The interview, which appeared on Samsung’s website, was with Ema Souza Blanes, who oversees product validation and research at the Audio Lab, a division of Samsung Research America.
Blanes was asked about the development of recent Samsung audio devices including newly-released HW-S800B Ultra Slim Soundbar for Samsung’s QLED TV line-up.
Asked about recent trends in the soundbar technologies she pointed to immersion as “a topical subject in soundbar development, with the inclusion of more advanced audio technologies such as Dolby Atmos in home audio.”
Blanes said: “Soundbars have also naturally followed the TV design trend with the intent of blending into the home décor with a sleek and discreet build. Though, despite these new slim designs, sound quality and immersion remain at the heart of soundbar development.
In reference to the HW-S800B, she noted: “The design process of the HW-S800B was dedicated to combining all aspects of these recent trends into one product. We aimed to develop a soundbar that blends seamlessly with discreet screens such as The Frame, which challenged us when it came to customization and optimization due to its slim design.”
The soundbars long, thin design – its depth and height are 1.6” x 1.5” – posed challenges in the product’s development, Blanes said.
“Most soundbars in the market that are designed to be slim or small typically have a weaker integration of the subwoofer to the soundbar. The result is a colored sound, especially when it comes to voices. The challenge was to avoid this effect and to ensure that voices are maintained in the center of the sound field. This required custom soundbar transducers and a design capable of low crossover frequency to the subwoofer.”
Asked more generally about the California-based Audio Lab’s work, Blanes said that listening tests were “crucial to ensure the quality of our products.”
She said: “At Samsung, we work closely with our skilled listeners in various and rigorous listening tests where they give their opinion on our products including the comparison between our previous models. The HW-S800B is no exception and showed compelling results while also competing with much larger soundbars.”
The full interview is available here.