Suggestin on soundbar/speakers for laptop with Atmos

T

tvclock

n00b
Joined
Apr 30, 2018
Messages
11
Hi, I have a Thinkpad X1E with Dobly Atmos built-in. I connect it to a Sony XBR49X900E 49-in. 4K HDR UHD TV via the laptop's HDMI 2.0 port. I want to enjoy excellent surround sound (hearing things moving around) in my small bedroom. I watch youtube videos (movies, classical, relaxing music videos) and plan to do some computer gamings. What kind of soundbar/speaker do you recommend? Budget should be around $800. Do you think the inexpensive Creative Labs's Katana will suit my needs? Note that my room is small and I live in an apartment so I cannot make it too loud. Otherwise my neighbours will complain.

Here are the specifications of the products:

1. Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Extreme 4K
https://www.lenovo.com/ca/en/laptops...-id=X1_Extreme

2. Sony XBR49X900E 4K HDR TV
https://www.sony.com/electronics/tel...specifications

3. Creative Labs Katana
https://us.creative.com/p/speakers/s...lasterx-katana
 
tvclock said:
Hi, I have a Thinkpad X1E with Dobly Atmos built-in. I connect it to a Sony XBR49X900E 49-in. 4K HDR UHD TV via the laptop's HDMI 2.0 port. I want to enjoy excellent surround sound (hearing things moving around) in my small bedroom. I watch youtube videos (movies, classical, relaxing music videos) and plan to do some computer gamings. What kind of soundbar/speaker do you recommend? Budget should be around $800. Do you think the inexpensive Creative Labs's Katana will suit my needs? Note that my room is small and I live in an apartment so I cannot make it too loud. Otherwise my neighbours will complain.

Here are the specifications of the products:

1. Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Extreme 4K
https://www.lenovo.com/ca/en/laptops...-id=X1_Extreme

2. Sony XBR49X900E 4K HDR TV
https://www.sony.com/electronics/tel...specifications

3. Creative Labs Katana
https://us.creative.com/p/speakers/s...lasterx-katana
Click to expand...
the katana would work but is virtual 7.1 not atmos, as far as I can tell.. if you want atmos there are a few that are under budget and lots over. heres a couple with good reviews, one 3.1.2 and a 5.1.2 atmos.
https://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-Surr...e=UTF8&qid=1540059200&sr=1-1&keywords=FS-EB70
https://www.amazon.com/LG-5-1-2-Cha...ie=UTF8&qid=1540059424&sr=1-24&keywords=atmos

there is also this vizio kit that is 5.1.2 with actual rear wireless speakers if you have a spot for them: https://www.costco.com/Vizio-SB3651...oofer-with-Dolby-Atmos.product.100459820.html
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
pendragon1 said:
the katana would work but is virtual 7.1 not atmos, as far as I can tell.. if you want atmos there are a few that are under budget and lots over. heres a couple with good reviews, one 3.1.2 and a 5.1.2 atmos.
https://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-Surr...e=UTF8&qid=1540059200&sr=1-1&keywords=FS-EB70
https://www.amazon.com/LG-5-1-2-Cha...ie=UTF8&qid=1540059424&sr=1-24&keywords=atmos

there is also this vizio kit that is 5.1.2 with actual rear wireless speakers if you have a spot for them: https://www.costco.com/Vizio-SB36512-F6-36"-5.1.2-Home-Theater-Sound-System-and-Wireless-Subwoofer-with-Dolby-Atmos.product.100459820.html
Click to expand...


Thanks. How is the Pioneer and LG one compared with the Sony HT-Z9F and HT-X9000F ? Will the sound quality be noticably different?
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
You need 9.2 speakers and a Dolby Atmos receiver to experience Atmos surround. Perhaps even more speakers (front, back, sides, the ceiling and subs). That sound bar is a perfect expression of the dilution of the Dolby brand, they allow manufacturers to slap the Atmos sticker to complete gimmick products. They became the new THX. You're not going to get anything even resembling an Atmos system for 800 dollars, not even 1800 dollars. 8000 dollars is closer to the mark.

What you can get with 800 dollars is a 5.1 Dolby digital surround built from preowned speakers and a receiver. And even that is if you get lucky with your purchases. 5 Pioneer SP-22-LR:s and a preowned sub with a preowned DD receiver - it's doable for 800 bucks. Atmos requires full range for all the channels, also the effect channels and it has at minimum 4 more speakers than Dolby Digital. So you're going to need more and bigger speakers and a new receiver and that blows the budget.

The room acoustics, placement and the quality of the speakers will define around 80% of your overall experience so you should not worry so much about the receiver brand vs brand, get as good speakers as you can and study on where you should place them for a working surround.

Basic tip: A speaker should usually never be next to a wall, floor or the ceiling. Leave at least 5-8 inch clearance or more if possible. In practice this means placing small speakers to speaker stands and having them attached to the wall and the ceilings using extended arms.

Basic tip number two: A listening room should be symmetric. So the biggest flaw you can have is have an open wall on the other side but not on the other. Your main speakers should be placed symmetrically in relation to the side walls or you lose a lot of the stereo imaging (and it also hurts the surround).
 
Last edited:
B00nie said:
You need 9.2 speakers and a Dolby Atmos receiver to experience Atmos surround. Perhaps even more speakers (front, back, sides, the ceiling and subs). That sound bar is a perfect expression of the dilution of the Dolby brand, they allow manufacturers to slap the Atmos sticker to complete gimmick products. They became the new THX. You're not going to get anything even resembling an Atmos system for 800 dollars, not even 1800 dollars. 8000 dollars is closer to the mark.

What you can get with 800 dollars is a 5.1 Dolby digital surround built from preowned speakers and a receiver. And even that is if you get lucky with your purchases. 5 Pioneer SP-22-LR:s and a preowned sub with a preowned DD receiver - it's doable for 800 bucks. Atmos requires full range for all the channels, also the effect channels and it has at minimum 4 more speakers than Dolby Digital. So you're going to need more and bigger speakers and a new receiver and that blows the budget.

The room acoustics, placement and the quality of the speakers will define around 80% of your overall experience so you should not worry so much about the receiver brand vs brand, get as good speakers as you can and study on where you should place them for a working surround.

Basic tip: A speaker should usually never be next to a wall, floor or the ceiling. Leave at least 5-8 inch clearance or more if possible. In practice this means placing small speakers to speaker stands and having them attached to the wall and the ceilings using extended arms.

Basic tip number two: A listening room should be symmetric. So the biggest flaw you can have is have an open wall on the other side but not on the other. Your main speakers should be placed symmetrically in relation to the side walls or you lose a lot of the stereo imaging (and it also hurts the surround).
Click to expand...
true atmos starts at 5.1.2, not the large room 9.1.4 and technically its the upward firing speakers and the sound processing that makes atmos. your tip about speaker placement is wrong, it depends on port placement, front ported speaker dont care. you do want a small gap so it doesn't vibrate against it. hes not trying to build a listening room, ffs.
https://www.dolby.com/us/en/guide/dolby-atmos-speaker-setup/index.html he wants decent sound for watching yt/movies, music and games in a small apartment room.
did you even read the op?
 
pendragon1 said:
true atmos starts at 5.1.2, not the large room 9.1.4 and technically its the upward firing speakers and the sound processing that makes atmos. your tip about speaker placement is wrong, it depends on port placement, front ported speaker dont care. you do want a small gap so it doesn't vibrate against it. hes not trying to build a listening room, ffs.
https://www.dolby.com/us/en/guide/dolby-atmos-speaker-setup/index.html he wants decent sound for watching yt/movies, music and games in a small apartment room.
did you even read the op?
Click to expand...
Eh, I think I know a bit of speaker placement as I design speakers professionally. The port location is the least of reasons to place speakers away from boundary surfaces. With 5.1.2 you get a Play-Dough version of Atmos - but even that doesn't really fit a 800 dollar budget.

If he wants to get a good Atmos surround experience, he _is_ in fact building a listening room. All the same requirements apply to surround as to stereo listening.

I want to enjoy excellent surround sound (hearing things moving around) in my small bedroom
Click to expand...
 
give it a rest. not everyone is trying to execute shit to your standards. you constantly try to force your opinion onto simple situations. he can get a 5.1.2 atmos sound bar, sub and rears for $400 and that will let him hear things moving around him. it will give him a decent experience in the limited room of his apartment bedroom.
 
pendragon1 said:
give it a rest. not everyone is trying to execute shit to your standards. you constantly try to force your opinion onto simple situations. he can get a 5.1.2 atmos sound bar, sub and rears for $400 and that will let him hear things moving around him. it will give him a decent experience in the limited room of his apartment bedroom.
Click to expand...
He can get a sound bar, yes, but he will NOT get what he wished i.e. excellent surround sound. You can try to fool yourself as much as you want but the facts won't change.
 
My room size is about 350cmx260cm. Standard apartment height. It only fits two big desks and a bed. For such small room size, which system do you recommend?
 
Do the rear speakers have to be right behind me? My back is a wall but it is covered when the door to the room is opened. Next to it is my bed. So I cannot place any rear speaker behind me, not hanging on the wall nor on speaker stand. So it looks like I have to depend on soundbar/speakers at the front. That is another problem.
 
The rears can be placed on the side walls also (as far back as possible of course), many receivers have an option to have rears in back and sides or only on sides.
 
I ran my living room 5.1 setup with the surrounds in the rear for a while, it was OK for getting surround, but you get a fuller effect with them at your sides where they're supposed to be.
 
In my case, due to the limited room size, is it better to get a wireless headphone that supports Atmos? Will the sound quality be better?
 
tvclock said:
In my case, due to the limited room size, is it better to get a wireless headphone that supports Atmos? Will the sound quality be better?
Click to expand...
It totally depends. 99,9% of headphones can not support surround and no headphone can do 'Atmos' they just bought the right to use the label. Atmos for headphones is just a gimmick like sound bars, they will produce a fake surround that is perhaps 20% as effective as the real deal.

But headphones may indeed give you the best result if your room is challenging and you don't have much to invest.
 
yes but its sim atmos. I tried it for the demo period and it does make a good difference.
 
How is the Sony HT-ST5000 compared with vizio 5.1.2? It seems that the HT-ST5000 does not need rear speakers yet be able to make the user feels like in the middle of the videos. Am I right?

I heard the Sony HT-ST5000, HT-X9000F and HT-Z9F in BestBuy and Vizio in Costco. It seems that the HT-ST5000 sounded much better than the rest. As I did not have them side by side, hard to compare.
 
tvclock said:
How is the Sony HT-ST5000 compared with vizio 5.1.2? It seems that the HT-ST5000 does not need rear speakers yet be able to make the user feels like in the middle of the videos. Am I right?

I heard the Sony HT-ST5000, HT-X9000F and HT-Z9F in BestBuy and Vizio in Costco. It seems that the HT-ST5000 sounded much better than the rest. As I did not have them side by side, hard to compare.
Click to expand...
The sound bars use DSP to fake surround. Basically it's audio equivalent of driving a replica Ferrari that everyone can see it's a replica. But if you're waf / room limited then I guess its better than nothing. Personally I would buy a good pair of stereo monitors instead of the sound bar. For example a pair of JBL308's won't set you off much and they're good price/quality. For 5.1 surround you could even make do with phantom center (no center speaker) and one rear surround speaker facing upwards.

You can forget any 'Atmos' with sound bars etc. It's just a label, not the real experience with them.
 
atmos is the sound processing and upward firing speakers, its not that complicated....
 
pendragon1 said:
atmos is the sound processing and upward firing speakers, its not that complicated....
Click to expand...
Atmos is object oriented digital sound processing, it's extremely complicated actually. Don't confuse Atmos with all the consumer toys that have the label slapped on them. They have absolutely nothing to do with actual Atmos.
 
The problem really is the commercialization of "Atmos". B00nie, as much as I don't want to admit because of the way he's coming across IS correct, Atmos, true Atmos needs better than what a laptop and a soundbar can deliver to appreciate it over traditional 5.1 setups. The fact that their selling "Atmos" as a thing and selling it to clueless consumers is the problem. I'm no expert but i'm of the opinion if you are dead set on Atmos, you should do it correctly with all the proper gear and room setup/treatment. That just isn't feasible for the majority of the people who bought a product with the sticker slapped on it like the OP's laptop.

IMO, the OP would be well off and be none the wiser with solid, well reviewed soundbar or a traditional, again solid and well reviewed 5.1 setup.
 
Between the Sony HT-ST5000 and Samsung HW-N950, which is better? Some reviewers mentioned that as the ST5000 does not have rear speakers, it cannot provide full immersion to users. Thus, the HW-N950 is better. However, some reviewers mentioned that the ST5000 lacks rear speakers, it is still better than the N950. Please note that I have a Sony HDR 4K X900E TV. Not sure if it is better to go for a Sony soundbar.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top