Purchasing for a house theater setup sometimes means shopping for a soundbar, subwoofer and rear audio system individually. Some corporations might embody a sub with the soundbar, however you don’t at all times get all the things you’ll want for probably the most immersive sound in the identical field with high-end fashions. Samsung contains all of these extra audio system with the HW-Q990C soundbar ($1,900), although you’re clearly paying a premium. The corporate presents Dolby Atmos together with a variety of audio choices and two HDMI inputs, beaming crisp 11.1.4-channel sound into your lounge. The Q990C is a big funding, however it’s additionally one-stop purchasing.
Design
Because the Q990C is Samsung’s high-end soundbar in its present lineup, it’s additionally the most important. It’s 48.5-inches extensive, which is definitely about three inches lower than the Sony HT-A7000. In fact, corporations want the additional area on the flagship fashions to pack in the entire audio system. In Samsung’s case, the Q990C homes 11 front-facing drivers (together with some side-firing), 4 up-firing drivers and an inner subwoofer. The separate wi-fi sub can be substantial at 16 x 16 x 8 inches and weighing in at 26 kilos. The wi-fi rear audio system aren’t large, however they do have a three-driver setup with front-, side- and up-firing drivers the place different corporations may solely have one.
Samsung opted for a mesh plastic masking for each the soundbar and rear audio system. It’s simpler to maintain clear than the standard speaker cloth. Samsung additionally saved issues easy on the soundbar itself, placing simply 4 buttons up high. Right here, you’ll discover a multi-function button that both turns the speaker on or cycles by means of the enter sources. Quantity controls and a microphone mute. From the entrance, a small show on the fitting aspect will present you enter data, quantity stage and different settings. As an alternative all 90-degree angles the Q990C’s aspect panels observe the place of the side-firing audio system.
Setup
The preliminary setup for the Q990C is among the many best I’ve ever accomplished for a house leisure bundle. When you energy on the soundbar and join it to the SmartThings app, the subwoofer and rear audio system are robotically added while you flip them on. There’s no ready for something to sync and I didn’t have to attach every factor individually. There are buttons on the sub and rears if you’ll want to manually connect with the soundbar, however I by no means had to make use of them. The entire thing was fast and frustration-free, which will get you to the music and films quickly after unboxing.
Like many flagship soundbars, Samsung has included two extra HDMI inputs on high of the HDMI eARC jack you’ll use to attach your TV. Many extra reasonably priced, extra compact fashions solely have the eARC connection so it’s important to depend on your TV’s ports, however the pricier fashions sometimes provide extra choices for connecting on to the soundbar. Samsung says you may anticipate 4K/60 and HDR10+ passthrough on the Q990C, however not 4K/120 because the unit doesn’t have HDMI 2.1. That’s an enormous omission in a $1,900 soundbar being bought in 2023.
There’s additionally an optical enter on the Q990C in addition to Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. The latter brings Tidal Join, Spotify Join and AirPlay to the combination. It additionally lets you join wirelessly to a suitable Samsung TV for audio. This implies you will get Dolby Atmos to the soundbar with no cables working out of your tv, which is helpful when you’ve already mounted the show flush with the wall. And in case you have a suitable Samsung cellphone, you may allow Faucet Sound which connects to the Q990C by way of Bluetooth while you gently contact the speaker with the handset. As an iPhone consumer, I wasn’t capable of take a look at this.
SmartThings app and different options
Along with serving to with setup, the SmartThings app is the place you may tweak the Q990C’s settings. The present enter and quantity controls are probably the most distinguished on the machine display, with sound modes, EQ and woofer stage slightly below. There are additionally choices for SpaceFit Sound, which robotically tunes the audio to the room, and Lively Voice Amplifier, which combats room noise by optimizing on-screen dialog. The superior settings menu presents voice and bass enhancement alongside a Night time Mode, however all of those are on or off toggles with no additional customization. SmartThings lets you select both Bixby or Alexa for the voice assistant you wish to make use of on the soundbar.
Samsung allows you to select between Commonplace, Encompass, Sport Professional and Adaptive Sound modes. The primary doesn’t tweak the audio in any respect and it’s the one mode the place the absolutely adjustable EQ is accessible (simply bass and treble on the remaining). For the entire others, the Q990C upscales 2.0, 5.1 and seven.1 audio to the 11.1.4-channel output the soundbar presents. In fact, all Dolby Atmos and DTS:X content material is beamed out at 11.1.4, too. Encompass mode is self-explanatory whereas Sport Professional creates extra immersive audio with 3D-optimized sound particularly for gaming. Adaptive Sound is the choice I used most because it analyzes audio in actual time to maintain dialog sounding clear throughout a variety of volumes for films, information and sports activities. I discovered it the best-sounding preset for music, too.
Along with deciding on a sound mode within the app, you may cycle by means of them with a devoted button the included distant. It additionally offers you entry to SpaceFit Sound, Lively Voice Amplifier, Voice Enhancement and extra with a Sound Management button that’s labeled with the settings/gear icon. A Channel Degree button allows you to modify the amount of every speaker, with Heart stage, Facet stage, Large stage, Entrance Prime stage, Rear stage, Rear high stage and Rear aspect stage among the many decisions. There’s additionally a button for Tone Management, placing bass and treble tweaks just some button presses away. These are all along with the usual energy, enter, quantity (general and subwoofer solely), mute, pairing and playback choices soundbar remotes sometimes have.
Sound high quality
Because of the Q990C’s upscaling talents, practically each film or TV present sounds extra immersive than when you had been listening in stereo and even with a 5.1 setup. Netflix’s Drive To Survive, which is obtainable in Dolby Atmos in case you have the priciest Extremely HD plan, continues to be wonderful with this soundbar for these of us on the extra reasonably priced month-to-month price. The whir of the vehicles as they zoom previous, pitlane noise and crunching crashes make the meticulously-shot collection even higher. Marvel reveals and films on Disney+ can be found with Atmos and so they sound wonderful.
I can confidently say that is the closest I’ve come to a film theater-like expertise in my lounge. The extra drivers within the rear audio system undoubtedly elevate the overhead sensation, contributing considerably extra to directional audio than regular single-driver models. Combat scenes just like the one which opens The Falcon and the Winter Soldier are loud and chaotic, however they sound extra such as you’re watching in actual life, taking within the thud of every punch, the hearth of each gun and the drone of choppers navigating the canyon.
The Q990C can be a fantastic possibility for music. Crisp, clear highs and highly effective, punchy bass praise practically each style. Even at decrease volumes, tunes like Sia’s “On a regular basis Is Christmas” come throughout layered slightly than compressed. Vocals minimize by means of clear and the bassline doesn’t overpower. The identical goes for Turnpike Troubadours’ A Cat within the Rain the place every member of the band stands on their very own, with snare hits and country-rock vocals slicing by means of the combination. Bass from the massive subwoofer is current however restrained, solely as bombastic because it must be and by no means muddy or uninteresting.
The sound on these albums was spectacular and I wasn’t even streaming them in Dolby Atmos. Tunes within the immersive format sound much more unimaginable on the Q990C. TesseracT’s prog-metal Battle Of Being is hovering and atmospheric, with the staccato guitars and slapped bass on tracks like “The Grey” displaying off the dimensional high quality of Atmos Music. Much less intense genres like Tyler Childers’ Rustin’ In The Rain come throughout extra like reside performances than streamed albums. The sound is full, crisp and envelopes the room with guitars, piano, metal guitar and completely calculated drum hits, all supporting Childers’ trademark japanese Kentucky vocals.
This soundbar system works effectively in a multi-room setup, too, and also you don’t want different Samsung audio system to do it. Because of AirPlay, you may simply choose the Q990C and different audio system in your Wi-Fi community. I used to be capable of persistently hyperlink the soundbar with a HomePod in one other room with just some faucets in Apple Music. The audio carried out persistently as soon as the 2 audio system had been linked and I by no means heard any dropouts or clipping once they had been utilized in tandem.
One audio function that I wasn’t capable of take a look at is Q-Symphony. This makes use of the audio system inside Samsung TVs along with the drivers within the soundbar setup. The corporate guarantees it “can optimize all of the channels” for a “masterfully orchestrated sound expertise.” I don’t have a Samsung TV, however the soundbar system sounds nice with out it. What’s extra, this kind of factor isn’t distinctive to Samsung units as Sony presents an analogous instrument referred to as Acoustic Heart Sync with its soundbars and TVs.
The competitors
Sony’s HT-A7000 is the very best different to the Q990C. It additionally does Atmos and music very effectively, however all the things you add to it’s an extra buy. At present costs, the soundbar, the most affordable sub and rear speaker choices will price you $1,600 whereas soundbar alone is $1,000. There are higher decisions for each the woofer and rears, however these considerably elevate the value.
The A7000 presents a whole lot of what the Q990C has on its spec sheet. That features the 2 HDMI 2.1 inputs with 4K/120 passthrough. Sony contains compatibility with each Hello-Res and 360 Actuality Audio alongside numerous items of digital encompass tech and various sound modes. The important thing variations between this and the Q990C is that the A7000 is a 7.1.4-channel setup, versus 11.1.4, and the aforementioned HDMI 2.1 assist.
The Q990C is at present on sale for $1,400, however it’s unclear if that worth minimize is everlasting. The $500 financial savings make the all-inclusive Samsung setup much more engaging, when you can reside with out HDMI 2.1.
Wrap-up
Samsung’s newest flagship soundbar is a sonic powerhouse. And, maybe extra importantly, it comes with the subwoofer and rear audio system you’ll have to benefit from it within the field. For the price of what you’d pay for a soundbar alone from among the firm’s foremost opponents, you get the whole bundle, and one which’s simple to arrange and customise as wanted. The sound high quality is nice and Atmos content material is as crisp and immersive as ever, as long as you will have area to accommodate the bundle. The shortage of HDMI 2.1 hinders efficiency for players, and that’s a obtrusive omission on a premium soundbar as of late. The Q990C isn’t low cost, even on the present discounted worth, however at the least you’re getting all the things you want in a single go.
This text initially appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsung-hw-q990c-soundbar-review-an-all-inclusive-atmos-setup-160049530.html?src=rss
Source link
