What is a Soundbar? Trend of Soundbar & Soundbar Buying Guide

A soundbar is typically a slim, elongated shaped sound system that contains several speakers and produces sounds. It is most often placed, or mounted to the wall, below and in front of your TV to replace the built-in speakers in your TV.

What is a Soundbar?

A soundbar is a long, narrow, and compact audio speaker system designed to enhance your TV viewing experience. It is a single unit that houses multiple speakers and can be mounted on a wall or placed in front of a TV. Unlike traditional home theater systems, soundbars eliminate the need for multiple speakers and wires, making it an easy and convenient solution to enjoy high-quality audio.

Why Do I Need a Soundbar?

If you’re a movie or music enthusiast, a soundbar is a must-have addition to your home entertainment system. It significantly improves the audio quality of your TV and enhances the overall viewing experience. Soundbars are specially designed to provide rich and clear audio with powerful bass, which is lacking in TV speakers.

Moreover, soundbars are perfect for small living spaces or rooms where you cannot accommodate a complete home theater system. They are also an ideal choice for those who want to enjoy a cinematic experience without spending a fortune on expensive equipment.

What Does a Soundbar Do?

A soundbar’s primary function is to enhance the audio quality of your TV. It does this by providing a wider soundstage, which makes the audio more immersive and realistic. Soundbars also offer better clarity and dialogues, making it easier to understand what is being said on screen.

Additionally, soundbars come with different sound modes, including movie, music, and gaming, which optimize the audio for each type of content. Soundbars also feature Bluetooth connectivity, allowing you to stream music directly from your phone or other devices.

How Does a Soundbar Work?

Soundbars are designed to simulate surround sound by utilizing different speaker drivers, including tweeters, mid-range, and subwoofers. These speakers are aligned in a specific way to create a wider soundstage, giving the impression that the sound is coming from different directions.

Most soundbars also come with a separate subwoofer, which is responsible for producing deep and powerful bass. The subwoofer can be wireless or wired, depending on the model you choose. Some high-end soundbars also come with Dolby Atmos, a technology that creates a three-dimensional sound experience by bouncing sound off the ceiling.

How to Connect a Soundbar?

Connecting a soundbar is a simple and straightforward process. Most soundbars come with different connectivity options, including HDMI, optical, and Bluetooth.

To connect a soundbar to your TV using an HDMI cable, plug one end of the cable into the HDMI ARC port on your TV and the other end into the HDMI ARC port on your soundbar. If your TV does not have an HDMI ARC port, you can use an optical cable to connect the two devices.

If your soundbar supports Bluetooth, you can connect it wirelessly to your phone, tablet, or other devices. To do this, turn on Bluetooth on your device and search for the soundbar’s name. Once connected, you can stream music or other content directly to your soundbar.

How come a soundbar is better than other audio solutions?

A soundbar is better than other audio solutions for several reasons.

Price

Due to increasing demand, soundbars are becoming relatively affordable in comparison to surround audio systems.

Efficiency

Installing a soundbar is easy and intuitive. It offers a better audio experience with less setup and fewer wires.

Acoustic experience

As TVs become thinner and thinner, built-in speakers are becoming weaker and producing less quality sounds. A soundbar, since it has its own individual speakers, can enhance your acoustic experience.

The environmental factor to consider before buying a soundbar

Environment is the number 1 factor you must consider before buying a soundbar. Ask yourself,
    1. How much space do I have in my room?
    2. Where will I put my TV?
    3. How much space do I have for my soundbar? Will my soundbar be mounted to the wall?
A soundbar works best when placed below and in front of your TV. That said, you would need to measure your TV cabinet, stand, or shelf to know what size of soundbar suits your living space. It is also important that you do not place your soundbar in an enclosed cabinet, this will diminish the sound quality of your soundbar. Your soundbar should always be placed in an open space where it is not covered.

How to choose a soundbar?

When you are choosing the perfect soundbar, beware of its specifications. Below are the five key points that you should consider, including the soundbar’s size, type (active or passive), number of channels, inputs, and controls.

Size

Technically, you can pair any size of soundbar with your TV. However, if you are a person who is aesthetic, you might want to consider the proportion of your TV versus your soundbar. If you have a soundbar that is wider than your TV, the visual balance might be distorted.

Active vs Passive

Passive

Technically, you can pair any size of soundbar with your TV. However, if you are a person who is aesthetic, you might want to consider the proportion of your TV versus your soundbar. If you have a soundbar that is wider than your TV, the visual balance might be distorted.

Active

An active soundbar means that the soundbar does have built-in amplifiers and channel processors. Active soundbars do not need extra receivers to operate. Because an active soundbar is an all-inclusive device, there will be less wires and less set up to do.

Which kind of soundbar do I need? Passive or Active?

The answer is simple. If you are looking to upgrade your TV’s audio, an active soundbar would be your best choice. Passive soundbars are better suited for custom installations. If you are aesthetic and want your soundbar to disappear as part of the TV, you should choose passive soundbars.

Soundbar Channels

Channels can be considered as sound sources or individual speakers. The number of channels means the number of speakers there is in a soundbar.

2-channel soundbar

Two individual speakers that are located at the left and right of a soundbar.

3-channel soundbar

Three individual speakers that are located at the center, left, and right of a soundbar.

5-channel soundbar

A five-channel soundbar not only has center, left, and right speakers, but also has two rear speakers. The five-channel acoustic system has been the standard for home theater for almost 20 years now.

7-channel soundbar

A 7-channel soundbar contains the same channels as the 5-channels soundbar: center, left, right, and two rear individual speakers. However, the two rear individual speakers are split into 4 channels. Thus, you get a total of 7 individual speakers in a 7-channel soundbar.

Dolby Atmos soundbar

The Dolby Atmos soundbar can be considered as an upgraded version of a 5-channel soundbar or 7-channel soundbar. The difference between a 5- or 7-channel soundbar and a Dolby Atmos soundbar is that the Dolby Atmos soundbar has additional upward-firing speakers. The upward-firing speakers create a 3D soundstage, which allows sounds to reflect above you. The Dolby Atmos soundbar works best in an environment where there is a ceiling over 11 feet high and made of hard, reflective material.

How many channels do I need?

The more channels, the better acoustic experience you get.
With all that is being said, it really depends on what you are looking for in a soundbar. If you want an immersive, cinematic experience, the 5-channel soundbar, 7-channel soundbar, or Dolby Atmos soundbar would best fit your needs. On the contrary, if you live in a smaller space where a home theater setup is not necessary, you may choose to buy soundbars with less channels.

HDMI ARC

The HDMI ARC allows you to easily connect your soundbar to your TVs ARC input, using a HDMI cable. Once connected, your soundbar is all set and ready to use.

Wireless Connectivity

The wireless connection allows you to connect your soundbar to not only the TV, but also your smartphone or other tablet.

Bluetooth

Many soundbars today come with built-in Bluetooth, making it a “no-brainer” to stream media from all your devices that have Bluetooth connections.

Wi-Fi

Wireless soundbars that come with Wi-Fi can connect to your home’s Internet network and stream media from anywhere.

Optical Port

An optical port is pretty much like the HDMI ARC, plug it in and you are all done. However, while an optical patch cord gives you the best connection between your TV and soundbar, it does not carry bandwidths over a 5.1 signal.

USB Inputs

Most soundbars nowadays do not use USB inputs to connect. The USB inputs are mostly used for firmware updates, if not done through software updates

How will I control my soundbar?

The soundbar would come with its own remote controller. Some soundbars, with app installation, allow you to control through your smartphone or tablet.

Best soundbar in 2022

How will I control my soundbar?

With SB310, you will experience your first immersive 3D surround sound. Jazz Hipster’s unique acoustic technology optimizes the surrounding field of the SB310. The SB310 soundbar provides everyone an opportunity to enjoy a home theater setting with high-quality sounds at an affordable price.
Three individual speakers that are located at the center, left, and right of a soundbar.
SB310 Specifications:
    • 3.1.0 channel
      Three individual speakers that are located at the center, left, and right of a soundbar.
    • Output power 90W RMS
    • XbowFlector 3D audio technology for outstanding and immersive 3D sounds
    • Wi-Fi support 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac dual band
    • Bluetooth 5.0
    • HDMI 2.1*2, supports eARC
    • Supports SPDIF
    • Audio streaming
    • Modes: Movie/Music/News/Sport/Game

For more information on Jazz Hipster ATMOS Soundbar SB310, please visit us at https://jazzhipster.com/home-theater-speaker/sb310/.

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