Watching sports at home? I can change these 4 soundbar settings to get the most suitable sound
Follow ZDNET: Add us as a favorite resource on Google.
As fun as going to a professional sporting event, nothing beats watching the big game in the comfort of your own home. If you’re watching who will take it all on the basketball court, diamond, football field, or gridiron, you need to make sure your sound bar’s sound settings are right before the first ball is played.
Also: How I tuned my Sonos speakers to improve their sound performance – easy and free
If you’re watching the game via over-the-air cable or satellite, you may experience unclear or corrupted audio quality. The good news is that your sound bar probably has some features that can help.
1. Use room measurements
Most soundbars have a room measurement feature that will use the built-in microphone or the microphone on your mobile device to measure the loudness of your room. This feature will account for your room’s size, shape, and furniture to optimize the sound bar’s sound output.
This feature is easy to spot, but adjusting your soundbar to your room can make a noticeable difference in the performance of your soundbar. Room equalization is the level of bass response, removing or greatly reducing muddy or overpowering bass response.
Room adjustments can also improve your sound bar’s chat performance by using the characteristics of your room to balance the sound channels.
2. Turn down the bass
Sporting events can be filled with bass, from the backing bands or the loud crowds in the stadium. If you have trouble hearing the commentator highlighting the player’s statistics when the music is playing in the background, you may want to reduce the bass to keep it from the muddy conversation.
Also: How to watch FIFA World Cup 2026: I found 10 ways to stream (including free options)
If you’re hearing loud crowd noise instead of commentators, local action, and referees, your soundbar’s bass is probably too loud.
3. Open a dialogue or speech enhancer
In the settings of your sound bar, there may be a chat or speech enhancement feature. Turning this feature on or adjusting its power will improve the midrange and the sweet high and low frequencies.
People’s voices are mainly in the middle; reducing the extremes while improving the midrange should make voices clearer.
4. Try the night noise
If your soundbar has night volume or a night listening mode, use it when you’re tailgating a prime-time game so you can hear it well without disturbing your coworkers. This feature, along with improving dialogue, reduces the volume of loud sounds while maintaining the volume of the conversation.
Bonus: invest in rear speakers
Once you have a soundbar, there are several built-in features that you can try to adjust the output to your liking. However, the rear speakers take the rest of the sound out of your soundbar, present the ambient crowd noise and allow you to focus on the conversation.
Also: Bose Lifestyle Ultra vs. Sonos Era 100: I compared both smart speakers, and this one wins
Some streaming services, such as Peacock, allow users to stream sporting events in Dolby Atmos. If you’re getting ready to watch the next season with surround sound, the rear speakers will add a layer of immersion that your audio can’t deliver on its own.
