The BeoVision Countour is a TV that is shipped with the soundbar BeoSound Stage. The soundbar is able to project sound in your room so that it seems to come from anywhere in the room.
Now you might think that you’d get the best settings via the remote. However, the remote not the best way to tweak the sound settings. You really want to install the B&O App on your mobile device. Here you can tweak the sound to whatever you fancy.
Sound Options
In the app you can edit a lot of sound settings, such as bass, treble and loudness. You can also tweak the upmix, virtualization, LFE and the content processing. Whatever that is? When I got the device I had to consult the manual. Here is a short explanation:
| Upmix | Will try to emulate extra “speaker channels” for instance for 2.0 (i.e. two channels, no subwoofer) or less tracks. The experience should be surround-ish. Sometimes you will not be able to hear a difference. Especially if the soundsettings are more advanced.
Movies: turn ON for better surround. |
| Virtualize | Emulates the the surround sound experience. When activated you’ll get the amazing feeling of sounds coming from below, above, right, left, before and behind you.
The emulation works best if you’re seated in the centre in front of the TV. Obviously this setting is meant for either movies or great music experiences. The BeoSound Stage can improve Surround Sound and Atmos. Try this setting for silver screen movies, concerts, nature programs and similar. |
| Low frequency effects tuning (LFE) | Will turn Low Frequency Effects on or off (3-120 hz). Sometimes you cannot hear any difference, depending on the signal. In other cases deep silver screen movie kabooms will shake your room – or the deepest organ pipes in Koyaanisqatsi will shake the walls. LFE is cool for certain kinds of movies and music. |
| Content processing | When this setting is on the sound is processed to an “even level”. If you don’t like the sound difference between molesting ads and the program you really want to hear – this setting is worth a go. You can choose between:
* High |
If you understand these settings, this is where the magic art of sound really begins.
Best Sound Settings
TV Sound
When I watch TV or YouTube on a Chrome-cast. Often the focus is on the spoken word. Then the equalizer should focus on bright sounds. So just add a little bass and perhaps more treble. Loudness: off (naturally). On YouTube the ad sound level will be less annoying.
| Upmix | On |
| Virtualize | On |
| LFE | Off |
| Content processing | High |
Music
Here we should be able to enjoy the full stereo capacities. Since music genres are different, it’s nice to be able to change the soundscape in the circular symbol of the app.
You can make the music light, energic, warm or relaxed. In the app you’ll move a dot in a circle. Experiment till the sound is good. Perhaps you like loudness for low volume listening. I only use loudness on very rare occations. Here are my favorite Music settings:
| Upmix | Off |
| Virtualize | On |
| LFE | On |
| Content Processing | Disabled |
Film
Now we enter the hall of the cinema. Here we want sound effects for a maximum immersive experience. Both films and movies may demand tweaks depending on the genre you may want to adjust the equalizer and soundscape. Depending on taste you may want to add loudness to these settings. Here I’d prefer settings along these lines:
| Upmix | On |
| Virtualize | On |
| LFE | On |
| Content processing | Disabled |
Night Listening
This setting is for quiet night listening, for instance for radio, podcast or tutorials. Focus is on the spoken word, so here I’d go for more treble than bass. Again loudness should be off.
| Upmix | On |
| Virtualize | On |
| LFE | Off |
| Content processing | High |
None
Just turn all effects off and set bass and treble to a neutral position. On the circle in the app, place the dot in the centre. Now you have a clean “sound canvas” for experiments.
| Upmix | Off |
| Virtualize | Off |
| LFE | Off |
| Content processing | Disabled |
Critique: I want to control all sound settings by the remote
On the app you can tweak the sound as you fancy. But in my oppinion an app is a weakness. Why use the phone or tablet here? I don’t know why B&O created a solution with such limitations for the remote control. I’d prefer a solution where you are able to control all settings the by the remote.
If the app is discontinued in the future there is no way to edit the settings of the soundbar. On a high-end TV you should be able to control everything from the remote.
Critique II: I want buttons
During most of 2024 the app was redesigned. For a quarter of a year or more the sound settings became unavailable in the app. The was no way you could turn off or on settings like upmix etc.
On guitar amps I avoid everything that will rely on apps only. I want buttons to control everything.
The same goes for Contour – I want buttons!
Gimme’, gimme’ buttons, please!
What I Like
The Amazing Soundscape Options
The BeoVision Countour is a wonderfull TV and the built in BeoSound Stage gives amazing sound experiences. If you don’t want cables and wires all over the place for speakers, subwoofers and what not – then the BeoVision Contour is a very good solution. It can fill the room with music – or let a movie with Athmos come to life.
Playlist – test your music settings
Try my playlist “Joy of the Subwoofer” when you experiment with the ultimate sound tweaks.