AVS Forum banner

Official Nakamichi Shockwafe 9.2 and 7.2 dts:x dual subwoofers soundbars thread

975K views 7K replies 549 participants last post by  Daverey06 
#1 ·
The 9.2 sound bar caught my eye when it was announced during CES 2017, together with the Sony htst5000.

Currently for pre-order, with another 7.2 model available.
Nakamichi Shockwafe Ultra 9.2 DTSX: www.nakamichi-usa.com/shockwafe-ultra-preorder
Nakamichi Shockwafe Elite 7.2 DTSX: www.nakamichi-usa.com/shockwafe-elite-preorder

I have pre-ordered the 9.2 and it is expected to be delivered in October. Will be using it with my new 65” LG 4K OLED in my 24x24 living room.

I will post opinions on it when I receive it
 
#3,334 ·
Ugh. The Shockwafe keeps dropping audio streams from my TivoBolt when it fast forwards or when the audio changes during a commercial. I had to switch to PCM output to prevent these issues. It is on the latest firmware. I had these same issues with my RMC-1, but the latest firmware update fixed it. I wouldn't have expected issues like this from a mature product.

Tim
 
#3,344 ·
DirecTV does the same thing. This issue is super irritating. Nakamichi has reccomend that we should hook cable/satellite provider box to TV and send audio to soundbar via ARC. This idea is bad because the it introduces lip sync issues. Also DirecTV can now do Atmos which should go to soundbar inputs. They need to resolve this issue.
 
#3,338 · (Edited)
Dual subwoofers improve sound tremendously, and even more so in the case of a soundbar.

Dual subwoofers compensate for standing waves and interference patterns, providing a smooth and full frequency response. Also, typical soundbars with crossovers above 80 hz tend to produce base localization, with the effect that most vocals (as well as part of the musical spectrum) get shared between the sub and the woofer in the soundbar. This can cause the placement of the vocals (and some instruments) to waver between the sources. Dual subs will tend to reduce localization.

Another thing about bass localization is that often you will hear lower frequencies coming from the single sub, rather than being omnidirectional as they should be.

So it's not just about how much bass output you get compared to one sub, but rather better frequency response and greater balance and accuracy in the sound. Definitely go for dual subs.


Perhaps the provision of dual subwoofers in an affordable soundbar is one of the most innovative aspects of the Shockwafe.
 
#3,341 ·
I know this is kinda random but I want to share just in case any of you guys are having the same problem that I had.

I've been having trouble with my internet since I got the Nakamichi soundbar (had no clue it was the soundbar). Thought it was 75/75 speed and upgraded to fios gigabit. So my speed was still awful and they came out here about five times to fix it. So I turned off the soundbar at night and realized my speed went up... so I turn the sound bar back on and my speed went back down tremendously. So I turned it off and on a few times and watched my speed go up andnd down. When off it went to where it should be. So now my router is 20 feet from the soundbar and it's better thank goodness.

Maybe I'm the only one that didn't know this would happen, but figured I would share in case anybody's having problems with their internet and the router is close to your soundbar. Still love my 7.2 no matter what :) have a great weekend all. Set them clocks forward
 
#3,342 ·
2. Router interference (2% probability)

Our soundbars utilize industry standard 5.8Ghz wireless chipsets to send data wirelessly to the subwoofers. Why is the industry standard 5.8GHz? It is to avoid interference with 5-GHz Wi-Fi home routers, of which 99% of them operate on 5-GHz frequencies that are around the middle of the 5-GHz frequency spectrum. However, there is still a small risk of interference.

Go to this link and read the suggested frequencies for your router, made a difference on my 9.2:

https://www.helpdesk.nakamichi-usa.com/subwoofer-audio-distortion
 
#3,349 · (Edited)
I don’t think there were any transmitting electronics in the room (other than phones/tablets) or in the AV cabinet that weren’t connected over ethernet, and the wireless access point is in a different part of the house. It was pretty obviously frequency/channel interference, especially when my Wi-Fi became usable again at full 150 Mbps speeds after changing the channel to the lower one. And when I say the Wi-Fi was in usable, I mean that the latency was so bad and the speed was so low that sometimes I couldn’t even complete a speed test on 5GHz.
 
#3,351 ·
Set up my 9.2 system and played with it this weekend. Watched Saving Private Ryan and its a whole new experience with this! Lots of positives!
there are a few negatives but One thing that is driving me nuts is when changing channels with Directv the volume just goes out. Will write up a little review later
 
#3,353 ·
No hardware changes at all. The only difference is the new SSE models are priced higher so that Nakamichi can recover their R&D and licensing costs associated with the Dolby Vision/Atmos firmware development.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tmarques
#3,358 ·
Finally arrived!!!!! Review of refurbished 9.2 after a weekends use. The box arrived after ordering the system over 2 weeks ago from ebay. The appearance of the box wasn’t the best, but most importantly everything looked perfect when opening it up. The wires were clearly used as expected but the speakers themselves look brand new so I was very happy with that! I set the speakers up and popped in Saving Private Ryan and I was absolutely blown away! When this system is working properly there just can’t be a better sounding system! I am coming from the Dolby Atmos Vizio 5.1.2 which was great, but this destroys it when working properly. I really cant imagine another system sounding better!
That being said there are a few things that are driving me crazy. I am using an 18gps HDMI certified cable and connect my directv right to the soundbar but directv has audio dropouts. Sometimes you change the channel and the volume just does not work. I have to change the input source on the soundbar and then change it back to get it working again.
I have turned off all CEC features on all devices so I was able to get everything to turn on using my Logitech elite remote. If using the logitech remote, change the power on delay settings on the Logitech software to 6 seconds for this Nakamichi device. This helped everything turn on smoothly for me.
I am also having a frustrating time getting the Nakamichi to power off. Again, I am using the Logitech elite remote so when I hit the power button everything powers off except the Nakamichi at least 50% of the time.
The Nakamichi remote is an absolute joke because you have to be 2 feet in front of the system for it to work properly. A Logitech remote is a must.
 
#3,362 ·
Please click surround sound on and set to Dolby surround , check if it helps.

Moreover , use Dolby Atmos for only Atmos contents, for rest of the contents, set your Xbox to Dolby digital and soundbar to Dolby surround with surround on.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#3,363 ·
Thanks for your response! I do have Dolby surround on and tried the other settings. When I play a DVD all speakers work great but just can't get them all to play on any app like Vudu. I also can't get all speakers to work if I plug my DirecTV into the Xbox. It's as if it will only play 5 speaker atmos
 
#3,366 ·
Hey there is a catch when setting the Dolby Atmos output on xbox one x. If you are playing Dolby Atmos contents, it will be playing all channel surrounds but if you playing normal 5.1, for example on Netflix without Dolby Atmos logo, xbox console will still output audio in Dolby Atmos format but no side surrounds for 9.2. I remember I saw it online somewhere that the xbox is doing Dolby Atmos encoding real time (in Dolby Atmos MAT format) and they simply include blank surround channel for higher audio channel system. that could cause the dolby surround to upmix audio with blank channels.

so I recommend to set audio output to Dolby Digital if you are playing normal 5.1 contents via the apps. Blu-ray movie is fine so far as they don't use Dolby Atmos mat for it.

give it a shot
 
#3,364 ·
My refurbished 9.2 arrived yesterday, two weeks to the day after ordering. Like Stu said above, the box was in pretty bad shape, as were the styrofoam packing materials, but the soundbar, subs, and surrounds were like new. All accessories, cables, etc. were included. Nakamichi ships via UPS with a signature required, so someone has to be home to sign.

It came with the 3.1 firmware already installed. I only had time last night to do a basic set up (subs and surrounds aren’t in their final location). The connections were all straightforward using my exeisting cables (Monoprice slim HDMI cables and an old optical cable). Everything seems to be working on all HDMI inputs, and it sounds pretty good with surrounds in a dipole setup. I don’t think I can convince my wife to go with a standard layout for the surrounds, and my room layout isn’t optimal, so I’ll probably leave them in dipole. I haven’t tested it with music yet. That will be streaming from a SONOS connect over optical, but I don’t usually listen to music in that room.

The soundbar itself fits the brackets I’m using to attach it to the TV’s VESA brackets just fine. I’m using the Atlantic stands for the dipole surrounds and those are fine, too. Cable management works perfectly. I have an extra set in case I decide to try the standard 4-surround setup. The power cables for the subs are a little short, so I may have to replace those to give more placement options.

The older style remote was included, but it seems to respond fine, if a little sensitive to the angle. It’s probably not a big deal, because I’ll use a Harmony remote with it (something else to program).

I didn’t do extensive testing yet, and will probably do a full reset before I do. I’ll post more in a week after or two after I have time to play with the settings more and test some other content.
 
#3,369 ·
Been exchanging emails with Ray and I got a few details/confirmations:

Differences between current 9.2/7.2 line vs 9.2/7.2 SSE
- Different remote (= different labeling)
- Upgraded HDMI capacitors (= faster passthrough)

And that’s it... rest of components are to be the same, same firmware will work on both.

Atmos firmware for 7.2
- It is now slatted for early May 2019

As I result, I just jumped on the 9.2, should be delivered with Amazon Prime. Can’t wait!

Last but not least, they are down to 26 units only of the 9.2 in the entire country.
So if you want one, hurry up!
 
#3,376 ·
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000289DC6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Search this thread for Atlantic for discussions of those stands. @johngettler posted a really detailed review at post no. 1730.

I set them up for a dipole arrangement last night, and they feel stable enough using the shorter bracket and one screw. I may end up using the included double-sided tape to make them a little more stable, but they’re in a corner behind furniture so I’m not too worried about them getting bumped.
 
#3,374 ·
Hey guys, I am getting the Pro 7.1Ch DTS:X delivered on Friday and started doing my research. I see they recommend to run the ATV4K directly into your TV and let the ARC HDMI port run the audio from the TV to the soundbar. Would you guys recommend that or should I go from the ATV4K into the soundbar? Thanks all.
 
#3,382 ·
  • Like
Reactions: tmarques
#3,384 ·
Your welcome.
 
#3,386 ·
I have a PC connected directly to a LG E8 OLED via HDMI and then ARC to Naka 7.1 Pro and notice the first initial second of audio does not get passed through (i guess you can call it audio lag). As a matter of fact any audio source having its audio passed through via ARC to the Naka presents the same audio lag.


Any owners out there experience the same issue? I'm not sure which equipment in the chain is causing it (LG or Naka or a negative biproduct of ARC).
 
#3,389 ·
What’s the consensus on the Atmos firmware update for the 9.2? Is it stable, does it sound good with Atmos sources? Is it worthwhile va something like the Samsung N850 or the Sony Z9F?

I just ordered the 7.2 system earlier this week based on the promise of the firmware update but seeing as how the 7.2 update seems to have just gotten pushed back the same day I placed my order I’m honestly on the fence as to whether to bother keeping the system when it’s delivers or just sending it right back since is now seems like the update, assuming it ever comes out, will be after my return window has expired, and the well advertised and marketed Atmos update was the only reason I rolled the dice on the system.

Thoughts?
 
Top