Yamaha might be better known as a two-wheeler brand, but the company has its roots in audio and sound technology solutions. The company has partnered with Dolby and has released a unique product that brings the rich sound experience of Dolby Atmos to the consumer’s home. If you are unaware Dolby Atmos technology supports up to 128 discrete audio tracks and up to 64 unique speaker feeds or in simple terms, a really distinguished, crisp and full sound experience. This technology has been used in cinema theaters and in India about 140 movie screens have been using this since 2012. A number of Bollywood and Hollywood movies have also started supporting this audio technology.
The Yamaha YSP-5600 is the first of it's kind of speaker system that will be bringing the Dolby Atmos technology for consumers at the comfort of their homes. The device was first showcased at IFA 2015 and has received an award in the audio category. Yamaha calls it a ‘Digital Sound Projector’ that can sit under your TV and comes with small beam drivers which can deliver sound by projecting it in multiple directions.
It has 32 drivers sitting in the middle and six multi-directional drivers on each side that move to provide a 7.1-channel 360-degree audio experience. It uses a small microphone to calibrate the room where you place it in about 3-minutes and then stores it as a profile with options of saving up to three of them, in case you move it to another room. At the back there are a number of ports including four HDMI, Aux, optical and option to add wired or wireless sub-woofers. Apart from that you get Bluetooth, Apple AirPlay, Spotify Connect and multi-room audio system thanks to Music Cast.
There is a dedicated app that can be installed on your tablet or smartphone that brings in advanced controls like controlling the side beams, fine sound tuning and more. Basically this has the potential to become the sole source for audio for all your entertainment.
The sound-bar is priced at Rs. 1.5 lakhs which sound steep, but the experience is totally worth it as you get a high-quality cinematic sound experience right in your home. Yamaha has confirmed that it will be launching more affordable models as well that will start at Rs. 52,000 which would definitely be worth looking at.