Denon has introduced the Home Sound Bar 550, a compact soundbar with support for Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and Alexa voice control.
Want a Dolby Atmos soundbar but feel as if you don’t have room for one? Well fret no longer as Denon’s Home Sound Bar 550 takes aim at providing superior sound without taking up too much space.
The Home Sound Bar 550 sits in the company’s Home range of wireless speakers that consists of the 350, 250 and 150. The bar supports Dolby Atmos and DTS:X through its six-driver array, aiming to fill your living room with the sound of movies, TV and music.
On-board is advanced acoustic hardware with “expertly tuned digital signal processing” to create a 3D sound experience. With HEOS built into the unit, users can stream high-resolution music from their favourite music services, or stream their local music libraries straight to soundbar. And for those with HEOS compatible products, the Home Sound Bar 550 can easily slot into a multi-room ecosystem for playing music around the house.
The size of the sound can be enhanced by connecting the Home 150, 250 and 350 speakers as rear-channel surrounds. For a bigger bass performance, the DSW-1H wireless subwoofer can be added, too.
More streaming functionality comes in AirPlay 2, with other wireless connections including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The Home 550 also marks the first Denon soundbar to include software drivers for Control4, Crestron, URC, Elan, and others, making it easier to control smart home systems.
With microphones built-in, the soundbar can support Alexa voice control. You’ll have to wait for her to be enabled, as functionality won’t be available until a firmware update arrives in Spring 2021. Once enabled, Alexa will give users the ability to control the bar’s volume, select inputs, as well as adjust bass and treble levels. With privacy a hot topic, the microphones will not be enabled without explicit user permission.
For other means of operation, the soundbar’s control panel lights up when it senses an approaching hand, revealing onboard controls for playback, volume adjustment, muting Alexa and skipping/restarting tracks. If you can’t be bothered to get up from the comfort of your own sofa, there is a remote controller and the HEOS app, both of which are equipped with three Quick Select buttons, so users can store their favourite sources/inputs at the touch of a button.
Connections are located in a recessed area around the back, consisting of AUX in, HDMI in/out, Optical, USB and a LAN connection. The HDMI output is compatible with eARC (Enhanced Audio Return Channel).
The Denon Home Sound Bar 550 will be available to purchase in February 2021 for £599/€649/$599. You can find it at authorised Denon Retailers and via the Denon webshop.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
