In this article, we will discuss ways in which you can make your sound bar sound better.
We have already covered whether you should purchase a soundbar or speakers for music and where to place a soundbar and subwoofer for maximum sound effect.
This article therefore discusses how to make your soundbar sound better.
Some of the recommendations may be a little obvious and some may be complex, but it is for you to identify the problem and use the provided solutions
It can be quite extensive to get a soundbar and subwoofer, therefore if your budget can only afford you a sound bar, then keep reading to find out how best to optimize your soundbar.
There are many alternatives and options available for those who want to give more juice to their sound bar
The potentials ways in which you can make your soundbar sound better are
1. Consider using a receiver
2. Consider a soundbar that supports modern technologies
3. Make use of HDMI cables
4. If the money permits add some wireless speakers
5. Check the number of devices connected to your TV
6. How to fix your soundbar if it does not sound natural
7. Double check your subwoofer
Consider using a receiver
A Soundbar is an autonomous/separate system that only requires sound input from your television set.
Soundbars are easy and simple to configure and set up.
This is because of their built-in amplifiers. The speakers of a sound bar are thus independently fired up by their amp, and do not need any additional items/accessories/hookups to help them along.
I would advise against using receiver with your sound bar. If you have a decent receiver, then it makes sense to rather purchase some quality speakers, as opposed to a sound bar.
Both receivers and sound bars have built in amplifiers. It would make no sense to have both as they would impede each others performance, and create interference.
One alternative that is available is that of a passive soundbar. These are soundbars that do not have a built in amplifier. Be that as it may, they do tend to be pricey.
The main reason for this is that the quality of the speakers and other components tends to be better.
Consider a soundbar that supports modern technologies
Modern technologies could include technologies such as Dolby digital.
The technology capitalizes on the human ears processing of sound. It reduces the amount of data needed to produce high quality sound.
To produce high quality sound Dolby provides complete bandwidth channels, namely surround left and right, front left and right as well as a center channel.
To accentuate special effects and sequences in movies Dolby includes a LFE (low frequency effect channel).
You can therefore listen to music or watch movies in the latest surround sound format.
Make use of HDMI cables
Typically, HDMI cables or optical digital audio cables are the best ones to use for connecting your sound bar.
Whilst both optical and HDMI cables can transfer digital audio between devices, HDMI can pass higher resolution audio including formats found on Blu-ray: Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio.
Optical does not have the ability to transmit these formats.
Both can pass multi-channel audio, like Dolby Digital and both are cheap. The difference between the high res formats and Dolby digital is not as clear cut, particularly to an untrained ear.
On a modern system you may notice a slightly more open and smoother sound produced by higher resolution formats. On less advanced systems the difference is marginal.
Since both cables are cheap, best to go with HDMI just once.
A simple but powerful piece of advice would be to not have both your internal TV speakers and the soundbar playing at the same time.
If the money permits add some wireless speakers
This alternative can be costly, however I felt it necessary to include it for completeness. By having a system built around a soundbar you can enjoy top quality surround sound effects.
This can be achieved by adding a pair of wireless home theater speakers to your set up.
Check the number of devices connected to your TV
Sometimes you may find that your sound bar sounds no better than your TV. This is likely to be because the sound bar is not playing at all, and your TV speakers are the ones producing sound.
Set-top boxes have sometimes been accused of causing this problem.
Even if your set-top box is connected to your TV, and your TV is connected to your sound bar, sometimes this won’t be enough and you’ll need a direct connection instead.
It may be useful in this instance to connect your top box directly to your sound bar.
This can be done by connecting RCA cables from your box directly to your sound bar or for newer models use optical cables to do the connection.
The next step is to make sure that your box audio settings are adjusted such that it connects directly to your sound bar and not to your TV.
Make sure that your settings are pointing to the appropriate audio connector.
What if your soundbar sounds unnatural
I have a soundbar that reduces certain sounds and noises at night to avoid disturbing someone in another room.
This night mode setting is one of many audio enhancement modes that come with modern Soundbars. It is important for you to double check weather or not these settings are on or off.
Audio enhancement modes which emphasize high pitched sounds such as speech are a great advancement, but can sometimes make things sound bad.
Again, double check your settings to make sure that this mode has not been enabled.
Double check your subwoofer
Apart from the placement of your soundbar with your subwoofer, there are other parts of your subwoofer that you should check up on in order to enhance your sound.
Even with a “wireless” subwoofer, you must still connect the sub to a socket.
The wireless means that you do not have to connect the subwoofer to the soundbar as this will be enabled by Bluetooth technology.
Passive subwoofers do not need external power, yet you still need to connect your subwoofer directly to your soundbar.
Conclusion
We have covered a lot of alternatives when it comes to making your soundbar sound better.
In reality there could be a number of things that may be resulting in your soundbar not sounding all that Sharpe.
If you are unsure of what you are doing, then do not hesitate to go to the place where you purchased it or get an expert in to diagnose and solve the problems.
The main points that we covered were the following.
Using a receiver is probably not the best idea as the receivers amplifier and the amplifier of the soundbar can interfere with one another.
Even if you purchased a separate soundbar for your receiver you would still be shelling out a lot of cash to do so.
It is advisable that you purchase a sound bar that is compatible with the latest in digital sound technology so that you can achieve the best possible sound effects from your soundbar.
By using HDMI cables you can benefit from higher resolution audio including formats found on Blu-ray: Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio.
Avoid having your TV speakers and your sound bar playing at the same time as this can dilute the sound.
If you have a Set-top -box and you are using this to watch TV then it is advisable that you connect the box directly to the soundbar.
Double check any night mode settings or speech enhancement settings on your soundbar to ensure that they are not interfering with the quality of your soundbars sound.
Double check your subwoofer by making sure that the subwoofer is connected to a socket in the case of a wireless subwoofer and make sure that your subwoofer is connected to the soundbar in the case of a passive subwoofer.
