On today’s You Asked: A new segment pitting me against ChatGPT. What should you prioritize when upgrading your A/V system? What happens if you send a Dolby Pro Logic signal to a modem receiver or soundbar? How to banish gremlins in your A/V system. And another Amazon Prime Day is coming up: What’s at the top of my list to buy and how can you save money on things that matter?
To upgrade or not upgrade (my A/V system)? That is the question
Dipam Patel, who writes in from the U.K., wants some guidance on what to upgrade first in their A/V system. Dipam says they have an 83-inch G4 with bias lighting, a Denon X3400H receiver, and a bunch of Dali speakers: Oberon 7, Center Vokal, Alteco C1 Atmos speakers, and an e12F subwoofer. After going to a local hi-fi show and hearing about systems costing upward of half a million quid, they now want to upgrade their system. They are wondering what to upgrade first — amp or speakers — and which item and in which order.
I feel like I know where you’re at right now. You heard those incredible, expensive systems, and now that you’ve experienced them first-hand, you realize that you want to get closer to that sound, but without going broke in the process.
My advice is to not start with replacing any of your gear — not just yet. I have not heard the Dali speakers you have, but by reputation I know Dali makes good stuff. That Denon receiver is about seven years old now, but it was at the upper end of its midrange receiver line and is no slouch of an amp.
The first thing I would do? Tweak what you’ve got to get the most out of it. And that means upgrading your room, if you can.
The acoustic nature of your room and how you have all this stuff set up has a much bigger impact on the sound and experience you get than from any of the gear you have. You have quality gear, which has its own limitations. But I suspect that your room and maybe some of your receiver settings and speaker placements are preventing you from hearing the full potential of your gear.
Now, I understand that most folks don’t have dedicated media rooms where they can put speakers wherever they want and throw anything they want up anywhere on the walls. Also, there might be others in the home who have something to say about it. I do understand if this isn’t possible for you. But the first thing I would do is look at your speaker placement.
Do you have those towers less than 6 inches from the back wall? Pull them out. Is your subwoofer wedged in a corner? There’s almost certainly a better place for it. Is everything in your receiver set up for the best sound? I bet adjusting some crossover points and speaker levels could do wonders. Also, did you run Audyssey XT auto-setup on that receiver? If so, turn it off. Do a manual setup using a DB meter to set channel levels and your knowledge of your speakers’ roll-off points for the crossover levels. Just ditching the auto-EQ can make a world of difference. And that auto-EQ can’t fix first reflections. So if you have bare walls to the left and right of your towers, just putting something there to absorb the sound where it bounces off will make a big difference as well.
And if you don’t know how to do this stuff and don’t have the time to research? Learn and do the work, or consider hiring someone who can.
Again, I understand that you may be limited in what you can change. But optimize what you can first. Because I’m here to tell you that pouring more money into new components is not going to be the magic bullet. What’s holding your current system back will also be holding your new system back, too. If you can never drive your car faster than 35 miles per on anything other than a straight road, then upgrading from a Ford Fiesta to a Lexus may get you there in more style, but you’re not likely to experience much of the performance boost that’s available. See what I mean?
But, if you do want to get new gear, I’d start by upgrading your receiver to something with more power or, more to the point, headroom. You can unlock a lot more performance from your speakers with a new amp. I don’t think new speakers are going to unlock anything from the Denon that you aren’t already getting.
Can all new soundbars still decode Pro Logic?
Vinnie from Melbourne, Australia, writes: I just love sitting down and watching old movies on LaserDisc and recently I purchased a Samsung Q990C. What is the best audio setting on the Q990C to receive the old Dolby Pro Logic format – because these movies are in the Dolby Pro Logic format. Can all new soundbars still decode Pro Logic?
OK, first off, Vinnie, I love that, too. No, the resolution on LaserDisc isn’t great, but … I still love it! I have a collection of LaserDiscs from back when that was the format. (My LaserDisc player is currently eating discs so I need to fix or replace it.)
To answer your question, I’d like to introduce a new ongoing segment to the You Asked show, which I am, for now, calling “Me vs. ChatGPT.” This is where we ask ChatGPT a viewer question and compare that to the answer I provide.
So, ChatGPT, “Does the Samsung Q990C support Dolby Pro Logic?”
ChatGPT says:
Newer soundbars like the Samsung Q990C are designed to handle more modern audio formats, but they can still process older formats like Dolby Pro Logic through upmixing and audio processing.
Dolby Pro Logic is an older analog surround sound format, and while most new soundbars don’t explicitly advertise support for it, they can often decode the stereo signal and use their own technology to simulate surround sound. The Q990C doesn’t natively decode Dolby Pro Logic, but it will likely treat the Pro Logic signal as stereo and upmix it to its multi-channel speakers.
Here are some tips to get the best audio experience when watching LaserDisc movies with Dolby Pro Logic:
Best Audio Settings on Samsung Q990C for Dolby Pro Logic Content:
- Set Sound Mode to Adaptive Sound:
Adaptive Sound mode is designed to analyze the audio in real-time and optimize it for the soundbar’s configuration. It’s a good choice for getting the most out of older formats like Pro Logic because it enhances dialogue and can intelligently upmix audio into a surround-like experience. - Upmixing with Surround Sound Mode:
You can also try the Surround Sound mode, which will push the stereo signal to all speakers in the soundbar system, creating a more enveloping sound stage. This will simulate the Pro Logic surround effect, although it’s not the exact same processing. - Standard Sound Mode:
If you want to preserve the original stereo or Pro Logic-like effect without too much processing, you can choose the Standard sound mode. This mode aims to reproduce the audio without too much alteration, though it will still use all the soundbar’s speakers.
Can New Soundbars Decode Pro Logic?
No, most new soundbars, including the Samsung Q990C, don’t explicitly decode Dolby Pro Logic because it’s considered outdated. They rely on upmixing technologies to simulate surround sound from older stereo or analog formats like Pro Logic. In most cases, the soundbar will interpret the Pro Logic signal as stereo and enhance it using its own processing.
If you’re looking for an experience similar to Dolby Pro Logic, the soundbar will still deliver an impressive surround sound effect using its modern processing, even if it doesn’t support the exact decoding of that format.
Caleb says:
Wow, I don’t have a ton to add to that other than some context. ChatGPT did pretty well on this one. But I don’t think I’m out of a job yet.
I’d add this: So, Dolby Pro Logic is a decoding technology that takes a soundtrack encoded with Dolby Surround and extracts four channels of surround from it: front left and right, center, and surround. In Pro Logic you get mono surround, meaning both surround speakers play the same sounds. Pro Logic II gave you stereo surrounds. Many LaserDiscs are encoded with Dolby AC-3, which was the precursor to Dolby Digital.
Now, the Q990C doesn’t have a Pro Logic decoder, but it can still process the digital audio signal that a Pro Logic decoder would. Like ChatGPT says, though, it is likely to upmix the sound to include stereo effects for the surround speakers and it is going to add sounds to pump into the up-firing Atmos speakers as well.
To get the best sound, make sure your LaserDisc player is outputting a digital audio bitstream through the optical output. And then, as ChatGPT said, you can experiment with the various sound modes to see which one you like best. If you want to stick to the original experience, then Standard Sound Mode is probably the best call.
Soundbar turns on randomly
Stan writes: I’ve had the Samsung Q950a soundbar surround for about two years now, and something started occurring recently — I guess after a firmware update. It randomly turns on a few times throughout the day. Whether I’m streaming YouTube, Netflix, or anything like that, the soundbar, which is turned off, suddenly turns on, switching the TV audio to the soundbar audio. I have it plugged into an eARC port if that helps, but the thing is, it only started doing this quite recently. I’ve scoured the internet for solutions but nothing much on it. I’d very much appreciate any help or tips you may have.
I’m sorry you’re having this problem. I can only guess here, but if the issue started after a firmware update, there is probably an unintentional consequence of something that was changed to how the soundbar operates. I suspect that the soundbar is turning on because an HDMI CEC trigger signal — short for consumer electronics control — is telling the TV that it is present and the TV is responding with, “Right, sure, we’ll send sound there instead of the internal speakers!”
It could be tied to Samsung’s implementation of Q-Symphony sound, but you didn’t mention the TV make or model.
Go into your TV and find the setting for HDMI CEC and turn it off. Now, that means that you won’t be able to control some features of the TV with your soundbar remote and vice versa, but if the issue is related to HDMI CEC messages, then turning off that feature in the TV should put a stop to it — and you’ll just have to manually turn on and adjust the volume of the soundbar with your soundbar remote. Should you have to do this? No. But since it is a bug that will need to be reported to Samsung, and hopefully fixed in a future update, this is the only way I know to stop the issue until that time arrives — assuming it does get fixed at some point.
Best bets on Amazon Prime Day?
Finally, folks, we have another Amazon Prime Day coming. Did you know? I suppose if, like me, you use the Amazon Prime app, then you’ve seen this message every time you load it up and you are already aware. It’s kind of like Black Friday in September — just like it was just Black Friday in July a few months ago. There are savings to be had, and I intend to take advantage. But what might you want to save money on?
I think most folks turn their minds to TV savings. And that is not a bad idea. My hope is that we will see some discounts on lingering inventory of last years’ TV models. I’d be looking at all the top recommended TVs of 2023 and if they are still in stock, they will likely be discounted below their already low prices. The , the , the , the from 2023, and maybe even some Sony models like the might be available at a good price.
However, I’m personally more interested in saving money on a bunch of small things that I need or want, and you might want to think about this, too. I’d look for deals on HDMI cables, HDMI switchers, LED bias lighting (the stuff Govee makes is pretty great), and batteries for anything that you have that still needs them. Get those on sale now. Never pass up a chance to save on batteries — the markup on those things is ridiculous.
Other high-markup items you might think about: surge protectors, high-grade power strips, and line conditions. I have these and love them. You secure them into your power outlets – they have some line conditioning and surge suppression in them, and they provide four or five standard outlets along with USB-C and USB-A ports, meaning you can ditch your power bricks if you want. I use them in the studio and love them. That may be my hottest shopping tip of the year, actually.