My adventures with TV sound.

[bertbass]

To set the scene.  Last year Mrs Bert and I decided that as we both had everything we wanted it was a bit of a waste of time trying to think of Christmas presents to buy each other so we opted to buy a new TV instead.  After much pondering and reading many reviews we bought  a Hisense Roku 50 inch TV.

 

The TV arrived and was swiftly installed.  Fantastic picture and loads of apps to explore.  One of the selling points was the built in Roku which I’d read enabled you to watch virtually anything from anywhere for free.  I’ve yet to find them yet but I keep trying.  The only thing I can complain about is the sound, it’s rubbish!  The reviews I’d read commented that the sound quality wasn’t up to much but I didn’t expect it to be so bad.

 

So, we’ve bought a brilliant TV but with a Cr*p sound.  What to do is the question.  I know thinks I, we’ll buy a decent sound bar.  The alternative was to set up the bands PA in the front room but Mrs Bert was not at all keen on this option.  After reading many more reviews I ordered a Sony sound bar from Argos which cost around £100.  Set it up and the sound was worse than it was with just the TV and I though that Sony was supposed to be good.  Back it went.  So what to do now.  Read more reviews obviously.

 

One product kept getting really great reviews, the Sky Soundbox.  If you’re Sky customers it costs £199, if you’re not a Sky customer it costs £499.  That’s quite a lot for a sound system but it was our joint Christmas present so we went for it and spent £199.

 

It arrived quite quickly, only a couple of day and was swiftly installed.  WOW!!! What a sound.  It’s truly amazing.  Very easy to install just an HDMI lead from the Sky Q box into the Soundbox and another HDMI lead from the Soundbox to the TV.  Then an optical cable from the TV to the Soundbox.  Select it from the setting menu and it’s all controlled from the sky remote although you have to use the Soundbox remote to select between HDMI, optical or Bluetooth.  You can select different sound modes from the sky menu, normal, voice enhance and late night listening.

 

The sound is truly spectacular, even the BBC news channel and News night intro tunes have incredible depth and I can hear all the bass that I’ve never heard before.  Normal TV shows have a new depth of sound and watching films, the sound is all there.  Explosions sound like I have a large sub woofer and the sound width is spectacular.  I can hear sounds coming from beside and behind me from this small box sat under the TV.

 

I have had surround sound before but stopped using it as the dialogue was difficult to hear but the Soundbox gives the same effect but you can hear everything perfectly and it goes pretty load as well if you want it to.

 

If you’re looking for a new sound bar, I’d recommend looking at the Sky Soundbox and putting it at the top of your list.  There are loads of reviews on the WWW.  Take a look before you decide.

[Nail Soup]

I was in the similar situation a few years ago... bought  a small TV for the kitchen/diner, but didn't check the sound properly in the shop. Got it home and it was a terrible sound, and quiet to boot.

I use the kitchen TV more as a DAB radio, so took it back, had a massive argument with the shop and eventually they relented and allowed me to buy a different model. 

Sounding good now 😀!

 

 

[Mottlefeeder]

I bought a Samsung TV that had no audio output sockets, and average rear-facing speakers. I ended up buying a USB D to A convertor so I could feed analogue audio into the Hifi. 

One thing I did find is that even with a sound bar and TV from the same manufacturer, the volume control for the TV cannot be used to control the volume of the sound bar.

David

 

[gjones]

I just plug my tv into my hi fi. I also bought a bluetooth sound converter, for not much money, which also allows me to send the signal from my laptop, or phone, to my hi fi too.

I feel the average hi fi is cheaper and more versatile than your average tv sound box.

[ezbass]

10 hours ago, gjones said:

I just plug my tv into my hi fi. I also bought a bluetooth sound converter, for not much money, which also allows me to send the signal from my laptop, or phone, to my hi fi too.

I feel the average hi fi is cheaper and more versatile than your average tv sound box.

Likewise. I don’t have it on all the time, but when the sound levels between  ads and programs is markedly different (step forward  C4 and it’s derivatives) or playing DVDs, on it goes. It adds gravitas to the sound for me. 

[bertbass]

Strangely, I don't have a hifi anymore so connecting my TV to that is not an option.  I do listen to music but only on my computer or in my studio.  In both situations the sound is terrific and if I want it loud and who doesn't, I listen on headphones.

I have to say though that I don't think that I'd be able to get the same depth and width of sound from a normal hifi, even an excellent one.  The Sky Soundbox is just so good.

[Stub Mandrel]

Possibly unrelated, but today a 3.5 jack to phono lead came, so I've just connected up my PC to an old pair of w00x speakers via little 5W per channel one-chip amp I made yonks ago from savenged bits.

Enjoying Sabbath Bloody Sabbath 🙂 Sounds better than it did through 5" speakers...

[Skinnyman]

Good to hear that the Soundbox works well. 
 

The biggest challenge I find these days is the excessive volume of background music making it hard to distinguish dialogue. That’s where a surround system or decent sound bar really comes into its own.

[ezbass]

59 minutes ago, Skinnyman said:

Good to hear that the Soundbox works well. 
 

The biggest challenge I find these days is the excessive volume of background music making it hard to distinguish dialogue. That’s where a surround system or decent sound bar really comes into its own.

This really boils my urine. It seems that some of the FOH engineers I have encountered in the past have moved into television.*

 

* FWIW, one of my closest friends is a FOH engineer and runs his own sound reinforcement company, his mixes are always exemplary.

[Nail Soup]

6 hours ago, Skinnyman said:

biggest challenge I find these days is the excessive volume of background music making it hard to distinguish dialogue.

And mumbling actors nowadays - I guess they’re going for added realism or something..

Mind you, I find that real life people mumble more the older I get!

Edited January 30, 2021 by Nail Soup
I don’t know the difference between there and they’re (or their)

[Owen]

So, does this box have to be running a Sky system to work? There seems to be a 2nd market in them which makes it an interesting proposition. 

[bertbass]

No, the Soundbox can be used with any TV.  It uses a special HDMI mode type thing to connect to a TV and or optical cables.  As I use Sky Q I just followed the instructions from Sky to set it up but In the copious reviews all options are covered.

 

I just had a quick search and it's HDMI (ARC).

[SH73]

Yep , new TV last year but sound frequencies did not quite penetrate through my ear canal. We bought a Roku bar which resolved the issue. My old 7+ year Samsung smart TV seems to have better sound quality though.

[NancyJohnson]

Flat TVs are notoriously poor from an audio perspective. 

 

Our 'main' TV (although possibly the least used) is a smartish 55" Samsung and it's pretty much just a big monitor; I route the audio into an Onkyo amp via a Toslink cable.  

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited March 15, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited March 15, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[AndyTravis]

@Jus Lukin I have those little Samson BT3’s in my kitchen as Bluetooth streaming speakers.

 

mega for parties - well impressed with them, think I got them with some vouchers I won.

[AndyTravis]

As for tv - I have a 50 Panasonic which works well, but the internal speakers are turd.

 

I run into my Sony BluRay 2.1 system.

 

Works well for anything from the Apple TV box via an optical cable.

 

For the odd occasion I watch terrestrial tv, I accept that the speakers are crap.

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited March 15, 2022 by Jus Lukin