The Inventive X-Fi Sonic Provider is the Rolls-Royce of soundbars. It options 17 audio system set in an 11.2.Four-channel or 15.2-channel configuration that may put out properly over 110 dB of sound and help for Dolby Atmos proper out of the field.
Put merely, if there’s an audiophile in your life who nonetheless doesn’t consider that soundbars can sound simply pretty much as good as a encompass sound system, that is the place you’ll want to level them.
However specs can solely achieve this a lot justice to this soundbar. The icing on the proverbial cake is Inventive’s distinctive DSP (Digital Sign Processing) that transforms stereo sound into an immersive orchestra of 24-bit 192kHz music and object-based film audio.
The expertise is named SuperWide X-Fi and it supplies the expertise of true encompass sound with none further audio system. It may be disabled when you’re interested by sustaining a pure stereo sound in your music, however for video games and flicks, SuperWide X-Fi is the definition of dwelling cinema sound.
All that stated, this stage of scintillating audio efficiency doesn’t come low cost: the MSRP of the Inventive X-Fi Sonic Provider is $three,999 (round £2,870, AU$5,295). You’ll additionally should take care of a fairly small collection of apps that come constructed onto Inventive’s customized Android TV and the soundbar’s directional sound. These are in the end minor issues for what is well top-of-the-line soundbars in existence, however they’re ones value calling consideration to.
When you aren’t postpone by the value tag, and the sounds of a customized Android TV OS doesn’t strike concern into your coronary heart, you’ll be handled to some spectacular-sounding audio that can remodel any room of your property into the cinema/dance membership you’ve all the time dreamed of proudly owning.
Design
The Inventive Sonic Provider isn’t low cost, clearly. However in return in your funding you get a reasonably strong piece of package.
The soundbar itself weighs in 35.three kilos and the accompanying single-unit subwoofer weighs a back-breaking 59.5 kilos. It’s not the type of factor you’d need to carry from room-to-room, however could possibly be a manageable answer when you’re a touring DJ or digital musician and also you solely must fill a room with sound for the evening.
When it comes to measurements, the soundbar sits at 521 x 151 x 96mm (59.9 x 5.9 x three.eight inches, L x W x H) whereas the sub measures in at 531 x 306 x 582mm (20.9 x 12.zero x 22.9 inches). When you can’t image what that appears like, the soundbar is about so long as most 65-inch TVs, and rises up a number of inches off the desk.
The dimensions is justified, nonetheless. The Sonic Provider homes 5 1” coated aluminum alloy tweeters, eight 2.75” aluminum-magnesium alloy midbass drivers and two 2.25” aluminum-magnesium alloy full-range drivers for encompass channel replica with individually sealed enclosures, to not point out the 2 Twin 10” excessive tour subwoofer drivers in push-push configuration housed within the sub.
However when you’re afraid that the soundbar would possibly block your TV’s IR sensor, don’t be. Inventive contains an IR receiver within the field and the soundbar helps a 2.0a HDMI-out with ARC.
Talking of HDMI, the Inventive Sonic Provider comes outfitted with 4 HDMI 2.0a ports with HDCP 2.2 – three behind the soundbar and one within the entrance. Additionally alongside the again of the bar you’ll find an auxiliary three.5mm jack, two ¼” microphone connectors, two USB 2.zero sort A connector for USB flash drives and HDDs, one SD card slot and three MicroSD card slots alongside two optical audio Toslink inputs.
Higher than all of that, although, is the soundbar’s help for wi-fi audio – which presently contains Bluetooth model Four.1 and aptX, aptX Low Latency, AAC and SBC codecs. There are nonetheless some lacking codecs right here – LDAC and aptX HD are two that spring to thoughts – however for essentially the most half all of your bases are lined.
After all, you gained’t want to make use of any Bluetooth codec must you determine to stream music or video from any variety of the soundbar’s built-in streaming companies that embrace Spotify and Tidal, plus YouTube, Netflix, Vudu and HBO Go. There’s room for enchancment right here, positive, however once more, as a package deal it feels 95% full.
As you would possibly’ve anticipated, there’s additionally an accompanying app to go along with it.
Setup and the Sonic Provider app
When you’re a house leisure fanatic, there’s most likely one query in your thoughts proper now: Why purchase a $Four,000 soundbar when you could possibly purchase a floorstanding speaker setup for half the value? The reply is straightforward: setup is simply too rattling simple.
When you’re an audio fanatic, speaker cables don’t scare you. You’ve measured, lower and capped dozens of spools of 12-gauge wire in your day and the one facet of an Atmos speaker setup that scares you is the upgraded AVR.
However look, not everyone seems to be an AV fanatic – or at the least, an AV fanatic with the talents and information base essential to undergo the work of selecting out an AVR, two fronts, a mid, two sides, 4 peak and two subwoofers, plus sufficient speaker wire and end-plugs to wire the entire thing collectively. And for these people, the comfort of a soundbar will all the time be a siren name.
To that finish, you may have the Sonic Provider unboxed and bumping beats in lower than 30 minutes’ time when you’ve got all of the HDMI cables useful. Pairing the subwoofer to the soundbar is completed wirelessly by means of the soundbar’s built-in OS and included Bluetooth keyboard and distant – whereas a bit fragile and straightforward to misplace – actually assist management the motion.
When you’re a extra futuristic type, you may obtain the Sonic Provider app on iOS and Android which lets you calibrate the soundbar utilizing your cellphone or pill’s built-in microphone, and management playback settings.
Total the app is a bit barebones, nevertheless it’s ultra-fast and unlikely to ruffle any feathers.
Efficiency
However none of this might matter if sound wasn’t pristine, energising and downright satisfying to hearken to. Fortunately, it’s completely all these issues.
Even at its lowest quantity ranges the Sonic Provider pumps out near-perfect audio. We had ours set to across the 20 quantity mark, and that was loads loud to fill the complete medium-sized room with sound. Cranked as much as the 30 mark, the partitions started to shake. Any greater than that, and we had been afraid that the neighbors would possibly file a noise criticism nevertheless it was actually the closest we’ve ever come to having club-level audio in our dwelling.
Talking of golf equipment, the Sonic Provider’s greatest power is in its music replica. Songs completely shimmer within the fingers of this soundbar. Standing in entrance of the Sonic Provider, highs and mids come by means of with glorious readability and vitality, whereas wall-shaking bass supplies a managed, highly effective rhythm.
The Sonic Provider is flexible sufficient to deal with songs like Foo Fighter’s acoustic model of Everlong in a method the place you may hear Grohl’s fingers slide alongside the fretboard whereas being dynamic sufficient to do justice to Macklemore’s Wonderful with its driving melody and walloping bass drum. Each sound genres sound nice, and each songs will blow you out of the water.
Transitioning to movies takes a minute – because it’s greatest when you go into the settings to alter the DSP to Inventive’s film mode – however your effort is well-rewarded: films and reveals sound very good on the Sonic Provider. Particularly, what you’ll hear is an uptick within the bass and mids, emphasizing explosions, automotive chases and, most significantly, dialog. That being stated, when you want much more mid tones, you may head into the equalizer to customized calibrate every setting.
Lastly, for players, the soundbar passes by means of 4K/60 HDR sign from the HDMI ports to the TV itself, all-the-while decoding audio utilizing Dolby Atmos, Dolby TrueHD or Dolby Digital Plus encoding. For video games that help Atmos, like Gears of Battle Four or Murderer’s Creed Origins on Xbox One, this implies completely immersive audio that make the most of the Provider’s peak channels in addition to its commonplace encompass sound drivers.
A key part to the Sonic Provider’s sonic efficiency is its help for object-based encompass sound for TV reveals and flicks, 24-bit 192kHz Hello-Res Audio upscaling for music and SuperWide X-Fi DSP for nearly the whole lot else. These applied sciences present the spine for near-flawless audio replica throughout the board, in each circumstance.
The one downside that we had with the sound, and it’s minor, is that it was directional. Transfer off-axis too far in any course and all of the sudden that dance club-esque ambiance drops right down to a relatively tame boring roar. This gained’t be an issue for most folk – because the soundbar will likely be positioned instantly in entrance of the TV and seen head-on, however when you plan on internet hosting a film evening a number of the viewers is sitting a bit off-axis know that they may not be listening to the soundbar at its peak potential.
Ultimate verdict
Ignoring the few minor quirks, it’s laborious to talk enthusiastically sufficient concerning the Sonic Provider’s sound efficiency and the enormity of the engineering that went into designing this soundbar. It’s easy to arrange, sounds superb and helps 95% of the top-tier codecs and audio codecs in the marketplace. There’s room for enchancment, positive, however there’s not a soundbar in the marketplace that may contact what Inventive’s finished with the Sonic Provider.
All that stated, is $Four,000 an excessive amount of to spend on a soundbar – even one as genuinely superior because the Inventive X-Fi Sonic Provider? Most likely. However is a number of grand value spending to show your basement or storage right into a membership / near-cinema-quality dwelling theater? Yeah. It’s.