topic Re: Thinking about adding a pair of R1's to my HW K850 Atmos soundbar.....will it work? in Audio & Video

Thinking about adding a pair of R1's to my HW K850 Atmos soundbar.....will it work?

ARYN86 — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 18:54:13 GMT

So I recently got the K850 soundbar, I opted for it instead of the K950 for several reasons including price and the fact I have a fairly small room so can't accomodate permanent rear speakers that the 950 has, but I am interested in getting a pair of R1 wireless speakers the I can use as regular stereo speakers for my bedroom and occasionally be bought down to give me a more immersive surround experience with the K850.

My question is will this work? I see in theory it works but I had a glance at the K650 thread and noticed people having problems so wanted to know if these issues have been sorted or if they ever existed with the K850, I did see someone mentioned something about how the Atmos stopped working when the rear R1's were active. I just want to check and see if people have got these working properly as it'll give me some peace of mind and something to look forward to.

Re: Thinking about adding a pair of R1's to my HW K850 Atmos soundbar.....will it work?

Rich_z7 — Sat, 22 Jul 2017 20:18:53 GMT

Hi,

I know they're different products but I have an MS6500 Soundbar and two R3's. It's given me hives trying to get these things to work together but once they do it's fantastic.

You apparently can only get surround sound when you use Wireless (not Bluetooth), so you need a router handy. With your TV turned off, change the soundbar mode to WiFi. Turn the sound bar off. Change the R1's to WiFi. Download the Samsung Multiroom App.

Now you're ready to tear your hair out.

Turn the TV on.

Turn on the soundbar

Goto the Multi Room app and select Add Speaker for each R1, select Add Speaker for the soundbar. On the sound bar press the 'Add Spkr' button which conveniently on mine (pokes Samsung very hard....) is on the bottom...... I only found it when I was looking for the serial number....

Now goto the TV and navigate to the Sound config. Select Wifi Speaker surround sound.

If the soundbar is not showing as the centre speaker add it.

CHECK both the R1's to make sure they are on the left or Right when they say they're on the left or right. If not, swap them on the screen or just pick 'em up.

Save the config, Use the config and sit back and enjoy.

Rich

Re: Thinking about adding a pair of R1's to my HW K850 Atmos soundbar.....will it work?

ARYN86 — Sat, 22 Jul 2017 21:05:25 GMT

Thanks for the detailed reply it's much apprecaited, I must admit it does sound kind of complex BUT my soundbar has the wifi text displaying whenever it turns on so I'm assuming wifi is ready to go (I did turn it on to do a firmware update when I first purchased it)

Will the R1's be ready to work with any of the soundbar inputs? HDMI1/HDMI2 etc. once they are setup via the app? got this feeling If I switched over to HDMI1 which is My Xbox One S to maybe watch a UHD blu ray that I'd get some problems.

Re: Thinking about adding a pair of R1's to my HW K850 Atmos soundbar.....will it work?

Rich_z7 — Sat, 22 Jul 2017 21:41:21 GMT

Assuming that R3's are basically the next model up from R1's, they do have a usb input but their best use is wireless networked with your sound bar. Infact according to Samsung you can't create a surround solund system with a wired/wireless mix.

Couple them with a Vebos stand each and park them behind your couch.... That would be a problem with wires.

So, the R1 will only really work with Bluetooth or Wireless - Wireless for preference.

I regularly switch between sources - My SkyQ, My Blue Ray player or my TS-653A 30TB NAS without any problem because the sound information is on a common carrier - your wifi. It does barf a bit when you try and play music through it but you just need to remember to switch back to Surround sound when you're done.

However, if you play your music through your phone using Multi-room you don't have that problem...

It's only complex the first 3 times.... (Don't let any knowhow or sky engineer near it once you've set it up....)

Re: Thinking about adding a pair of R1's to my HW K850 Atmos soundbar.....will it work?

ARYN86 — Sun, 23 Jul 2017 19:22:22 GMT

@Rich_z7 wrote:
Assuming that R3's are basically the next model up from R1's, they do have a usb input but their best use is wireless networked with your sound bar. Infact according to Samsung you can't create a surround solund system with a wired/wireless mix.

Couple them with a Vebos stand each and park them behind your couch.... That would be a problem with wires.

So, the R1 will only really work with Bluetooth or Wireless - Wireless for preference.

I regularly switch between sources - My SkyQ, My Blue Ray player or my TS-653A 30TB NAS without any problem because the sound information is on a common carrier - your wifi. It does barf a bit when you try and play music through it but you just need to remember to switch back to Surround sound when you're done.

However, if you play your music through your phone using Multi-room you don't have that problem...

It's only complex the first 3 times.... (Don't let any knowhow or sky engineer near it once you've set it up....)

Thanks again, I went ahead and ordered a pair of refurbed R1's from ebay, they're from different sellers with both offering money back (minus postage) so it will give me a chance to try them out, really hope they work out but I'm bracing myself for a bumpy ride as my prior experience with my soundbar and tv together lead me to believe it's going to be a very bumpy ride. But worst case scenario I'll be able to send them back.

Re: Thinking about adding a pair of R1's to my HW K850 Atmos soundbar.....will it work?

Rich_z7 — Sun, 23 Jul 2017 19:43:11 GMT

Great!

I hope it all goes well.

If you get stuck or frustrated add a reply to this thread.

One thing to look for is that you might experience speaker network dropouts sure it goes back to t.v. sound. If it does, try moving your router or switching the 2.5 Gjz band off and use 5ghz only.

Have fun!

Rich

Re: Thinking about adding a pair of R1's to my HW K850 Atmos soundbar.....will it work?

ARYN86 — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 20:00:31 GMT

@Rich_z7 wrote:
Great!

I hope it all goes well.

If you get stuck or frustrated add a reply to this thread.

One thing to look for is that you might experience speaker network dropouts sure it goes back to t.v. sound. If it does, try moving your router or switching the 2.5 Gjz band off and use 5ghz only.

Have fun!

Rich

Ok so they came today and I've spent about 2 hours having a play around and they are as fiddly as I could have ever imagined.

First after having set up everything ie selecting surround then assigning each speaker a left and chanel spot I thought it was looking good but then the surround sound setup would not accept in the samsung app, took me about 40 minutes before they were grouped togother and even then it was not clear what was going on. The soundbar was outputting like normal meaning the R1 speakers wern't active then by some fluke the soundbar/tv recognised the setup and I was getting the R1's to work with the soundbar BUT I didn't get to test it out long as for some reason it stopped outputting in surround after I changed back inputs on the soundbar.

I then spent the next 30 minutes trying to get it to work again which I eventually did but to be honest the sound sucked, yes there was sound coming from the R1's but the soundbar sounded dull as if it's power had been mostly stripped away, to be fair this was while I was running some tests on Youtube (your typical 5.1 helicopter test) then once again I must have pressed the wrong button and the setup was lost again.....I've not tried it with netflix or the blu ray player that'll be the real test but so far I'm kind of disappointed with just how fiddly it is, maybe I'm missing something but it's very complex for what it is and I've still not experienced anything close to performance of actual 5.1 sound.

Re: Thinking about adding a pair of R1's to my HW K850 Atmos soundbar.....will it work?

Rich_z7 — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 20:18:17 GMT

Put them away for tonight approach it fresh tomorrow. I'm done for the night at the mo. I'll get back to you my pm tmorrow.

Rich

Re: Thinking about adding a pair of R1's to my HW K850 Atmos soundbar.....will it work?

ARYN86 — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 20:37:34 GMT

No rush mate. Will most likely keep the R1's for my bedroom (use em as a stereo pair) so I've got all the time in the world to make it click.

Re: Thinking about adding a pair of R1's to my HW K850 Atmos soundbar.....will it work?

Rich_z7 — Wed, 26 Jul 2017 12:08:50 GMT

Ok, once you get the hang of it the fiddlyness dissappears. First, make sure all your speakers have WIFI as their inputs and check that they are all added to the multi room app,

Then on the TV goto Sound and select teh Surround sound option. Set your speakers and check right and left. Run the surround sound test and save. Once you've saved it, if you lose connection it should still be available even if the sound reverts to the TV.

The soundbar was outputting like normal meaning the R1 speakers wern't active then by some fluke the soundbar/tv recognised the setup and I was getting the R1's to work with the soundbar BUT I didn't get to test it out long as for some reason it stopped outputting in surround after I changed back inputs on the soundbar.

I've got to admit it's tempramental. Sky came and installed Sky Q and my wifi dissappeared.... However, reset teh speakers inputs to wifi and go back to the sound settings and it should be there.

Are you running it Dolby 5.1 or PCM output ? Try PCM

I've not tried it with netflix or the blu ray player that'll be the real test but so far I'm kind of disappointed with just how fiddly it is, maybe I'm missing something but it's very complex for what it is and I've still not experienced anything close to performance of actual 5.1 sound.

Once it's working it generally is no problem and I'm happy with the sound I get from mine. Check to see if there are any software updates for the speakers. Like I said before if it drops out have a look at the positioning of the router or even disable the 2.4ghz channels on the router as the TV has it's own.

Rich

Re: Thinking about adding a pair of R1's to my HW K850 Atmos soundbar.....will it work?

ARYN86 — Wed, 26 Jul 2017 18:40:01 GMT

Been busy with work today but I'll give it another try out tomorrow and keep you updated. I'll be sure to check the finer points of your reply incase i'm missing something and keep you updated.

Ideally I'd like to be able to bring them down plug them in quickly set up the 5.1 (5.1.2 in my case) and be ready to go, anyways I will give them more comprehencive try out tomorrow or on Friday when I get some free time. Thanks again for sticking with me.

Re: Thinking about adding a pair of R1's to my HW K850 Atmos soundbar.....will it work?

Rich_z7 — Wed, 26 Jul 2017 20:33:27 GMT

No Sweat. Work does have a habit of getting in the way.....

I think you might be heading for a purler if you cart them around and connect/reconnect them - but hopefully it's just be a matter of going to the sound section on TV each

My Vebos Stands arrive tomorrow which I'm looking forward too.

Have a good evening!

Rich

Re: Thinking about adding a pair of R1's to my HW K850 Atmos soundbar.....will it work?

ARYN86 — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 16:13:17 GMT

Ok so I gave them another go and here's what I got; generally speaking I can get them into a surround group with my soundbar via the app. I can then get a 5.1 setup on regular TV via the wifi setting, so I tested it with the first episode of Daredevil and yes there is audio coming out both R1's and the TV is recognising everything working as a 5.1 system as the display image indicated that a full system is connected (as opposed to just a soundbar which normally is the case) at this stage everything seems ok, I mean I've not really tested it fully but it does work with the little I did test it with.

The bigger problem is however if I switch over to HDMI 1 where my XBOX One S/UHD player is located, this kills the 5.1 setup as obviously it's no longer on the wifi setting. I then tried to do another manual setup on the app and it accepts it so HDMI 1 is the input on the soundbar and the R1's are selected as left and right rears but when testing the audio out with the Pacific Rim UHD blu ray it's clear there's nothing coming out of the R1's and the TV itself doesn't recognise them as being connected as part of a 5.1 system, they do however retain an odd form of integration where each individual speaker seems to be able to control the volume of the whole system (the two R1's and the soundbar) but clearly they don't work as part of the system when it comes to audio output. Also once the R1's even though they wern't working as part of the system seemed to suck away some of the oomph of the soundbar. Eventually I had to unplug the R1's and cancel the surround setup on the app and turn the soundbar off and then back on before I got the quality level of audio out of my soundbar again.

To be honest, I don't think it's a good fit overall. Samsung's Multiroom speakers I feel were best meant to be used as speakers for music and it just happened to be that on a technicallity they would work as part of a 5.1 system but with the amount of fiddlyness invovled they're definitely not ideal In my opinion. It's my own fault, if I wanted the rears that badly I should have got the HW-K950 but again I don't regret it due to the price and space factor also despite it all I'm very happy with general soundput of the K850 but the curiosuity got the better of me with the R1's if I didn't try them out now it would have been weeks/months down the line. Still think I'll keep them for a little while atleast and maybe sell them as a pair later on.

Re: Thinking about adding a pair of R1's to my HW K850 Atmos soundbar.....will it work?

Rich_z7 — Fri, 28 Jul 2017 05:34:32 GMT

Morning.

Sorry u wasn't around last night I was busy putting my speaker stands together.

It sounds a bit strange. When I change inputs my surround sound does not change.

As an experiment does it stick for your Xbox if you configure and save it whilst that is a source. Ie do you have to configure each input?

Rich

Re: Thinking about adding a pair of R1's to my HW K850 Atmos soundbar.....will it work?

ARYN86 — Fri, 28 Jul 2017 09:40:23 GMT

Yes it keeps the saved grouped setting for surround which I found strange considering how it doesn't work. All in all it's too much of a mission to configure and ready everything for use even If I did get them to work with the xbox, like I said I will hang on to them for a little while as regular wifi/bluetooh speakers but will likely sell them as a pair down the road.

Re: Thinking about adding a pair of R1's to my HW K850 Atmos soundbar.....will it work?

RT2 — Thu, 24 Aug 2017 20:56:16 GMT

Hello.....I found this discussion whilst trying to set up a new Samsung TV / Soundbar / Blu-Ray / Surround Sound System today.

I am having exactly the same problem....I can set up the TV with the 850 soundbar + 2 Samsung R1 speakers and everything works fine via multi-channel Wi-Fi. The moment I switch to the Samsung Blu-Ray however it loses the wi-fi connection, jumping to the Soundbar HDMI1 and then the surround sound speakers don't work at all....in effect this means that I don't have any surround sound for movies, or are using all the speakers when playing a CD. Then when going back to the TV it reverts to the TV speaker and I need to switch it to Surround Sound again. I've connected in line with the instructions.

Any ideas? It's driving me mad!

Thanks in anticipation.

Re: Thinking about adding a pair of R1's to my HW K850 Atmos soundbar.....will it work?

Rich_z7 — Fri, 25 Aug 2017 07:46:00 GMT

Hi.

This answer I suppose depends on how you have everything connected.

Also since you can have separate device settings for the screen, select your player then look at the sound set up changing it to surround if not.

All my stuff goes through s one connect box and my speakers are not connected to anything except power and I don't get that problem.

Rich

Re: Thinking about adding a pair of R1's to my HW K850 Atmos soundbar.....will it work?

RT2 — Fri, 25 Aug 2017 07:58:35 GMT

Thanks.....having played around a bit more I made some progress with also telling the blu-ray player to use wi-fi for the sound + connecting it via hdmi directly to the TV, rather than using the soundbar pass through via HDMI ARC (I have now removed this lead since it is not serving any purpose). At least I now have sound coming from all speakers when playing DVDS/CDS as well as viewing live TV. I think that the only issue of doing it this way is that DOLBY ATMOS won't work if I play blu-rays with this on, but this isn't a big issue for me.

It all feels a bit ad-hoc and temperamental however. I'm a bit disappointed as I deliberately bought all Samsung stuff in order to try to avoid things like this.

It would be great if someone could let me know of a solution of keeping the surround sound with using the recommended way of connecting the blu-ray through the soundbar.

Re: Thinking about adding a pair of R1's to my HW K850 Atmos soundbar.....will it work?

Rich_z7 — Fri, 25 Aug 2017 08:06:30 GMT

I did read somewhere that you can't mix wired and wireless in the same setup.

Re: Thinking about adding a pair of R1's to my HW K850 Atmos soundbar.....will it work?

ARYN86 — Fri, 25 Aug 2017 09:51:58 GMT

I returned my R1's in the end, too much fiddlyness