Four soundbar settings to tweak for better sports audio

Watching the big game at home beats going to the stadium, but you still need to set up your soundbar before the first ball is in play.

Most soundbars include room calibration that uses built-in microphones or your phone to measure room acoustics. Tuning to the room can level bass, reduce muddiness and improve dialogue by balancing audio channels. If music or crowd noise drowns out commentary, lower the bass so the low end doesn’t overpower voices.

Enable dialogue or speech enhancement to boost midrange frequencies and soften extreme highs and lows, which makes voices clearer. When you’re watching late games, try night sound to dampen loud effects while preserving dialogue so you don’t disturb housemates.

Consider adding rear speakers to shift ambient crowd noise off the soundbar and let it focus on dialogue. Some streaming services, like Peacock, allow users to stream sporting events in Dolby Atmos, and rear speakers add a level of immersion a soundbar alone can’t deliver.

soundbar, room calibration, bass, dialogue enhancement, night sound, rear speakers, dolby atmos, peacock, crowd noise, channel balancing