[phyl0x]

I have the Vizio OLED and had the Elevate for a few weeks. I had the same situation where the TV would only say Stereo and never Atmos. Does the same thing with my Sonos Arc as well. I think it is just a weird quirk with the TV because like you said I got the green light and upfiring speakers when I had the elevate and I currently have a Dolby Atmos badge when I open the Sonos app. Would be nice for Vizio to fix this to confirm for us that we are getting Atmos but at this point I am pretty sure we are.

Are you checking the SmartCast app? it should tell you what format is playing. I think if you're seeing the green light and the speakers are moving you're getting Atmos. Unsure how the Vizio Tv's work but when you use eARC on the LG OLEDs it no longer tells you audio type of the tv screen, while the internal speakers will say "Dolby Atmos" in a popup.

 

[WES2006AG]

Are you checking the SmartCast app? it should tell you what format is playing. I think if you're seeing the green light and the speakers are moving you're getting Atmos. Unsure how the Vizio Tv's work but when you use eARC on the LG OLEDs it no longer tells you audio type of the tv screen, while the internal speakers will say "Dolby Atmos" in a popup.

Not using the Smartcast app anymore because I returned the Elevate but I do believe it was telling me I was getting Atmos when I had the Elevate even though the TV would still display "Stereo" when I hit the info button.

 

[phyl0x]

Is there a general guide for what the distances from the listener to each speaker should be--especially for the rear speakers? The Dolby website just gives angles to the speakers from the listener, but that doesn't help much. I'm trying to see if there needs to be a certain distance to get the maximum effect from the upward firing speakers. Is there good Atmos content that I could play that would help with speaker location setup? Most stuff it's hard to get consistent sounds from each speaker to help place them.

I dont think theres a particular guide for the Elevate, but there are many for general surround sound or even atmos upfiring. In General you want them ear-ish level, ideally 115 degrees angled, but back far enough that if you eyeball the angle of the upfiring speakers they hit the ceiling right BEHIND you (or at the very least right above you)...which means its gotta be a few feet back at least.

I do think positioning is important for the sound quality, I just put my Christmas Tree up and had to move one of my speakers closer to a center position, so its not as ideal..and i think the Atmos effect has been diminished pretty significantly.

 

[Beenjammin17]

I was just well-wishing.... it seems kid of odd that on cyber monday a price would change before lunch? i thought it would have at least lasted until end of business today.

Went to bestbuy last night and the $599 price it still posted. I bet my store had 1 unit in stock the whole time of course none were left... but every other freaking sound bar (except Sonos ARC) was all over the place.

FYI: My Arc showed up today... I cant say Sono's app is any better then Vizio's. It took over an hour to get the arc up and updated, then the sub connected to it just fine, but I still cant get my play ones added for surrounds.... So far the Elevate wins...

 

[WhyN0t?]

Went to bestbuy last night and the $599 price it still posted. I bet my store had 1 unit in stock the whole time of course none were left... but every other freaking sound bar (except Sonos ARC) was all over the place.

FYI: My Arc showed up today... I cant say Sono's app is any better then Vizio's. It took over an hour to get the arc up and updated, then the sub connected to it just fine, but I still cant get my play ones added for surrounds.... So far the Elevate wins...

Did you return the Elevate for the Arc, have both, or never got the Elevate? I would be curious how they compare.
I know the Arc has a much brighter sound though.

 

[Beenjammin17]

Did you return the Elevate for the Arc, have both, or never got the Elevate? I would be curious how they compare.
I know the Arc has a much brighter sound though.

No I have both. I ordered the arc months ago and was in their back order queue. I got the elevate on a whim since my local store had one in stock. I thought I woudl use it for the bedroom when the Arc finally arrives.

I finally got my sonos arc all connected. I had to completely reset the Orbi, but once I did that sonos connected without a hitch. I must say the Sonos Arc with sub and two surrounds is a better experience, but at $699 the Elevate is still well worth it (even at $999). The Sonos even heavily discounted due to being a healthcare provider was more than twice that.

The Arc sound is a bit cleaner ( brighter would be a good way to describe it). I did notice that I have to turn down the base on the elevate and have to turn up the base on the Sonos. I think the tuning is better on the sonos as well.

I dont think the Sonos is over twice as good as the Vizio by any stretch, but im no audio professional.

 

[jws12]

I never got it working via direct input again, but i did stop trying cause i figured out how to get it working via eARC, so just doing that now. I did have it working at one point direct into the bar, so not sure why it stopped. I've had lots of problems with Switch in particular, while I have had problems with PS4 Pro and PS5 with LPCM, they almost always work on reboot or whatever, while Switch is kinda a nightmare. Not sure whats up with the Switch, it honestly seems like it doesnt force an audio type change, when testing i was seeing really bizarre results, and the app would keep telling me its outputting dolby digital (which the switch isnt capable of doing, but it is the format my cable box uses, which is my "is sound working" test input). It was only hooking the PS4 to the bar directly and having it put out LPCM and then switching to the Switch did it "work".

I somehow also got the Switch working with eARC yesterday. Previously only front right and left speaker would play the sound in Switch's surround test. Somehow yesterday all speakers started to play the sound in that test and I didn't even do anything close to what you have done. Maybe sometime the surround will again stop working then I can poke around to see what actually made it work.

Besides that I also have other weird issue with Switch over eARC. Wondering if you've seen the same. In switch main UI or settings menu when you change focus through items you are suppose to hear a "da" sound for each move but when connected via eARC the sound wasn't played if you slowly moving the focus. If you change the focus through game icons or menu items rapidly the sound will start to play at your second or maybe third move. Then if you stoped changing focus and started to move focus again the sound will again disappear for your first or second move. It is almost as if the sound bar is in "idle" when no sound is played and it takes one or two second to activate itself to start play sound. No issue in games when continuous music played in the background.

If I turn off eARC on my TV I don't see above stated problem but the audio then is severely delayed in sound bar.

 

[ChazzMatt]

Vizio Elevate Review: A Clever Dolby Atmos Soundbar

This soundbar's rotating speakers set it apart from the pack.

gizmodo.com

New review!

 

[WhyN0t?]

Vizio Elevate Review: A Clever Dolby Atmos Soundbar

This soundbar's rotating speakers set it apart from the pack.

gizmodo.com

New review!

Also this one: Elevate vs. Sonos Arc: Neverenoughtech

 

[Beenjammin17]

That is a good review. One extra of note. The power input and arc/hdmi are on the opposite sites of the bar. Makes cable management tricky as the bar really not not have much of a built in channel to hide them so you will need a decent length hdmi cable to run to your devices or to the arc port on 65"-85" sets. id go 6'min. I got some 3 foot high speed cables that will not reach with the x900h 75" and 85"

 

[phyl0x]

Also this one: Elevate vs. Sonos Arc: Neverenoughtech

Wow, that review really nailed my experience with the Elevate, I have nearly all the frustrations he had.

 

[ranova]

The Best Soundbars in 2021, According to Gizmodo

Even a cheap TV will give you pretty great picture quality these days, but as sets have gotten thinner and better, the speakers have become tiny and awful. Want explosions that put a boom in your room? Your TV won’t cut it; those speakers can barely deliver solidly intelligible dialogue. Given...

theinventory.com

The inventory (gizmodo) gave their top soundbar pick to Elevate

 

[sdg4vfx]

How long are the cables that connect the surround speakers to the sub?

 

[Benh911f]

How long are the cables that connect the surround speakers to the sub?

25 feet

 

[phyl0x]

At the risk or jinxing myself (knock on wood):

I set up my replacement from Vizio, and so far so good. No grinding from the rotating speakers (which tells me that it has nothing to do with rubbing up on a shelf), no loud static pops when changing content, and my ATV4K is back to working properly over eArc.

Some of this could just be a coincidence and I’ll start getting some of those issues again, but hopefully Vizio is working things out on their end and fixing some issues, which may explain why these currently aren’t really for sale anywhere.

Does your replacement still not make the static pops on content change? Just interested if thats a universal problem between LG eARC and the Elevate or if different units really dont have that issue.

 

[KeyboardThug]

Does your replacement still not make the static pops on content change? Just interested if thats a universal problem between LG eARC and the Elevate or if different units really dont have that issue.

I have tried three different elevate units with my lg cx and the all have the pop when changing content.

If you have it contact vizio and let them know. They might be able to fix it with a firmware update. I did and the more people maybe they will look into it.

 

[Pat4ever]

I have tried three different elevate units with my lg cx and the all have the pop when changing content.

If you have it contact vizio and let them know. They might be able to fix it with a firmware update. I did and the more people maybe they will look into it.

I did this and they basically told me to go **** myself. Said it was an Xbox problem (even when I told them that the issue occurs with other devices and that it's a widespread issue online). Said that they won't push the problem upstairs for a fix because, in their own words, "there's nothing wrong with the soundbar".

 

[Beenjammin17]

I did this and they basically told me to go **** myself. Said it was an Xbox problem (even when I told them that the issue occurs with other devices and that it's a widespread issue online). Said that they won't push the problem upstairs for a fix because, in their own words, "there's nothing wrong with the soundbar".

It pops so loud you will jump out of your skin!!! you are definitely not wrong and its definitely NOT the XBOX. please let us know what number you guys contacted and ill report mine as well

 

[KeyboardThug]

It pops so loud you will jump out of your skin!!! you are definitely not wrong and its definitely NOT the XBOX. please let us know what number you guys contacted and ill report mine as well

I contacted the vizio chat support on their website and we have a reddit post going where the vizio support have commented. Reddit post

 

[Benh911f]

Does your replacement still not make the static pops on content change? Just interested if thats a universal problem between LG eARC and the Elevate or if different units really dont have that issue.

I still have it occasionally, but not nearly as much. I just tried playing some Atmos content on my ATV 4K and then returning to the Apple TV menu. I did this about 5 times and it didn’t crackle once.