UPDATE (March 21): Samsung responded to Digital Trends about the firmware issue, saying “Samsung Electronics has identified a software update error as the cause of the operational issue affecting certain 2024 soundbar devices. We are taking immediate action to resolve the situation. Samsung is offering free repairs for all affected units—regardless of warranty status.”
Last week, Samsung released a firmware update — version 1020.7 — that locked the Samsung HW-Q990D, the best overall soundbar available, and other 900 series soundbars in eARC mode, rendering them useless. As originally reported by The Verge, users started posting to r/soundbars on Reddit, Samsung forums, and AVS Forum soon after the update to explain what happened. Some Digital Trends readers that are experiencing the problem also reached out to us for answers (thanks Marcel!).
A response from a Samsung forum moderator in Europe indicated that Samsung AV Product Specialists are aware of the issue and confirmed that it is the result of an OTN (Over the Network) update, which they have now suspended. According to the moderator, “If your issue is the result of an OTN update, then it will be necessary to arrange an engineer’s inspection and repair in order to get this resolved.” It’s important to note that this is aimed for those based in the UK.
We recommend that you turn off automatic updates, as it’s unknown if those updates have also been suspended in the US and Canada. Apparently, customers that did the update via USB were not affected by the problem.
Additional reports seem to show that the firmware update has also affected the 800 series soundbars (HW-Q800D and HW-S801D) as well.
Hopefully a new firmware update will be made available to fix the issue, and customers won’t need to all send their soundbars back to Samsung for service.
We reached out to Samsung for a statement and about any plans for a fix. We’ll update once we have more information.
Instagram is making its way to yet another screen, and this time, Apple TV is getting a taste of the Reels rabbit hole. The company has launched a dedicated Instagram app for Apple TV, bringing Reels, longer videos, and live shows to the big screen. So, if watching one quick clip on a phone somehow turns into an hour of scrolling, there's now a much larger screen for that.
Instagram brings Reels and more to Apple TV
Audio-Technica, a brand well known for making some of the best studio and professional headphones on the market, has just come out with the ATH-AWX7000, which the company itself claims to be its "finest headphones ever." The new flagship closed-back headphone has debuted at an eye-watering price of $3,799. It combines hand-finished Japanese woodwork with a newly developed 58mm driver.
The earcups are made from Kiso cypress, a prized wood historically used for Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Each housing is finished by hand with traditional Echizen lacquer, which brings out the grain and is expected to darken over time. The frame and sliders are finished in a deep navy kachi-iro shade traditionally associated with samurai.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
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