The Studio 3D Mini from Definitive Know-how is an odd beast. This soundbar’s prolonged catalog of options is spectacular, and its design is minimalist and trendy. However all that’s undercut by a disappointing sound that muddies film dialogue and creates a smaller, thinner sound house.
Whereas Definitive Know-how doesn’t boast the pedigree of audiophile firms like Klipsch, Bose or McIntosh, it has a status for offering house theater speaker methods at a superb worth. And whereas the Studio 3D Mini ($899) isn’t unhealthy, it looks like its sharp design and in depth streaming options don’t fairly make up for its lack of expansive and full sound.
The Definitive Know-how Studio 3D Mini has a slick design and assist for a variety of media codecs that makes it superb for energy customers and audiophiles. Nevertheless, its audio high quality is simply OK, and most folk could be higher off with certainly one of our greatest soundbar picks just like the Sonos Arc.
I actually appreciated the design and the connectivity of the Studio 3D Mini. I additionally really feel that it affords a fairly good worth for a setup that prices lower than $1,000.
The subwoofer with its 8-inch driver is a beefy black dice that may be safely tucked out of the way in which, due to wi-fi connectivity with the principle soundbar, a smooth black trapezoidal wedge measuring 26.5 inches lengthy. (It may be both wall mounted or left on the TV desk.) It’s a superb complement to trendy residing rooms, nevertheless it’s not so flashy as to draw consideration.
Moreover, the Studio 3D Mini doesn’t lack connectivity. It’s obtained Toslink Optical enter, a 3.5mm analog jack and one in- and one out-eARC HDMI port that helps each 4K and HDR video. There’s additionally a USB enter for accessing native music storage, nevertheless it’s awkwardly positioned on the again of the soundbar. If this had been mounted on the wall, it might be completely inaccessible. It additionally sports activities Bluetooth, 2.4 and 5GHz Wi-Fi, and an Ethernet port if you happen to don’t thoughts wires. Lastly, along with the HEOS streaming protocol, it additionally helps Spotify Join and AirPlay 2.
Let’s deal with this upfront. My two authentic HomePods, which price $600 collectively once they had been obtainable, sound higher and have a wider, fuller sound than the Studio 3D Mini with a devoted subwoofer. Even my non-audiophile companion and her daughter may inform the distinction, particularly when listening to motion pictures. (“It appears like they’re underwater,” my Gen Z co-reviewer mentioned.)
The Studio 3D Mini has punchy bass, sure, however the soundbar delivers a slim stereo separation that doesn’t replenish the room. The highs are inclined to sound a bit skinny and tinny, whereas the mid tones, particularly in film dialogue, sound muffled.
It’s stunning because the Studio 3D Mini sports activities a six-driver array on the soundbar itself (two 1-inch aluminum dome tweeters and 4 1 x 3-inch racetrack drivers — two of them side-firing) and an 8-inch down-firing driver with a 100W amplifier on the subwoofer.
Issues obtained higher once I turned on the Dolby Atmos setting within the management app (see under). The sound area widens a bit, nevertheless it by no means fairly matches the room-filling sound of two separate audio system. Nevertheless, listening to music was deeply disappointing, with minimal stereo separation. Expansive pop like The Weeknd gave the impression of he was performing between the stacks in a library, and John Coltrane’s “Blue Practice” sounded prefer it had been squeezed via a backyard hose.
Complicated show and setup
Regardless of the soundbar’s slick design, it’s held again by an inscrutable entrance panel with simply 4 LEDs to let you understand if you happen to’re related, what quantity you’re at and what enter port you’re listening to. A lot of the performance has been offloaded to the HEOS App in your cellphone. (HEOS stands for Dwelling Leisure Working System.) HEOS is a “wi-fi multi-room audio platform from Denon” that makes use of your private home’s Wi-Fi community to work together with the Studio 3D Mini. It’s Denon’s reply to Apple’s AirPlay 2 protocol, however extra difficult.
That is the way you arrange and management the system. I had a troublesome time setting it up, nevertheless. It took a number of tries to get it on my Wi-Fi community, however I used to be offered with many musical decisions as soon as it did. The HEOS App makes use of Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to stream music to audio system, irrespective of the place they’re in the home. It helps Amazon Music, Pandora, SiriusXM, SoundCloud, Spotify, Tidal, TuneIn, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Rhapsody and Napster, along with managing enjoying tunes immediately out of your cellphone (you probably have the digital information obtainable), off of house servers or from USB storage units connected to your community. If there’s a music file someplace on certainly one of your units, HEOS can in all probability take a crack at enjoying it. I’m positive it may be a robust management heart for audiophiles who dwell alone and don’t have to elucidate “push this button to activate the TV, and obtain this app to play your Spotify” to members of the family and mates. However for most individuals, I think it will likely be complicated.
There’s an included distant for the Mini, however I by no means actually used it and as a substitute caught with the app.
 Studio 3D Mini |
 Sonos Arc |
|
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions |
26.5 x 4.5 x 2 inches (soundbar), |
45 x 4.5 x 3.4 inches |
| Drivers |
2 tweeters, 4 midwoofers |
3 tweeters, 8 midwoofers |
| Connectivity |
HDMI eARC, USB, Ethernet, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Optical, 3.5mm analog |
HDMI eARC, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Infrared Receiver, Optical |
| Streaming |
HEOS, Spotify Join, Apple AirPlay 2, Bluetooth |
Sonos App, Apple AirPlay 2, Spotify Join |
| Encompass Codecs |
Dolby Atmos, DTS:X |
Dolby Atmos |
| Colours |
Black |
White, Black |
I actually wished to like the Studio 3D Mini. It appears nice, and the flexibleness you get with its varied codecs and music choices is spectacular. However ultimately, it simply didn’t sound pretty much as good as a pair of discontinued HomePods. You possibly can’t purchase them anymore, so if you happen to’re out there for a good, midrange sound setup to go together with your house leisure system, you possibly can go along with our improve decide for finest soundbar within the glorious $899 Sonos Arc. However if you happen to’re an audiophile with an enormous assortment of media that desires the extra strong performance of the HEOS app, you’ll discover so much to love within the Studio 3D Mini.
