CNET conducts thorough and unbiased testing of soundbars and AV systems in its AV Lab. The testing process involves comparing similar systems side by side to evaluate their performance. Various types of content, including movies, music, TV shows, and games, are used during the evaluation process.
For testing systems that support Dolby Atmos, the opening of Mad Max: Fury Road is played to assess the spatial audio standard. Additionally, the Thanator Attack scene from Avatar is used to test a product’s dynamics and detail retrieval.
In terms of music testing, CNET utilizes a selection of test tracks available in a Tidal or Spotify playlist. These tracks, such as Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ Red Right Hand, help determine a system’s ability to reproduce male vocals and reveal hidden details. The sound quality of each product is graded based on characteristics like speech clarity, dynamics/volume, bass response, and musical playback.
CNET’s dedicated audio lab in downtown New York is equipped with 2022 and 2023 televisions (with HDMI eARC), Apple TV 4K and Roku Ultra streamers, a Microsoft Xbox Series X, and an Oppo UDP-205 4K Blu-ray player. Roon music software is used for streaming to individual devices or the Oppo player as required.
