Zebronics Jukebar 9800 DWS Pro Dolby Atmos soundbar has been launched in India and many questions were raised. All the questions related to Dolby Atmos decoding, Dolby Digital decoding, Bass response on low volume, overall audio signature, and last but not least- Should you buy it? This will be answered in this article.
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Zebronics Jukebar 9800 DWS Pro
Heavy Bass Soundbar
ZEB-JUKE BAR 9800 DWS Pro Dolby Atmos Soundbar
- Power Output 450W RMS
- Dolby Atmos
- Dolby Digital Plus
- SNR 72dB
- Wireless Subwoofer
Design & Build Quality:
It comes with a black mesh grille design and on its left side is the branding of Zebronics. It comes with 2.5-inch 3ohm x 4 Front Firing Speakers, 2 inches 8ohm x 2 Upward Firing Speakers, and on the right side is the Dolby Atmos logo.
Air vents are located on both sides of the soundbar and they look beautiful. Physical buttons of Power on/off, volume+/-, and change input are on the top, and their response is quite tactile.
Connectivity Options:
- 1 HDMI ARC Out 2.0 Port
- 2 HDMI IN 2.0 Ports
- 1 Optical Input
- 1 USB Port
- 1 AUX IN
- Bluetooth v5.0
Subwoofer & Other Details:
It comes with a wireless active subwoofer and on the front is a circular, sort of spiral yet beautiful air vent design. On the side is a 6.5-inch 3ohm Subwoofer driver. Its SNR is 72dB and separation is >= 42 dB. And its frequency response is between 45Hz -20KHz.
On the back, you get a subwoofer is an LED indicator that will tell about the connection report. In case the connection fails to establish then the WPS button is given to establish the connection with the soundbar.
I didn’t feel the need to use it even once while testing. It has a USB port, which is only for updates and not to play songs.
It is 38 inches wide and weighs 3.4 kg. It comes with the support of Dolby Atmos, Dolby True HD, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Surround, and 4K Passthrough. For that connect any 4k streaming device with an HDMI IN port and whenever 4K will be played, this soundbar will pass through that 4K content.
Its total output is 330W but the individual output of every driver is not disclosed by Zebronics. The output of its subwoofer is 120W and this is more than enough as it produces fantastic bass.
Jukebar 9800 DWS Pro Soundbar Box:
- 1 Soundbar
- Subwoofer
- Power Cord
- Remote Control
- AUX Cable
- 1 HDMI Cable
- 1 Optical Cable
- Metal Wall Mount
Audio Quality:
The audio quality of this soundbar is fantastic. Every low-frequency audio is received by its subwoofer, which then amplifies its amp and delivers the audio to you. That is why the bass is heavy from the lowest volume to the highest volume. And the best part is that there is ‘NO Distortion’ which was a huge surprise to me.
I was expecting some distortion on full volume but I was completely wrong. Another point to note is that I tested this soundbar in a 150, 250, and 300 sqft room and I can easily conclude its audio signature is loud and theater-type.
How to decode Dolby Atmos
This soundbar can decode the uncompressed Dolby Atmos audio but not the compressed audio. Let me explain to you in detail. If you connect with the eARC port of the TV then it will decode Dolby Atmos. But if you connect it with an ARC port then it will not decode the compressed audio of that Dolby Atmos.
There is one more way to achieve it. You can connect a compatible TV device on its HDMI IN port, for eg: Apple TV 4k. Unfortunately, Firestick doesn’t support Dolby Atmos on Netflix in India and therefore the only possible device is Apple TV 4K, Xbox, or PlayStation 5 or 4 but not anybody can afford it.
The best alternative in my opinion in only and only a TV with an eARC port but does that mean that it will not decode Dolby Digital as well or will there be any difference? Connecting it with the ARC port of a TV will decode Dolby Digital and provide good audio with a good audio signature.
It gives a room-filling sound experience. The audio will fill the room from all directions. Do not go with the size of the soundbar because this is a beast. It is a powerhouse with a fantastic audio signature. The best audio quality can be achieved with an ARC port.
Our Thoughts
This soundbar is a heavy bass signature soundbar and that is why I have said it is a loud theatre-type audio signature soundbar. Yamaha YAS 209 gives 82dB SNR and Polk Audio gives 90dB SNR and they have balanced audio. But all said and done, they are priced around Rs 30,000 and more whereas it is priced around Rs 21,000, and in this price, this is one of a beast.
If you like this type of audio signature, then is one of the best soundbars. This is an amazing soundbar. How were the article and this soundbar, then do tell me in the comment section.
I am in fact glad to glance at this weblog posts which contains tons of helpful information, thanks for providing such information.
Please express your opening on Anike Sound Core Infini Pro Sound bar which is claimed to Dolby Atmos compatible.
Best wishes and thanks
1) It did played Dolby atoms sound using fire stick 3rd generation on HD1/HD2 port in movie “Tomorrows War” from Amazon Prime. Sound quality was in its full glory & audio stream was identified (on display) as “Dolby Atoms”. Room of 18*20 being filled with sound.
Only english version of audio of this movie is having “Dolby Atoms” option. Rest all movies on Amazon Prime is having Dolby Digital Plus or Stereo audio. . Playing these streams result in display of ” Dolby Surround”. Serials without any actions having dolby atoms are not exciting & hence, not checked.
2) My Win 10 Desktop with Nvidia graphic card (GT1030) & Intel NUC with Irish plus graphics 655 is identifying this system as 7.1 channel home theatre. I could select “Dolby Atoms Home Theatre” option from Dolby Access application. Speaker Configuration & Spatial Sound was set to “Dolby Atoms Home Theatre” on its own by system.
To my surprize, I could test individual speaker from windows Sound Control Panel. It means this sound bar is certified to play Dolby Atoms as per Dolby Access application
As expected, all samples available on Dolby Access application was identified as ” Dolby Atoms” on display & played in its full glory. My Sony TV ( non ATOM with ARC ) was identifying audio stream as ” Dolby Digital Plus”.
Since Amazon Prime only offer stereo streaming on Windows PC, the only available Dolby Atoms stream option of Movie “Tomorrow’s war ” is not made available for streaming by PC. Netflix stuff is not meeting our test & hence, not tested.
Our most of old movies with stereo channels ( from hard disk) played great with feel of high quality simulated Dolby ATOMS sound by generated by windows Spatial Sound feature. In all such cases, system displayed “Dolby Surround” & I believe , it is uncompressed Dolby True HD audio stream as Pioneer AV VSX 321 identified it as “Dolby True HD” but could not decode & play ( old generation !).
3) To summarize,
your 5.1 movies will play better on your 5.1 system having wall mounted speakers but your stereo movies/future movies with Dolby ATOMs tracks will play better on this system.
With 8 channel sound processor & 7 channel amplifiers this system is worth every penny you spend. Sound is a bit high on Bass but -5 setting of Bass & proper positioning of woofer will fix the issue.
As we know eARC was brought for high bandwidth data transfer for lossless uncompressed audio like Dolby True HD, DTS, and true Atmos. But still compressed form of Atmos can be uplinked through ARC port. Like compressed Dolby Atmos over DD+.
Since this soundbar (Zebronics 9800 pro) has an ARC port, how is it able to decode uncompressed Atmos from eARC port, and is unable to decode compressed Atmos from an ARC port??? I mean it should be able to do it, coz most of the Tv’s would have older ARC port, not newer eARC port & most of the content on streaming platforms are compressed form of Atmos!!! Can you clarify about why is it not able to decode compressed Atmos from ARC???