HW-Q90R Center Speaker/Channel Issue having distorted sound (Mostly Dialogue Audio with 5.1 or Atmos)

[Nostalgia]

Hi all,

Got the Bar brand new two days ago and running into a problem. every content which is able to channel the center speaker will get the distorted sound, other speakers seem fine. Only center is having a problem. Stereo mode sounds excellent though. But with DD or Atmos, the problem is there and unacceptable. The dialogue sound from the center speaker is very much cracked and distorted, sometime it's not that much but it is defenitely there.

I dont know if this is because of the new firmware or not, because I updated the soundbar right after unboxing without any prior test.

Could you guys please kindly test your system and see if there is any problem regarding the above issue. I've been playing the configuration, set up, changing the cabel all day all night... ending up scratching my head and the problem is still there. With all the hassling I've been thru, I'm thinking about returning it now.

PS. Contacted the Shop and they agreed to change the new one within a week..but I'm just afraid that the new one will get this kind of problem as well. T_T

[CritterMagnet]

I've had this happen a few times with my new LG 65" CX TV connected by HDMI-ARC to my N950 - changing sound modes seems to fix it (i.e. from smart to surround to standard then back to smart).  Haven't been able to reliably reproduce it, and didn't happen when the soundbar was connected to my previous MU8000 TV.

[Nostalgia]

Thanks for the reply mate, really appreciate your input. ^_^

But seems like it's not relevant to the problem i mentioned above. I tried it just now on the bar with the normal stereo music play from Spotify. Sound Quality is excellent when in the Standard Mode.(Being output as Stereo because the source is stereo) only the left and right speakers were being used and the sound was top notch. And then I just changed the sound mode from standard to surrond now the mentioned issue got back again because the center speaker were being used.

So for problems I found, I think I can conclude that whatever source it is (5.1, Atmos, Stereo.. etc), if the center speaker is being used... then you will get the issue with the distorted sound. Other speakers are working fine, only the center one is main problem.

I'm quite surprised also that this issue is not being found or mentioned since the HW-Q90R is quite popular. Still figuring out this is the problem from the Hardware itself or the latest firmware that cuases this (never got a chance to try the previous firmware before also), Or It is just me that this is a faulty unit I am having right now.

[leeeka]

I'm also having issues with center channel. Not like distorted but very quiet and muffled. Did you try the test tone on your soundbar? Did it sound normal to you on all speakers?

[Moosifur]

I'm having the same issue, distortion and everything. I've spent hours searching for fixes and trying different things but at this point I'm probably going to return it.

[gmo23]

I'm getting a similar issue quite often. It happens on both my HW-Q90r & HW-Q80r before that. Every so often I will notice sound becoming distorted and muffled, also speech becomes extremley sibilant and drives me nuts.

The only fix I've found for this issue is powering off at the mains for a few seconds before powering on again. This is a very frustrating issue.

[MD_]

Has anyone resolved their issues?

I am having a similar/same issue with a HW-Q60T. I also had the problem with a HW-T550 but I returned that and had the HW-Q60T as a replacement. In my case, it doesn't matter what settings I choose on the soundbar, the TV or the set-top box, basically the common denominator seems to be if the volume is low the sound is extremely muffled and distorted. This is particularly a problem at night when the kids are in bed and I want to watch the TV on a low volume.

UPDATE: I tried playing audio via BT as well and the same problem exists. Muffled sound when volume is low (sound at volume level 5 and under is very poor. I have to go to 10 and above for it to even be acceptable)

[NavSaini]

I've got exactly the same issue as MD_Fisrt Poster! I have just exchanged the HW-Q60T as i thought it was faulty and the new soundbar does exactly the same thing! volume lower than 10 is muffled and distorted. The TV's sound quality is far superior and clearer at a lower volume... can't hear speech on the TV properly at all. I would never expect this on a Samsung product! 

[NavSaini]

Just spoke to a guy called "Christopher" from technical support about the issue and he went through his standard tests of holding down the play/pause button for 10 - 15 seconds and re-booting the soundbar which I told him didn't work when I spoke to technical support yesterday! He said that they want to fix the soundbar by taking it away to diagnose the issue. I polity explained that its not an issue with the item I have but a product fault across the whole model range. His reply was to return the item! I told him I not no longer have faith in Samsung and the items they sell and will purchase a different brand. Seems like Christopher was happy with what I was saying and didn't want to accept that there is a bug or issue!

[MaxForsyth]

but still, have you managed to solve the problem? It's been a terrific issue for me, however I was hoping to find the problem and I was wondering if the developers would solve it. Then, I realized that I need to replace my center channel speaker with the other model, I'd actually choose something more affordable, however I discovered a whole detailed article on https://www.palmgear.com/best-center-channel-speaker-for-dialogue/ describing what device is better to purchase and what are the special features every product presented there has. Still, have some doubts, can you suggest any model provided there?