Samsung HW-Q950A Thread 11.1.4!

Any lipsync issues? Is source UB820?

Nope. None so far although I use Zidoo and ATV 4K boxes most of the time.
 
And you're running full atmos and full DTS-HD through say the Zidoo? Ie full Bluray/4k UHD rips etc?

Yep. All my MkV rips are full fat ones from the disc.
 
After using the Yamaha YSP-2200 for 8 years it is time to upgrade to a Dolby Atmos soundbar.

My eye dropped on the Samsung HW-Q950A and after searching for the best price I can get it for 817€ (including Samsung cashback) at my favorite local Belgian AV retailer.
That price (almost half the MSRP price) is so ridiculous it's almost criminal, it will easily be my best deal I ever scored.
I just have to wait until they get a new shipment drop in August, but hey it's the least I could do for that price :D

And I also have a serious question about the soundbar. Is it possible to not use the satellite speakers for now and use a lower Dolby Atmos configuration with just the bar and subwoofer ? Like a 5.1.2 ?
I don't have room to put the satellite speakers up now, but I will be moving soon and then I can use them.
Since the soundbar is the same as the Q-900A I thought maybe you can use it without the satellites.

THIS just this.

Can't even compare this bar to the Sonos ARC (+ full system) because the price is just so cheap.
 
Just had my Q950A arrive today. Pretty happy with it, huge upgrade over my previous soundbar. Only issue is that I'm so far unable to get Dolby Vision to passthrough from my Shield to my Q950A to my 900h. When I chain Shield -> 900h > Q950A the Dolby Vision works fine though I think I lose DTS-X compatibility that way? Not sure on that. Any suggestions? I am currently using the HDMI cable that came with the soundbar to connect the soundbar to the TV. Not sure about the quality of the cable and if that could be causing any issues.
 
Just had my Q950A arrive today. Pretty happy with it, huge upgrade over my previous soundbar. Only issue is that I'm so far unable to get Dolby Vision to passthrough from my Shield to my Q950A to my 900h. When I chain Shield -> 900h > Q950A the Dolby Vision works fine though I think I lose DTS-X compatibility that way? Not sure on that. Any suggestions? I am currently using the HDMI cable that came with the soundbar to connect the soundbar to the TV. Not sure about the quality of the cable and if that could be causing any issues.

Do you have the enhanced format enabled on the eARC port? I have also been unable to get DTS:X to pass via eARC from my A90J to the Q950A. I think the issue might be on Sony's end, but not sure.
 
Do you have the enhanced format enabled on the eARC port? I have also been unable to get DTS:X to pass via eARC from my A90J to the Q950A. I think the issue might be on Sony's end, but not sure.
That did the trick, forgot about the enhanced format bit, thanks for the heads up.

My next question is... is there any way to confirm what format the Q950A is playing other than putting your ear up to the Atmos speakers? Lol
 
That did the trick, forgot about the enhanced format bit, thanks for the heads up.

My next question is... is there any way to confirm what format the Q950A is playing other than putting your ear up to the Atmos speakers? Lol
When Dolby Atmos and DTS:X content is played it will show on the display, only those 2 though. Your TV should tell you what audio format is being played too, I know my LG OLED does if I click the source info at the top.
 
When Dolby Atmos and DTS:X content is played it will show on the display, only those 2 though. Your TV should tell you what audio format is being played too, I know my LG OLED does if I click the source info at the top.
What display does it show on? I can't find it anywhere. My 900h only seems to show what's playing when I go Shield > 900h > Q950A. Though I'm confident at this point that I'm getting Atmos/DTS-X.
 
I got this soundbar so I could enjoy the true, unmodified, original soundtrack in 4K blu-ray films, the way the director had intended!

If the track is 5.1 then I only want to hear sound from 5.1 speakers. If the track is 7.1 then I only want to hear sound from 7.1 speakers. BUT if the track is Atmos, I should be able to hear all 11.1.4 speakers.

So it appears that I need to set the sound mode to STANDARD. However, on page 11 of the manual it says that I will only ever hear 7.1.4 speakers in standard mode… why is this!?!? And why is this contradicted on page 21 of the manual where it says that if the content is Dolby Atmos that all 11.1.4 channels will be active - why the contradiction here? And why when I ask Samsung for clarification about their product they can’t give me a straight answer (have a ticket open and waiting to hear back).

Can anyone confirm whether or not all 11.1.4 channels are active in Standard mode when playing Atmos content?

I don’t understand why I would have to choose between hearing the original, true soundtrack and 4 of the speakers never working, or hearing the soundtrack through all the speakers the way Samsung interprets the film… Please tell me that I’ve missed something.
 
I got this soundbar so I could enjoy the true, unmodified, original soundtrack in 4K blu-ray films, the way the director had intended!

If the track is 5.1 then I only want to hear sound from 5.1 speakers. If the track is 7.1 then I only want to hear sound from 7.1 speakers. BUT if the track is Atmos, I should be able to hear all 11.1.4 speakers.

So it appears that I need to set the sound mode to STANDARD. However, on page 11 of the manual it says that I will only ever hear 7.1.4 speakers in standard mode… why is this!?!? And why is this contradicted on page 21 of the manual where it says that if the content is Dolby Atmos that all 11.1.4 channels will be active - why the contradiction here? And why when I ask Samsung for clarification about their product they can’t give me a straight answer (have a ticket open and waiting to hear back).

Can anyone confirm whether or not all 11.1.4 channels are active in Standard mode when playing Atmos content?

I don’t understand why I would have to choose between hearing the original, true soundtrack and 4 of the speakers never working, or hearing the soundtrack through all the speakers the way Samsung interprets the film… Please tell me that I’ve missed something.

Alright. I have 100% confirmed it. In Standard mode it does not use all the channels, only 7.1.4. I had MI fallout on and as soon as I put it in adaptive, I got sound out of the side firing rear speakers. Honestly I think you will like adaptive or surround modes where it will use all 11.1.4 channels. This isn’t like old fake surround.

I believe this is because Atmos uses TrueHD 7.1 as a base layer, so it will reproduce that correctly and add the Atmos effects on top.
 
I got this soundbar so I could enjoy the true, unmodified, original soundtrack in 4K blu-ray films, the way the director had intended!

If the track is 5.1 then I only want to hear sound from 5.1 speakers. If the track is 7.1 then I only want to hear sound from 7.1 speakers. BUT if the track is Atmos, I should be able to hear all 11.1.4 speakers.

So it appears that I need to set the sound mode to STANDARD. However, on page 11 of the manual it says that I will only ever hear 7.1.4 speakers in standard mode… why is this!?!? And why is this contradicted on page 21 of the manual where it says that if the content is Dolby Atmos that all 11.1.4 channels will be active - why the contradiction here? And why when I ask Samsung for clarification about their product they can’t give me a straight answer (have a ticket open and waiting to hear back).

Can anyone confirm whether or not all 11.1.4 channels are active in Standard mode when playing Atmos content?

I don’t understand why I would have to choose between hearing the original, true soundtrack and 4 of the speakers never working, or hearing the soundtrack through all the speakers the way Samsung interprets the film… Please tell me that I’ve missed something.
Pretty sure that if atmos content is playing (when you see it scroll on the soundbars screen), then it will automatically switch to adaptive mode and you won’t be able to change it.

You can test it out by playing atmos content then try to change the mode. A message should scroll on the soundbar that says “Not available”
 
Pretty sure that if atmos content is playing (when you see it scroll on the soundbars screen), then it will automatically switch to adaptive mode and you won’t be able to change it.

You can test it out by playing atmos content then try to change the mode. A message should scroll on the soundbar that says “Not available”

Thats not true. You can change sound modes.
 
Alright. I have 100% confirmed it. In Standard mode it does not use all the channels, only 7.1.4. I had MI fallout on and as soon as I put it in adaptive, I got sound out of the side firing rear speakers. Honestly I think you will like adaptive or surround modes where it will use all 11.1.4 channels. This isn’t like old fake surround.

I believe this is because Atmos uses TrueHD 7.1 as a base layer, so it will reproduce that correctly and add the Atmos effects on top.
So you had the bar in Standard mode, you were playing MI: Fallout, the top screen showed ATMOS (confirming the source was Atmos) and the side speakers on the bar and rears weren’t working? But then you switches to Adaptive mode and the sides on the bar and rears started working?

I originally had the sound mode set to Surround and played an Atmos demo from the YouTube app on the TV and it sounded convincing. But then I set the sound mode to Standard and the rears didn’t play at all. At which point I realized that my TV wasn’t actually able to push Atmos through ARC and I’m in the process of upgrading. But it also proved that the Surround mode is bullish!t, and likely the adaptive mode too.

And anyone who wants to think this is a finely calibrated product, I disagree when they apply the same firmware to an entire series of bars with different specifications… I stumbled on this fun fact when I asked Samsung about the “Virtual” option that wasn’t detailed at all in the manual and they told me it only applies to bars that don’t have the rear speakers… okay so why is it an option on this bar. Where else did they cut corners? Just a lot of crap I wouldn’t expect from this class of soundbar.
 
So you had the bar in Standard mode, you were playing MI: Fallout, the top screen showed ATMOS (confirming the source was Atmos) and the side speakers on the bar and rears weren’t working? But then you switches to Adaptive mode and the sides on the bar and rears started working?

I originally had the sound mode set to Surround and played an Atmos demo from the YouTube app on the TV and it sounded convincing. But then I set the sound mode to Standard and the rears didn’t play at all. At which point I realized that my TV wasn’t actually able to push Atmos through ARC and I’m in the process of upgrading. But it also proved that the Surround mode is bullish!t, and likely the adaptive mode too.

And anyone who wants to think this is a finely calibrated product, I disagree when they apply the same firmware to an entire series of bars with different specifications… I stumbled on this fun fact when I asked Samsung about the “Virtual” option that wasn’t detailed at all in the manual and they told me it only applies to bars that don’t have the rear speakers… okay so why is it an option on this bar. Where else did they cut corners? Just a lot of crap I wouldn’t expect from this class of soundbar.

Yes Atmos was on the display...
Don’t get why you say surround mode is convincing and yet you continue to bash on it. If you don’t like the upscaling, then don’t use it, simple as that.

And why would they include a less feature rich firmware version for this bar to remove the virtual feature? That no only make development harder for Samsung it makes their flagship bar have less features. What if you didn’t have the rear speakers plugged in or they broke, or you just didn’t have room to use them currently, then you can use the virtual mode.
 
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Can you share your settings?

Favorite sound mode?

what EQ settings are you using? Bass/treble/woofer settings?

How about the rear levels?

thanks

Nothing fancy mate.

I have levels of all channels set to +1
Overhead +2.

Custom EQ - 150 Hz - +2 and think 8 kHz +2

Bass and Treble - +2

This setup is just temporary as I am moving home next month. So I haven't spent time on calibration etc.
 
I am wondering if there is a Neural-X option available or adaptive does the job of Neural-X?
 
So you had the bar in Standard mode, you were playing MI: Fallout, the top screen showed ATMOS (confirming the source was Atmos) and the side speakers on the bar and rears weren’t working? But then you switches to Adaptive mode and the sides on the bar and rears started working?

I originally had the sound mode set to Surround and played an Atmos demo from the YouTube app on the TV and it sounded convincing. But then I set the sound mode to Standard and the rears didn’t play at all. At which point I realized that my TV wasn’t actually able to push Atmos through ARC and I’m in the process of upgrading. But it also proved that the Surround mode is bullish!t, and likely the adaptive mode too.

And anyone who wants to think this is a finely calibrated product, I disagree when they apply the same firmware to an entire series of bars with different specifications… I stumbled on this fun fact when I asked Samsung about the “Virtual” option that wasn’t detailed at all in the manual and they told me it only applies to bars that don’t have the rear speakers… okay so why is it an option on this bar. Where else did they cut corners? Just a lot of crap I wouldn’t expect from this class of soundbar.
You do realise that YouTube can only output in stereo?
The effect that you got was stereo being upscaled in Adaptive/Surround and then played neat in Standard.
 
This is not correct anymore. There's more and more content with multichannel audio on YouTube. Unfortunately the description is wrong in many cases for old content.
 
This is not correct anymore. There's more and more content with multichannel audio on YouTube. Unfortunately the description is wrong in many cases for old content.
Which devices and content is in 5.1 at this moment?
I certainly can't get 5.1 via my XBSX or LG TV versions of YouTube.
 
Sampled World War Z Jerusalem attack scene (another one of my demo scenes). Sounded excellent. Bass on the final grenade drop scene was excellent but it was quite far off to my SVS subs (it was quite brutal as bass drops to around 13-15 Hz and rattled the entire room) but still very good for a small sub. Most importantly sounded so much better than the LG.
 
Have you guys seen the recently announced Sony HT-A9 speaker system? Looks very interesting. The lack of centre speaker is a bit weird but looks like a good concept
 

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