Roth Neo 6.2 Soundcore Review

This is a review of the rather excellent Roth Soundcore, technically, called the Roth Neo 6.2 Soundcore. It is a TV soundbase, in modern talk, a hub for all of your A/V requirements that provides and alternative to a soundbar or loudspeakers.  It  presents an alternative to the myriad of switching devices needed these days for HDMI sources.   The full title, the 6.2 bit, refers to six full-range drivers and two downward firing bass drivers.  Additionally, the Roth Soundcore has Bluetooth connectivity, digital optical input and Coax input as well as straight line-in input for iPods and the like.   It is a very flexible piece of kit that is convenient enough to put your TV on, the remote control is very pleasing indeed.

Roth Soundcore Features Summary

Inputs

Bluetooth  CSR BCS supporting Apt-X

3.5mm Line-in

Optical (TOSLink style)

Coaxial (RCA style), 96kHz and 24 bit compatible, SPDIF stereo format

Aux (RCA style), CD player?

HDMI x  4, switches to one HDMI out to the TV, the HDMI has full 3D, 4K2K video pass through and feeds back the sound from the TVs own tuner through the Soundcore, which is a very useful feature if you prefer you TVs tuner to, say Sky, if you’re watching a Freeview digital channel.

Other Features

6 x 5cm high/mid drivers 2 x 8cm bass drivers

Sub out (RCA) if you need or prefer to add to the two down firing bass drivers.

NFC Auto pairing

Sonic Emotion 3D DSP

Remote control, managing the four sources, volume etc. and a selection of audio output formats, for example, music, news and movie.

Quality

The Roth Soundcore is a very nicely finished piece of equipment.  With a brushed aluminium top and bottom and a matching Remote control, it is clearly well put together and thought out.  It comes in all black, I believe, see above.  There is a 30 minute shutdown which I appreciate since I have two younger children!  The box itself can support a stand mounted flat screen TV, although mine is on the wall and this is one of its key advantages.  Full 3D and 4K pass through are, I am told by an AV friend, essential these times, who knew?

Performance

it is a very flexible and easy device to use

Overall, we’ve had this on a fair bit as you can imagine, including running in.  The Soundcore has performed very favourably with the younger members of the household and I have found it to be excellent.  After the awesomeness of the Arcam Solo Music the Roth Soundcore had a tough act to follow, notwithstanding it is thousand pounds cheaper.   The Soundcore is detailed, very impressively and I/we particularly appreciate the ‘News’ setting on the audio.  Vocals are bright and clear and certainly not lost in music or background soundtracks.  We are on ‘House of Cards’ these days, which is dialogue heavy, and our watching has been enhanced by this product.  Our source is the PS3 and the picture quality is perfect.  Also connected to the Soundcore is the Sky box, a DVD and an Apple TV and we have switched seamlessly between the lot.

I’m not going to say this is the new Naim Mu-so but the sound quality and output from this Soundcore is wide fulsome and very detailed and therefore very satisfactory indeed.  I was reading, wandered up with my Android phone and, using NFC, I was listening in seconds using Bluetooth Apt-X.   It struggles with more complex pieces but for a light bit of background it is fine.  The children have been hooking up their tablets quite happily and without fuss.

There is a but…  Despite all this positivity, and it is a very flexible and easy device to use there is nowhere enough bass here for me and it is quite an issue if this is what you are looking for.  Considering there are two bass drivers, I can’t think why there is no punch here but maybe this is me.  I am bound to say though, at this price this is a very worthy A/V hub and it one I will be making enquiries about when it comes to going home time.  I have hooked up my Bluesound Sub woofer (using the sub out RCA at the back) just to see if the Soundcore can perform and sure enough, I get the sound I’m after.  Worth thinking about if you’re in soundbar mode, as many of us are when it comes to these new wafer-thin TVs.

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The Soundcore was retailing around RRP £350 but can be found on Amazon nearer £169!

Full information here