The former comes with a dual front - facing
speaker setup which sounds fantastic, and provides a far better audio experience for gaming and watching videos when compared to the single, bottom - mounted speaker of the latter.
The tablet comes with a four stereo
speaker setup which is tuned by AKG, and the company boasts that it can automatically change the direction when you switch from landscape to portrait.
Not exact matches
We're not sure on its feature set or design, but we're told it has stereo
speakers,
which likely means a singular unit with dual mid-range drivers and perhaps a single tweeter — or some similar
setup.
We do get a Dolby Surround track,
which does make what it can of its limited
speaker setup.
The 7.2 channels can be reconfigured into a 5.1.2 channel
setup,
which allow you place two additional ceiling mounted or vertically firing
speakers (that is what the.2 means in 5.1.2) for a more immersive surround experience with Dolby Atmos and DTS: X encoded content.
And there's just one option package available on the Z / 28,
which adds air conditioning and a 6 -
speaker audio
setup.
Sound is provided by a 280 - watt Meridian system with 10
speakers which can be upgraded to 660 - watt, 12 -
speaker setup.
Sound quality is also excellent thanks to a stereo
speaker setup,
which, combined with the 2K display, gives the slate strong multimedia credentials.
If there is but one problem is that there's just a shade of hollowness in the mids
which can muddle dialogue the tiniest fraction, but this has often been a problem with 2.1
setups and is where I tend to miss having a middle
speaker.
This makes for a simpler
setup and more straightforward use than other UE
speakers,
which sometimes require the app for pairing with other devices or for playback.
Once connected to the Marantz receiver, we ran Audyssey's MultEQ
setup,
which set
speaker distance,
speaker level and EQ for all
speakers in the system.
The most basic configuration (and the most common in Atmos soundbars) is 5.1.2,
which involves a typical 5.1
setup (left, center, right, and two surrounds), along with two height
speakers,
which can be mounted overhead, or angled up from ground level to bounce sound down from the ceiling.
We're not sure on its feature set or design, but we're told it has stereo
speakers,
which likely means a singular unit with dual mid-range drivers and perhaps a single tweeter — or some similar
setup.
This is a leap forward for anyone that wanted better
speaker quality, though it has already been the case for the Pixel 2
which also sports a stereo
speaker setup.
Getting a soundbar for your home - theater
setup gives you the best of both worlds: You don't have to settle for built - in TV
speakers —
which we've found to be consistently lackluster — but you also get to enjoy quality audio without the cost (or clutter) of a traditional
speaker setup.
The smartphone comes with a Dolby Atmos dual
speaker setup at the front and it also bundles headphones
which according to Lenovo has the best DACs for lossless playback.
Once you've decided on your
speaker setup (
which is, by far, the most time consuming part) it's onto the easy part: pairing your Echo device to those
speakers.
It is, of course, Wi - Fi compatible through the Libratone app,
which also supports multi-room
setup if you have multiple Libratone
speakers.
There are audio differences between the 2018 iPad and the iPad Pro line, too: The Pros feature a four -
speaker stereo
setup,
which lets you get excellent audio no matter how you rotate your device.
It also means the Playbar has all the same features as other Sonos
speakers, including voice control for those that have an Alexa - enabled device like Amazon Echo and Trueplay tuning,
which we will go into more detail on in the
setup section further down.
The One connects via Wi - Fi and eschews Bluetooth,
which might irk some, but it's supremely easy to
setup and connects seamlessly with other Sonos
speakers for struggle - free multiroom playback.
Asus also launched the Lyra Voice
which is an Alexa powered
speaker and had the capability to find network issues in your home Wifi
setup.
The device also comes with a dual stereo
speaker setup on the back,
which gets plenty loud, and with almost no distortion.
According to the leak, the rear camera
setup which had earlier been rumored to comprise a 12MP + 8MP phase detection and laser autofocus sensors with the
speaker grills coming in bold at a distance to the camera, comes packed with a LED flash for lighting.
Their biggest advancement is likely Virtual Surround Sound,
which can make two
speakers sound like a full 5.1
setup.
In addition to using Google Assistant for its voice commands, all Link
speakers are equipped with Google Chromecast,
which enables them to join up not only with other Link
speakers but any Chromecast - based audio device to create a multiroom audio
setup over a Wi - Fi network.
Samsung wisely includes a
setup wizard in the HT - E6500W that covers the basics, including an automatic
speaker calibration system
which sets
speaker level and
speaker distance.
Setup is easier than with most other Wi - Fi
speakers thanks to the Google Home app,
which also lets you have a multiroom system on a budget.
Possibly as a result of the sound processing Orbitsound applies to create the airSOUND spatial audio, it sounded like there was a more digital edge to the music,
which I don't get via my more traditional amp /
speaker setup.
I most often use Google's smart
speaker in combination with my Chromecast TV
setup,
which I am also not a huge fan of, but nothing quite compares to the rage I feel for my Google Home Mini sometimes.
When you first
setup your Google Home, you may forgot to choose weather unit,
which is an important feature installed on the smart
speaker.
This new, inclusive approach represents a significant difference between Apple's new multiroom functionality and that of industry - leading multiroom
speaker maker Sonos,
which takes a top - down approach to its
speaker systems, requiring listeners to buy Sonos - branded
speakers to create their full - home
speaker setup.
A couple of signature flagship Sony features are retained with the Xperia XZs, the first of
which is the dual front - facing
speaker setup.
However, due to there only being one
speaker the audio experience sounds just as lopsided as it did on the Z2 Play,
which featured the same
speaker setup.
Before we got to testing, we ran Trueplay, Sonos» auto -
setup program
which uses an iOS or Android device's microphone to balance the output of multiple
speakers and / or adjust the
speakers» EQ to work best with the room they are placed in.
HTC's new BoomSound
speaker setup is also here,
which combines both the front - firing earpiece
speaker and down - firing loudspeaker for a better sound stage.
Other examples of commercial usage include Ministry of Sound's London - based club,
which uses Dolby Atmos to power a 64 -
speaker, 22 - channel
setup.
There's also rumblings about something called the Google Home Max,
which looks to counter the upcoming Apple HomePod with its own hi - fi
speaker setup and built - in assistant.
Its take on channel encoding doesn't pre-mix audio for a specific
setup, instead it takes an object - based approach to saving audio data
which is mixed together right before the sound comes out of your
speakers.
The single
speaker setup on the vivo V3Max is pretty powerful, with minor if any distortions to be found at maximum volume, at
which it is quite unbearably loud, mind you.Of course, with the AKM AK4375 32 - bit / 192kHz Hi - Fi DAC, you may want to plug in a decent pair of headphones to enjoy your tunes better.
What I meant to say is that compared to both single -
speaker phones like the GS7 and phones like the iPhone 7
which has a similar two -
speaker setup, the U Ultra's audio sounds significantly better.
As you'd expect from a smart
speaker, the Invoke
setup is quite chatty: once you plug in the power lead, the Invoke turns itself on and, if you haven't started the
setup after a minute or so, it speaks up to tell you how to download the
setup app (
which you can get on Windows 10, Windows Phone, iOS, or Android).
A nice upgrade, according to SamMobile, is that it seems the S9 will have stereo
speakers,
which should deliver a much richer audio experience than the mono
setup on the S8.
Dolby Atmos adds a couple of extra left and right
speakers to a conventional 5.1
setup, either placed above listening height or, more commonly, by firing sound at an angle upwards to the ceiling
which bounces back to the listener, creating the illusion of all - encompassing sound.
Much like other third - party Alexa
speakers and devices, you do need to
setup the XL - V through the 808 Audio app,
which can be found on the Google Play Store.
Although it claims to support virtual 7.1
speaker setup, there is no way to control individual
speaker volume level unlike the Vengeance 1500,
which leaves me a bit sceptical on its virtual surround sound performance.
Although Fire TV devices probably don't count as
speakers, they do hook up to your TV,
which likely emits sound by itself or from your
speaker setup, so we're including it.
The HW - K950 doesn't come with a digital optical audio cable — if that's your preferred
setup method — and it also doesn't come with stands for the satellite
speakers,
which you may need depending on your surround sound
speaker placement plans.
The idea is you'll hook Dot up to your own
speaker setup, so you can use Alexa —
which, again, requires Wi - Fi — with your existing audio equipment.
For those eyeing a much simpler (and smaller) stereo
setup, one outside alternative would be KEF's LS50W powered bookshelf
speakers,
which cost quite a bit more at $ 2,200, but allow you to ditch a receiver or integrated amp.