JBL BAR 9.1 True Wireless Surround with Dolby Atmos®

Prerequisites:
− Make sure that your room is quiet;
− Make sure that the soundbar and the two detachable rear speakers are fully in sight of each other, without obstacles in between.
− Make sure that the left and right rear speakers are properly placed, the L speaker on the left and the R speaker on the right.

The calibration is done in two steps: Listening zone & Speaker position

Calibrate the listening zone

1. Place the detachable rear speakers beside your seating position.

2. On the remote control, press and hold HDMI until “1-CALIBRATION” is displayed on the soundbar.
→ Countdown starts from 5 to 1.
→ Calibration tone is heard. Audio calibration starts.
→ “CALIBRATING”: Calibration ongoing.
→ “1-DONE”: Calibration of the listening zone is completed successfully.

Calibrate the speaker position

1. Place the detachable rear speakers in your desired location.

2. On the remote control, press and hold HDMI until “2-CALIBRATION” is displayed on the soundbar.
→ Countdown starts from 5 to 1.
→ Calibration tone is heard. Audio calibration starts.
→ “CALIBRATING”: Calibration ongoing.
→ “2-DONE”: Calibration of the speaker position is completed successfully.
3. To select suitable surround sound level, press repeatedly to switch between high, low or middle (default).

NOTES:
− During calibration, all buttons on the remote control are disabled except for STANDBY and HDMI.
− “SETUP FAILED” is displayed if calibration failed.

If you see this message, you must download the Device Utility app from the Google Play Store. Follow the instructions in the app to activate your speaker, and then return to the Google Home app to complete the setup.
 

1. On the remote control, press and hold MUTE for more than 3 seconds. Press Volume Up (+)

You can enjoy streaming your favorite music over WiFi to your JBL BAR 9.1 Surround by adding it to your network. Turn on your soundbar. Download the Google Home app to your phone. Enable Bluetooth and Location services on your device. Open Google Home app Follow the instructions given in the app. You are now connected to your WiFi network and can enjoy streaming music to your system. The soundbar will now be able to automatically update, to make sure the performance is the best at all times.

Close and restart the Google Home app, or restart your phone. Start the Google Home app again, and the speaker should now appear.
 

BAR 9.1
Software Update Release Notes
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Version:  V22.01.31.80
Release Date:  May 19, 2022
Release Media:  OTA (over the air) Automatic Upgrade and/or USB
Filename:  JBL Bar9.1 TWS ver 22.01.31.80.zip

1. Fixed a grouping issue with other Chromecast built-in speakers (read below):
   1. 3rd party Chromecast built-in speakers using a Google SDK less than 1.52GM2 can not be grouped with 1st party Google speakers any longer. This update brings the Bar 9.1 up to 1.52GM2, which means once again, it can be grouped with 1st party Google speakers
2. Software update resolves the issues with the "Google Home" app if you are using an Android phone (read below):
   1. Speakers with an SDK less than 1.52GM2 set up with a Google Pixel phone need to use a new, additional app called the "Device Utility app" to complete the Wi-Fi setup. After this update, customers may use the Google Home app as normal for Wi-Fi setup
3. General software and performance improvements:
   1. Sometimes there was a 0.5sec audio drop during ARC streaming with PCM format, now improved!
   2. Import MTK patch to solve continuous distortion after connecting Apple TV to a Sony TV while playing PCM stream in eARC source.

Note:  This software upgrade is not applicable for JBL Bar 9.1 China version.
注意：此软件升级不适用于JBL Bar 9.1中国版。

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version:  V21.23.11.80
Release Date:  June 8th, 2021
Release Media:  OTA (over the air) Automatic Upgrade and/or USB
Filename:  JBL Bar9.1 TWS ver 21.23.11.80.zip

1.    Improve calibration success rate in some cases.
2.    Improve compatibility of some “ATMOS” Netflix streaming content. 
3.    Improve LED Display messages.

Note:  This software upgrade is not applicable for JBL Bar 9.1 China version.
注意：此软件升级不适用于JBL Bar 9.1中国版。

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version:  V21.13.11.80
Release Date:  April 8, 2021
Release Media:  OTA (over the air) Automatic Upgrade and/or USB
Filename:  JBL Bar9.1 TWS ver 21.13.11.80.zip

• Improves Soundbar Optical, HDMI, and ARC Compatibility with TV.
• Improves Bluetooth connectivity for mobile devices.
• Improved LED Display Messages.
• Bug fix to remove detachable speakers battery level checking due to imprecise readings.

NOTE:  This software update is not applicable to the JBL BAR 9.1 China version.

注意：此软件升级不适用于JBL Bar 9.1中国版。
 

If the network does not appear, you can manually type in the network name (SSID) and password to connect.
 

The Mute+ATMOS combination button press to determine the Battery Status was originally designed for production line testing, not for consumer usage.  We determined that this testing method was inaccurate and began testing using specialized external equipment.  As of Software Version V21.13.11.80, the ability to check Battery Status inaccurately has been removed.

When charging the satellite speakers you can be confident that the Battery Status is 100% when the LED indicator goes  out.  As well, when the LED begins blinking red, you are at 20% and should recharge or plug in your speakers.

JBL Bar 9.1 is 884 mm (without the surrounds in charging position). Surrounds add approx. 160 mm on each side, in charging position.

With our JBL BAR 9.1 Surround there is two types of resets, one is to reset the WiFi settings and last one is to restore factory default settings. Let us walk through each one of them. Resetting WiFi settings Turn on your JBL BAR 9.1 Surround. Press and hold POWER button down for more than 10 seconds. All of your WiFi configuration is lost and you need to reinstall it again. Use the Google Home app to install the device on your WiFi network. Resetting to Factory default settings Turn on your JBL BAR 9.1 Surround Press and hold POWER and SOURCE button for 3 seconds. Your device is now reset. You can now start allover with installing your BAR 9.1 Surround.

To play the surround sound with DOLBY ATMOS or DTS:X, connect your Blu-ray player or other digital device to the HDMI input connector on the soundbar. If the TV support Dolby ATMOS, served over HDMI ARC, just make sure it is selected in the TV setting menu. To select the most suitable amount of sound effect of DOLBY ATMOS and DTS:X, press on the remote control ATMOS level button, to switch between MID, HIGH, LOW or OFF. Note: If your TV has an eARC HDMI input, you can connect your Blu-ray player or other digital device to the HDMI IN connector on the TV.

If you find yourself encountering audio dropouts or interference coming from your surround speakers when they are not docked on the main unit, here are a couple of tips to try to remedy that.

1. Try moving any wireless routers that are near the sound bar further away.

2. Reboot router so it can auto select a new frequency channel, since the sound bar and router may be on the same channel resulting in audible interferences

3. Re-position the surround speakers so they are closer to the main unit.

4. Re-calibrate the surround speakers

5. Adjust the volume on the sound bar and gradually raise the volume, if driven to hard the sound bar speakers can distort

You are able to enjoy wireless streaming via Chromecast and Airplay from your devices. This will also give you the opportunity to do multi-room playback. At the same time, the product will be able to automatically update, when there is software improvements available.

If you have a mesh network (more commonly seen in Eero Mesh networks), it is possible that you may experience your satellite speakers or subwoofer intermittently disconnecting from the soundbar. This is similar to normal interference that occurs with products on a similar wireless frequency. The special thing about Eero mesh networks is that they do not allow you to move a device to the 5Ghz or 2.4Ghz band. The system will automatically decide which devices should be on which band and will move them accordingly (switching whenever needed). Some of our soundbars run on a 5Ghz frequency which is where the interference can occur. Since we cannot change the signal in which they operate and we cannot change the band they are connected to via their Eero mesh network, there are a few things you can do to try and stop this from occurring. 

  

1. Move the mesh nodes far away from the soundbar 
2. Use the 2.4Ghz band instead of the 5Ghz band (if your mesh system allows this) 
3. Ensure to enable/utilize the MU-MIMO setting (not applicable to all mesh systems). Please refer to your router's website to see if MU-MIMO is being utilized by default. 

  

What is MU-MIMO? 

MU-MIMO stands for Multi-User, Multi-Input, Multi-Output. This allows for the router to send a signal to multiple devices at one time vs. the previous version in which the router would be able to connect to multiple devices, but only send the signal to one device at a time. 

  

NOTE: You may notice that when the soundbar is turned on, there may be a dip in the immediate internet speed, but it will go back to normal within less than a minute.