This is presumably down to a combination of the improved rear speaker and subwoofer design, but also the new Space Fit auto-cal system. The circle of sound around your seating position feels even more complete, with no obvious gaps in front, to the side, behind or even above you to break your immersion in a good Dolby Atmos mix.ĭetails feel even more accurately positioned too, and sounds that move around a mix, whether it’s back to front, side to side or both, make their journey around your living room even more convincingly than they did on 2021’s Q950A. The main reason for this is the improved balance and cohesion of all the Q990B’s many channels. (Image credit: Future) Samsung HW-Q990B: Sound qualityĮven though last year’s Samsung Q950A was the best soundbar in town when it came to delivering both a fully formed Dolby Atmos ‘bubble’ and bags of raw surround sound power, the Q990B manages to sound even better. Samsung has also, finally, improved the Adaptive sound mode it uses to upconvert stereo (and other low-channel) sources into something that makes use of all the Q990B’s available channels.
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Samsung’s Q Symphony feature, which allows the soundbar to join forces with the speakers in compatible Samsung TVs, continues with the Q990B, but this year it steps the potential combo channel count to 22, depending on the spec of the Samsung TV the soundbar is partnered with. This feature automatically re-runs itself every day, and is joined by Auto EQ: a system that constantly monitors and fine tunes the way the subwoofer is integrating into the wider soundstage. This sees a cover standing slightly proud of the recessed driver, in a bid to enhance the bass output’s uniformity and omni-directional dispersion.Īlso new for the Q990B is built-in auto calibration (which Samsung calls Space Fit), where the soundbar can use built-in mics to adjust its channel balance and sound to suit your specific room set-up. The subwoofer, meanwhile, still gets a substantial 8-inch driver, like its predecessor, but its bodywork is bigger, and carries an intriguing new Acoustic Lens feature.
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The rears now sit on short pedestal stands that appear to neutralise potential colouration from whatever surface you’ve placed them on, and their top edges now angle down at the front rather than being flat, to help push the sound from the up-firing drivers forward, so that their sound meets the sound from the front up-firers better, and creates more of a genuine overhead effect. For starters, while the main soundbar enjoys the same channel configuration, sculpting and size, the rears and subwoofer boast some significant improvements. It’s high time we got into how – apart from the wireless Dolby Atmos system – the Q990B differs from what’s gone before. Supported audio file formats include AAC, WAV, MP3, FLAC, AIFF, OGG and ALAC. This can receive Dolby Atmos tracks from compatible Samsung TVs without a physical HDMI eARC connection.Īs with the Q950A, you can also establish a wireless connection for sharing songs from reasonably recent Samsung phones simply by tapping them against the soundbar’s bodywork. The Q990B supports plenty of wireless connection options, including AirPlay 2 and (in our first departure from the Q950A) Samsung’s brand new Wireless Dolby Atmos system.
So owners of cutting-edge consoles or PCs will have to route their gaming devices through their TV, and use the eARC feature to pass game soundtracks to the soundbar. It’s a touch disappointing on such a pricey soundbar that there’s no support via the HDMI ports for the latest 4K/120fps, variable refresh rate (VRR) and auto low latency mode (ALLM) gaming features. The HDMI output is equipped with eARC support, too, so that it can receive lossless Dolby Atmos or DTS:X soundtracks passed on via compatible TVs, and the HDMI loop supports both of the HDR10+ and Dolby Vision ‘premium’ HDR formats, as well as the more basic HDR10 and HLG high dynamic range systems. This is decent news on one level, as it means there are two HDMI inputs alongside the HDMI output. Connections on the Q990B are also the same as those of its predecessor.
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