hey Google..." the Hub hears me.

Any advice is appreciated.

[Ckchristian]

My volume playback of my nest hub camera captures has been so low that I have to hold the phone up to my ear at full volume to hear anything at all. This is a new problem. I'm not sure if this actually helped or is just a fluke, but this morning I found that in my Home app, Max Hub settings under Nest Cam, my Home Monitoring Features was turned off which automatically turns off the Home Monitoring Audio. This is not in the Nest App, where I actually setup all my camera capture, noise detection settings, etc.  I don't remember ever having to do this in the past when it was working so I wonder if it's a new feature added that loaded defaulted to off.  No matter the adjustments I made in the Nest App there was no change but when I found this setting in the Home App under the Hub it made a huge difference. It still has to be turned up louder than before but at least you can hear it.  However the mic sensitivity still very insensitive! The noise has to be pretty loud to pick it up well.  Normal talking conversation is very low (sounds very distant even standing 2 feet in front of it) but yelling is great. 🙂  I hope this can help some...

[carlk]

Same for me.... Those are turned on but no help.

[PretzelMan]

I checked mine and they are turned on.  Still no volume

[Muddi · Accepted solution]

Hey folks,

I understand that experiencing audio issues when streaming the Nest Hub Max camera can be frustrating, especially since it plays an important role in your daily life. Please know that we value your feedback and are working diligently to address this issue. Our team is currently investigating the matter, and I will provide updates on any progress or findings. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we strive to provide you with the best possible experience.

Cheers,

Muddi

[Q79]

Frustrating? It was frustrating a few weeks ago. Now it's just infuriating.

Value our feedback? Absolute nonsense as everyone's feedback is being ignored.

Working diligently? Hmmm very hard to believe.

Patience and understanding? Our patience and understanding ran out weeks ago.

Good lord even these are as patronising as the support staff's scripts.

[Cooperstorecon]

It's been a month and still not volume. Answers? 

[Jeffrey204]

Muddi, you reply here every so often and say that the team is investigating and working on a fix. I think it would go along way if you could provide more details, and make sure that the various support channels that Google has are aware of this issue so folks don't feel brushed aside when they contact support. Not everyone comes to these forums for help and support needs to be on the same page as you are in acknowledging the issue, and more forthcoming with information. The Nest Hub Max is not just a product I paid for, but one I continue to pay for with my Nest Aware subscription. I bought this device in part for the security camera aspect and that part is severely limited when it is not providing any useable audio in the clips it records.

[LCR]

I have to truly wonder if Google actually cares. This should be an extremely quick fix for such a large tech-savvy company.   They act as though we’re asking them to beam us to Jupiter.  Hey Google, it’s an extremely easy fix, so fix it already. 

[Jay25]

I agree, just got this to watch my 95 year old grandmother and I can't hear a **bleep** thing!

[Denise818]

Hi Muddi,

Are there any updates regarding a fix for the Hub Max microphone issue identified?  We use/depend on our Hub Max for security and are concerned that there has been no information communicated from Google to correct the issue at this time.  Thanks.

Denise

[bk88]

@Muddi  I see there is an on/off option for HOME MONITORING AUDIO.  But there is no ability for the user to adjust the level of HOME MONITORING AUDIO.  

A couple months ago Support had told me to wait for the next firmware update, of which there have been at least one since then. Still no fix.

Can you guys change the level of HOME MONITORING AUDIO to 10.  (Or add a control so that users are able to adjust the level.)  And release firmware with that so that we get a fix finally.

It has been months already.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[garden]

I agree - why aren’t the techs keeping us up to date?  What’s going on Google?  How many more times do we have to ask you to FIX the problem!

[Imnobody]

Hi,

I'm having the same issue from last few months. Microphone sound is very low. It used to be great. I did factory reset too but didn't help and checked all the settings. It do not pick the clear sound if it's not very close, but gives the notification of sound/talking in the area. Please advise how to fix it? 

[garden]

Members here have been asking for a fix for weeks now.  We are conveniently being ignored!

[ShortstopJEsq]

Any update on this issue?  It's been going on for about two months.  Thank you,

Justin

[garden]

Yes google- any updates???

[c0r3yz]

@Muddi 

It's been over 2 weeks (again) since your last update. What is going on with this problem? When are we going to get an actual fix for this problem?!

[Virtualskies]

Nest still says "hear talking" glad nest can hear it..... what about the rest of us???

[LCR]

I wonder if Google thinks we’re talking about responses to questions like Hey Google, what time is it. Hey Google, we’re talking about the column when we play back videos  that were recorded on our Google Nest Hub Maxine devices.  The audio on this videos is barely a whisper.  

[Q79]

No they know exactly what the problem is

[bk88]

Q79,

Have you seen that the fix is available?  Go to Home app, open the device, the settings, click preview program and enter.   It won't be long till you get the firmware update that fixes the issue with lack of audio on Home Monitoring.  Hit the Reboot option and the firmware will updare to one that ends 3.134 - the audio will be fixed.  

[garden]

Thank you.  I didn’t know how to access this until you explained it!

[LCR]

I agree. Typical verbal hogwash from Google.  

[Justgizmo]

It was temporarily fixed and working on some of my devibetween 3 accounts. We have multiple max hubs. Seven in total. I only use the camera on 4. And I checked all of them now and while they do work sometimes like they used to. Only 3 that I know of are working all the time. I never used to have any problems it clearly isn't completely resolved. 

[CatLadySI]

This needs to be resolved ASAP.  I've become aware of this issue recently when trying to communicate with an elderly parent.  We installed these cameras and had been pleased with our ability to communicate with her if she fell while we got to assist her. 

I've uninstalled and then reinstalled the application on my Android phone but no difference.  

As someone in a prior post suggested, ROLL BACK WHATEVER UPDATE(S) MAY HAVE STARTED THIS.  This situation is unacceptable - people's safety can be at stake.

[Itislv]

Go into the device in the home app and go to the settings for it. You'll see an option for "preview program". Select it and enroll in it. It may take a day but the issue will be resolved when it does it's next automatic update. **bleep** shame they aren't rolling the fix out in a regular update due to the severity of the failure but it is what it is I suppose. Best of luck! 

[pasquale_devita]

Any luck with a fix?   I have 3 hub Max's and this is very frustrating. 

[Ckchristian]

I found a new setting in the Home App, Hub setting. Under Nest Cam there is are 2 settings  Home Monitoring Features and Home Monitoring audio.  Mine were off and I don't recall this being the case in the past. I turned them both back on and the playback sound is much better. 

I think the update either turned them off or added them new. Either way default to off not a great choice.

I hope this help some of you!

BTW the settings in the Nest App did absolutely nothing to help this problem, I had to go to Home App for the specific device.

[carlk]

Mine are both on but still very low audio. I hear no ambient sound. It is like sticking your head in a vacuum and only faint distant noises can be heard. Maybe they added this feature new but broke it.

[c0r3yz]

UPDATE: This issue is still not fixed, even with this setting change.  I did notice a slight improvement, only in that if you are right on top of the device, you can hear better, but only slightly. It's still not recording ambient noise and will not pick up conversation across the room like it used to.

---------

Original: Because of your post, I went poking around and I found the same settings.  For those looking:

1. Open Google Home app on your smartphone
2. Find your Display in the list of devices and tap on it
3. Tap on the Gear in the top right corner
4. Tap on Nest Cam under Device Features
5. Turn on both Home monitoring features and Home monitoring audio

Doing this has seemed to have helped, but I can't say for sure that it's really "fixed", as while I can hear the audio through my phone again from the device, it's nowhere near as sensitive as it was before. I'm not quite sure it will pick up audio from across the room like it used to or allow for having a conversation through it like we used to. I will keep an eye on it throughout the day and see how it's working, but I think we're not quite there yet.

[carlk]

They haven't changed anything for me... Still only loud noises will be captured but they are still barely audible.

[c0r3yz]

Yeah, like I said, I think it's better, but it's not fixed. I am still playing around with it and am finding that it's still way too quiet

[Maia1]

Thank you for the heads-up. I've just turned Home monitoring audio ON. Hopefully this will sort out the issue. Huge thanks for this post! Cheers. 

[garden]

I just checked mine.  They have never been off so, unfortunately, this did not help,

Thank you anyway for trying.

[PinLoco]

Another one with the same problem... It's been 3 weeks and no solution from Google. You spend a little more buying Google instead of a Chinese camera or other brands to have assistance support and it fails more than other cameras and no support, too bad Google.

[Q79]

Fix version being rolled out in batches. Keep an eye out on your Fuchsia versions. You need the 10.20221207.2.100038 version to know you've had the supposed fix

Here's hoping

[ChrisMo]

Thank you, but where are you getting this information? 

[Q79]

Google agent

[Itislv]

Here's to hoping, but I'm losing faith here! 

[clufree]

class action law suit....