Yamaha’s latest soundbar offers DTS:X, AirPlay and Hi-Res Audio at a bargain

While laptops and smartphones have the luxury of an annual release cycle thanks to steadily improved chipsets, audio products aren’t so lucky – to make something new-and-improved year-over-year at a price lower is difficult at best, and near impossible unless you have something new to bring to the table.

That said, Yamaha looks to have done it with the new MusicCast BAR 400, a $499 soundbar with Hi-Res Audio support up to 192kHz with 24-bit resolution, virtual DTS:X support and MusicCast multi-room audio functionality.

The soundbar will be available starting in September in this year and will look to compete with the similarly priced Samsung HW-N650 and LG SK8Y.

The differences between them comes down to feature support: While LG’s soundbar will include Chromecast Built-in and Dolby Atmos and Samsung’s uses its proprietary Acoustic Beam technology to create 3D-like effects, only Yamaha’s supports virtual DTS:X and AirPlay.

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While DTS:X, AirPlay and Hi-Res Audio are the soundbar’s marquee features, it’s also worth noting that the soundbar is compatible with Yamaha’s MusicCast 20 and MusicCast 50 wireless surround speakers, allowing you to build a 5.1 surround sound system piecemeal.

Once your living room is outfitted with the proper audio tech, MusicCast helps you to expand into other rooms while providing one dedicated app that supports Spotify, Pandora, SiriusXM Internet Radio, TIDAL, Deezer, and Napster.

All said, Yamaha's latest looks like budget 'bar with enough high-end features to potentially disrupt Samsung, LG and Sony's dominance in the soundbar space.