Samsung Q950T Soundbar Review - Best Atmos Soundbar of 2020 

Agreed! Hey Vince we would absolutely adore your thoughts on the Q950A

Are those units placed too far away from each other? Might that be the problem of the sound cut-out?

For me it was the hand gesture 💀

I died

Beat me to it 🤣

LMAO..the hand gesture got me!

I have it and like it but am finding the rears crackle with certain movies where there is heavy bass. Not sure what the solution is there for this but its not comforting knowing that ive spent over a grand on this. Im going to exchange but if the new unit has the same issue I am going to go with the arc.

Very helpful analysis, have u encountered any drop outs or crackling

@Rasmus Karlsson It’s still great. In fact, sounds better than when I first got it now that the settings are all tuned up.

Thanks for the info!

Wish they had made it more pleasant to listen to.

Indeed. I stopped on my tracks buying Sonos Arc when I found out it doesn't even come with the remote at all and you need to do everything in the app... AND WAIT FOR IT.... IT'S APPLE only! Also, the fact that it NEEDS your Wi-FI or Etherenet to communicate with itself is another WTF? No HDMI inputs was the next asinine thing about it. Then came probably the biggest deal-breaker if the iPhone only app situation wasn't bad enough. NO DTS! Like, almost ALL Blu-rays have DTS Audio! WTF?! Well, tells everything you need to know about who it's aimed for when they only support Apple phones and assume their customers use only streaming services and not Blu-ray discs! These are the things make me want to go for actual A/V receivers and separate speakers where I can choose my components and miss and match them for my needs. Even if somewhat more expensive, bigger headache to install and pisses of the missis.

@@madfinntech this was my first choice for a sound bar. What would you recommend

Found my rears crackle. Check out movies with heavy bass.

@@dwaynedesa1749 like what?

@@DrBoogeyman420 i tried unbroken ( intro battle scene) on netflix and dark knighf rises ( scene where be brings out the flying bat) and speakers crackled at these heavy bass scenes. It is inconsistent though so i would try out a bunch of diff movies/scenes.

@@dwaynedesa1749 i had the same issue with rear speakers and tried every troubleshooting step before i took it back. Took it back and got a new one and the issue is gone. Not to say it wont come back but its gone for now.

@@blakeharrod9026 thanks for this. I just got a new one too..so lets see. Ive read that it can also be due yo wifi traffic. So if a lot of stuff is im thr room it can cause this. In my opinion a $1200+ product shouldnt have this. Im thinkibg if this happens again, i may just return and go with the sonos arc and 2 sl'

How?

Yes, but its rears have to be connected with wires to subs, don't they? The rear of my viewing room is split by a doorway, so that wouldn't work for me.

@@Jim_in_AR you could possibly go with the Sonos Arc if you just want simplicity. The gen 2 sub is really good to. The rears are not true rears but if you want bougie it’s very stylish. I still think after hearing my friends Samsung Q950T the Nakimachi is more complete 360’ sound. Your right though it depends on you want.

Both are good with respect to their prices and both are samsung so who cares. Congrats on your new soundbar.

I never had disconnects

The disconnect problem is easy to fix just by simply changing the Samsung Q950T Soundbar channel frequency that is being used to connect to the speakers. If you go to the Samsung website for support on this Soundbar it gives you simple instructions to fix by changing the frequency. If you are still using an old 2.4ghz wifi router then that is the problem and it will also interfere with Logitech wireless mouse as they are all using the same 2.4ghz frequency. A simple solution is to buy a new 5ghz wifi router and turn off the 2.4ghz signal in the setting and the disconnect problem will be solved.

@@FunFunFun8888 having to turn off 2.4 channel is still a problem and a sub optimal “solution” imho

The fact that Samsung is JBL's parent company makes me giggle

Yeah kinda stupid to make a soundbar review and even thinking about saying bluetooth when everyone knows that bluetooth has huge latency

Thanks for clarifying, takes some worries away

How is the bass on your sonos?? I just got the 950t today and am incredibly underwhelmed with the bass delivery and now Im looking to return it and get either the sonos or the bose 700

@@billmatic9059 I got the Bose 700 and it has alot of low bass.

Problem with the comparison is what elements you have included, what tv is used (Dolby atmos is not working on Samsung), personal preference,... Rtings has a comparison of both. And the Samsung wins. BUT I actually hat both. And I can’t say that I see it the same way. Sonos: fantastic sound (balanced), multi room works perfectly, super clean base with the subwoofer, Dolby atmos with calibration, great for music and movie lovers, a bit more expensive. Samsung: good sound, to much base for my taste since you don’t understand people talking on tv anymore, sucks at music listening, base is not clean(bookie), rears cut out randomly, the fabric in the front feels cheep, rears and sub materials feels cheep. ( Had a Nubert sound system before to compare to)

Sonos arc is not even close to samsung

All the reviewers are raving the Samsung Q950T soundbar. Samsung has been producing the best Atmos soundbar for the past 2-3 years. Sonos does not even come close.

All comparisons I’ve seen some reviewers put the Q950T way ahead of the Sonos Arc. Plus the Sonos has no overhead channels on the rears so you won’t be getting a true Atmos experience.

I bought both of these and will say the sonos arc is better with the sl surrounds. The q950t is definitely immersive but it is very inconsistent (sounds good one some things but mediocre on others). The rears also crackle at times on some movie tracks (tested this on sonos and it wasnt an issue), you also can't really hear the surrounds at times. The bar is okay for music. The subwoofer rattles the place so maybe some will like this (adjusting the eq didnt do anything). The smart things app needs an update, as the sonos app is miles ahead of it. The sonos also have room correction, the q950T doesn't. The Q950A will have room correction. Samsung also doesnt have lpcm 5.1 but sonos included this on a firmware up update (unacceptable considering this price point). Personally i found the sonos more immersive and very clear and.consistent; and I plan on getting the sub later. I'd rather invest in a product that has less channels, is consistent and has a feeling of more longevity to it. I don't think the q950t has this and i doubt there will be much future firmware updates given that samsung is going to release a 11.1.4 system. Lastly, atmos on any of these soundbars or systems will never beat an actual home theatre system or ceiling speakers, so i think this is important to consider when analyzing different aspects.of what to get.

Not very well. The virtual Atmos from the Z9F is not nearly as convincing as the active drivers used by these bars. Z9F also has muddier base and not nearly as clear highs.

At least the Sony HT-Z9F has a front display (hugely important in daily usage), built-in test tone, and individual control of wireless SA-Z9R rears. Also has a separate remote with plenty of buttons; just wish there was a toggle between sound modes and Dolby Virtualizer. So, I'm still waiting for a soundbar better enough in sound and as good in usability to change.

I bought this sound system and the bass, dialogue are amazing but I will say the source is very important you must feed it good source to get the best audio quality otherwise its can be lackluster

Bass and dialogue are cinema like quality.

They are the same engineers in the California Audio Labs. They just aren't furthering the Harmon Kardon name brand, instead opting to further the Samsung name.

Thanks for the info!

@@hdtvtest No problem. Happy New Year 🙂

@@rhtr. I can't get the multiroom app to connect to my q900t

Will the app allow separate volume control of the rears?

Make that dual SUBs please

Really hope so, just got a ps5 so fingers crossed

@@tommarshall9927 Sorry, I was being 100% facetious. Neither update will arrive. Ever.

@@tommarshall9927 You don't need LPCM for PS5??

Tried it with the XSX was able to get 4K 120, but no VRR

No, however it has eARC support. No real reason to plug consoles directly into soundbar.

@@jayroman3384 does using eARC from the TV give more audio delay?

@@XDLugia so eARC intention is to eliminate audio delay due to hdmi 2.1 higher bandwidth capability. Works fine with me so far. Haven’t had any audio delay issues

@@jayroman3384 Happy to hear that, but wasn't eARC simply to make space for more bandwidth to increase sound quality, and not to eliminate delay? I'd be happy to be wrong though.

...it's not obsolete...sure the new HW-Q950A adds the extra drivers to the rears. Price of the new model will be around 1600-1700 euros. The current Q950T can be had for HALF that price. Are those 2 extra drivers worth it? Of course not.

@@blurayffan66HW-Q950A price will come down and it has way more than two extra drivers. This time next year we will have the HW-Q950B

I have the X900H and Vizio Elevate and have the same exact issue.

It's more of an issue with the consoles as my Xbox One X does the same thing with Dolby Atmos output

I also have the Q90T and will never buy a Samsung again. On paper they’ve got all the features but in real life it does not work. Or the quality of sound is not there. Buy something else instead of this paid promotion.

@@xuhwj11 I have an X900H as well. Make sure you go into the xbox settings and set audio output to bitstream. This fixed the issue for me.

@@naderzein2435 it’s already on bitstream. It only happens with Dolby Atmos. It’s like half a second delay, pretty annoying. I’m now using DTS:X for gaming right now.

I was going to get the 9.1 but was around £600 when I was looking for one... Managed to get this for £749 in the end and been really blown away. The 9.1 also gets rave reviews and personally think it's the best value Atmos bar available

the 2021 has just been announced is the HWQ-950A is a 11 .1.4

@@Jack-ub3jl is it good idea to buy q950t soundbar because price is good now?

The Nakamichi has been reported to randomly cut out sound for a few milliseconds by a few reviewers. Caution is advised.

Nakamichi is more powerful but this bar has more beautiful sound which is balanced.

Nakamichi does vibration rather than sound

Yes.

Yeah... nothing to shout home about... the soundbar itself was good enough.

When I tried it with my q90t and the HW-q850t, I didn't notice anything different when it was on. Besides, there are no known codecs that utilize them. I guess they just replicate one of the other soundbar channels.

Q Symphony is a joke. The tv speakers sound hallow and tinny compared to just using the sound bar. I turned it off right away.

Probably a TV issue the same happens with my LG CX and it takes physically disconnecting the power to get it to reset

Arc was dodgy too. Try turning the TV and bar completely off by removing the plugs. Disconnecting and reattaching the HDMi cable and then turning both devices back on starting with the TV to see if it resolves the issue.

I have disconnected the bar multiple times, worked once but then the same issue again when went to use it. Now I am left with purely using optical. Do you think this can be fixed with an update, if it is the TV?

The Samsung Q950T.

I was really missing the dings too. Maybe we can only hear them if we have Atmos? :-)

Because it’s the Soundbar, sub, and two rear speakers. Your sound system counterpart would cost 3x as much for the same setup.

@@jayroman3384 and sound 3x as good

@@sparkside217 that’s besides the point. Most people aren’t going to pay 3x as much for something that’s also complicated to set up, when they can just buy this. Plain and simple. It’s why the Q90R was so popular.

@@jayroman3384 without sales reductions, bookshelf: £200 per pair, Centre: £160, AV receiver £300=£960 plus a sub if needed= £1310. Superior sound compared to this AIO. Maybe you haven’t tried to set up a dedicated system?It’s not complicated either. Match the wires with the positive and negative terminals and plug it in.

@@rogerhalt3991 I’m well aware of how to set up and utilize a sound system. Just because you prefer one over a soundbar doesn’t change the fact that the vast majority of people prefer the ease of sound systems with minimal setup. Every reviewer will tell you the same thing.

Make sure audio output is set to Passthrough or if that doesn't work, auto

@@sleepinglama14 thanks. Do you have the Q950T? If so, do you happen to notice if it displays "Atmos" on the top when viewing Atmos content? Mine just displays "eArc"

@@DavidSchleifstein I own last year's Q90R, but I have a Q950T in our showroom. Both will show Dolby Atmos when supported content first starts playing, but your TV audio output setting has to be in Passthrough or auto.