Sound Bar Controller Reviews

by Loiacki

SoundBarController is flaky and unintuitive. Half the time when I open it It’s unable to connect to the sound bar and I have to pair it all over again. Wherever you click/swipe you end up going back and forth to the same screens that are useless most of the time and yet the remote control feature that allows you to adjust the sound profile and volume/bass sometimes pops up and sometimes can’t be found. I’ve never seen a more poorly designed and Implemented solution from a well known, respectable company. I would expect this from inexperienced developers, but this is pathetic. One star is too much.

In addition, when you’re averaging 1.5 stars across 143 reviews and yet you don’t care at all, that’s a huge indicator that customers don’t mean much to you. Do better.

by Justwannafiah

SoundBarController is terrible. When I first got my ATS2090 sound bar and downloaded SoundBarController , it worked just as expected. I stopped using SoundBarController for that day and when I tried to use it again it told me “No Sound Bar Found :(.” I went through the setup again, turned my sound bar on and off, in plugged it, found out how to do a reset — zero success. It’s a shame because it was perfect the first day, working just as I needed to but seems like it’ll never connect again. Terrible. Wish I could give it 0 stars.

by Supremekazim

I can’t tell Alexa to change the input anymore. SoundBarController doesn’t let me set up a wake up default input. And the volume slider is annoyingly small. It should be vertical and huge so you can finely change the volume. But they won’t listen and change this because it’s a large corporation.

by Reva93$nick

SoundBarController is a remote controller that you have to connect everytime to use the sound bar, it’s easier to just pick up the remote then go through all these unnecessary procedures, you still won’t be able to connect to your tv through SoundBarController which is the only reason I downloaded it. Never buying Yamaha again worst user experience I’ve experience on any technology these days it’s like I’ve been sent to 2000s with them. Everytime I connect to the tv and pause a movie for a little I have to reconnect the whole sound bar system, other owners tell me they have the same issue.

by Shootingchef

Sound bar will not stay connected to either Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. When you mute the TV or mute the sound bar it shuts off and you have to reconnect every time you wanna watch TV. Do not buy this device.

by DeeDee Kayak

Always losing its sound from tv so I’m having to reconnect to tv with app on my phone a real inconvenience even more when my husband is watching and I’m not home😡

by Senpaiismydad

I have the ATS_2090 and it puts out phenomenal sound. However, SoundBarController required for it is such a pain to use. My biggest gripe is that I’ll have to reconnect or set up the sound bar once every couple of weeks. Additionally, the soundbar automatically turns off after eight or so minutes, why does SoundBarController not allow you to toggle this on/off? And last but not least, the sound settings. I use the sound bar for music, TV, movies, and video games. SoundBarController is different sound settings for each, and you more or less need to change those settings to match what you’re playing otherwise the audio quality is garbage. You have to log into SoundBarController and dig through several pages each and every time to change a setting that should have changed automatically. If my TV knows what sort of media I am viewing, then the sound bar should adapt to it.

by Guido-xyz

I don’t want Alexa and turned it off immediately after installing the bar.
However, after the last software update it turned on automatically without asking permission or setting changes. I switched the Always-on mode off again but still she will activate it you (my kids for example!) call her. I had to log out to any Amazon/Alexa account linked to the Yamaha software so that she is not working (apparently with no account cannot work) but still if you call Alexa you see the light turns on (yellow instead of blu) meaning the always on mode is still on!

by Jessjessjesshilovejess

The sound bar sounds great, however, SoundBarController always needs to be reconnected. The other issue I’m consistently having is no sound. I then have to unplug the unit to get it to work again. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this sound bar. I am a long time Yamaha fan but this unit needs a lot of attention and it’s a bit disappointing.

by KM5674

App works fine but very difficult to find the right controls. Too many screens to click through and not organized in a sensible way.

by **hello-seattle**

SoundBarController works and controls the sound bar. I have had no connection issues.

But SoundBarController might be the single most unintuitive UI/UX I’ve ever used. I am an app developer myself and it feels like you almost would have to try to make an app this horrible.

You launch SoundBarController and it lists your sound bar. From there you can’t tell if it’s on or off. No, to do that you have to hit the setting icon and then there’s a power button in the top right. It takes a few seconds to load the sound bar status and then you can turn it on. But the volume slider is back on the page you came from so you have to tap again to go back. The only way to adjust the volume is with a slider. This is ok but it would have been a nice addition to leverage the physical volume button while on that page or just have up/down buttons as the slider is hard to be precise with.

Basically, if they had just made a skeuomorphic design of the literal remote that comes with the sound bar then I’d be happy. They took a simple task, remote control, and made it massively complicated and unintuitive.

Hire me and I’ll fix it :)

Or release the protocols for your soundbar so I can make my own.

by David.mula

You can control the sound bar well enough but you have to jump through multiple windows to get to all the settings and it’s not always clear how to move back and forth through the windows. Developers just need to clean up the GUI and this could be 5 stars.

by Cemnei

Works when it connects to SoundBarController which is about 60% of the time. Would probably have chosen another sound bar if I knew this was going to be the case.

by 1111-41

Volume button needs to be much more granular. The way SoundBarController is layed out is not user friend. And sometimes SoundBarController loses connection to the speaker. I really love the Yamaha ats-2090. But SoundBarController .

by BryBry1212

Downloaded SoundBarController for my new YAS_109. Maybe I got lucky as SoundBarController update came out 3 days ago. It found my device in 3 seconds. Firmware update took a few minutes. I was hooked up to Alexa soon after. I did take me some to figure out the ARC HDMI setting on my TV. Turn off TV speakers, enable ARC. SoundBarController works fine. Wish they had more streaming connections like pandora, but that works through Alexa app anyway.

by Nother App User

I can’t understand the horrible reviews other than they are for different devices or older versions of the software. It found and connected easily, be sure you’re looking for it’s WiFi name the first time you try to connect the software.

Not entirely intuitive, but if you’ve set up any other WiFi speakers or smart devices without a screen it’s basically the same process.

I won’t need SoundBarController for much but it’s nice to have it for firmware and configuration.

by DeeBee629

A lot of times I want to use my phone to control my sound bar, but it can’t find the sound bar until it’s powered on. So I have to get the actual remote and turn the sound bar on, once I’ve walked across the room to get the remote to power on the sound bar, I don’t need SoundBarController anymore because I have the remote in my hand.

SoundBarController needs a power button to turn the sound bar on so I don’t need the remote at all. Please update this :)

by Daniel Egner

Great app just need to get that first sound at update. SoundBarController is terrible until you update the firmware on the soundbar through SoundBarController . Yamaha has been pushing lots of firmware updates recently. All this is great, and my speaker gets better and better with every update. You can now change to 3D audio and change to the game, Studio, and or movie mode. I love the new features.

by Traillvr

Maybe because I already connected my Samsung phone before my iPad. I had a hard time connecting my cell until I read someone's comment about unplugging the sound bar wait and plug back in. Have your device ready cause as soon as you plug it in, you'll see the Net light flash on the sound bar. That's when I pressed connect on my cell and it WORKED.
Went to install SoundBarController with my iPad and it already recognized it and I didn't have to go through any strips to set it up.

Disconnection problems? IDK. I'll have to give it time and see if it continues to work

by Stailess Steel Steve

Works well

by XBruce

A product that heavily relies on Bluetooth should have a stable app. I have tried this with an iPad and iPhone. Neither paired. Ironically, the subwoofer pairs and it is through Bluetooth.

I do not look forward to the Yamaha says it’s Apple’s fault, Apple says it’s a Yamaha issue which is inevitable.

Decent sounding unit but many features are not available without using SoundBarController ..

by Circleof05ths

First problem, SoundBarController will only work with a 2.4g connection. This is a problem if you live in an apartment building as 5 g is a much better connection when you live around a lot of other people with their own networks.

Second problem, the sound bar frequently loses it’s wifi connection.

Third problem, after it loses its connection, SoundBarController has trouble finding the sound bar again. Several times I’ve had to delete SoundBarController and reinstall it to get it to synch up with the sound bar. Currently, I can’t even get that to work.

Yamaha needs to get their act together and fix SoundBarController .

by Snoopdc123

SoundBarController connection to the soundbar is terrible. It rarely connects to the soundbar. You must power cycle the soundbar by unplugging it in order for SoundBarController to find it again. Now, the soundbar has a nasty habit of dropping the HDMI handshake with my TV when I switch applications on Roku causing a loss of sound. If I had know how buggy this soundbar/app is, I would have bought something different.

by RansomGray

When I first set up new soundbar, SoundBarController was ok but awkward interface. But after only 3 weeks of using I constantly find SoundBarController cannot find my set up device and I have to set up again from scratch. That will work for a day or two and then forgets again. Horribly sad excuse of an app. Your receiver app works better, you might have that team help you make this one work.

by Davidmac27

The only thing going for this product is its good looks. Unfortunately, firmware instability requiring a power cycle causes this product to not work very frequently. It’s very annoying to hear family members say “Dad, the sound bar doesn’t work again...”. I went back to using my 8 year old Vizio sound bar.

by Missyamnola

Same as everyone else’s complaints. A few days then looses connection then it can’t locate sound bar. Wish I would have looked at these reviews first before buying but this is where you go after the purchase. Updated app and bug fixes and still doesn’t work. I know it does work because it did for 2 days!

by John_curtis_2020

SoundBarController only allows you to change the volume and select the input yielding it useless in my mind. Specifically, it does not allow you to select the sound type or change the sub volume. Why does SoundBarController not enable that basic functionality? There are other Yamaha apps that enable that basic functionality yet they are not compatible with the ats 2090. Enhance SoundBarController to enable basic aforementioned functionality.

by MMan03

This has to be the worst app I have ever downloaded on my iPhone. SoundBarController rarely connects to the speaker to setup WiFi. Once it finally connects and allows me to get it working, the speaker will lose connection and I have to try and go through the entire process all over again. The speaker will also not connect via Bluetooth. I do not recommend SoundBarController nor the new Yamaha YAS-109 sound bar. Save your money and purchase something else.

by Goodtogo26

On initial set up I was really excited....I could control my soundbar from my iPad....clear voice on/off, movie, tv, music, volume...everything. Then it went through an update. The only thing I can control now is the volume which I can easily do from tv remote. I have tried fooling around with SoundBarController every which way to try and find what I originally could do with SoundBarController . Granted, I am not that tech savvy but I should not have to be a rocket scientist to use SoundBarController.

by EmilyEsse

SoundBarController crashes almost immediately every time I launch it. Tried reinstalling, restarting my phone - no effect. This is what you're supposed to use to connect to Wi-Fi, use Alexa, etc. What is the point of getting a sound bar with those features if you can't activate them? This is useless!!

by Acford

I was surprised to see all the negative feedback. SoundBarController worked like a charm for me. I was also able to update the firmware to 3.01 via SoundBarController as opposed to having to use a USB flash drive. Very simple!

I also installed on my iPad and it found the soundbar in a few seconds. So far, so good.