Vizio SB3851

GatorRican

Have you guys ever bought something from Costco.com without being a member? I see I can order the Vizio sound bar from them with a 5% surcharge for not being a member will be applied. I'm thinking about ordering the 40" since it is a great price that includes a $30 OFF promo.
I guess my question is: If I buy through Costco online as a non-member will I be able to return to my local Costco?

Atari_Prime

I just ordered the 40" from Costco. Should arrive in 3-4 days.
Question: I plan on trying out ARC since my TV is capable. However, I am starting to think this may not be the best for 5.1 audio. If I connect my BR Player and PS4 via HDMI directly to my TV. Then connect TV HDMI ARC to sound bar HDMI ARC, will I loose 5.1 audio on movies and games?
Will my TV "downmix" a 5.1 signal or will it pass it through just fine via HDMI ARC?

GatorRican

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GatorRican

Thanks! Looks like my Panasonic is not one of the brands that will pass thru 5.1.
Maybe I am over thinking now...but I wouldn't be able to pass thru my TV 5.1 audio using optical? Will I? In other words, connect my PS4 and BR Player to TV via HDMI and connect TV to sound bar via optical...
I am guessing since my TV would downmix 5.1 audio from PS4 and BR Player via HDMI/ARC it would also "downmix" via optical...

sma

Set up the 40" last night. Kids were sleeping so couldn't run it through its loud paces. Things I noticed right off the bat
- On low volumes, regardless of source there is a noticeable humming/static coming out of the rear speakers (EDIT: This is normal according to two Vizio reps I chatted with)...as you turn volume up static gets "overtaken" with sound so it seems to disappear. This is my first ever "wireless" set up, so perhaps all others have this static on very low volumes
- Cannot program my Panny TV remote for volume control. Followed all the steps on the set up guide, the bar blinks telling me it is receiving/recognizing my TV remote input, but once all 3 commands are learned (volume +/- and mute) no go

this may be a deal breaker since bar covers my TV's IR eye and I only want one remote
- This is not a knock on the bar...more on my TV, but since my TV downmixes 5.1 DD audio I cant really take advantage of HDMI ARC. If I want my BR Player and PS4 to play in 5.1 DD I have to connect them directly to the bar.
-From my little testing, during OTA 5.1 DD TV programing the satellites don't do much. This is probably due to the show itself and how it was coded. But I was hoping to hear more dialogue through the satellites speakers since my couch is so far away from TV -- turning surround up or off or on had no effect
-Playing a BR (Frozen) really upped the ante. The system shined with DTS coded audio and I have a feeling movies will be great. Same when I used optical for my PS4, the surround really seemed to make a difference as I rotated my character to hear each satellite output sound in relation to the character's positioning
-This bar is a major upgrade from my previous SONY (in my sig line). Dialogue is a lot clearer and the bar itself, without the satellites might be enough for me. So will also consider the 38"

Atari_Prime

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GatorRican

Yeah, all of those are true. You don't actually have to program your remote though. If you hook it up via hdmi arc it will automatically change volume based on adjustments to the tv volume. It turns on when you turn your tv on, I think it takes about 10 seconds to power up, and it turns off when you turn your tv off.
But these feaures arent special, most sounbars do this if they have an hdmi arc connection.

GatorRican

If I keep the 40" I will probably do this:
1. TV HDMI ARC > Soundbar HDMI ARC
2.PS4 HDMI > Soundbar HDMI (2)   and PS4 Optical to Sound bar optical (this way after switching input on bar to optical I can get 5.1 DD from PS4 (since I dont think the HDMI ARC on my Panny will pass along 5.1DD)
3.BluRay Player HDMI > TV HDMI (2) (will probably loose 5.1 DD by doing this since, again,  I dont think the HDMI ARC on my Panny will pass along 5.1DD to the bar


Since I mostly use a nice headset for gaming at night; I may just run the optical from BluRay > Sound bar instead of the PS4.
Curiously, and I will check again this weekend, I do think my TV HDMI ARC does pass along 5.1DD from (and only from) Over-the-Air networks - which is what I view

Atari_Prime

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wessock

So...I experienced the fluxtuation in sound issue with this sound bar today. I threw a particulary difficult track at it, Dragon Pirates -Tut Tut Child. I've heard this song many times and am acutely aware of what it should sound like. The song has a lot of different noises being generated all at once, this seems to be the key to detecting the issue.
The fluxuations in volume were rather dramatic, much more than i would expect if it were simply an issue of one speaker trying to handle several sounds at once. I tried putting it in 3.1 mode but it helped very little. It seems like the system is getting confused about where to send different sounds.
On the on hand my brain says this is what you get when you spend $250 on a sound system. But I am am quite pleased with it in surround mode.
I am going to contact Vizio and see if they have a solution. Maybe firmware. It not, back to the store it goes.