Looking for a house theater setup sometimes means shopping for a soundbar, subwoofer and rear audio system individually. Some firms could embrace a sub with the soundbar, however you don’t all the time get every little thing you’ll want for essentially 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 front room. The Q990C is a big funding, however it’s additionally one-stop procuring.
Design
Because the Q990C is Samsung’s high-end soundbar in its present lineup, it’s additionally the largest. It’s 48.5-inches broad, which is definitely about three inches lower than the Sony HT-A7000. In fact, firms want the additional house 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 inside subwoofer. The separate wi-fi sub can also be substantial at 16 x 16 x 8 inches and weighing in at 26 kilos. The wi-fi rear audio system aren’t enormous, however they do have a three-driver setup with front-, side- and up-firing drivers the place different firms may solely have one.
Execs
- All-inclusive bundle
- Detailed and immersive sound
- Rear audio system include upfiring drivers
- Straightforward setup
Cons
- Costly
- Soundbar and sub are massive
- Some options require a Samsung TV
- No HDMI 2.1
Samsung opted for a mesh plastic overlaying 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 prime. 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 appropriate 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 if 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 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 flicks quickly after unboxing.
Like many flagship soundbars, Samsung has included two extra HDMI inputs on prime 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 you must 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 permits you to join wirelessly to a suitable Samsung TV for audio. This implies you may get Dolby Atmos to the soundbar with no cables operating out of your tv, which is useful when you’ve already mounted the show flush with the wall. And when you’ve got a suitable Samsung cellphone, you may allow Faucet Sound which connects to the Q990C by way of Bluetooth if you gently contact the speaker with the handset. As an iPhone consumer, I wasn’t in a position to check this.
SmartThings app and different options
Picture by Billy Steele/Engadget
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 essentially the most outstanding 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 Energetic 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 permits you to select both Bixby or Alexa for the voice assistant you wish to make use of on the soundbar.
Samsung helps you to select between Customary, Encompass, Recreation 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 on the market (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 Recreation 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 motion pictures, 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, Energetic Voice Amplifier, Voice Enhancement and extra with a Sound Management button that’s labeled with the settings/gear icon. A Channel Stage button helps you to alter the amount of every speaker, with Heart stage, Aspect stage, Broad stage, Entrance Prime stage, Rear stage, Rear prime stage and Rear aspect stage among the many decisions. There’s additionally a button for Tone Management, placing bass and treble tweaks only a few button presses away. These are all along with the usual energy, enter, quantity (total and subwoofer solely), mute, pairing and playback choices soundbar remotes sometimes have.
Sound high quality
Due to 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 when you’ve got the priciest Extremely HD plan, remains to be superb 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 sequence even higher. Marvel exhibits and flicks on Disney+ can be found with Atmos they usually sound superb.
I can confidently say that is the closest I’ve come to a film theater-like expertise in my front room. The extra drivers within the rear audio system undoubtedly elevate the overhead sensation, contributing considerably extra to directional audio than regular single-driver models. Battle 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 also be an awesome choice 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 fairly 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 boring.
Samsung
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 unbelievable on the Q990C. TesseracT’s prog-metal Warfare 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 jap Kentucky vocals.
This soundbar system works nicely in a multi-room setup, too, and also you don’t want different Samsung audio system to do it. Due to AirPlay, you may simply choose the Q990C and different audio system in your Wi-Fi community. I used to be in a position to persistently hyperlink the soundbar with a HomePod in one other room with only a few 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 characteristic that I wasn’t in a position to check 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 type of factor isn’t distinctive to Samsung units as Sony presents the same device 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 nicely, however every little thing you add to it’s an extra buy. At present costs, the soundbar, the most cost effective sub and rear speaker choices will value you $1,600 whereas soundbar alone is $1,000. There are higher decisions for each the woofer and rears, however these considerably elevate the worth.
The A7000 presents quite a 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 quite a few 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 help.
The Q990C is at the moment 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 enticing, 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 profit from it within the field. For the price of what you’d pay for a soundbar alone from a few of the firm’s essential rivals, you get the entire 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 may have house to accommodate the bundle. The shortage of HDMI 2.1 hinders efficiency for avid gamers, and that’s a obtrusive omission on a premium soundbar nowadays. The Q990C isn’t low-cost, even on the present discounted worth, however no less than you’re getting every little thing you want in a single go.