Definitive Technology - W Studio Soundbar With 8 Wireless Subwoofer Review

The best soundbars accomplish an almost perfect residue of aesthetics and performance. They eliminate the visual eyesore of speakers, amplifiers, and wires while delivering sonic performances that are vastly superior to any modern Tv set's sub-par audio. Relatively few reach that goal, leaving you to cull betwixt an industrial design that volition wait attractive beneath your TV, and the type of audio presentation that will get your pulse pounding.

Definitive Technology, a venerable proper name in high-stop dwelling theater and audiophile circles, comes very close to balancing those scales with its Studio Slim organization, consisting of a svelte soundbar in a beautiful enclosure paried with a thundering wireless subwoofer and offered at toll that won't accept your breath away.

It'due south non a smart speaker in and of itself, but you lot can control it using Google Banana, and it also supports Google's Chromecast audio-streaming technology also every bit Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

This review is part of TechHive'due south coverage of the best soundbars, where you lot'll discover reviews of competing products, plus a buyer'southward guide to the features you should consider when shopping.

Slim industrial design

The Studio Slim's form gene is worthy of its name. At approximately one.81 inches alpine, three.25 inches deep, and 43.39 inches wide, you must run across the Studio Slim in person to appreciate its minimalist dimensions. Fifty-fifty in such a trim footprint, there'southward zip cheap in the Studio Slim'due south material or build quality—everything near this speaker says high-end sound.

Where most soundbars are designed as boring rectangular boxes (the new Sonos Arc existence a notable exception), the Studio Slim favors a trapezoidal design with outer edges that angle inward, giving the visual illusion that the Studio Slim is even smaller than it is. A beautiful, charcoal-grey, brushed-aluminum panel graces the top of its enclosure, and its front grill is woven from acoustically transparent speaker cloth. The Studio Slim's wireless subwoofer, meanwhile,features a textured veneer that endows it with a bit of flair—even though you'll likely tuck this component away in a corner of the room.

You tin mount the Studio Slim on a wall thanks to 2 keyhole mounting points on the unit'due south backside, simply you lot won't detect a mounting template in the box. Should you wish to place the Studio Slim soundbar on a shelf or cabinet, sparse condom anxiety on its bottom will prevent any scratching or marring of surfaces.

LEDs light upwardly backside the grille let y'all know the soundbar's volume, DSP setting, center channel and bass balance, and agile input. Unfortunately, you lot'll need to memorize what the lights and flashes mean. Just Definitive Engineering science does a good job of defining the visual cues in its otherwise Spartan user manual, and having x LED segments to indicate volume level fabricated information technology easy for me to determine if the speaker was putting out 30, 50, or 70 per centum of its maximum output.

Definitive Technology

The Studio Slim soundbar is a perfect marriage of industrial design and high functioning in a sleek footprint.

Slim without compromise

The Studio Slim is a 3.1-channel soundbar, significant it'southward equipped with true left, center, and correct channels, plus a channel for depression-frequency effects. Three 1-inch aluminum dome tweeters are used for the discreet left, right, and center channels. Y'all'll typically experience superior dialog performance with a discrete center channel every bit opposed to sound bars that mix center multichannel data into two stereo channels. The tweeters are complemented by four i x iii-inch oval midrange drivers.

Definitive Engineering

The beautiful charcoal-grayness, brushed aluminum acme console features buttons with commonly needed tasks, such as power, volume, and input select.

These drivers are powered by a 70-watt amplifier that performed cleanly in my listening tests, with no overt hints of strain or baloney. The Studio Slim's principal drivers aren't large plenty to dig deep, and so Definitive Technology relies on an included wireless subwoofer for low-end support. The approximately 14 x 12.5 x 12.5-inch (HxWxD) subwoofer comes pre-paired with the soundbar. All I needed to practice was plug in the soundbar and so plug in the subwoofer and I was in business.

The sub sports an 8-inch down-firing driver within an enclosure with four thick rubber feet that exercise a good chore of arresting whatever vibrations the subwoofer might produce. Whatsoever subwoofer's functioning—both how deep it plays and how cleanly—will be directly related to its placement in your room. Mostly speaking, you'll get the strongest and deepest bass performance if you put the sub in a corner (but yous might not necessarily get the cleanest bass operation that way). Given that the included subwoofer is wireless and not very heavy, I suggest giving the subwoofer crawl placement method a attempt.

Inputs

The Studio Slim comes with three inputs: One HDMI ARC (Audio Return Channel), one Toslink digital optical, and a USB interface. Those three inputs should exist enough for virtually consumers' setups. There are no analog options. The vast majority of TVs introduced in the past 5 years come with either or both HDMI ARC and Toslink connections.

Theo Nicolakis / IDG

HDMI ARC and Toslink optical will exist the primary methods y'all'll use to connect your Television set to the Studio Slim. Inputs are located on recessed inlets on the rear.

To connect the Studio Slim, you'll apply either an HDMI cable or a Toslink optical cable from your TV. Both HDMI and Toslink optical cables are included in the box. To use an HDMI connection, y'all must have a Telly that supports HDMI ARC.

Note that even if your Telly has HDMI ARC, it probably came from the factory with that feature turned off by default. And so, you lot'll need to enable HDMI CEC and ARC for this to work. In case you're wondering, the soundbar does not back up video passthrough (which is not at all unusual). You therefore cannot connect your amusement source (a Blu-ray player or a videogame panel, for example) to the soundbar and then run some other connexion from the soundbar to the Television set.

A solid remote command

The Studio Slim's remote control is well designed and laid out. While it'due south non backlit, the buttons are intuitive and easy to work by bear on when you lot're in depression-light situations. Existence an infrared device, the remote relies on line of sight. That said, I was able to control the soundbar with the remote at equally much every bit a 45-degree bending to the speaker. You might likewise be able to use your Boob tube's remote to control the Studio Slim's volume (more on that in a flake), and yous can definitely do it with the Google Dwelling house app on a smartphone or tablet.

The remote allows you to enable one of 3 DSP modes: Movie, Music, and Dark. Movie way promises to evangelize a larger soundstage and more punch; music is a more neutral EQ; and Night way will reduce the soundbar's volume and dynamics, so yous'll be less likely to wake the nighbors or your significant other.

Theo Nicolakis / IDG

The Studio Slim includes an HDMI cable and a Toslink optical cable among its accessories.

The vast majority of soundbar remotes aren't programmable, and soundbars typically repspond to discrete IR codes specific to each manufacturer. Definitive Engineering has done something incredibly smart with the Studio Slim: The soundbar is pre-configured to respond to volume and mute commands from pop Tv remotes from Samsung, LG, Sony, Vizio, and other major brands. I was able to control the Studio Slim's book with the remote controls from a Panasonic ZT60 Plasma and a Vizio P-Series Breakthrough Boob tube, only it didn't piece of work with an older Samsung Plasma TV remote.

Seamless Google integration

The Studio Slim is equipped with an 802.11 b/k/northward Wi-Fi adapter, but there's no option for hardwired ethernet. The first step in setting up this soundbar is to connect it to your Wi-Fi network using the Google Domicile app. And so at that place's no confusion, Definitive Applied science puts a "Google Home required" sticker on the back console, for those who don't like to read user manuals.

Once you've done that, yous can integrate the Studio Slim into a Chromecast multi-room sound ecosystem and command it with Google Assistant via your mobile device or a dissever smart speaker.

Theo Nicolakis / IDG

For those who don't read user manuals, Definitive Technology provides a sticker on the Studio Slim'southward back letting you lot know you lot'll need to perform setup with the Google Dwelling house app.

For me, setup and configuration were straightforward: I powered up the Studio Slim, launched the Google Home app on my iPhone, and was ready to go in just minutes. Google Home instantly prompted me to set up the Definitive Applied science Studio Slim and assign it to my home and to a room. Like about app-based sound bars, I had to go through a firmware update earlier I could start using it. I successfully integrated the Studio Slim with a Cambridge Audio YoYo speaker and CXNv2 network player by creating speaker groups and simultaneously steaming audio to each.

The Studio Slim relies on Google Home's congenital-in music services, such as Pandora, Google Play, Spotify, and Deezer. Tidal is not listed as 1 of the music services in the Google Abode app, just it is listed every bit supported on the Studio Slim's box. To employ Tidal, yous need to launch the Tidal app and select the Studio Slim as a Chromecast-enabled speaker. I had no bug integrating the Studio Slim with Tidal during my testing period.

While you'll certainly get the best audio performance via Chromecast over Wi-Fi, you practise have the option of Bluetooth streaming. Only have note that Bluetooth will piece of work only after the studio system has been prepare with the Google Home app.

Theo Nicolakis / IDG

Setup via Google Home was simple and seamless. I was upwardly and running in  minutes.

I should note that the Studio Slim doesn't support streaming ecosystems beyond Chromecast. Definitive Engineering's parent company is Sound United, which also owns Denon, Marantz, and Classé, amid other major audio brands. My principal dwelling theater is centered effectually Denon'south infrequent X8500H receiver, which features HEOS and AirPlay, so I was disaapointed to notice that I couldn't integrate the Studio Slim into my HEOS.

I set up the Studio Slim in my family room, where it took the place of another far larger soundbar without a subwoofer. I used Tidal streamed via Chromecast for music, and my entertainment sources were cable TV and an AppleTV 4K. I used a Toslink optical to provide audio from my TV to the Studio Slim.

Theo Nicolakis / IDG

You can stream music using the Google Habitation app. For Tidal, y'all'll select the Studio Slim via Chromecast.

I learned immediately that I shouldn't judge the Studio Slim's functioning by its footprint. This baby performs well across its size. I was immediately taken by the Studio Slim'south presence and dynamics. In fact, the initial notes I wrote were, "punchy and dynamic." This slimline soundbar organisation delivered beautifully clean and clear dialog no thing what the source material—including lots of cable TV content. Movies, game shows, news programming, you name it, there wasn't anything that this speaker didn't ace.

The Studio Slim did an outstanding job rendering a deep and large soundstage during the opening scenes of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on Ford Vs. Ferrari. No way was I expecting this soundbar to dig in deep with such superb dynamics. As with all soundbar-and-subwoofer combinations, at that place's a articulate heave in the upper bass that aids the system with its breast-pounding delivery. Manufacturers perform this flim-flam as it gives the illusiion of deep bass. When I played material with legitimately deep bass notes, even so, Definitive's setup but couldn't deliver. Physics is still physics, after all.

On the flip side, the Studio Slim has a tendency to sound sparse when it'southward in Movie DSP fashion. If that bothers you lot, switch to the Music DSP mode to go a warmer and more neutral presentation.

But if you have any doubts about this soundbar'southward aptitude for tiptop performance, drop in Tron Legacy and fast foward to the scene were Flynn drops into the Grid every bit the Recognizer bursts onto the scene. Yes, the eight-inch subwoofer isn't anywhere near capable of delivering the authoritative, subterranean bass contained in the scene, simply information technology certainly performed well within the frequency range it could deliver.

The included remote allowed me to increase the center channel volume, noticeably lifting dialog if I needed it. This made speech more pronounced and separated from the residue of the soundtrack, only the inevitable drawback is that it threw the overall audio balance off kilter. So, the option is there, but you lot might non demand it. I played the speaker for someone with a hearing harm and who requires hearing aids, and he said he had no problem whatsoever understanding dialog with the Studio Slim at its default setting.

Conclusion

Definitive Engineering's Studio Slim soundbar is a niche product designed specifically for those who want a soundbar with a small footprint, but who don't want to sacrifice premium sound performance to get information technology.

And with built-in Chromecast and Google Assistant support, y'all'll be able to integrate the Studio Slim into a whole-dwelling entertainment solution with Google-friendly speakers in other rooms all over your house. It's a not bad solution.

cartertakintor.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.techhive.com/article/578609/definitive-technology-studio-slim-review.html

Share this post