Review on 🎮 Revamp Your Gaming Experience with the Panasonic SoundSlayer Soundbar: Final Fantasy XIV Online Edition, Dolby Atmos Gaming Speakers for PC & Home Theater, Built-in Subwoofer – SC-HTB01PP (Black) by John Bailey

After using the same studio bookshelf speakers and Soundblaster card for over 10 years, I decided it was finally time to step up to something more than just switching to stereo. I was looking at actual TV soundbars but at the last minute got these instead. I first connected it to my graphics card via HDMI using the Nvidia audio drivers. The sound was, yes, good. Some speakers sounded good, but the bottom end clearly lacked depth and bass. It also introduced some graphical lag, and there was a delay before the audio kicked in. For the price it didn't seem like a huge upgrade and I was planning on returning it and trying something else. However, I decided to try the difference through optical and my Soundblaster Z.BIG. Thanks to my sound card and the software that came with it, I was able to tweak it a bit and Soundslayer really came to life. Surround sound really appeared, there were low frequencies and there were no lags. I was also quite surprised at how far this thing can carry sound. Even at low volume, I could clearly hear the dialogue in the next room. With my previous loudspeakers I could only hear a dull sound. So I say forget HDMI and switch to optical so you can use some sort of setup software. The only thing you're missing is Dolby Atmos, which to be honest isn't in that little box with no upward-firing speakers. Now maybe there is software or something that can tweak the settings while still using HDMI. I just used what I already had on hand and tweaked. The only thing I don't have with the Soundblaster software is the bass control. It's inactive and I don't know why yet. Worth the $200 spent. Although I don't want to pay more.