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Greatest costs as we speak: Denon Dwelling 550

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Denon goals to supply a full-featured soundbar in a compact and unobtrusive bundle with its Denon Dwelling 550 all-in-one. It is designed to work with the corporate’s HEOS multi-room audio platform, which implies you may improve the soundbar with different Denon HEOS audio system, in addition to use it in HEOS whole-home speaker setups.

Moviegoers will recognize that the Denon 550 all-in-one can course of Dolby Atmos and DTS:X audio, the 2 major object-based 3D audio codecs. The 4.0-channel soundbar may play Hello-Res Audio.

We examined the Denon Dwelling 550 by itself, in addition to along with the non-compulsory Denon Dwelling subwoofer ($599) and a pair of Denon Dwelling 150 small audio system ($498) to create a real encompass sound system.

This evaluation is a part of TechHive’s in-depth protection of the very best soundbars.

How large is the Denon 550 sound bar?

The Denon Dwelling 550 is comparatively compact, measuring 25.95 x 2.95 x 4.72 inches (W x H x D) and weighing 7.3 kilos. It appears tiny when positioned beneath a 55-inch or bigger TV. The entrance of the unit is wrapped in grey material that provides it a sleeker look than many different soundbars which have plastic speaker grills.

The Dwelling 550 has a six-speaker array, together with two 19mm tweeters and 4 55mm full-range drivers, whereas a trio of 55 x 90mm passive radiators assist beef up the underside finish.

It is value noting that there is no devoted controller for the middle channel; as a substitute, the audio from the left and proper drivers are mixed to create a “phantom” middle channel.

Equally, the Denon Dwelling 550 lacks highly effective drivers to bounce Dolby Atmos or DTS:X peak alerts off the ceiling; as a substitute, peak results are achieved by means of virtualization, an more and more widespread technique that has grow to be more and more efficient through the years.

The soundbar comes with an IR distant, HDMI cable, 3.5mm audio cable, optical cable, and a paper template to make use of when you’re mounting the Denon Dwelling 550 on a wall. The again of the unit has an HDMI enter, an eARC and ARC appropriate HDMI output, an optical (Toslink) enter, a 3.5mm audio enter, an ethernet port, and a USB enter for playback from a drive.

James Barber/Foundry

What are the audio settings for the Denon Dwelling 550 Soundbar?

Along with its Dolby Atmos and DTS:X audio capabilities, the Denon Dwelling 550 has a Dialog Enhancer mode with three ranges of compression, whereas Evening Mode smooths out the highs and lows for viewing periods after darkish.

The Denon Dwelling 550 has a management panel on high with motion-sensitive contact controls that mild up if you run your hand over it. There are buttons for mute, play/pause, and quantity up/down, whereas a fifth button helps you to regulate the extent of dialogue enhancement.

James Barber/Foundry

Most customers will want to make use of the Denon HEOS app for iOS or Android, which permits for extra detailed management of the unit. You’ll be able to choose your sound mode in addition to change the enter in case you have a number of gadgets related to the soundbar. There may be additionally a Sound Choices panel that enables for EQ (treble and bass solely) and subwoofer changes.

As soon as you’ve got adjusted the settings to your liking, you may press and maintain the fast choice buttons to avoid wasting presets for future use.

There are all kinds of music and radio companies constructed into the app, together with Pandora, Spotify, TuneIn Radio, Amazon Music, Deezer, Napster, iHeart Radio, SiriusXM, SoundCloud, Tidal, and Rhapsody. Spotify makes use of Spotify Join for playback, whereas the others permit some management throughout the app. Amazon Music helps Hello-Res Audio playback (as much as 24-bit/192kHz) by means of the HEOS app, whereas Tidal (which depends on the MQA codec to assist Hello-Res playback) is restricted to CD high quality as a substitute. HEOS.

James Barber/Foundry

How is the Dolby Atmos efficiency of the Denon Dwelling 550?

After selecting the Dolby Encompass (film) setting within the HEOS app’s sound mode, I streamed the spectacular “Darkstar” sequence from High Gun: Maverick on iTunes. This model is downmixed for Dolby Atmos, and having seen the movie many occasions in numerous theatrical codecs, I can attest that the Denon Dwelling 550 mixed with the Dwelling Sub and Dwelling 150 audio system reproduced the sonic element of the scene impressively.

Take the Dwelling 150 rear audio system out of the equation and the “Darkstar” expertise nonetheless impresses. If you do not need the additional audio system in your lounge, you may get a terrific expertise with simply the subwoofer. Lose the subwoofer, although, and the sound will not be as outlined as you’d count on from a speaker on this value vary.

Audio playback high quality is superb, however the Denon 550 is not as loud as many different soundbars, and whereas its simulated encompass sound undoubtedly delivers when used with a subwoofer and rear audio system, it will not really feel as immersive. a movie-viewing expertise such as you’d get with Denon’s personal entry-level DHT-S217, enabled for Dolby Atmos when it’s paired with a subwoofer.

The Denon Dwelling 550 objectively sounds higher than its cheaper counterpart, however you get a extra restrained presentation that actually shines if you begin utilizing the 550 as a music speaker.

James Barber/Foundry

How does the Denon Dwelling 550 work with music?

The Denon 550 soundbar is the most recent entry within the firm’s line of HEOS audio system designed to compete instantly with market chief Sonos. Music playback is an actual power for the 550, and Denon’s HEOS app for iOS and Android is central to the expertise.

I performed Muse’s 2022 album will of the individuals through Tidal through the HEOS app. I’ve the Hello-Fi Plus subscription, which typically provides entry to the service’s MQA hi-res streaming codec. Sadly, the Denon Dwelling 550 is proscribed to CD high quality by means of Tidal, because the HEOS app doesn’t assist MQA.

Nonetheless, taking part in the identical Muse tracks by means of Spotify Join was an instructive expertise. Spotify but it does not supply higher high quality CD or streaming, and the Spotify model of the monitor did not sound as detailed as Tidal’s stream. The superb high quality of the Denon Dwelling 550 speaker actually exposes the hole between Spotify and its larger decision competitors.

Denon touts the speaker’s capability to play hi-res PCM-based recordsdata as much as 24-bit/192kHz and DSD recordsdata as much as 5.6MHz, requiring a house community server or USB stick related to the system.

Does the Denon Dwelling 550 sound bar assist Bluetooth and Wi-Fi streaming?

Contemplating you may play audio over HDMI with apps in your streaming gadget or by means of most of those self same apps over Wi-Fi, it is unlikely you may want to make use of Bluetooth with the Denon 550.

In case you do, notice that you’re restricted to the default SBC Bluetooth codec, as there isn’t a assist for the Hello-Res aptX or LDAC codecs.

A greater streaming choice is AirPlay 2, good for streaming CD-quality audio to the soundbar from an Apple gadget.

Does the Denon Dwelling 550 work with Alexa?

The Denon Dwelling 550 has Alexa in-built, which implies it could possibly do just about every thing considered one of Amazon’s Echo audio system can. I used Alexa on the 550 to verify sports activities scores and climate, in addition to play some songs from Amazon Music.

In case you’re an Echo person, you are aware of the pulsing mild that Amazon’s audio system use to provide you with a warning to messages. That features updates on bundle supply standing and buying options from Amazon. For higher or worse, activating Alexa on the Denon 550 brings the identical functionality to your soundbar. In case you have a bundle to ship, the soundbar will begin to glow if you’re watching a film.

After all, it is potential to enter the Alexa app in your cellphone and switch off notifications you do not need. In case you do you need supply notifications on any of your Alexa gadgets, you may need to reside with the occasional vivid mild on the 550 if you wish to activate Alexa there.

Don’t need Alexa on the Denon Dwelling 550? Simply depart the operate (opt-in) disabled.

Is the Denon Dwelling 550 value it?

The Denon 550 is a pretty, comparatively small soundbar that sounds nice by itself or when utilized in a encompass sound setup with different audio system from Denon’s HEOS line. In case you’re outfitting a big room as a house theater for watching motion motion pictures and sporting occasions, it’s your decision one thing able to extra quantity.

Not everybody needs lightning and thunder of their lounge. In case you’re searching for a flexible soundbar that performs music even higher than TV or motion pictures and does not overpower the view in your house setup, the Denon 550 soundbar could be a terrific selection.