Vizio SB36512-F6 Soundbar Review & Comments

Films with noticeable overhead effects: Goosebumps where the invisible boy is on the roof of the car; and San Andreas in the scene where The Rock's daughter is trapped in a limo that's being crushed.

On Disney+ you could try Ant-man and the Wasp, which has some nice immersive scenes in the Quantum Realm, and when the pigeon is pecking the roof of the miniaturised car is good.

On Netflix, the episode of The Haunting of Hill House which takes place in a funeral home during a thunderstorm has some good overhead action.
 
Thanks. I'll check some of those out tomorrow and feedback.

There are some demos on the Dolby site you could try. Download to USB and play maybe from the Vizio USB port?
 
There are some demos on the Dolby site you could try. Download to USB and play maybe from the Vizio USB port?
That's an idea. I'll see how I get on with Steve's suggestions first. Annoying there's no dolby app on the Apple tv. I have it on the TV but it just passes it through as Dolby Pro Logic.
 
That's an idea. I'll see how I get on with Steve's suggestions first. Annoying there's no dolby app on the Apple tv. I have it on the TV but it just passes it through as Dolby Pro Logic.

Netflix?

Netflix app plays Atmos from a PC.

It's not just over head sounds with Atmos though is it? It is a different codec than Dolby 5.1?
 
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Do you have an Xbox One S/X?
I do. It's connected up to the other TV at the moment which is why I haven't tried it but I'll probably give it a go tomorrow. I've got the 4k disc of BR2049 (yes, just one!). Is there anything xbox specific that'll be good to try?
 
I do. It's connected up to the other TV at the moment which is why I haven't tried it but I'll probably give it a go tomorrow. I've got the 4k disc of BR2049 (yes, just one!). Is there anything xbox specific that'll be good to try?

The Dolby Atmos app on the Xbox has the Leaf and other demo.
 
Blade Runner 2049 has some nice use of heights, like the scenes at street level where you can hear the advertising overhead.
 
Netflix is playing atmos through the AppleTV fine, but I meant the bespoke demos from dolby. They have an app on webos, but they don't have it for the ATV

Do the Atmos tracks sound better than the 5.1 tracks?
 
Got mine today.

Seem to work straight away.

Not bad for a sound bar with tiny speakers compared to my 5.1 system with bigger speakers.

Only tried Leicester game on BT 4K Atmos so far.

Ice Age 2 on Film 4 HD 5.1 movie sounded good.

Info on the App tells you Atmos etc output and a brief green light.

Doing shopping now, so will test more later.
 
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Had any luck with the ATMOS Chris?
Yes! As Steve suggested it's very content dependant. BR2049 was pretty fantastic. Fairly clear overheard effects. Still not exactly pinpoint precision but vaguely upwards I suppose! I'm happy enough with it. I don't see why any other soundbar would be any better. And I have a problem with side firing speakers that cannot be adjusted individually as my TV is closer to one very reflective wall than the other. So that rules out some of the alternatives anyway. I'm going to try to stop worrying about it and just enjoy the content now.
 
Works with an HDMI selector box by the way.

There are some Atmos demos on the Atmos for Windows app too.
 
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How do you get DTS X Virtual?

WOW, Music EQ, Heights Off, Night Mode, sounds like 3D sound! Nice punch.

Got ATMOS WORKING from Netflix via my Surface Pro PC! At last!!!

There is an oddity in that Netflix and Amazon doesn't play at all, via the Virgin V6 box when sound is set to Dolby Digital. BT Sport Atmos does. Strange.

Now swapped the HDMI's around and Netflix/Amazon play on the V6 now. 🤷‍♂️
 
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Vizio don't make it clear, but as far as I can tell selecting the Surround mode with non-Atmos Dolby soundtracks engages the Dolby Surround upmixer, and with DTS soundtracks it engages the DTS Virtual:X processing.

Erm, it would be in Surround Mode anyway surely? What about Height Speaker options, On/Off/Virtual? This is why I asked the question?

Or would that be ProLogic II?

How does it know your speaker distances? I haven't had to adjust anything really, it just worked right out of the box.

Blue (manual says White) Light for 5 seconds is 5.1.
Green is for Atmos.
Orange is for DTS.
 
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Yes! As Steve suggested it's very content dependant. BR2049 was pretty fantastic. Fairly clear overheard effects. Still not exactly pinpoint precision but vaguely upwards I suppose! I'm happy enough with it. I don't see why any other soundbar would be any better. And I have a problem with side firing speakers that cannot be adjusted individually as my TV is closer to one very reflective wall than the other. So that rules out some of the alternatives anyway. I'm going to try to stop worrying about it and just enjoy the content now.
I have seen a review for the sonos arc on flatpanels hd website I think, they were not impressed with the atmos on that one also, I think the reviewer was mentioning 2 very expensive soundbars being a tad more convincing then the sonos arc so it must be down to how well they bounce the sound.
I think the only thing that can make this height experience work 100% is speakers on ceiling :)
 
Aha.

The manual states that Virtual Height is for non flat ceilings and will play back in Dolby Digital Plus.

Direct EQ (Equaliser) seems to be Dolby 5.1 with centre channel for speech. Movie EQ seems to lock this out with speech coming out the left, right and centre speakers too.

I assume EQ settings are from Vizio not Dolby?
 
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The manual states that Virtual Height is for non flat ceilings and will play back in Dolby Digital Plus.
So as I said, despite the misleading name I think the surround mode applies upmixing on non-Atmos Dolby tracks and DTS Virtual:X on DTS tracks.
 

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