Reviews, Health, and Other Stuff: Soundbar

Welcome

Welcome to my ever-evolving blog. It started out as a blog on Beachbody workouts and products, mainly when I was a Beachbody coach. I no longer coach, not because I don't believe in Beachbody's programs (I subscribe to Beachbody on Demand and use their workouts every day), I am just not a salesperson and hated that aspect of it. I am more than willing to answer questions about my experiences with their products and the various workouts, and I feel freer to do so without the appearance of giving a biased review of something.

I have also started adding reviews for various things I have purchased like movies, books, CDs, and other products. This was brought about by a fight with Amazon in which all of my reviews were removed over a completely bullshit allegation that I posted a review that violated their terms of service. After going back and forth with the morons in the community-reviews department (even after they admitted that my posts did not violate their guidelines) they restored my account (which took them six months to do), but I have been posting my reviews on my blog to have them preserved in case something like that happens again. And here, I will post uncensored reviews so I will swear from time to time and post reviews that may be longer than Amazon's character limit. Everything I post here on any topic or product is my personal opinion, and I take no compensation for any product reviews I post. I am a member of Amazon's vine program and because I get those products for free, I keep those reviews on Amazon only, but everything I have purchased with my own money, whether from Amazon or some other store/website/outlet, I will post here.

I also plan to do some longer blog posts on various topics, such as how to learn physics, how to get through calculus, and longer reviews of workout programs as I do them. Basically, whatever strikes me as interesting at the time. As you can see if you navigate around the blog, I had many years in between postings. During that time I was going back to school to get an engineering degree, and learning material that I avoided my first time through college was a different experience and one that gave me a lot of insight into how to do well in those classes, which I will try to impart here for those who are looking to get a science or engineering degree.

Thursday, April 21, 2022

Product Review: Roku Streambar

This is a good option if you want to upgrade the sound on your tv without spending a fortune or wiring a room for surround sound. It is pretty much a plug-in-play device that takes minimal setup once you connect it. You can plug it into a regular HDMI port or an HDMI ARC port (assuming your TV has one) to allow sound from other devices like a Blu-Ray player plugged into the TV to be played through the soundbar as well. Pretty much, if you have ever set up another Roku device or an Amazon Firestick, you can set this up.

The sound is good, but not overwhelming. You can get the Roku wireless speakers and/or subwoofer that can connect to this wirelessly and get a better surround sound experience. The only real issue I have had is that when I switch to the Blu-Ray input, the soundbar will turn on the player, and then the inputs will jump between the one the Blu-Ray player is plugged into and the one the soundbar is plugged into, and keep jumping between the disc player and the Roku screen. Turning the TV off and back on stops it, but it is irritating. It is definitely an upgrade over the sound that comes out of the TV speakers, but it is not as good as an expensive home-theater setup with a 7.1 Dolby Atmos setup, but it is also a fraction of the cost even if you shell out for the wireless speakers and subwoofer.