I started my tests of the Q990F with movie soundtracks, and I’m relieved to say that the new subwoofer design definitely has not undermined Samsung’s typically outstanding soundbar performance. In fact, in some ways it’s made it even better.
I had expected the Q990F’s main bar and rear speaker components to sound at least as good as they did on the Q990D, given that their size, design and driver configuration is essentially the same. So it’s no surprise to find these elements do indeed produce all the familiar power, detail, projection, impeccable staging, impact and clean transitions that we’ve become accustomed to hearing from Samsung soundbars over the years.
... a brilliantly staged dome of sound that truly wraps right around you
In fact, I felt the rears and main bar sounded marginally better than their predecessors, making subtle details in a film mix sound more consistently in balance with both each other and other mix elements. No effects sounded too bright or uncontrolled.
‘Hard’ effects such as punches, gunfire and explosions that have long been a speciality of Samsung soundbars are as aggressively presented as usual, and the scale of Dolby Atmos and DTS:X sound stages continues to be perfectly judged, filling your room in Atmos and DTS:X mode with a brilliantly staged dome of sound that truly wraps right around you. Even above your head. There’s nothing distant about this audio hemisphere, either. The speakers place sound effects within the dome’s three-dimensional space with fantastic accuracy, ensuring that you’re properly at the heart of audio worlds that can be as intense and up close as they can be epic. Basically, whatever sense of space a sound mix wants to create is exactly what the Q990F produces.
Focusing on the new subwoofer, it’s capable of reaching at least the same extreme low frequency depths that the Q990D’s differently designed subwoofer did, and is just as intelligent about when and how loudly it joins in the fun.
The subwoofer’s crossover is essentially perfectly judged, too, leaving no obvious ‘gap’ between its contributions and the main bar’s lowest frequencies. The subwoofer’s volume always blends perfectly with that of the main bar, too, further ensuring that it never draws undue attention to itself. It always sounds like it’s there to selflessly support the rest of the sound mix, rather than just showing off what it can do. Even though it can do a lot more than most soundbar subwoofers can.
If anything, it sounds a touch warmer than the HW-Q990D
Perhaps because of its dual driver design, the new subwoofer’s bass has an impressively non-directional quality to it. In fact, it’s even better in this respect than the Q990D’s excellent subwoofer was. The Q990F’s sub’s innovative driver design also means that despite its smaller form, it handles extreme and protracted bass effects and rumbles, even at very high volumes, without any hint of crackle or distortion.
The best thing about the new subwoofer, though, is how smooth its bass sounds. It rolls out even the deepest frequencies Hollywood can conceive of without a hint of distortion or ‘strain’. In this way, again, it’s even better than the already stellar efforts of the Q990D’s subwoofer (despite that subwoofer using an Acoustic Lens design to try and improve its bass dispersion).
... a pretty tiny complaint in the great scheme of things
My only niggle with the new subwoofer is that it isn’t quite as reactive as the previous one. By which I mean that it doesn’t adjust its pace or frequency level relative to the rest of the mix quite as nimbly. But this is a pretty tiny complaint in the great scheme of things.
Turning to music, for the most part the Q990F thankfully retains the big leap in musicality that made the Q990D the first Samsung flagship soundbar that really felt as at home with music as it did movies.
The main bar - and the rears when you’re listening to Atmos music - again perform as I would have expected from my experience with the Q990D, delivering the same excellent combination of detail, genuinely musical staging and insight, and bags of raw power.
Vocals sound clean and clear, never becoming garbled into the rest of the mix, but also never sounding too shrill or bright. Stereo effects are expertly presented, with a large but always coherent soundstage, and unlike some Samsung soundbars of days gone by, there’s nothing clinical about the presentation. If anything, it sounds a touch warmer than the HW-Q990D did, in fact.
The new subwoofer mostly adapts well to music too. For most of the time it interjects its bass into favourite test tracks with just the right weight and good (if not always quite perfect) timing. The outstanding crossover control noted during movie playback is at least as striking with music, too, ensuring low frequencies don’t sound baggy or detached even during the densest and most dynamic tracks.
... the Q990F is yet another stellar Samsung soundbar for both music and films
While the new sub works great with music most of the time, though, it’s not quite as consistently effective across different genres as the Q990D’s subwoofer was. So, for instance, while it works very well with regular pop and bass-rich dance tracks, it occasionally sounds slightly thumpy with high-tempo rock tracks, while its contributions to relatively ambient, atmospheric tracks such Track 1 from Sigur Ros’s ‘()’ album can sound a little forced and dislocated.
I also found myself needing to manually adjust the subwoofer’s volume level quite a bit between different albums, indicating that its sound isn’t quite as flexible or forgiving of different musical context as the Q990D’s subwoofer was.
These niggles, though, really are only that: niggles. They don’t alter the core reality that the Q990F is yet another stellar Samsung soundbar for both music and films.
