LG Debuts UltraGear GP9 Gaming Speaker, Matches its Displays

[FreedomEclipse]

Looks like a good deal, but I would be very skeptical of its sound quality without seeing any reviews. That certainly looks a bit too good to be true at a cursory glance. (Also, Costco seems nice - I love that the recommended products when looking at a soundbar are turkeys and toilet paper ) Looks like HDMI ARC is the only available audio source though (with no extra ports for pass-through), so good luck connecting that to anything other than a TV. Also, not that it matters to me personally, but you're kind of proving my point, pitting a soundbar with a subwoofer against a combo "desk soundbar"+portable speaker, even if it is grossly overpriced. My guess sound-wise: that Philips obviously has more bass (it has a sub ...), but that bass is likely boomy and poorly defined, and I would expect this LG to deliver more crisply defined audio in the sound spectrum it's actually capable of producing. The Philips should obviously be able to go much louder as well. That's of course pure guesswork, but anything else would surprise me given their positioning and featuresets.


Oh dear.
"ultra-stylish"
""tactical" matte black finish and understated metallic elements"
"looking great next to any device in any room"

Man, this is too good.

Can be hooked up to older consoles that still have optical out otherwise theres always purchasing a HDMi audio extractor that will extract audio from HDMi to optical if it has an optical out. Not ideal i know but the choice is there.

But still, for $140 you can buy a good BT speaker for portable use and both the philips and the BT speaker would be cheaper than LGs GP9. So youre still winning either way. Reviews for the costco soundbar are pretty positive.

 

[Tardian]

This could be you...

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[holyprof]

But it looks like VG... and then it hits me... its actually UG

Yes, comes from UG-LY

 

[Valantar]

This could be you...

Admittedly it does look overall less terrible once you're sufficiently far from it (one might say the further, the better?). The plastic doesn't look quite as cheap when you can no longer really tell that it's plastic at all

Can be hooked up to older consoles that still have optical out otherwise theres always purchasing a HDMi audio extractor that will extract audio from HDMi to optical if it has an optical out. Not ideal i know but the choice is there.

But still, for $140 you can buy a good BT speaker for portable use and both the philips and the BT speaker would be cheaper than LGs GP9. So youre still winning either way. Reviews for the costco soundbar are pretty positive.

Oh, absolutely, this LG thing is a terrible deal, no doubt about that. For $500 you could get a great BT speaker and a great set of budget active monitors for your desktop, so it's pretty bonkers. I don't trust user reviews for audio equipment whatsoever though, as most people have zero experience or basis for making any kind of comparison. Then again I don't trust most audio reviewers either, as they do tend to be in the "I love placebo just please don't call it placebo you'll make me mad and defensive about my recommendations/purchase decisions" class of audiophile. Finding reasonable and balanced reviews of audio gear is quite the challenge.

 

[Tardian]

Can be hooked up to older consoles that still have optical out otherwise theres always purchasing a HDMi audio extractor that will extract audio from HDMi to optical if it has an optical out. Not ideal i know but the choice is there.

But still, for $140 you can buy a good BT speaker for portable use and both the philips and the BT speaker would be cheaper than LGs GP9. So youre still winning either way. Reviews for the costco soundbar are pretty positive.

I'm confused, how would a HDMI audio extractor assist? It has optical out not in.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

I'm confused, how would a HDMI audio extractor assist? It has optical out not in.

Some HDMI audio extractors have Optical Out.

Console>HDMI Extractor>Optical Out to speakers

because the argument here is that the Philips soundbar i linked doesnt have another HDMI port for passthrough.

 

[Tardian]

Some HDMI audio extractors have Optical Out.

Console>HDMI Extractor>Optical Out to speakers

because the argument here is that the Philips soundbar i linked doesnt have another HDMI port for passthrough.

How does Optical Out help? In order to attach an old console to the speaker, one would need an Optical to HDMI Audio Adapter:

The only ones I could find are the wrong way.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

How does Optical Out help? In order to attach an old console to the speaker, one would need an Optical to HDMI Audio Adapter:

The only ones I could find are the wrong way.

Because the Philips speakers have optical in. Thats why the device is called an AUDIO EXTRACTER. It extracts the digital audio stream from HDMi and passes through to optical. The signal is still digital going from HDMI to Optical so there isnt any conversion going on inside the device unless youre hooking the speakers up via RCA in which case it would be a digital to analogue conversion.

 

[Operandi]

I browsed right past this cause it looked boring AF, then on 2nd pass saw the comment count so I had to know what all the fuss was about. LG..... what the actual F???

Nothing really needs to be said that hasn't already been stated but this is probably costs LG $50 make and most of that is probably the battery, the rest is profiteering marketing scam. I don't know much about them but I'm sure $500 would get you one hell of a soundbar if you want something minimal with very good audio for games and moives or if you want real next level audio at your desk $400 would get you pair of Yamaha HS5s or KRK Rokit 5 G4s monitors.

 

[Valantar]

I browsed right past this cause it looked boring AF, then on 2nd pass saw the comment count so I had to know what all the fuss was about. LG..... what the actual F???

Nothing really needs to be said that hasn't already been stated but this is probably costs LG $50 make and most of that is probably the battery, the rest is profiteering marketing scam. I don't know much about them but I'm sure $500 would get you one hell of a soundbar if you want something minimal with very good audio for games and moives or if you want real next level audio at your desk $400 would get you pair of Yamaha HS5s or KRK Rokit 5 G4s monitors.

You're being a bit unfair here, that DAC chip alone likely costs LG something like $40, given that it's $57 at major electronics retailers in quantities of 100 or more. It's still ridiculously priced and ugly as hell, but it definitely doesn't have a BOM of $50.

 

[Operandi]

You're being a bit unfair here, that DAC chip alone likely costs LG something like $40, given that it's $57 at major electronics retailers in quantities of 100 or more. It's still ridiculously priced and ugly as hell, but it definitely doesn't have a BOM of $50.

I don't think LG pays the same price you or I would for DAC IC and frankly whatever it the actual cost of this is its kinda irrelevant as its vastly overpriced and makes no sense now matter how you look at it. Specifically what is the point of using such a high-end DAC in something like this? You'll never be able to resolve that level of detail out of something so small; my guess is just to put higher numbers on the spec sheet for marketing purposes.

 

[TheLostSwede]

I don't think LG pays the same price you or I would for DAC IC and frankly whatever it the actual cost of this is its kinda irrelevant as its vastly overpriced and makes no sense now matter how you look at it. Specifically what is the point of using such a high-end DAC in something like this? You'll never be able to resolve that level of detail out of something so small; my guess is just to put higher numbers on the spec sheet for marketing purposes.

No, they don't, but neither the DAC or this product is high enough volume to get into volume discounts that matter. I actually think Valantar is pretty close to what LG is paying for the DAC, as it's an expensive component. The pricing was from Mouser, which is one of ESS' distributors, so anything with a volume below say 100k units, would go through them.
It is a rather odd combination of hardware though, as that high-end DAC paired with such puny speakers don't make much sense.

 

[Vayra86]

that high-end DAC paired with such puny speakers don't make much sense.

At least they stuck to a single design concept there, both internal and external

Even the marketing matches perfectly!

Holy hell that is a fugly speaker. Wow. And as mentioned by several people above, claiming this "matches" an UltraGear monitor is ... a stretch. At best. I guess it matches the worst qualities of their design, none of which are visible from the front? This just looks cheap as hell and plasticky.

Feature-wise it's actually pretty neat - a good DAC and USB-C + SP/DIF inputs makes this a pretty unique product. But ... ugh, that design. NO. And for $500? **** NO.

Feature wise its a 20W output speaker. You can get better sound from two of those tiny milk cartons you find at 20 bucks I reckon. Or a laptop with some attention paid to audio.

A good DAC is heavily overrated for anyone with a half decent set of speakers/receiver, or a headphone, or any half decent audio setup on the mobo. And if your goal is to use it to play over this junk... I suppose you kinda deserve to pay 499 for it

Also the back of Ultragear monitors features a perfect circle with similar R(GB) lighting. Rounded, much like the curve of their monitor there. A circle that is definitely not a rectangle.

Maybe this item confirms that in general, marketing was never smart, it just competes to be the most stupid and we're FINALLY seeing the bottom of it.

 

[Valantar]

No, they don't, but neither the DAC or this product is high enough volume to get into volume discounts that matter. I actually think Valantar is pretty close to what LG is paying for the DAC, as it's an expensive component. The pricing was from Mouser, which is one of ESS' distributors, so anything with a volume below say 100k units, would go through them.
It is a rather odd combination of hardware though, as that high-end DAC paired with such puny speakers don't make much sense.

Given that it has a headphone output they're probably thinking it might serve as a good headphone DAC/amp as well? Not that someone willing to pay $500 isn't likely to have that already, but products like these are hardly logical.

I don't think LG pays the same price you or I would for DAC IC and frankly whatever it the actual cost of this is its kinda irrelevant as its vastly overpriced and makes no sense now matter how you look at it. Specifically what is the point of using such a high-end DAC in something like this? You'll never be able to resolve that level of detail out of something so small; my guess is just to put higher numbers on the spec sheet for marketing purposes.

I don't think that either, that's why I posited a price of about ⅔ of what we would pay at the maximum volume pricing.

And yes, I said it's ridiculously priced regardless of this. That was kind of the point of my response - there's no need for hyperbolic exaggerations to highlight this, and criticism is better when based in a realistic view of the thing being criticized.

 

[Operandi]

Given that it has a headphone output they're probably thinking it might serve as a good headphone DAC/amp as well? Not that someone willing to pay $500 isn't likely to have that already, but products like these are hardly logical.

I don't think that either, that's why I posited a price of about ⅔ of what we would pay at the maximum volume pricing.

And yes, I said it's ridiculously priced regardless of this. That was kind of the point of my response - there's no need for hyperbolic exaggerations to highlight this, and criticism is better when based in a realistic view of the thing being criticized.

I get your point but this is just a nonsensical dumb product. It doesn't matter if it has a really good $50 or a $200 DAC chip in it (if such a thing even could exist), is there an equally good headphone amp in it as well?

Again who cares because nobody is going to use it in such a way. As mentioned above high-end DACs are overrated from the start, diminishing returns kick in pretty quick and you better have everything beyond the DAC (amp, and transducers) there to even hope to potentially take advantage. Which is really, really not the same audience as someone looking at a battery power gaming speaker.

 

[Valantar]

I get your point but this is just a nonsensical dumb product. It doesn't matter if it has a really good $50 or a $200 DAC chip in it (if such a thing even could exist), is there an equally good headphone amp in it as well?

Again who cares because nobody is going to use it in such a way. As mentioned above high-end DACs are overrated from the start, diminishing returns kick in pretty quick and you better have everything beyond the DAC (amp, and transducers) there to even hope to potentially take advantage. Which is really, really not the same audience as someone looking at a battery power gaming speaker.

You keep writing as if you're saying something different or new to what I (and several others) had already said. You aren't at all. I mean ...

But ... ugh, that design. NO. And for $500? **** NO.

That obviously doesn't mean this price is warranted - far from it.

And audio quality can absolutely be pretty crap even with the best DAC around

this LG thing is a terrible deal, no doubt about that

For $500 you could get a great BT speaker and a great set of budget active monitors for your desktop, so it's pretty bonkers

I was just pointing out that your assertion of a $50 BOM was unrealistically low, undermining your point. I don't disagree with your conclusions, I just found that line of argumentation quite flawed, which hurts rather than helps. Can we accept that and move on?

 

[MentalAcetylide]

Not lounge-worthy.

How do you figure? Of course its lounge-worthy! It will just have to settle for lounging around boxed up in warehouse storage somewhere when it doesn't sell well. I think the speaker has spoken for itself, in a manner of speaking.

 

[timta2]

I browsed right past this cause it looked boring AF, then on 2nd pass saw the comment count so I had to know what all the fuss was about. LG..... what the actual F???

Nothing really needs to be said that hasn't already been stated but this is probably costs LG $50 make and most of that is probably the battery, the rest is profiteering marketing scam. I don't know much about them but I'm sure $500 would get you one hell of a soundbar if you want something minimal with very good audio for games and moives or if you want real next level audio at your desk $400 would get you pair of Yamaha HS5s or KRK Rokit 5 G4s monitors.

Let us know when you start up your own business, with the goal of making little to no profits.