S2000 tone controls

[JohnGateshead]

As an older person I'm disappointed that, even in voice mode, the S2000 soundbar sometimes lacks clarity, meaning I have to turn it up loud to easily understand speech. Surprisingly, there is no treble tone control.

I'm sure this is is an issue with the soundbar for many older users (and anyone hard of hearing) that other makes don't have. An easy fix would be adding a treble tone control or some kind of equaliser so we can boost the upper voice frequencies. Could Sony add this in a firmware update?

[LightFoot]

Hi @JohnGateshead 

It sounds like you need to change your audiologist. 😀

Several years ago I dumped my soundbars and AV equipment as I found that the top of the range Sony TVs have better clear audio.

There are times when you get the mumbling actors, where I find the only thing is to use a TV Connector direct to my hearing aids.

You could ask Sony if they could add your firmware changes by contacting Sony Support.

[JohnGateshead]

Thanks Lightfoot. There's a story behind this. Until last weekend we had an ostensibly good soundbar, the Bose Smart Soundbar 300. However, this had been extremely troublesome ever since I bought it four years ago. Apart from the "smart" features working only intermittently, it would sometimes take minutes to connect to our LG TV and sometimes (if I mistakenly switched on the TV via the Blu-ray player - also from LG) not at all.

On Saturday evening sitting down for a "relaxed" evening I could get no sound from the Bose and must have spent at least an hour trying to re-pair that soundbar to its app without success. I gave up and resorted to the thin and muffled sound from the TV. Ironically, the Bose's sound was good and its voice mode along with the ability to control the treble from -10 to +10 meant its reproduction suited me perfectly. However, that's no good if the thing only works half of the time, so I decided it was time to buy a new soundbar.

Sadly the Sony has a different issue, described above. Maybe it's time for me to accept ageing and get tested for a hearing aid or aids (one ear being much worse than the other).

[LightFoot]

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@JohnGateshead wrote:

Maybe it's time for me to accept ageing and get tested for a hearing aid or aids (one ear being much worse than the other).

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Hi @JohnGateshead 

Life changing, they should be at £3500 (cheaper ones available!). I use mine as expensive iPods for music and audio books, and even my home telephone connects to them direct so I just relax in my recliner and tap my ear to answer calls on landline and mobile. Another Bose would obviously be cheaper 😀

[james22]

Absolutely agree, John. A treble control or basic equalizer would make a huge difference for those who struggle with dialogue clarity. It’s surprising that a premium soundbar like the S2000 doesn’t include this. Hopefully, Sony listens and adds it in a future update.