Samsung-HW-Q950A-11-Soundbar_-rating
The 1st use of horns as voice-amplifying megaphones dates at least to the 17th century, and horns were used in mechanical gramophones as early as 1857. The dynamic speaker was invented in 1925 by Edward W. Kellogg and Chester W. Rice issued as US Patent 1,707,570. Apr 2, 1929. Since then there has a lot of changes and inventions to provide the best and crisp quality of sound to the ears.
The soundbar is a wide, compact, horizontal enclosure that contains smaller series of speakers and can be mounted above or below the display for the reason of acoustic. With the technology development, the soundbar has changed over the ages with additional separate sub-woofer and additional satellite or smaller speakers to create a surround acoustic environment.
The Samsung team has sent the 75″ QN900A Neo QLED 8K Smart TV and the Samsung HW-Q950A 11.1.4ch Soundbar for review.
Design & Specification
The Samsung HW-Q950A 11.1.4ch Soundbar comes with a gross dimension of 1303 x 621 x 277mm and a gross weight of 27.2kg. The packaging consists of the main speaker with the dimension of 1232.0 (W)x 69.5 (H) x 138.0(D)mm and weighing 7.1kg. A sub-woofer with the dimension of 210(W) x 403(H) x 403 (D) and weighing 9.8 kg. Two rear speakers with dimensions of 210(W) x 403(H) x 403(D)mm each and weighing 1.8kg each. It also comes with remote control and wall bracket.
The whole soundbar system works on wireless technology which included the main speaker, subwoofer and rear surround speakers. It has got overall of 22 speakers which are converted to 11.1.4 channels.
The soundbar system supports AAC, MP3, WAV, OGG, FLAC, ALAC and AIFF audio decoding formats. It has audio features like Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby True HD, ATMOS and DTS.
As for the connectivity, the Samsung HW-Q950A has two HDMI with eARC and CEC support, one optical input, SBC Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
The Samsung HW-Q950A can also be connected and used by SmartThings App, Q-Symphony. You can also use SpotifyConnect, AirPlay2 and Chromecast.
It has features like Tap sound by which you can connect your smartphone just by tapping to the device. It also has the SpaceFit feature, this feature sound technology analyses the room environment and then auto-calibrates TV sound to its optimal settings.
The Review
The Samsung HW-Q950A soundbar came in a white box weighing 27.2kgs. It only has the model no written on the box in black colour. As mentioned above, the box contains the main soundbar with a subwoofer and two bookshelf size speakers.
The Main Soundbar
The main speaker comes with the dimension of 1232.0 (W)x 69.5 (H) x 138.0(D)mm and weighing 7.1kg. It has got 15 drivers. It has angled corners that accommodate the side-firing drivers and there are also three forward-firing and two upward-firing speakers. The speaker is wrap-around Kvadrat fabric covering. There are also brackets included for those who prefer to wall mount the soundbar.
The side-firing speakers for the front width channels and angled corner speakers bounce sounds off the walls to create the front side channels. The two upward-firing speakers built into the top that bounce sounds off the ceiling to create the front overhead channels.
The Samsung HW-Q950A houses its connections in a recessed area under the main unit. There are two HDMI inputs and an HDMI output. They all support 4K/60p, High Dynamic Range (HDR10, HDR10+, and Dolby Vision), HDCP 2.2, and Anynet+ (HDMI-CEC), whilst the HDMI output also includes eARC (enhanced audio return channel). It also has an optical digital input.
In terms of wireless connections, there’s built-in Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and AirPlay 2, allowing you to stream music from your home network or via third-party services. The Bluetooth connection is made using the pairing button on the remote, AirPlay via your Apple device, and the Wi-Fi using the SmartThings app.
The basic controls are centrally located on the top rear of the soundbar, on either side of the small LED display. These controls are for multi-function (on/off and source select), volume up/down, and mic on/off. Unfortunately, they’re black against a black background, which makes them hard to see.
The LED Display which is mono-chrome is on the top side. Honestly, it would have been better if it was placed on the front side, so you could see the display while you are sitting on your chair.
The Q950A has Samsung’s support for ‘Tap’ technology, where you can share content from compatible phones (Samsung models with Android 8.1 or above) simply by tapping them against the sound bar’s bodywork. It unit as Samsung’s Active Voice Amplifier technology. The feature is active and the soundbar detects a loud ambient noise (such as a vacuum cleaner) for more than three seconds, the soundbar volume is increased and the sound profile is adjusted to give more emphasis to vocal tracks.
SpaceFit feature in the Samsung Q950A is supposed to analyse the room and adjust the frequency of the speakers especially the bass from the subwoofer and rear speakers. But this feature didn’t work on my review unit and I had to adjust my setting as per my choice. There’s also an Auto EQ feature you can use without needing a Samsung TV, which focuses on managing the bass element of the soundstage.
It has got Adaptive sound, so the soundbar analyses the sound signal automatically and deliver optimized sound based on each scene. Adaptive Sound lets you hear voices clearly even on low volumes so even quiet conversations are heard
The Remote Control
The Samsung HW-Q950A remote control has matt black colour body and minimalist design and multiple function buttons. It has central navigation and plays/pause buttons, along with a sound control button for setting treble, bass and audio sync. There’s also a source select button, a Bluetooth pairing button, the sound mode (Standard, Surround, Game Pro and Adaptive Sound), volume up and down, mute and control for setting the subwoofer level.
The Rear Speakers
The Samsung HW-Q950A rear speakers or can bookshelf are powered but connects to the main speaker wirelessly. The speaker weighs 1.8kg each and it has 3 drivers built-in. The speakers are to be placed not very close to the wall to enjoy the full range of the sound. The speakers are to be placed outer-facing side. It should not be blocked on the sides and top side too. The range of the sound on the rear speaker is great and added the proper 360 degrees surround sound. The rear speakers are also wrap-around Kvadrat fabric covering.
The Sub-Woofer
The Samsung HW-Q950A soundbar sub-woofer comes with an 8inch driver. It weighs 9.8 kg. The subwoofer connects to the main unit wirelessly. It is a powered speaker and on the back has a reset button with two led lights. The sub-woofer can be placed anywhere in your room and should be 8 inches away from the wall as mentioned by Samsung. The 8inches driver can create very low bass frequencies. The bass sound has rumbles and small touches which sounds very natural.
The Sound Review
The Samsung HW-Q950A soundbar was tested along with the Samsung 75″ QN900A Neo QLED 8K Smart TV. And also reviewed with Blu Ray player and individual sound testing via smartphone. The audio quality was tested with Spotify, Hi-res audio was played from the phone via Bluetooth. The quality of the sound was amazing. The main soundbar unit with the 15 drivers provided the full range of the sound which is Trebles, Mids and little bass frequencies and the remain low bass frequencies it was completed with the 8” driver Subwoofer.
The side-firing speakers on the main soundbar unit were creating 180 degrees of surround sound. To complete full surround of 360 degrees, it was achieved with the rear powered 2 speakers. The new designed powered speakers have 3 sided drivers each was kept at a distance of 10feet away from each other and height of 2 feet (ideal would be 4 feet but didn’t have the necessary stand to tryout and I didn’t want to makes holes on my walls as this was review unit)
Generally, the rear speaker in the soundbar system which I have reviewed so far comes with the highlight on the Highs and Mids but lacks bass. But the Samsung HW-Q950A Soundbar rear speaker almost performed like a full range speaker. If you are seated close to the rear speakers you will still get great sound. Example – Blast effect in the battle which is happening the behind the camera or the actor similar to mini-theatre effect.
The 8” subwoofer was enough to cover a 350 Sq ft area. I had kept away from the wall and storage cabinet. There was no bad vibration or bad bass distortion even on heavy lower frequencies of sound even the distance low bass sound be heard.
The best feature was the wireless connection of the soundbar, the subwoofer and the rear speaker.
The soundbar remote comes with batteries, I was hardly using it as the Samsung SolarCell remote worked with the soundbar too.
Check out the review of the Samsung QN900A Neo QLED 8K Smart TV.
S MUTE issue
The only issue I faced in the 1-month review was “S-Mute” which happened thrice during the review without any particular reason. When switched ON the soundbar, there is scrolling S Mute written on the small display with no connectivity with the TV or any other source. I presume must be a software glitch.
The solution which worked for me – Shut the power of the soundbar, subwoofer, rear speakers and even TV and restart after 10sec, looks like it resets the software glitch.
Conclusion
The Samsung HW-Q950A Soundbar is the perfect Home Theatre system for people who love to watch movies in theatre style. Each audio frequency can clearly be heard with surround sound effects. The Soundbar can be connected with NFC enabled smartphones. You can connect your TV via wired, optical, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connection too. It has HDMI eArc, you get lossless sound quality.
The only issue which was a turn off is the S MUTE glitch.
Suggestion: Options for the user to have personalized audio equalizer setting of the sound. And improvement on the LED display on the front side and a little bigger for better readability.
Final Verdict – The Samsung HW-Q950A Soundbar is perfect unit for the consumer and who are looking forward to have great Home Theater for their home with hassle-free installation and wireless setup.
Price & Availability
The Samsung HW-Q950A Soundbar is priced at AED 4,999. Now it is available in Samsung retail outlets and certain e-commerce sites.
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