Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to receive the Platin Milan 5.1.4 Sound System for review. As someone who highly values quality sound, I eagerly accepted. Though I wouldn’t consider myself an audiophile, I certainly can assess the quality of audio and always look to have the best listening experience possible. I’ve tested the Platin Milan 5.1.4 system for over 300 hours, and I have plenty of thoughts regarding it. Overall, I’m satisfied with the offerings, especially at the price point. However, certain issues break the experience, and that must be stated—this is far from a perfect experience.
Out of the box, the setup of the device was extremely simple. Essentially, you plug each speaker into the wall, connect the soundbar, and power on the soundbar to pair. I’ve seen other reviews and users online discuss challenges with this, but I didn’t run into any problems here. However, I did run into a strange issue at first where one of my rear speakers was shooting compressed audio that didn’t align with the rest of the system. This was a quick fix, though, as I simply re-paired the device, and it corrected itself.
The Platin Milan 5.1.4 system includes four pieces: the soundbar, two rear speakers, and a subwoofer. We’ll start with the soundbar. This piece is about as big as you’d expect, with solid design quality overall. A mini display appears on the front to display things like input source and volume level. Two rubber feet are included so your soundbar doesn’t sit directly on a surface, but I would have liked to see better equipment here. The feet slot into the back of the soundbar through two holes, but they fall out quite easily and feel cheaply made. Certainly not a deal breaker, but it’s worth noting. As for the speakers onboard, there are five channels and two up-firing speakers used for Dolby Atmos.
Next, the subwoofer is quite bulky but slim enough to slide under most pieces of furniture. I placed mine right under a couch that is in the middle of the room. It’s not often that a subwoofer is this small, so I was quite happy to stow it away out of sight. Lastly, the two rear speakers are solidly built, but neither include any mounting equipment. I threw them both on a flat shelf on each side of the room, so I didn’t need any equipment; however, I think even some basic mounting arms or brackets would have gone a long way. Both of these rear speakers are up-firing, which is welcomed for better surround sound.
The shining feature of the Platin Milan 5.1.4 system is the usage of WiSA technology. This tech enables the entire system to be wireless, with no direct connections or speaker wire. As you might expect, this drastically shrinks the amount of time it takes to set up the system since you’re not running around with speaker wire to connect everything together. It’s truly plug-and-play. Additionally, this wireless technology offers little to no latency at all, making for an excellent and seamless listening experience.
Content-wise, I’ve tested almost everything there is to watch and listen to. I played well over 100 hours of games, including Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Hi-Fi Rush, and more. I watched various movies like Blade Runner 2049. Additionally, I even watched a few anime and sports, such as One Piece and the NBA. I’ve got plenty of thoughts, but we’ll start from the top with games.
In each of the games I tested, I was very impressed with the audio quality presented by each of the speakers. The system itself gets very loud, offering an immersive experience for titles. I found myself easily thrown into the world of RPGs, hearing different characters talk from behind me on my left or right. I was particularly impressed with Hi-Fi Rush using the system, which is a game built around music. There’s a high level of depth to each of the tracks, and the system did an excellent job at using surround sound to balance each of the sounds on the screen.
Something that was mildly annoying when playing games involved pausing audio. If the audio stops, for instance, when you pause a game, the soundbar will shut off. Upon resuming, there will be around one second of delay for the sound to kick back in. I communicated with the WiSA team about this, and no solutions were found, so I have to mention it. It’s very minor and situational, but it was frustrating for games where I paused in the middle of a cutscene.
Moving onto film and TV, the Platin Milan 5.1.4 system once again offered excellent audio quality. I attempted to watch films from different genres to get an idea of how the system sounded, and I was happy to hear that the quality remained consistent. The mid-range overall is seriously quite excellent, and I was also pleasantly surprised that the subwoofer offered the bass that it does. The system, when performing as it should, sounds great. The system isn’t afraid to pump the audio either, despite its smaller size. Cranking up the volume to 85-90% is enough to make the entire house shake. The Platin Milan 5.1.4 system is compatible with Dolby Atmos Audio, and you can certainly hear the difference when streaming Atmos content.
Additionally, I streamed music through a PlayStation 5 and the Apple Music App. This is a fantastic use of the sound system. I still do this quite frequently for new music, as I can sit in the middle of the room and hear every single part of a song. There’s an excellent blend that comes together in all genres, but it’s up to your tuning and settings to get that sound just right. The system does have Bluetooth capabilities for your phone or other device, but I couldn’t help but feel like the sound quality here was much worse than the HDMI eARC port connected to my TV. It sounds a little shallow, so I preferred to listen to music or content through my TV.
Wrapping things up with the audio, the Platin Milan 5.1.4 system offers immersive audio that’s very impressive for the price. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the WiSA technology, but I was impressed with the system. There was no noticeable latency at all throughout the entire time I tested. The soundbar, subwoofer, and rear speakers combine to create a package that is very worthwhile regardless of the content you view – whether that be games, movies, TV, or music. Minor technical problems aside, this is an excellent choice on sound quality alone.
By far, the biggest inconvenience of the Platin Milan 5.1.4 system is the lack of a physical remote. The system simply does not include one. Instead, you use an app on your phone, which connects to the system wirelessly and adjusts accordingly. I understand the team’s thought process behind this – there are so many features and micro-adjustments that cannot be made with a remote. However, it’s frustrating to need to pull out a phone that might be in the other room just to make an adjustment to the volume or sound. Until I found a sound that I greatly liked, I was constantly tweaking minor things on each speaker. I would’ve liked to see a remote included with the system, even if it was basic and only had a few options.
As for the app, it certainly does the job. The UI is extremely basic, but it’s easy to navigate and works efficiently with the system. I like the amount of tweaks and adjustments that you can make to the system, with over eight different audio settings to tweak on each speaker. There’s a handful of EQ options as well, though I didn’t find these particularly amazing. I recommend sitting through the tedious process of manually tuning the speakers. Some systems offer a feature that can do this for you depending on the room, but you’re on your own here. It’s a minor complaint, but I would like to see the team create a friendlier UI with a bit more style, especially since it’s the only means of controlling the system.
Overall, I think the Platin Milan 5.1.4 system is certainly worth considering if you’re looking for a quality sound system that won’t break the bank, but that largely depends on the type of room you’re looking to put it in. I placed the system in a bedroom, and I’ve been happy with it despite the issues I outlined above. However, I’m not sure that the system would be able to stand up in a larger area, perhaps either a living room or a media room. While the audio sounds great, I do think that the subwoofer could be a bit harder to hear in a larger area.
Additionally, there simply are issues with this system. The pause issue in games got infuriating at times, but it’s such a minor issue on a great product. Additionally, the lack of a remote could be a deal breaker for some, but the mobile app does function as intended. Every system has some sort of drawbacks, but I do think the pros outweigh the cons with this system, especially for the price. Overall, the Platin Milan 5.1.4 is a flawed, but great system for the money with excellent sound quality.
