VIZIO - Elevate™ 5.1.4 Channel Soundbar with Wireless Subwoofer and Rotating Speakers for Dolby Atmos / DTS:X - Charcoal Gray

PROS: - Great sound quality - Auto Rotating Atmos Speakers for Atmos sources - Ability to play Atmos, DTS:X, and most other formats - Unique LED display system - Backlit display remote - 2 HDMI inputs and 1 eARC HDMI - eARC (not just ARC) - Voice assistant input (AUX). Use the VA you prefer, not only something built in - Includes rear speakers WITH upfiring Atmos speakers (wired to subwoofer) - Decent amount of adjustment controls and customization for a soundbar - Night mode, auto level adjustment, and dialogue level adjustment - Well packaged and organized in box CONS: - Slight learning curve with LED lights “display” on front - lack of mids out of box but with some minor adjustments you can get a good sound - rear speakers are wired. This should help quality and avoid wireless interference but still means you have to run wires to the sub (which connects wireless to bar) Overall Thoughts (TL:DR): Bottom line is, for the retail price of $999 (and sale prices even lower) you can’t find a better value in a sound bar. Vizio prides themselves on bringing high end quality without high end price and even at a steep $999, this sound bar is still a great value, competing with bars in the $1500 or more class. The Vizio Elevate made waves at CES and won the Red Dot design award proving that Vizio has really outdone themselves with this sound bar. But how does it sound in real world testing? Well for me, very well. After a minor bit of tweaking and adjustments, I was able to produce a solid, clean sound with full range, crystal clear highs and floor shaking bass. It’s still no match for my full size floor speakers and AVR but when that’s not possible, this sound bar is a fantastic alternative. The packaging is really well done including a nice “briefcase” box of cables and a soft cover over the subwoofer. That said, I have seen other reviews saying they had damage to their box that showed on the subwoofer, but it was only cosmetic. Unfortunately, I think that’s a common issue with the standard for soundbar packaging. Until that terrible tetris piece design changes, we’ll see damage reports. I tested multiple audio/video files once I had the device hooked up and was able to get Atmos signals, DTS:X, and Dolby Digital+ among others. When I successfully got an Atmos signal, the Atmos speakers did indeed rotate up automatically and when the playback ended, they rotated back down. The “bounce technique” is just as good as any atmos bouncing speakers, that is to say, just ok. And that’s testing inside a standard square room with a flat ceiling. (if you have a vaulted ceiling you won’t have a lot of luck bouncing audio.) But it is a noticeable difference from having the speakers facing directly out. Overall, I am enjoying this soundbar more than others I’ve had and if you pair it with a newer Vizio TV, you’ll have a seamless experience including a quick snap-on mounting to certain Vizio TV stands making it easy to get your soundbar mounted below your Vizio TV. Sound quality is fantastic for those looking for a decent surround sound and Atmos experience without buying an AVR or expensive speaker systems. DETAILED REVIEW: UNBOXING/SETUP: There’s not too much to say about the unboxing and setup. The packaging was really well done (for a sound bar) and instead of having wires in bags scattered all over, Vizio chose to put a briefcase style box inside that includes all the cables and accessories. One note, personally, I did not receive the velcro wire ties that the box said was included which is a bummer because I actually use those, but possibly they fell through a crack during shipping. Everything else was included as described. Once I unboxed the bar, I started the setup process. This was fairly easy and as expected and if you are unsure what to do, Vizio does include help in the manual and online to make sure you’re set. I was replacing an existing soundbar, so for me all I had to do was run a new power cord and use my existing HDMI from the TV’s arc and I was setup. The subwoofer should auto connect once you plug it in and the soundbar will audibly confirm that it is connected as well. The rear speakers have color coded cables that easily plug in and connect to the subwoofer. Even though they are wired, the subwoofer is still wireless, so you could put your sub behind or in the back of your room and pretty easily connect the rears, hiding cables under or behind your couch. This is what I did and found it to work quite well. SOUND QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE: I have had the Vizio Elevate for about a week and have tested music, movies, streaming, and gaming and have found the quality to be outstanding in almost all categories. There have been a few learning curves as far as operation and I have had a few hiccups in playback, but overall it’s a pretty user friendly system that may take a little bit of fine tuning early but eventually will work without much needed from you. One thing to remember about Atmos, at least currently, it is a great audio option that’s unfortunately a little difficult to actually get to play back. This is no fault of the soundbar, but usually something else along the chain. For example, yes, netflix or disney+ will say Atmos supported but you must make sure your TV can pass it to the soundbar over your specific TV’s ARC channel, and that you have the proper HDMI cable to handle this, and that you have a strong enough internet connection if you are streaming, etc etc etc. There is a lot of info online about this and I won’t bother with it here, but suffice it to say, if you know what you are doing with your A/V gear and you are confident in operating your devices properly, then you will have no problem getting good, clean audio in any format you choose from this soundbar. OTHER THOUGHTS: The remote is really nice for a soundbar remote. I really like the backlit screen at top, and combined with Vizios LED light display on the front of the soundbar, you can make adjustments on the fly without annoying pop-ups on screen or bright lights flashing on the bar, distracting other viewers. It takes a bit to get used to, but once you do you’ll enjoy the ease of changing settings and adjustments with this remote. I have not put it fully to the test yet, but the little testing I did this week, I also thought it was worth noting the night mode and auto volume adjustments. I had the auto volume on most of the time I was testing this bar and it did a decent job for the most part. Movies and action is still so dynamic these days (on purpose) that it’s difficult to have a good compression tool built in, but at lower volumes, I found the soundbar was able to keep things relatively level. The night mode is similar but also adjusts the bass levels to not be so boomy at night. I thought this was cool and worked pretty good as well and I really enjoyed that night mode will reset to OFF when you power down the bar. Meaning the next day when someone else uses the TV to watch some action movie, they won’t be wondering why everything is quiet and no bass. The subwoofer is the last thing I’ll mention. Usually I find soundbars subwoofers are just ok and lack any real punch. This sub is definitely the better of the group of soundbar subs I’ve heard. It still doesn’t have a crossover setting option which is a bummer but it is a down firing sub and really packs a good solid thud. I’ve actually had to set the level down around 30% for everyday viewing and late night because it’s so powerful. But even with the sub turned down, I’m not losing out on any low mids that I was concerned may be caught in a crossover, meaning the soundbar itself is still covering a lot of those low-mid range sounds. Overall I really am enjoying this Vizio bar and have always had good luck with Vizio products. They pride themselves on their value and price and this Elevate soundbar is no different. I’m not surprised it won so many awards!

============================ >>>>> Bottom Line Up front: <<<<< ============================ The VIZIO Elevate 5.1.4 Home Theater Sound Bar delivers a quality theatre style surround sound experience at home - without the traditionally high price tag that normally accompanies it. The Elevate 5.1.4 packs in state of art Dolby Atmos and DTS:X support that really helps make your cinema experience significantly more immersive when watching supported titles at home. The Elevate 5.1.4 sports a nice sleek industrial look that effortlessly hides all the 18 speaks in your living room. Auxiliary input for Voice Assistant support, Chromecast Built-In and Bluetooth support is simply icing on the cake. Unfortunately, in my time with the Elevate 5.1.4, I was consistently let down by poor Vizo SmartCast Mobile App setup integration, and even had a couple of odd instances where the eARC channel failing to output audio, even though it was setup and worked fine for several days between each issue. Regardless, Vizo delivered a solid surround system that is everything you’d expect in a top-notch Surround system. ============================================== >>>>> Detailed Observations after a regular usage: <<<<< ============================================== I have always associated Vizio with delivering products that meet or exceed the traditional “bang for your buck” quotient that is ever so popular these days. Having owned previous Vizio flat panel televisions over the years, I can attest to their long-term durability and the value they offer compared to a lot of their competition in a particular segment. One of the areas I felt Vizio traditionally saved on “cost” while still being able to deliver the feature department – often was felt/seen in the physical housing/exterior styling department of their products. The Elevate 5.1.4 is big “step up” in opinion, particularly from my pre-conceived expectations and prior experiences with their products. Packaging/Unboxing: ================== Unboxing the Elevate 5.1.4 Soundbar system was a breeze, and I appreciated the little “open here” markings on the exterior of the box so I did not end up taking it out upside down or anything like that. It was interesting to see all the “awards” the Elevate had accumulated, so I was already preparing myself mentally for a mind-blowing theater experience. Inside the box, there was your traditional foam blocks, foam pieces and protective wrappings. The Elevate arrived to me without a scratch, so no issues there. Speaking of packaging, I HAVE TO take a moment to give some serious “kudos” to the engineer/product manager that decided to neatly organize, label, and package ALL of the included cables/connections/wires into a single, easily identifiable box. For starters, it is nice that VIZIO includes ALL of the cables you would need to get connected. Everything from an HDMI cable, digital audio cable, 3.5mm audio auxiliary and everything in between to get sounds flowing from the soundbar. It has always been my experience that most manufactures rarely include this many “extras” in the box, as they expect you to purchase your own right out the box. Styling/Setup: ============ As I previously mentioned, I really appreciated the industrial “brushed metal” appearance of the soundbar itself and I thought the metal speaker housing and plastic unit cover blended well. The grey color is pretty “neutral” by home theatre component standards, so the Elevate 5.1.4 should go well with just about any color scheme you most likely have at home. Needless to say, this is a pretty subjective category, so make sure you take the time to look at the pictures your self if this is a big area of concern. Interestingly, the rear pair of speakers are “wired” to the subwoofer, which in turn (the subwoofer) is wirelessly connected to the main soundbar unit. I think for most people (myself included) this shouldn’t be an issue, as its pretty easy to set up the rear par and subwoofer to “hide” the cables, but for some I could see this being a deal breaker since at this price point it is not that out of line to want “wireless” speakers all around. On the bright side, wired connections means less signal degradation and troubleshooting issues…. which bring me to the main unit setup…. Trying to setup the main soundbar proved to be more difficult that I anticipated. Maybe, I just had bad luck, maybe it wasn’t my day … but I have setup more than my fair share of electronic devices ranging from tablets, to building computer systems and writing computer code (I have a degree in Computer Science) Needless to say, I know my way around a “mobile app”. The well laid out, and easy to follow instructions suggested I download the Vizio SmartCast Mobile App to complete setup – so I did just that. Unfortunately, the first warning sign was made apparent when the Google Play App store had the SmartCast Mobile App app rated at about 3.1 stars (out of 5 stars at the time of this review). I hope Vizio takes the time to read over some of those reviews and feedback, because knowingly reading and seeing them for myself first hand, I can see where some of the user’s frustrations where coming into play. Upon completing physical setup and double checking my connections, I attempted to pair the SmartCast Mobile App to my phone several times. The app kept “hanging” during the setup either while trying to find the soundbar device itself, or trying to connect to my home wi-fi network. If I attempted to “skip” any of the “hanging steps” I would not be able to “save” my changes to the soundbar device itself. Throughout this process, the soundbar would default to naming itself a “default” Vizio name (such as VIzio 4563 for example) and would not disappear from the “devices” inside of the SmartCast Mobile App – even though it was not properly setup. As confusing and frustrating as this sounds, it was more so when trying to make it work in person. I ultimately had to power cycle the soundbar main unit several times to get it to “disappear” from the know devices in the SmartCast Mobile App, each time hoping it would not hang on one of the steps….I then made the bold attempt to “update” the system firmware/software…and that turned out to be a mistake. The SmartCast Mobile App hung for about 30 mins saying it was updating/downloading the update and that is could take up to “10 mins” to complete. At about the 30 min mark AFTER the 10 mins had passed….I decided to power cycle the main unit again – only to discover it erased all my previous efforts in pairing the device to the SmartCast Mobile App . I had to repeat everything I listed above several times over… again. The good news is – 2 hours later, I am good to go! – Where there is a will, there is a way! Sound Quality/Movie Experience: ============================= After the rough setup process – I was ready to sit back and stream/watch a nice Star Wars Marathon session in full Dolby Atmos glory on Disney+ (from a streaming device). Compared to my PCM/5.1 surround system I had previously used – it was night and day. As gimmicky as the “rotating” Dolby Atmos speaks may sound – I really felt that they added another level of immersion on the soundstage that I simply wasn’t getting out of my previous system. The spatial and positional audio effects were notably sharper and on point. The Elevate 5.1.4 didn’t jut “get louder” It pin pointed blaster fire or a daftly dropped lightsaber hilt on the ground – syncing perfectly as pictured on screen. Switching my input sources to my HTPC (Home Theater PC) – the Elevate 5.1.4 produced equally pleasing audio results across Video and Music playback from movies, web pages, and PC games. Bluetooth audio streaming was also on point. It my humble opinion, the “default” audio eq profile is more focused on pronounced dialogue and speech/vocal tones. I think it tends to run a little on the high side of the treble range when it comes to music playback – but fortunately there is the option of fine tuning the EQ to better reflect the sound profile your looking for. On an interesting note, I actually lost audio output on 3 separate occasions while passing audio through the eARC input on the soundbar. Despite my best efforts to trouble shoot the settings in the SmartCast Mobile App and the provided VIzio remote control unit – I ended up having to power cycle the main unit a few times to get the audio back on the eARC input. I have attempted to replace the HDMI 2.0 cable on each subsequent power cycle – but I can’t say for certain that cabling was the issue. I can’t rule out the my TV itself, because I didn’t have an extra 60 inch home theater grade TV lying about. ========================= >>>>> Closing thoughts: <<<<< ========================= Make sure you understand that you need to have a TV or device that supports eARC (Enhanced Audio Return Channel), or at least ARC (classic “older” Audio Return Channel) in order to truly get the most out of the Dolby Atmos/Dolby Digital+ features. As confusing as that may sound not all TVs that have the older “non-enhanced” ARC standard – may not play nice with Dolby Atmos, even though they have the bandwidth and speed to support Dobly Digital+ playback. Vizio does it again – they produced a top-notch Soundbar surround system that brings a lot of top shelf tech into a more affordable price bracket. Their build aesthetic quality is noticeably improved in my opinion, but I can’t help but wonder if some of the internal networking components and/or SmartCast Mobile Application development were the areas that they decided to not invest heavily into for this product. Even with the issues I had, I am very happy with the performance and appearance of the Elevate 5.1.4 Soundbar surround system. I hope VIzio takes the time to continue to address the deficiencies sin their SmartCast Mobile App and make the setup process more user friendly in the future.

Very good and solid sound system. I am very happy with this! It is just as good if not as good as the competitors. I can honestly say this has been well worth the price and my favorite buy of the year. I really love Vizio for their DTS TruVolume feature. Other players dont have an auto volume feature or if it does, its not very good. A lot of people give it bad ratings because of the app... Well, forget the app. It is nice when it does work, but its ultimately unnecessary. The remote is good enough. Being able to change the surround to dual mode is especially awesome for music! It seriously sounds like you're there. If you are listening to something loud enough, especially Atmos or DTS X content, you can feel the rear speakers pushing air out of it. The sub is so loud that even on the lowest setting, it rumbled our place, which I love, but the wife hates. I had to disconnect the sub speaker wiring inside so I could still use the surround speakers. Even without the sub speaker, the soundbar and rear speakers have a lot of bass. Best soundbar system that I have personally tried, and Ive tested most of them. When watching Earth 4K, my cat goes wild haha. The sounds are too real.

I really wanted to be 100% happy with this purchase, but I can’t help but feel let down by the quality of this product. I will start off by saying I had no issues setting this bar up. Was very careful unpacking the bar from the box, etc as I read read many reviews and tips before purchasing mentioning to handle by the center of the bar and such. I also have had Vizio products before so appreciate the packaging of these bars and the setup process. I have this hooked up to earc on a 2019 Samsung QLed TV with zero issues so far. It’s been 24 hours or so. Love the sound quality. The bar updated when connected to WiFi and have had no issues that plagued prior bars I have owned. What I’m having a problem accepting is my unit has cosmetic factory defects that Vizio support this morning would not stand behind. These appear to be metal casting issues/chips that were just painted or powder coated over. For a premium soundbar in this price range, I shouldn’t have to look at uneven paint work all around the right rotational speaker. The foam padding around the soundbar was not ripped or torn in the box, so I know this is a build issue on Vizio part and not damage on behalf of bestbuy. I can’t recommend this to others if these defects make it to the consumer and Vizio will not stand behind to correct. See pictures attached of the numerous chips around the rotational speaker that were painted over. This is just the right side on my unit, the left rotational speaker does not have this issue and is smooth all the way around. No paint is chipped either, so this is certainly factory issues and because the surface seems rough, they are noticeable when light hits the bar.

Got it discounted over Cyber Monday. Amazing value, great design, good sound, easy to hook up to the TV. The Vizio iOS app is very buggy, keeps disconnected form the soundbar. Based on online reviews, I know that I'm not the only one having issue with this app. And when I pick it up at BestBuy, the box is pretty banged up. The agent claimed it is brand new, she didn't know what happened. Such a disappointing respond, especially with a My Best Buy Elite Plus member. The only good thing that nothing seems damaged.

This is my first 5.1 sound system with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X capability and so far, it's been an awesome experience paired up with my new Sony X90CH TV! Pros: - Easy set-up and connections. Wireless subwoofer with the satellite speakers connecting to it. Sound bar to the TV via HDMI E-ARC/ARC. Download Smartcast app on mobile and pair together for set-up and firmware update. Took me maybe 20 minutes altogether. - Has all of the volume you'll ever need. This thing gets loud enough to fill up a large hall. - Has about all the EQ settings I think you'll need. 4 Main EQ settings and all the main adjustable sound signature settings you'd expect like bass and treble. - Auto-rotating speakers are super cool when they trigger Atmos content. They work well in providing height sounds given that it is coming from a sound bar and not ceiling speakers. - Satellite speakers are great and can also get pretty loud, upfiring speakers in them also contribute to Atmos immersion decently. - Even in the normal wide setting, the soundstage on this thing is absolutely impressive. Listening to concerns on Youtube makes me feel like I'm actually at the concert. - Clarity and separation of sound is shockingly good for a sound bar. Even with the over-tuned amount of bass, dialogue, mids, and highs come through extremely clear and sound separate from the bass and low frequency instead of sounding like they're coming from the same speaker. If you adjust the bass properly for the content you're watching, the clarity I think is top notch of any sound bar on the market. - Build quality on everything seems sturdy, nothing seems flimsy or easy to break. Cons: - Vizio Smartcast app is extremely buggy. Anyone with experience with their app and any other Vizio products knows exactly what I'm talking about. The app is slow and unresponsive considering how high quality the hardware it supports is. You'll press to change an EQ setting and it'll take multiple tries and up to 60 seconds to register as you fiddle back and forth. - Accompanying the buggy app seems to be buggy firmware that doesn't work 100% properly. Audio will cut out and I'm unsure if it is a problem with the E-ARC function of my TV or the sound bar itself. - The current firmware version causes the sound bar to not automatically power off when the TV turns off. Overall, for the Black Friday price I got it for + open box (~$500) I think this sound bar system is absolutely worth it. I think with time and further firmware updates, it's value will only increase, as it has only some software and connectivity issues plaguing what is itself amazing hardware. I wouldn't pay full MSRP for it, but at a sale price, I think it absolutely beats any other comparable sound bar system out right now.

I owned a VIZIO 5.1 system and the app and the software is the same for the setup for the elevate, so it sometimes can be frustrating to connect the soundbar to the app and your Wi-Fi. My only suggestion is to go close to the soundbar when pairing and be patient because sometimes it takes time waiting as it configures each screen. Once connected every bad review discussing connection shou, because now you are connected and have control, until you reset settings. App, connectivity and settings: You have a lot of control with this soundbar and can customize everything from bass to dialogue, although you can’t adjust dialogue this with atoms media,but you really don’t have to because the dialogue on atoms is really good. There are a lot of options and selectors in the app, which are good, but sometimes too many options makes it difficult to know what to do. I tried everything and found that pre-set EQ “direct” with any signal that has true surround sound / atoms is the most accurate, and I found that EQ “movie” for all other signals such as Google live ,Hulu live, etc... gives you the simulated surround. I didn’t see if EQ “direct” has surround with a movie coming from FX or STARS using on demand but apps such as Prime, Imovies, Netflix, Disney + works amazing with direct. If you don’t hear surround with EQ “direct”, just switch to movie and it will process a 5.1 effect ( not nearly as good as a true signal, but still better than just the sound bar pushing out sound ). I just want to state that I’m pretty sure this goes for all soundbars, because I have an LG Atmos in my living room and it does the same; Only movie eq will activate the surround with tv streaming media on LG. In summary, get past the connectivity issues and disregard all the negative reviews on app connectivity. As for physical connections, I have no issues and no problems passing Dolby atoms through the tv hdmi arc, although Apple TV 4K, I had to connect directly to the soundbar hdmi input to get the atoms to tigger. I’m not sure if this is Apple TV or the sound bar, because the shield tv passes through just fine. Sound Quality and output: The sound quality of this sound bar is amazing. I don’t have any of the other soundbars to compare other than than an LG atoms soundbar, so I’m giving you this review with maybe three other soundbar impressions. The sound on this elevate has more separation in the dialogue than any of the others I have recently heard. The bass is amazing and surround is really good. With atoms, you will hear the difference than a traditional 5.1, not mind blowing, but enough to look for atoms media. Now for some things that I still don’t understand. This has to do with volume levels and output of the soundbar. I will start by saying that my LG soundbar just seems so much louder on a lower volume level. If I turn the LG all the way up it was louder but just not pleasant to listen to, so more power with the LG. With that said, I would never watch a movie or show that loud, so it might only be an issue if you are looking to fill a very large space. I’m in a basement movie room that has the surrounds about 10 - 15 feet away from the sitting area and the sub is about 10 feet and in front to the left of the seating area. With these room dimensions this soundbar still fills and creates a very full sound with amazing quality. My only comment is that I do need to put the volume very high to achieve this. As an example, my LG sound bar can be at a 20 out of 100 and sound super loud and the elevate will have to be at a 60 + to get a similar volume level. This does change based on media, but the elevate doesn’t have as much output than what I have compared it to, but has the best quality sound. The only trade off for all these other sound bars in my opinion is power, not bass, but just overall output of the volume. You may never even need it, so it’s really not a deal breaker for me and the quality of this entire surround system is amazing!!! Aesthetics: The look of this sound bar and the rotating speakers is comparable to all the other extremely expensive systems on the market. There is no issues with he build quality and the way this sound bar looks Overall: I thought about returning this just on power, but If I have to always lower the volume to watch tv or a movie because it’s too loud, than that’s enough power for me. There is a lot of power with this sound bar but you just have to turn that volume up to achieve it. You can put it full volume and there is no distortion and enough power to impress. Get passed connectivity and you are golden. All settings and connectivity that you can ask for . I do recommend this sound bar !

So I was very leery about buying this. Lots of review videos showing this as being a hard to setup, but great performing device. Well , I ended up getting it and am VERY happy that I did. Let me be the first to tell you that the setup on this is not “difficult” but definitely time consuming. It’s mainly because the Vizio app is AWFUL! And that is what u use to set this soundbar up with. It’s very finicky, lots of “connection errors” and spinning wheels. But ultimately, got everything connected, set up, and firmware updated in the end. My best advice is that you will be successful in doing this, but you better be patient and don’t expect a five minute set up. It’s not gonna happen. Another word of advice, make very sure that you understand how Dolby sound with Atmos is carried. All devices in the run need to be Atmos capable. The source, and every other device that it runs through, like the TV, need to be Atmos capable. I had a Roku ultra that I thought was Atmos capable, turns out I had to buy the 2021 version of the Roku ultra. Only the new device supports Atmos. Also was running it through a one-year-old Samsung television that supports dolby digital plus. Technically, dolby digital plus is capable of carrying the Atmos signal pass through, but the Samsung hardware couldn’t handle the baud rate. No problem though, as this Visio sound bar has two HDMI inputs, I just fed the Roku directly to the sound bar, then sent the signal to the television via the HDMI (ARC out) Port on the Vizio sound bar. Every device in line from the source to the sound bar MUST be at most capable for this signal to be seen by the Visio elevate. If not, you will need to hook the source directly to the soundbar. Just a heads up. As far as sound, this thing is amazing. It completely lights up the room. Deep bass, stunningly clear dialogue, great Atmos and surround affect. I can’t begin to tell you how terrible my old sound bar was, until I heard this thing. This sounds better than any other Atmos sound bar that I have listened to thus far, and that’s a lot of them. Not to mention that it’s the only true 5.1.4 Atmos soundbar that I know of. But, I will warn you that if you have zero audio, or technical knowledge, this might not be the bar for you as it is a tedious set up and does require some moderate knowledge. Not terrible, but there is some involvement. The only troubles that I have had with this sound bar is the the power off control on the CEC connections to the television gets “finicky“. Twice this week it would turn on with my TV as it should, But wouldn’t turn off with the TV power. This was easily corrected by unplugging power to the TV/soundbar for 30 seconds. that’s all it took to solve this. I’m still guessing this is a Samsung CEC issue on my TV. Not the soundbar. And lastly, I can’t stress how terrible the Vizio SmartCast app is. Don’t even try to adjust levels with the app. It’s impossible. Just use the included remote. The remote is excellent!