There’s a commercial out now, promoting lossless, spatial audio with Apple Music. Maybe it’s because I’m such an Apple fanboy, maybe it’s because it’s a phenomenal commercial, or maybe because it is an intriguing song, but I am mesmerized by it every time.
I am a musician and care a lot about quality audio. So, the push to lossless, Dolby Atmos-level audio quality is something I am absolutely excited about.
While audiophiles are swarming to get their hands on headphones like the AirPods Max and others to fully experience the Dolby Atmos level audio, I took a different route.
If you’ve been following Gearadical or my reviews, you know that I just tried out the Vizio V-Series 5.1 Soundbar. It’s a phenomenal sound system at a phenomenal price. However, while reviewing that soundbar I couldn’t help but to think that if the V Series system sounds this good, how great must the next tier sound?
That’s when I picked up the M-Series 5.1 Home Theater Sound Bar with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. The ease and speed at which I was able to set up the V-Series were still there. And at first glance, the only thing I noticed was a slightly bigger sub and slightly bigger surrounds. Then, after further review, I noticed the soundbar was slightly different looking and mounted in a different way.
Once I got everything set up and plugged in, I began my testing. I found any Dolby Atmos audio I could find. I even signed up for my free trial of Apple Music (I’ve been a Spotify user for 8 years) so I could try their lossless audio on my new system.
I found this system to be noticeably better than my last system. The bass is stronger, coming in punchier than the V-System. The center dialogue speaker is crisp and clear. The treble is bright and the mids are full. I was shocked that I could tell the difference, but I absolutely could.
The technologies that blew me away about the 5.1 V-Series are present in this system as well. The LCD Screen remote, the HDMI ARC for best audio quality, Bluetooth capabilities, and integration with a smart home speaker. All of those features are here and I am still just as thrilled.
In my last system, I was contemplating using the Optical Cable again for audio connection or the HDMI ARC. For this one, I went straight to the HDMI ARC connection and plugged my Apple TV directly into the Soundbar. You read that right. There is a pass-through HDMI in the soundbar to allow for best Audio and is recommended to run this way by Vizio.
I haven’t had any problems with this system, though there is one thing I wish was different. I wish that Google Assistant/Siri was built into the Soundbar. Having the ability to Bluetooth connect one of my other assistants to this speaker is wonderful, but having it as another access point in and of itself for all of my shortcuts and routines would be even better.
