LG DSH5 2.1 review - 300W soundbar

First impression of the LG DSH5 2.1

What's in the box

The box that comes with the LG DSH5 2.1 Soundbar is anything but compact. However, the 890 x 53 x 85 mm soundbar and the subwoofer must also be included in this. In addition, the necessary power supply cables are included, a remote control including batteries is included and of course there is also a user manual included. Other connecting cables, such as an HDMI cable or an optical audio cable, are not included and must be purchased separately.

Workmanship and design

The design of the LG Soundbar is simple. The low height of just 53 mm and the black plastic housing, the soundbar can be placed almost inconspicuously in front of a TV. The design of the subwoofer is simply black. The size is 171 x 320 x 252 mm. Due to the wireless transmission, the soundbar and the subwoofer do not need to be connected to each other, so that even this can be placed inconspicuously in the room. The processing of both parts is convincing.

connection options

The Soundbar has an HDMI input and output on the back, an 3.5mm Portable-In connection and an optical connection option. A USB 2.0 jack is also available and is located next to the two HDMI sockets, which unfortunately were placed impractical. The HDMI sockets, as well as the USB socket was placed within a small indentation, so that the cables can be laid only "around the corner". To connect the HDMI cable must be kinked on the one hand, as well as no larger USB stick space.

Commissioning and operation

The operating instructions are brief, but they take into account all necessary steps for commissioning and also explain how the individual additional functions are activated. If you have connected the desired source devices and both the soundbar and the subwoofer are connected to the power, the LG DSH5 2.1 is immediately ready for use.

In the test, the subwoofer was found directly from the soundbar. There is an LED on the back of the subwoofer that shows the current connection status. Green represents an active connection, red represents a connection error. In case of a connection error, the instruction manual explains the individual steps for successful coupling.

After the Soundbar is turned on, on the one hand you can make settings (volume, source, etc.) via the rear control buttons, but you can also use the enclosed remote control.

The active playback source is indicated by front LEDs. Which LED stands for which source, you only recognize on closer inspection. The exact arrangement should be remembered! The switch between the individual sources works smoothly and within a few seconds. The range of the remote control is about 20 meters.

Negatively noticed is the selection of the "comfort functions". If you activate one of these functions, you will not receive any notification or information about it. The active function can not be read off the LED strip, nor is it possible to obtain a differentiating signal tone. Before each use, the functions must be selected again.

Music playback and home theater

General

The output power of the LG DSH5 2.1 Soundbar is stately 300 watts, which are distributed with 2x 60 watts on the front speakers and with 180W on the subwoofer. The supported playback formats are FLAC with maximum 192kHz, OGG, WAV, MP3 and WMA. The audio output supports LPCM (Linear Pulse Code Modulation), Dolby Digital and DTS Digital Surround.

Klang

In practice, the LG Soundbar convinces with particularly warm and powerful sounds. When playing music, subtleties remain clearly audible despite the active subwoofer. Also mids and heights are nicely tuned to each other, whereby the sound image gains a lot of color. Particularly interesting is the adjustable subwoofer. The "woofer level" can be adjusted individually via the remote control.

This option is especially convincing in home theater. If you want to watch an action-packed movie, you increase the Woofer level accordingly. Precise, tonal tuning creates a true mid-feel. This "precision landing" is made possible by the Auto Sound Engine technology, which adjusts mids, heights, but also depths.

sound effects

 ASC (Adaptive Sound Control) 

ASC (Adaptive Sound Control) is a voice optimization feature. According to LG, "the voice level of the sound track is analyzed and the bass automatically adjusted to the pitch". In practice, this feature has audibly reduced the "woofer level" and highlighted the mids.

 Cinema Mode 

The full potential of the LG Soundbar unfolds only in "Cinema mode". The audible difference to the "standard mode" is clear. If one had to describe this mode with just one word, the word "wild" would spontaneously come to mind. The sound becomes very wide. Mid, highs and lows play in this mode, but they stay balanced. The mid-feel is best communicated in cinema mode.

 Night Mode 

With active night mode, quiet areas are emphasized and noisy places are correspondingly reduced and adjusted to the maximum volume. However, this mode works only when playback material is played through one of the digital connectors.

LG Music Flow App

The LG Music Flow app is available for both Android devices in the PlayStore, as well as iOS devices in the AppStore. Unfortunately, the app could not convince in the test. Already at the first start of the app you will be guided through a setup menu, which is mainly adapted to LG audio devices with WLAN function. Since the LG DSH5 2.1 has no Wi-Fi, you can not set up the soundbar with the app, let alone add as a speaker.

The connection must be made manually via Bluetooth. The LG Soundbar is then no more than a "Bluetooth Speaker". The LG Music Flow App is thus superfluous.