Have you ever been fully immersed in a movie or game, only to have the climactic moment interrupted by fumbling for the soundbar remote?
Or gotten halfway through a house party before realizing the music volume needs to turned up?
The solution to these first-world struggles is pairing your soundbar with a smart voice assistant like Alexa, Siri or Google.
With just simple voice commands, you can control music, adjust volume, switch inputs and more – no remote required!
In this post, I’ll provide a complete guide to connecting your soundbar with smart assistants, from pairing instructions to voice command tips.
You’ll learn all the ways voice control supercharges your audio experience.
So let’s get started unraveling the world of soundbars and smart speakers!
What you can do by pairing soundbar with Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri
Let’s dive deeper and look at some of the really useful and cool things you can actually do once you’ve connected your devices.
Voice Control Music and Volume
One of the biggest benefits is being able to use voice commands to fully control your music playback. For example, you can ask your assistant to play specific songs, albums, playlists, or even radio stations through your soundbar’s speakers.
This allows you to easily queue up exactly the music you want without having to walk over and pick up your phone or tablet.
You can also adjust the volume by telling your assistant to turn it up or down. This lets you change the loudness hands-free from anywhere in the room.
No more frustrations from losing the remote or having to manually alter volume from the soundbar itself each time.
Switch Inputs
Another great feature you’ll gain is switching between input sources like your TV, Blu-ray player, game console, or anything else connected to your soundbar using only your voice.
For instance, you can seamlessly change from listening to music through the soundbar back to watching a movie or TV show just by asking your assistant – no remote required!
This makes it simple to transition from different audio sources without having to manually change inputs on the soundbar or juggle multiple remotes.
Just say “Hey Google, change to Blu-ray player” and your soundbar will switch inputs automatically.
Smart Home Integration
Pairing your soundbar with an assistant also allows you to integrate it into your other smart home devices and create a unified, voice-controlled experience.
For example, you can set up routines and scenes to automatically adjust your soundbar’s volume when your smart lights dim for a movie, or have it mute when your home security system is armed.
The options are really endless for home automation by connecting your soundbar. You can do things like have music start playing when you arrive home, or add audio notifications anywhere in your house.
Instructions for pairing Alexa to LG, Vizio, Sony, and Samsung soundbars
Now that you know what’s possible, let’s look step-by-step at how to actually pair popular soundbar brands with Alexa, which is currently the most widely supported voice assistant.
Enable Smart Assistant Support
The first step is to make sure your soundbar actually has built-in support for connecting smart assistants. Most modern soundbars will have this feature, but double-check by looking for it in the product specs or manual.
There may also be a specific “smart assistant” or voice control setting you need to enable in the soundbar’s menu itself before pairing.
Follow Soundbar Brand Instructions
Once you’ve confirmed smart assistant support, you’ll want to follow the specific instructions provided by LG, Sony, Samsung, etc. for linking Alexa.
The exact set-up process can vary a bit by brand and model but generally involves using the Alexa app and discovering/adding the soundbar as a new device. Consult your soundbar’s included documentation for the step-by-step directions.
Link Your Alexa Device
To actually complete the pairing between your soundbar and Alexa, you will need an Alexa-enabled device like an Amazon Echo Dot. Make sure the Alexa device is powered on, connected to your WiFi network, and has a working internet connection.
The Alexa app will guide you through finding the device and connecting your soundbar with the Echo or whichever Alexa assistant you want to use.
Set Up Groups and Scenes
Once successfully linked, consider setting up Alexa multi-room music groups and custom smart home scenes to really get the most out of controlling your soundbar via voice. For example, you can group the soundbar with other Alexa speakers in your house for synchronized whole-home audio. Or create unique volume and input settings for different scenarios like Movie Night.
Tips for controlling soundbar with voice commands
You’ve successfully connected your shiny new soundbar to Alexa, Google or Siri – awesome! Here are some very helpful voice command tips and tricks so you can start using your smart assistant to control your home theater hands-free.
Use Natural Language
The great news is you don’t have to memorize a list of pre-defined commands or remember the exact phrasing. Just speak conversationally with your assistant in a natural way. Say things like “Alexa, please turn up the volume on the living room soundbar” or “Hey Siri, could you change the soundbar input to the Blu-ray player?”.
Include Soundbar Name
When you have multiple speakers and devices connected, using your specific soundbar’s device name helps avoid confusion. For example, “Alexa, play some jazz music on the Living Room Soundbar please.” Otherwise, Alexa may default to another speaker if you ask more generally.
Be Specific
If you ask for something generic like “turn up the volume” your assistant may adjust the volume on the wrong device. Adding extra context in your commands helps immensely, like “Alexa, turn up the volume on the soundbar” or “Siri, increase the volume in the living room to level 8”.
Create Custom Voice Routines
If you use your soundbar frequently for certain scenarios, teach your assistant custom routines so single voice commands can trigger complex multi-step actions. For example “Alexa, movie time” to dim lights, power on the TV, switch soundbar input, adjust audio settings, and more in one shot.
Troubleshooting when Alexa won’t pair with soundbar
Uh oh, you tried to get your soundbar and Alexa talking but they don’t seem to be on speaking terms yet. Don’t panic!
Here are some helpful troubleshooting tips for solving situations where Alexa refuses to pair or connect with your soundbar.
Reboot Devices
As silly as it sounds, try the old “turn off and on again” trick as the first step for troubleshooting. Simply reboot both your Alexa device and the soundbar by unplugging them for 30 seconds.
Once restarted, retry the pairing process from scratch. Surprisingly, this fixes many minor glitches.
Double Check Connections
Also verify that both the Alexa device and your soundbar are fully powered on, connected to the exact same WiFi network, and have active internet access.
Alexa needs to be able to “see” your soundbar over the network in order to communicate back and forth.
Reset and Rediscover
If rebooting doesn’t work, go into the Alexa app settings and completely remove/forget the soundbar as a device. Then rediscover the soundbar again and re-add it as a brand new device.
This forces Alexa to fully re-scan for and re-establish the connection anew.
Contact Manufacturer Support
If you’ve carefully tried all troubleshooting steps and your soundbar absolutely refuses to connect with Alexa, your last resort may be to contact either Alexa or soundbar device manufacturer customer support for help. They may be able to identify any underlying compatibility issues.
And those are some of my best tips for solving Alexa and soundbar pairing problems! Let me know in the comments if you have any other questions.
Conclusion
And that wraps up my guide on pairing your soundbar with smart assistants like Alexa!
I hope these tips help you successfully connect your soundbar and start controlling your home audio using just your voice.
With the ability to adjust volume, change inputs, and integrate into smart homes, voice-controlled soundbars open up many useful possibilities.
Don’t hesitate to leave a comment if you have any other questions. Thanks for reading and happy sound barring!