Should I invest in a soundbar if I'm looking for better audio quality? I'd like some feedback from those of you who have them. I've never used one so this would be a first for me.
Are Soundbars Worth the Money?
- Thread starter Fiery Phoenix
- Start date
If you live in an apartment or just a small room, a good sound bar will be about a 2000% sound enhancement over TV speakers.
Better than TV speakers but nowhere near a proper 5.1/7.1 setup.
My advice: invest in a proper surround sound setup. Get the amp, sub and 2 speakers to start out if budget it tight and then build out from there over time. If you do it right you'all never need to replace anything other than the amp ever again. Soundbars are not worth the money from a long term perspective.
My advice: invest in a proper surround sound setup. Get the amp, sub and 2 speakers to start out if budget it tight and then build out from there over time. If you do it right you'all never need to replace anything other than the amp ever again. Soundbars are not worth the money from a long term perspective.
Yeah, the one I have sounds like a ton better than the TV speakers, but if I'm gaming I use headphones and a mixamp so I can crank it as I live in an apartment. I think that if you live in a house it's probably better for a real audio system, and if you don't I think some good headphones sound a lot better.
Since soundbars would be a lot cheaper though, I think it might be worth it depending on what you're looking for in audio from games/movies.
Man, this was a nothing/ shit answer. Sorry, I'm not an audiophile, I just know that if I watch movies on my TV I like the soundbar (even though a full system would sound better), but I really, really prefer my headphones. I don't mind the wire, though. You might?
That actually sounds pretty neat!
Since soundbars would be a lot cheaper though, I think it might be worth it depending on what you're looking for in audio from games/movies.
Man, this was a nothing/ shit answer. Sorry, I'm not an audiophile, I just know that if I watch movies on my TV I like the soundbar (even though a full system would sound better), but I really, really prefer my headphones. I don't mind the wire, though. You might?
That actually sounds pretty neat!
I've been thinking of buying a sound bar for the man cave.
My 7.1 setup is old. No HDMI inputs, fewer devices have optical, and the subwoofer doesn't work.
I guess I wouldn't mind getting rid of all the wires and clutter. A simple sound bar would be way more attractive.
My 7.1 setup is old. No HDMI inputs, fewer devices have optical, and the subwoofer doesn't work.
I guess I wouldn't mind getting rid of all the wires and clutter. A simple sound bar would be way more attractive.
OP
OP
Except very few soundbars have HDMI pass-through and if they do it's like 3 ports.
Nah. I installed the Sonos soundbars on all TVs on my house, but while they are aesthetically pleasing, I know from a sound perspective I could have gotten a better solution for the same amount of money. For my family however, they are more than sufficient (they don't care, and zero maintenance) and Sonos party mode sure is helpful to get music all over the house. However, I have always preferred to game with headphones so I have an amp for that. So, depending on your end-game, I would either recommend to spend your money on the best headphones you can afford, or start small with an amp + stereospeakers that you later can expand.
For headphones, looking at what a "decent" soundbar costs, I would recommend Sennheiser HD650, a Fiio E10K as good first dac and then a modmic if you game online.
For headphones, looking at what a "decent" soundbar costs, I would recommend Sennheiser HD650, a Fiio E10K as good first dac and then a modmic if you game online.
I have the same setup and i'm happy with my purchase. I don't have a lot of space and the soundbar fits my media system well.
I have Yamaha YAS-207 soundbar which was not super expensive but still had nice opinions in the internet. I did not have high hopes, the idea was to have something a bit better than TV speakers while not cluttering the room with full speaker setup.
Still, I am disappointed. It is indeed just a really minor upgrade from TV. Sometimes it is even worse when e.g. part of dialogues come from subwoofer and part from the soundbar. I learnt that this is because the speakers in soundbar are too small. This is so distracting for me that I stopped using it and am considering selling it. I wonder how other cheap (or even a bit more expensive) soundbars would behave but this one had good reviews so I am not really interested in risking anymore. I may consider at some point a simple 2.1 setup.
Being able to put sound through bluetooth is nice though.
Still, I am disappointed. It is indeed just a really minor upgrade from TV. Sometimes it is even worse when e.g. part of dialogues come from subwoofer and part from the soundbar. I learnt that this is because the speakers in soundbar are too small. This is so distracting for me that I stopped using it and am considering selling it. I wonder how other cheap (or even a bit more expensive) soundbars would behave but this one had good reviews so I am not really interested in risking anymore. I may consider at some point a simple 2.1 setup.
Being able to put sound through bluetooth is nice though.
This. It will obviously not be as good as a proper surround sound system, but it's still way better than the TV speakers. Not everyone has the space for a 5.1/7.1 setup.
Samsung usually make good ones that don't cost that much.
Depends on the TV, I guess. My current TV has the worst speakers of any television I've ever owned. So the gulf between it and a soundbar is very wide.
In the past I've had really big speakers and stuff. But I just down-scaled to minimize all the clutter.
Got a real good deal on the new 2017 Vizio 36 inch 2.1 soundbar and I was very shocked just how good it is. It really does live up to the terrific reviews it's received and I'd recommend it to anyone who wanted a significant upgrade, without breaking the bank or having to have a lot of space dedicated to it.
https://www.vizio.com/audio/sb3621ne8.html
Most TVs have audio pass-through though. Isn't that preferable anyways? That's why I didn't care that the latest Vizio's didn't have it. Pass through means there's no audio lag either. Feel like most TVs have something like optical out. Hard to image there's any degradation with the TV passing the audio along through optical out (TV is only being fed audio via HDMI inputs in case I was confusing in that.)
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Just want to mention that you might not want to use them if you live in an apartment because other people can hear it although you might not realize
ARC is pretty wonderful - I would prefer a full amplifier setup, but there's no space in my current setup to make it work. ARC is perfect - the TV is the input switcher, and audio "just works." Most modern sound systems and TVs can handle it at this point.
There are strange options available nowadays, like JBL's 5.1 soundbar / wireless surround sound. Might be worth a look, if you have money.
The biggest drawback of soundbars for gaming isn't the sound quality. That's an expected compromise compared to a proper sound setup, and it will still be better than a TV's speakers.
The biggest issue is Audio Lag. It's like input lag but for sound. While most gaming TV's get 20-30ms of input lag, the soundbars I've measured had unavoidable 50-60ms of audio lag. Sometimes this lag gets added to the TV's audio processing latency, which can bring total audio lag to well over 100ms!
This means almost guaranteed desynced audio/lip sync, a disadvantage in games requiring reactions to sfx like online shooters, and frustrating rhythm game calibration.
Edit: The second issue is power-saving. Some soundbars go into standby during silence and take several hundred ms to wake up from. Not all soundbars let you turn power-saving off, and it's known to screw up audio in games with frequent periods of silence, e.g. NES/SNES Classic games.
Edit 2: I should mention that not all soundbars have a fixed audio lag; some let you adjust the lag using an AV Sync setting. The minimum lag that you can set with AV Sync will still vary from soundbar to soundbar, though.
The biggest issue is Audio Lag. It's like input lag but for sound. While most gaming TV's get 20-30ms of input lag, the soundbars I've measured had unavoidable 50-60ms of audio lag. Sometimes this lag gets added to the TV's audio processing latency, which can bring total audio lag to well over 100ms!
This means almost guaranteed desynced audio/lip sync, a disadvantage in games requiring reactions to sfx like online shooters, and frustrating rhythm game calibration.
Edit: The second issue is power-saving. Some soundbars go into standby during silence and take several hundred ms to wake up from. Not all soundbars let you turn power-saving off, and it's known to screw up audio in games with frequent periods of silence, e.g. NES/SNES Classic games.
Edit 2: I should mention that not all soundbars have a fixed audio lag; some let you adjust the lag using an AV Sync setting. The minimum lag that you can set with AV Sync will still vary from soundbar to soundbar, though.
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Yep, best bang for your buck audio improvement. Especially if you wanna watch with more that just yourself
I don't have a very fancy sound bar and even it let's me set an audio delay thing.
Yeah, this can definitely become an issue. Though I have to wonder if it's something that really is an issue with every soundbar? I don't have one myself, and I have never done proper testing, but it sounds weird that they would all have major lag. There will always be some kind of lag with audio systems.
The mandatory minimum requirement with any TV IMO.
The sound quality increase over a television is immense. As others have said, get one with a subwoofer if you can fit one.
I've lived in apartments for the past 10 years now and I've always had soundbars.
The sound quality increase over a television is immense. As others have said, get one with a subwoofer if you can fit one.
I've lived in apartments for the past 10 years now and I've always had soundbars.
I have an older vizio (don't recall the model off the top of my head) and the tv audio is garbage. I couldn't afford a soundbar, though, so what I did was buy a decent pair of pc speakers with a subwoofer and some RCA cables with a male to make connector and it works pretty damn well for a fraction of the cost.
I've been using the SoundblasterX Katana for almost 2 months. I'd say its pretty worth it - its a very versatile piece of equipment. It has extremely customizable sound settings that you can program into the speaker as presets using the Soundblaster Connect App. You can change these presets and additionally turn your bass up or down on the fly using the included remote. It might take awhile to fine tune settings to your liking (took me a week), but you'll find what like eventually.
Takes USB audio for your PC/PS4 (and runs it through a built in sound card) for 2.0 or Virtual 7.1, optical in, 2.5mm in, microphone support, BT, and you can use your own sub if you want. I was able to take it from my desk in my bedroom to my tv room with ease.
It gets loud as hell. The included sub is fine for Desktop use under 20 volume (which is still loud af at a desk, it goes up to 50) and works in the living room fine. But a nice upgrade would be re-purposing an old sub from an HTiB or something (I'm using an onkyo SKW 550) and you can blow your house down.
If you want a wide sound, you might be disappointed - separate speakers will be way better at soundstage (even so, you can customize the virtual soundstage in the Connect software and save it as a preset). In desktop use, if you are really close to the bar and the sub, you can hear the separation. That's the only thing I can fault it for, it rocks pretty hard otherwise.
Also, using a powered sub (my onkyo, not the included one), the bar, and your PC in the same loop/wall-space might have some weird effects - you might discover that your electricity is wired very weirdly. My PC would randomly crash once a day with all of these things hooked up to the same adjacent corner wallspace. Also, powered subs have lfe feedback when hooked up to the Katana and you're not playing anything, so you might want to unplug that when not in use. Dunno if that's on the sub or the bar.
For the $229 I paid for the bar/included sub, it was pretty worth it. If you sign up for Massdrop, the SoundblasterX Katana periodically gets included in drops for even cheaper, $199 I believe.
Guess I should go post this in the sound OT now, lol.
Takes USB audio for your PC/PS4 (and runs it through a built in sound card) for 2.0 or Virtual 7.1, optical in, 2.5mm in, microphone support, BT, and you can use your own sub if you want. I was able to take it from my desk in my bedroom to my tv room with ease.
It gets loud as hell. The included sub is fine for Desktop use under 20 volume (which is still loud af at a desk, it goes up to 50) and works in the living room fine. But a nice upgrade would be re-purposing an old sub from an HTiB or something (I'm using an onkyo SKW 550) and you can blow your house down.
If you want a wide sound, you might be disappointed - separate speakers will be way better at soundstage (even so, you can customize the virtual soundstage in the Connect software and save it as a preset). In desktop use, if you are really close to the bar and the sub, you can hear the separation. That's the only thing I can fault it for, it rocks pretty hard otherwise.
Also, using a powered sub (my onkyo, not the included one), the bar, and your PC in the same loop/wall-space might have some weird effects - you might discover that your electricity is wired very weirdly. My PC would randomly crash once a day with all of these things hooked up to the same adjacent corner wallspace. Also, powered subs have lfe feedback when hooked up to the Katana and you're not playing anything, so you might want to unplug that when not in use. Dunno if that's on the sub or the bar.
For the $229 I paid for the bar/included sub, it was pretty worth it. If you sign up for Massdrop, the SoundblasterX Katana periodically gets included in drops for even cheaper, $199 I believe.
Guess I should go post this in the sound OT now, lol.
If it works. I've found ARC & CEC to both be very hit or miss for me
If you live in an apartment, it's a good choice and nice step up from crappy tv speakers. But a good head phone beats a sound bar any day and it probably costs as much.
Yes. Definitely
I actually prefer my LG SH7 over my friend's full (expensive) 5.1 system because having more audio in one place (well two including the sub) sounds better to me. All those little speakers spread through a room mean you have to have the sound cranked to hear the details.
My sound bar purrs with bass and I can hear every word of speech at like volume 15 out of 100
I actually prefer my LG SH7 over my friend's full (expensive) 5.1 system because having more audio in one place (well two including the sub) sounds better to me. All those little speakers spread through a room mean you have to have the sound cranked to hear the details.
My sound bar purrs with bass and I can hear every word of speech at like volume 15 out of 100
I think they made TV sound terrible to sell soundbars, but that aside, they are fine, especially for smaller spaces or if you live where the walls have ears.
Really. This surprises me. A lot.
Made me chuckle because TV sound really has gotten atrocious of late. It's probably more to do with TVs emphasizing aesthetics at the great expense of the necessary acoustics for sound, but it's undeniable that many TVs have become awful for whatever the reason.
I've got one because my game room isn't ideal for a typical surround system or its cabling and it's good enough. I don't know if I prefer it to a normal setup with physical speakers surrounding me though. It's definitely markedly better than just the TV speakers.
A Vizio $150 soundbar is a great improvement over TV speakers. If you invest quite a bit more you can get a 5.1.4 Dolby Atmos soundbar with 15 speakers (2 of which are upward firing Atmos speakers), a wireless subwoofer and two wireless rears with Atmos speakers built in for about $875 that sounds incredible.
Samsung HW-K950. I have one in my bedroom and I was watching "The Voices" movie on cable and the surround sound was so good it scared the shit outta me.
Samsung HW-K950. I have one in my bedroom and I was watching "The Voices" movie on cable and the surround sound was so good it scared the shit outta me.
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I'm personally curious to know what the lowest audio delay is for this soundbar. If the delay is small, then everyone should get this (brand) of soundbar.
Audio delay can be measured using a laptop and Audacity playing a Rhythm/Click Track (with maybe some low-volume white noise to prevent tripping the power saving). The difference between lag from the laptop speakers and lag from the soundbar is the audio lag.
I've used my Katana to play Dissidia NT for hours over the past 2 weeks and I didn't notice any lag at all. Before that, I used it quite often to play Tekken 7 on my 1ms monitor and I didn't notice any audio lag at all. Perhaps because its designed as a piece of PC/PS4 hardware first and foremost, and a hometheater/music buff equipment second.
It is a great solution if you don't have space for speakers, don't want speakers to ruin your feng shui or have a wife/male equivalent who's really strict with these things.
A nice soundbar with a wireless subwoofer (can tug the 'woofer away from sight) sounds good, looks good/pretty invisible and most importantly is not that expensive. You can get a good one for about 250€ (discounted). Wouldn't pay a lot more, then we start to get into proper stereo speaker price range.
Source: just bought and installed one for my mother-in-law during the holidays. It is really hard to even notice, sits really well under the TV and the sub is hidden in the corner.
We will get one too, need to plan a little ahead though.
A nice soundbar with a wireless subwoofer (can tug the 'woofer away from sight) sounds good, looks good/pretty invisible and most importantly is not that expensive. You can get a good one for about 250€ (discounted). Wouldn't pay a lot more, then we start to get into proper stereo speaker price range.
Source: just bought and installed one for my mother-in-law during the holidays. It is really hard to even notice, sits really well under the TV and the sub is hidden in the corner.
We will get one too, need to plan a little ahead though.
I've been wondering myself. I live in a small apartment, and my TV's speakers are horrible, lol. Surround Sound set-up is no bueno due to space, and I've found headphones really uncomfortable bitter matter the size of brand, honestly. So, I was looking around and spotted these Insignia soundbars on sale at Best Buy... They're probably total garbage or something for that price, right guys? That's usually how it goes, but I figured I'd ask if anyone here has any experience with them.
Link: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/insign...fEOos0ZvY1S10hr7dkfNd-1B5dYVxPBkaAj1XEALw_wcB
Link: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/insign...fEOos0ZvY1S10hr7dkfNd-1B5dYVxPBkaAj1XEALw_wcB
