The Sony SRS XB13 Bluetooth extra bass speaker has several buttons across its lower rear panel, including the Volume, Play-Pause, Power, and Pairing -Stereo Pairing buttons. Here we give our version of these Sony SRS XB13 buttons explained, and go over what each button does, along with how and when to use it.
Also there are four lights near the buttons as well. These lamps tell you what the speaker is up to, and you operate the speaker with the buttons. The Power lamp lights solid, to show that the speaker is ON. The CHARGE lamp glows when the speaker is recharging. Plus, this same light blinks to tell you that the battery is pretty low and should be charged soon. Finally, the Stereo Pairing lamp glows when you link this speaker with another XB12 to form a stereo pair.
Moreover, there’s a port access panel on the back bottom, sealed with a semi flexible cover, that houses the USB-C charging port. Note that there is no auxiliary (AUX) input port on this speaker. Now, to describing the buttons…
Sony SRS XB13 Buttons Explained
There is one row of buttons on this XB13 speaker. Most buttons there have a unique shape as we see in the next picture.
The Power Button
We begin our Sony SRS XB13 buttons explanations with the Power button, on the far left edge of the buttons panel as pointed at by the green arrow in the next picture. Note its power symbol shape.
Turning the SRS XB13 ON and OFF
Press and release the Power button when the speaker is OFF, to switch it on. Press and release it again, to turn it back OFF.
The Power lamp lights up when the speaker powers up. The speaker makes no sound when you turn it on or off, unless it automatically pairs with a device upon power up. In that case, you hear two ding-down sounding tones. But whether paired or not, no sound is heard when you turn off the XB13 .
So, to know for sure that this speaker has turned OFF, you must check the Power status lamp, mentioned above. When the speaker is OFF, all lamps should be dark, unless you’re charging the unit. When OFF in that case, the CHARGE lamp still glows solid orange.
The Pairing Button
Activating the SRS XB13 Pairing Mode
With the speaker powered ON, you press and release quickly the Pairing button. You then hear a rising pitch tone. The speaker is now in pairing mode.
You need to do this anytime you pair the Sony SRS XB13 with a never-before-paired Bluetooth source device. When in pairing mode, the XB13 sends out its name and other connection handle info over the Bluetooth air channels. Then, this allows nearby BT devices to find and pair to it. But don’t hold this button in for more than a second if you want to initiate pairing mode. Why not? Because too long a press will start stereo pairing mode, which is different than pairing mode. We cover that next.
Activating the SRS XB13 Stereo Pair Mode
This function allows you to join two of these speakers such that one plays the left channel of the stereo program, while the other plays the right channel. Now to create a stereo pair, you need two SRS XB13 speakers. Pairing the XB13 with speakers other than an identical model did not work in our tests, and the Sony documentation states that two XB13s are required for this to work.
To form a stereo pair of two XB13s, do as follows.
- Power up the first XB13.
- Press the Pairing button on that speaker for three seconds. The ST PAIR (stereo pair) light will start blinking on that speaker. E.g. See this light in the last picture above.
- Next, turn on the second XB13.
- Again, press and hold the Pairing button on speaker 2 for three seconds. The ST PAIR light will begin flashing on that speaker.
- No go to your Bluetooth source device, and connect it to the speaker pair, called “SRS-XB13”.
- Finally, you can start playing music on that device, and it will stream to your just created stereo pair, and you’ll hear the program in STEREO!
Sony SRS XB13 Volume DOWN and Volume UP Buttons
The XB 13 also sports Volume Controls. On the right portion of the button panel, near the Play / Pause button, the Volume buttons look like minus and plus symbols. We circle these in the next picture.
When pressed, these lower and raise the output volume respectively, by reducing or increasing the volume setting on the paired source device. Moreover, you have 31 volume level steps on this unit.
Note that you can also change XB13 volume by adjusting volume on your source BT device.
No other accessibility sounds play when you adjust volume on the XB13. But the green Power lamp normally blinks once, each time you press and release these controls. However it quickly pulses several times when the speaker is at maximum volume and you press the Volume UP button to raise the sound level further. The Power lamp also does this when the speaker is at minimum volume, and you try to turn it down further by pressing the Volume DOWN button.
How to Raise (Turn Up) and Lower (Turn Down) Sony SRS XB13 Volume
With the speaker paired and playing, press and release the minus shaped Volume Down button to decrease its audio output level by one step. Press the plus shaped Volume Up button to increase audio output. Or, you can press and hold the buttons to rapidly raise and lower the volume.
Note that these loudness controls affect the volume level setting whether the unit is paired or not. Also, the volume setting may change from paired device to paired device. That is, each paired device remembers its own volume setting. So you might need to re set the sound output when you unpair the speaker from one source device and pair it to another.
The Play-Pause Button
The multifunction Play / Pause button looks like a right-pointing arrow / triangle with two vertical lines to the right of that. We find it immediately to the left of the Volume DOWN button, as we point out with the green arrow in the next picture.
How to Use the Play-Pause Button to Stop and Start Program Play
Press and release the Play / Pause button quickly to pause audio play. Rapidly press it again to reverse the pause action, and resume playback.
Note that the Play / Pause button is not a mute button. That is, pausing play in this way stops playback on the source Bluetooth device to which this speaker is currently paired. It does not merely just cut the speaker volume while the stream continues going. If streaming, the play stops. So, you won’t miss any content when you pause the speaker, as the source device (your phone, tablet, or computer) remembers where the content was paused. Then it picks up playback where it left off, when you press the play pause button.
How to Use the Play / Pause Button to Change Songs
To skip ahead to the next song in the playlist you’re listening to, quickly press and release the Play / Pause button two times.
To start the currently-playing song over again, quickly press and release this button three times.
If you want to skip backward in the playlist to the start of the previous song, get to the beginning of the current song. Again, to do that, press the Play / Pause button three times. Then as soon as the song starts over, quickly press and release this button again three times.
How to Use the Play / Pause Button to Call Up a Voice Assistant
When paired with an Apple device, you may press and hold the Play / Pause button on the XB13 to get Siri’s attention. Note that you must first enable Siri on the source device (phone, tablet) to get her attention this way.
How to Use the Play / Pause Button to Answer a Call
If you have your XB13 paired with your phone, and a call comes in, you can answer it on this speaker by quickly pressing and releasing this button once. Detail: The phone ringing sound comes through the XP13 and the program you were playing stops.
The XB13 then becomes a speaker phone. E.g. You’ll hear callers on the XB13, and they will hear you via the microphone on the XB13. See this tiny mic in the next picture.
Sony SRS XB13 Buttons Combinations, Codes
Sony SRS XB13 Reset Button Code Combination
You can reset the XB13 to factory default settings and state. To do that, turn on the speaker. Then press and hold the Play / Pause and Volume UP buttons at the same time until all lights on the unit go dark. See these buttons pointed at by the green arrows in the next picture.
You may wish to reset the speaker to correct any weird behaviors you notice from it such as failing to pair, sound distortion, failure to power off when you press the Power button, and so on. Note that resetting invalidates any saved connection info about this speaker on your source Bluetooth devices. So you’ll have to forget those connections on these devices, and re pair the speaker after a reset in order to play your audio content through it once again.
For more details, see our Sony SRS XB13 Factory Reset Instructions.
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Revision History
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- 2021-09-15: First posted.