Oktober 2014

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Review: Hercules WAE NEO - take the Disco with you!

<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPQXIJkMH9A_u1o3r26MrzFCTCiiUOvPYEDaxX3ihD67Qx6CB-lfpSMvUSPnO42WY_zzKMrS_LV2khcinoM23xqe5-bB9wHflHZoesChxM9ao9vlVQOKmrJyPq0DYJl63IRQUiFVxHiEJ2/s1600/blue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPQXIJkMH9A_u1o3r26MrzFCTCiiUOvPYEDaxX3ihD67Qx6CB-lfpSMvUSPnO42WY_zzKMrS_LV2khcinoM23xqe5-bB9wHflHZoesChxM9ao9vlVQOKmrJyPq0DYJl63IRQUiFVxHiEJ2/s1600/blue.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgucKzchkt3Pw2Y_bfXSwtX8EehMrrl_Ac5IiefYoOxq6R9fl3BOJNvK2BtCqRF6uWnLil-xK92zmG4-_6Bg4knT-NoQWSGV8bsU_RV7D_74DhVqs-PJRypiwu_3dQgh77_Spck0GGb6Mj6/s1600/title.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>Recently I received an intriguing funky speaker called "WEA NEO" from <a href="http://www.hercules.com/us/wireless-audio/bdd/p/237/hercules-wae-neo/" target="_blank">Hercules</a> which is a sub-brand from the french company <a href="http://www.guillemot.com/index.php?lang=en" target="_blank">Guillemot</a>. WAE stands for "wireless audio experience" and represents a whole line of different wireless/Bluetooth speakers, the WEA NEO being the top model of the whole line. Although I was aware of the brand before, I must confess that I haven't heard any speaker from Hercules yet. Now this has changed and I would like to show you where this speaker "shines" in the truest sense of the word.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a>The WAE NEO is a portable Bluetooth speaker with a built in rechargeable battery which should allow 8 hours of running time with the light effects enabled. Yes, the obvious highlight of this speaker are literally the built in lighting effects, more on that later. Without lighting effects the battery is even rated for an impressive 15 hours, although I doubt you will reach this at higher volume levels.<br />The WAE NEO is not really small, as it has nearly 6 litres of cubature which makes it about the size of an average bookshelf speaker. The amplifier is rated for 15W with 30W peak. This might appear a bit on the low side regarding the size of the speaker. Thanks to the built in carrying handle the WAE NEO is nevertheless not too heavy to transport, so if you don't mind the larger size, it should be still pretty portable as it only weights around 2kg.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_eODW688MKDKI-dgjbldd4lMrRlDC5zednt7PGaQLcx_dtIxM95dI-6Os0km-XggeEjMFpI9X8j0BE7MmdlC1o6lTa-05cvEvVbvi4AsCkieO4llKNOWbwVZb8ALBfok3Cl8AwAWOYXh3/s1600/box.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_eODW688MKDKI-dgjbldd4lMrRlDC5zednt7PGaQLcx_dtIxM95dI-6Os0km-XggeEjMFpI9X8j0BE7MmdlC1o6lTa-05cvEvVbvi4AsCkieO4llKNOWbwVZb8ALBfok3Cl8AwAWOYXh3/s1600/box.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD0V8-SdRYtQFyLDWbSr3UocjWBYeD8y_E41Z8N7UzBKNb_sIfaInbt4hId5NHJ-2gK6Absd-UTYGjOxkoZ9LBL3dD91rj0nOP8BDwM7lKqF5OS0oLeQdw51cAZEOK3e16g04LA6KvUIPr/s1600/inside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD0V8-SdRYtQFyLDWbSr3UocjWBYeD8y_E41Z8N7UzBKNb_sIfaInbt4hId5NHJ-2gK6Absd-UTYGjOxkoZ9LBL3dD91rj0nOP8BDwM7lKqF5OS0oLeQdw51cAZEOK3e16g04LA6KvUIPr/s1600/inside.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />The speaker comes with an own 5V 2A charger as the only accessory, but as it takes Micro-USB it could also be recharged from any USB-compatible power source, which is a good thing, because you don't need any additional chargers when on the go, or might even use some portable powerpack, that are usually quite common with 5V output. The WAE NEO should cost around 199$/�, this puts it on the same level of some other popular albeit smaller speakers like the Denon Envaya, Bose Soundlink Mini etc.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL9yg9FTsK-aOFXAiNsRODQJy2JRvx9HSIsKHZMQmp8cpJgV-RcuFUbZdYTQx3A8_RIwPszp_RrIgCMAS-sKXRDZd8LT7kudxs1eXirWjdSwL4N8BBu21r9C22CETpPyoTDlstoJ6GYChS/s1600/green-table.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL9yg9FTsK-aOFXAiNsRODQJy2JRvx9HSIsKHZMQmp8cpJgV-RcuFUbZdYTQx3A8_RIwPszp_RrIgCMAS-sKXRDZd8LT7kudxs1eXirWjdSwL4N8BBu21r9C22CETpPyoTDlstoJ6GYChS/s1600/green-table.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />The design of the WAE NEO is pretty elegant and simple at the same time. Maybe I would have preferred another more decent looking grille-pattern, but it surely might appear more trendy or youngster-like as is.<br />At the front there are the main controls consisting of a power button and the volume buttons and the entire edge of the speaker is framed by the LED-strip, which is responsible for all lighting effects. The power-button will light up too when turned on, and indeed every kid should be able to use it.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH_p45-KghurVNy6fpb0w2OBvzXxQMLdF8cOPWRFkerI99EXoaMXfxU4HL5xjI1eArOSXTJQZg_5DZbe6xDxQSMkXO9HTWuk-iPqQHp1v9RMcixZ6RRcnwHY-prpM_YWW5vPNK8au8vuhc/s1600/kid1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH_p45-KghurVNy6fpb0w2OBvzXxQMLdF8cOPWRFkerI99EXoaMXfxU4HL5xjI1eArOSXTJQZg_5DZbe6xDxQSMkXO9HTWuk-iPqQHp1v9RMcixZ6RRcnwHY-prpM_YWW5vPNK8au8vuhc/s1600/kid1.jpg" width="300" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQskid-kIzNBxvg4syqySB9l04OLw2InvQCj4vmdK3b3Aqfl8tC_wjlJ1qr1cJndKTVLKN5tAe_srsd0reteN1rXOs4F6MDbBDaqqrbX7LLZPIoO00Sroqcc63ejaqOpQfp8nYEz-qFo2z/s1600/kid2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQskid-kIzNBxvg4syqySB9l04OLw2InvQCj4vmdK3b3Aqfl8tC_wjlJ1qr1cJndKTVLKN5tAe_srsd0reteN1rXOs4F6MDbBDaqqrbX7LLZPIoO00Sroqcc63ejaqOpQfp8nYEz-qFo2z/s1600/kid2.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />At the back you will find the same front-pattern taken up as further design element to pimp up the backside of the speaker as well. Many speakers look pretty dull or even ugly from the back, the WAE NEO manages to look appealing. Apart from that there is only a single additional pairing-button and the ports for charging and plugging in external sound sources through the 3.5mm input.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3bM2cjQRi8qFpMKzxi1TlCmBk6KXhwOwG5h7F4uWk9Iky0BE9Kx76Rj2Prj9vqBQW9ldwj6noq39rp0rUdraFKOokh6JubbatdsgorJ4zjow2Z974tARQr4brP6q8CBUGKlU5bXfuCD7i/s1600/back-detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3bM2cjQRi8qFpMKzxi1TlCmBk6KXhwOwG5h7F4uWk9Iky0BE9Kx76Rj2Prj9vqBQW9ldwj6noq39rp0rUdraFKOokh6JubbatdsgorJ4zjow2Z974tARQr4brP6q8CBUGKlU5bXfuCD7i/s1600/back-detail.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />The build quality is nice, although you won't get any premium feel. Unfortunately most of the body is made of glossy plastic thus might scratch easily when used under heavy conditions. The WAE NEO seems to feel rather comfortable at home on a shelf than outside at a beach party. At the top is a temporary sticker which indicates the area for NFC pairing, otherwise you have to manually pair by keeping the Bluetooth button pressed at the back, then the LEDs will start flashing to indicate the pairing procedure. <br />Thank godness the speaker doesn't play any unwanted sounds or beeps when turned on or when pairing is successful. It only starts making noise when you ask it to do so, unlike many other speakers which play either embarrassing hiphop-beats or annoying tones.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUssNhVaq_FN8MClR_r4F43xaF-V4yWv2p4uJMQR8UA6joJPzJBaP8kSArdp86aLfevuIMp4-haV3TdK7pC-dLfdyEKo7Hhh1JnhDYn84pTKaqv8StyMYqckIj1hVNGgs1IAjui3oyXYuZ/s1600/front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUssNhVaq_FN8MClR_r4F43xaF-V4yWv2p4uJMQR8UA6joJPzJBaP8kSArdp86aLfevuIMp4-haV3TdK7pC-dLfdyEKo7Hhh1JnhDYn84pTKaqv8StyMYqckIj1hVNGgs1IAjui3oyXYuZ/s1600/front.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7uBcptFC7OIAkUW7FzGAAsUHaNi-Yric2p0qFW6rJ9QV2lt3SzI5MGxQqIhf8c6c9nOCB-xQgDCb3MnXG2k5UmWlHIhHcc_9bstLSFJXVR7_ZwKz1rK0mtZP-ajCn3labBWy7NVrbPAXG/s1600/back.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7uBcptFC7OIAkUW7FzGAAsUHaNi-Yric2p0qFW6rJ9QV2lt3SzI5MGxQqIhf8c6c9nOCB-xQgDCb3MnXG2k5UmWlHIhHcc_9bstLSFJXVR7_ZwKz1rK0mtZP-ajCn3labBWy7NVrbPAXG/s1600/back.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />The clue of the WAE NEO are definitely the lighting effects that can act as a kind of disco light. The LEDs are fully customizable through an own free <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wae-music/id577475951?mt=8" target="_blank">iOS app</a> which is also available for Android devices.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0PiABqbB1-z09ey3APNUDLzRxw0nSK63KvYy2VH8IKe3Rjj437QnczodswnOo4jmm9Aogpdfpg_Ytsu88lBkXdF84hFu31FFEW7eOiNVfO9Fh0z4cF7iSPcck1RFrNv82o4A52r-cJfO_/s1600/Anhang+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0PiABqbB1-z09ey3APNUDLzRxw0nSK63KvYy2VH8IKe3Rjj437QnczodswnOo4jmm9Aogpdfpg_Ytsu88lBkXdF84hFu31FFEW7eOiNVfO9Fh0z4cF7iSPcck1RFrNv82o4A52r-cJfO_/s1600/Anhang+6.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwUviVM8_lh-cTzHS_RE9EiNPWD7iWC7MOpjhCN0SV8mOMP2t-Fcc9bOXSu9SdVch8gtaAHRWsB0hyjZaD0gB8sdGPUASr22bTtb2zkxzTJUYZfbBzChkg0LtHQzhZ8E6LQRebl0xg-FYw/s1600/Anhang+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwUviVM8_lh-cTzHS_RE9EiNPWD7iWC7MOpjhCN0SV8mOMP2t-Fcc9bOXSu9SdVch8gtaAHRWsB0hyjZaD0gB8sdGPUASr22bTtb2zkxzTJUYZfbBzChkg0LtHQzhZ8E6LQRebl0xg-FYw/s1600/Anhang+4.jpg" width="212" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoRMLsNfAnoYMaYI7npc1Jl3UxFtlKVjnydKfye33dJDdhLGzKSU2oirtIJIeWp3_zPAv_Dbz7WAaNXfMryeSQz5LFwS70heS1aOO0D0GEhYurHuwbR434tANeCheqXQOKyrrnrFup9ZVk/s1600/Anhang+2(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoRMLsNfAnoYMaYI7npc1Jl3UxFtlKVjnydKfye33dJDdhLGzKSU2oirtIJIeWp3_zPAv_Dbz7WAaNXfMryeSQz5LFwS70heS1aOO0D0GEhYurHuwbR434tANeCheqXQOKyrrnrFup9ZVk/s1600/Anhang+2(1).jpg" width="212" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3D6IqcS9zd7QQey-VWItvwAN7M6RGAN8yeT8tTyv-GYZBldRcuOeoFHLCBIoX8y480prrmVpmbkdtw7Fmaj27k4Aw4fpYfxO-742Al06VI63P0NQVE1Jpu3_sn9bCWAM1Xvc-vXf_yEEQ/s1600/Anhang+5(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3D6IqcS9zd7QQey-VWItvwAN7M6RGAN8yeT8tTyv-GYZBldRcuOeoFHLCBIoX8y480prrmVpmbkdtw7Fmaj27k4Aw4fpYfxO-742Al06VI63P0NQVE1Jpu3_sn9bCWAM1Xvc-vXf_yEEQ/s1600/Anhang+5(1).jpg" width="212" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG22tjJnzRODbrVRio8eIs56XU00dGn0Aunr2w_flF-5dnTOyzf15lOsQMHOJTj7R6gm9jymO_w097ddWUHv8qythu_nv47_49N0fz7LeUZJIcqKhPGrper4lnzRMjeEIi6c-kpl7JWN5N/s1600/Anhang+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG22tjJnzRODbrVRio8eIs56XU00dGn0Aunr2w_flF-5dnTOyzf15lOsQMHOJTj7R6gm9jymO_w097ddWUHv8qythu_nv47_49N0fz7LeUZJIcqKhPGrper4lnzRMjeEIi6c-kpl7JWN5N/s1600/Anhang+3.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><br />You can either let the lights pulsate with the music, or keep them on steady, you can of course change the colour manually, or let it change automatically. The LEDs are claimed to allow for 16 million colours, if one is really picky about catching the exact hue to match it with the curtains. I am not so sure about the 16 million colours though, as I haven't managed to setup any real red with my unit, although it definitely shined in red too with the other automatic modes, it didn't want to when setup to "mood"-mode, which lets you define a steady colour, I only managed pink or it directly jumped over to orange or purple as you can see in the image below, maybe a software bug? Also color-jumps seem quite rough, so in reality it didn't seem to me like 16 million colours, but rather some hundret maybe.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizExv6Zxl_ByQLN3eUgo75tNR3AI5ztAgO2tfjIVhlDiQv3sS0zOcKcO3T32rwLQXPxZwXiW6OGZFpPdI0vlfeWc53qYh7UbG0tPdD8W6uv7sD6jrM7LXdftHvB9LnS3WIZ_saSt1wijiA/s1600/light.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizExv6Zxl_ByQLN3eUgo75tNR3AI5ztAgO2tfjIVhlDiQv3sS0zOcKcO3T32rwLQXPxZwXiW6OGZFpPdI0vlfeWc53qYh7UbG0tPdD8W6uv7sD6jrM7LXdftHvB9LnS3WIZ_saSt1wijiA/s1600/light.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />To make the light pulsate in sync with the beat of the music you must be in "party" or "custom" mode and a particular loudness level must be reached. Below that level it won't work well, the light will either stay off or just flash up shortly with the loudest peaks only. The same goes for very high loudness levels which can make the light appear too steady. It would have been helpful if a kind of dynamic threshold could be defined through the app to optimize the effect.<br /><br />The app doesn't only control the lighting, but may also act as an own separate music player. The app supports both playback of locally saved tunes and also has options to connect to an existing Deezer or Spotify account, but you can also stream music from Soundcloud for example. I am not sure about the use of a Facebook or Twitter connection from within the app though, but maybe some would like to share their currently played tunes immediately and post how great the speaker sounds.<br />Finally the musicplayer also adds an own slightly unremarkable battery symbol at the left bottom of the screen, otherwise there is no other hint how much battery might still be left on the speaker.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi6Buw4HIwbE7mP5XQFoQvNr1BoTaHB7TUkXM3FK1z3EKAhSAac8ZN5tcb4L3OFrLb0YnVzNR3K77L1DnuSjM1YUPDR2Pu7wqYW8Dtltuv47O1boWaPaUo7hHoLnRHRcLrf-FpuJkxw1hJ/s1600/Anhang+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi6Buw4HIwbE7mP5XQFoQvNr1BoTaHB7TUkXM3FK1z3EKAhSAac8ZN5tcb4L3OFrLb0YnVzNR3K77L1DnuSjM1YUPDR2Pu7wqYW8Dtltuv47O1boWaPaUo7hHoLnRHRcLrf-FpuJkxw1hJ/s1600/Anhang+7.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br />Overall the app makes a very professional impression and you are not bond to use it with the WAE NEO  exclusively. If the WAE NEO is not connected to your device, just the lighting-options will be missing. The app has even an own equalizer built in, although I originally thought the EQ would directly affect the internal speaker DSP, the EQ is rather acting from within the app and will work with any speaker connected through Bluetooth or attached to the headphone output. The EQ is still pretty basic with only 3 frequency bands and no detailed specification of the affected frequencies, but the bands appear to be pretty broad allowing only quite rough changes. I also noticed that increasing the bass slider too much will result in a distorted output. Apart from that the EQ works quite well and could also be used for quick tuning of other speakers or headphones assumed you are using this app for all further playback too. There are some presets available which can not be overwritten, but the  custom setting should remain saved even after  restarting the app. Of course the EQ will have no effects on any other apps playing music, but in case of the WAE NEO I found that the following EQ setting improved on the sound and managed to open it quite a bit more:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV-j1kOHu99yBP9qqxVoit4PHuHBBpnhBdHml3ZEosUVtkk101YDBMiHSf5HMJMrB3ME9auUnUNZyw5vbQrFZv0CEyZppWSO41zUUIIgw_ePKALWAaMrKz3j2PsFAIFqXSV_IWlGe4eQdz/s1600/Anhang+8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV-j1kOHu99yBP9qqxVoit4PHuHBBpnhBdHml3ZEosUVtkk101YDBMiHSf5HMJMrB3ME9auUnUNZyw5vbQrFZv0CEyZppWSO41zUUIIgw_ePKALWAaMrKz3j2PsFAIFqXSV_IWlGe4eQdz/s1600/Anhang+8.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br />Before talking about the acoustic qualities of the WAE NEO in detail, I would like to provide some technical facts first. The speaker uses 2 fullrange drivers with a ported design. Both drivers seem to have an own port, which you can see at the back thanks to 2 separate openings. The more interesting fact is that the WAE NEO also applies <a href="http://www.maxx.com/technologies/maxxaudio/" target="_blank">MaxxAudio</a> processing to improve on audio quality.  MaxxAudio is a pretty well known and established brand in the recording and mastering industry.<br />On the WAE NEO the MaxxAudio algorithms are not adjustable though, so you cannot hear how it would sound without any additional processing, which could be intresting. According to the specs not only MaxxBass is used, but also MaxxEQ and MaxxVolume. MaxxBass is a psychoacoustic bass enhancing algorithm which simulates deeper bass by adding virtual overtones to the original signal. Due to the nature of the human ear you should automatically hear the deeper fundamental which in reality is still missing and which the drivers physically won't be able to reproduce without distortion or overdrive.<br />When I fooled around with this algorithm some time ago thanks to a plugin available for an older version of Windows Media Player, the effect was quite astonishing, but stronger settings could introduce artefacts. I am not sure what MaxxEQ does, but it seems to be a kind of all-in one equalizing algorithm while MaxxVolume should act as a kind of dynamic processor increasing the perceived loudness without physically increasing the actual gain.<br />How do these algorithms sound in case of the WAE NEO? Subtle and not noticeable at all, which of course it a good thing. I haven't heard any unwanted artefacts or unnatural frequency alterations. I am not sure if the bass is more powerful because of MaxxBass than it would be without, as I have no direct comparison, but as it is now it doesn't sound bad by any means and all those algorithms seem to be tuned in such a way to prevent any unwanted side-effects which might often occur with other speakers, if you activate their magical "sound"-button or "Wow"-button or whatever, so you rather tend to keep them off most of the time. And although I would be really curious to hear the WAE NEO without any MaxxAudio processing, there is no need for deactivating it, as you shouldn't notice it at all.<br /><br />The sound of the WAE NEO is definitely powerful. It has a stronger bias towards bass while treble sounds a bit recessed, especially off-axis. Although the sound is not bad or unnatural, it didn't knock my socks off. Bass is present but not very deep, at lower listening levels you won't have the impression of listening to a larger speaker, even a much smaller Bose Soundlink Mini will sound more serious with better definition in both bass and treble. The fun starts when you keep raising the volume on the WAE NEO, the louder you turn it, the better it will sound. There doesn't seem to be any real dynamic equalizing applied (obviously MaxxEQ and MaxxVolume don't do any adaptive bass-compensation), thus the WAE NEO will sound equal at low levels and high levels, there is neither any bass boost at lower levels nor any stronger bass reduction at higher levels making the WAE NEO appear much more powerful at high volumes than at low volumes. This speaker is really meant to be cranked, you will probably remain quite unimpressed if you only keep the volume down all the time. The WAE NEO is not the loudest speaker I have heard, a <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.co.at/2014/07/review-beats-pill-xl-ultimate-portable.html">Beats Pill XL</a> is still slightly louder, but the WAE NEO will sound quite a bit more powerful and heavy bodied than the Pill XL when both are maxed out. There is a bit of distortion hearable at top volume especially with very bass-heavy tracks, but lower volume some notches and it should sound fine. The WAE NEO is definitely more powerful and will sound fuller at high levels than most higher priced competitors like the <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.co.at/2014/02/bose-soundlink-iii-review.html">Bose Soundlink III</a>, or even the fancy <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.co.at/2014/10/review-infinity-one-premium-wireless.html">Infinity One</a>. I did not encounter any obvious dynamic compression either like on most of these. Those will sound better at medium and lower levels though, but they  don't have the power to keep that level at higher loudness settings. The  WAE NEO has obviously a size advantage here thanks to the bigger body  and bigger drivers that can move much more air. Together with the flashing lighting effects, you really get your own portable disco that can give lots of fun. Outdoors when cranked and listened from some distance you shouldn't even notice any distortion that could start creeping in.<br /><br />I prepared a video where I tried to compare the WAE NEO to the Beats Pill XL at higher levels, as well as when both played at their maximum volume, where you can hear the WAE NEO starting to distort slightly. In the second half, I tried to show off some of the light-modes available through the app. Also please keep in mind that the Pill XL is 100 bucks more expensive.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/nMSXZ_o0gio?rel=0" width="853"></iframe></div><br />I did some basic frequency measurements as well. Here is the in-room response from 50cm at different volume settings smoothed with 1/6 octave. As you can see the WAE NEO sounds equal at low and high volume, although it starts to reduce bass slightly at maximum volume, this reduction is not really noticeable. There is some bass response down to 60Hz, but in reality it already starts to roll off below 120Hz. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUbrWy_IZimZnx7kzTvblLhcDQGhQHzzNTrjKYsvRh6czR4XOhXZIgdS3-kItyJz_3N0N-bA9HMaEdJUVzm6EeYNKW6BBcai8CCfP-u9S9aXcglp_d9J_rIDUb2EX_ufEij6K0DFTd9lRF/s1600/measurement+50cm.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUbrWy_IZimZnx7kzTvblLhcDQGhQHzzNTrjKYsvRh6czR4XOhXZIgdS3-kItyJz_3N0N-bA9HMaEdJUVzm6EeYNKW6BBcai8CCfP-u9S9aXcglp_d9J_rIDUb2EX_ufEij6K0DFTd9lRF/s1600/measurement+50cm.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />In the next graph you can see both WAE NEO (in black) and Pill XL (in blue) at a lower volume setting and at maximum volume for both. Although the Pill XL is not a really powerful sounding speaker, at low levels the bass still reaches deeper than that of the WAE NEO. At high levels the Pill XL starts sounding very harsh with a stronger peak close to 1Khz and stronger bass  reduction at the same time. The WAE NEO manages to keep the overall sound level better.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzL592n0MIkVtIvjurBrLhI1vMxqvRtTzPavguKrPOIVbdYywEkWxa5GxpBUH6KCJE9tebynOb0twlYKIs22K6CnBkaCifXrjxc-fV0-oPDTJ5flsyANu-SBGMOPhPqf80u43er3ZC4JOV/s1600/wae+neo+-+pill+xl.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzL592n0MIkVtIvjurBrLhI1vMxqvRtTzPavguKrPOIVbdYywEkWxa5GxpBUH6KCJE9tebynOb0twlYKIs22K6CnBkaCifXrjxc-fV0-oPDTJ5flsyANu-SBGMOPhPqf80u43er3ZC4JOV/s1600/wae+neo+-+pill+xl.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />If we try the same for the WAE NEO and Soundlink Mini (in green) with both speakers normalized to the same lower volume, you can see that the Soundlink Mini despite being hardly larger than a usual power brick manages a more serious sound thanks to its dynamic bass management and some heavy DSP processing going on. Of course the Soundlink Mini cannot play that loud and will struggle pretty quickly at higher loudness settings, but for normal listening levels, the Soundlink Mini still manages to impress with a more refined sound and even less treble roll-off despite not being a really bright sounding speaker at all:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS8hR2i0bO3sntPTxOnIdMrP_j3CjyvtI-tl27NMyPRpWoxy9lHBnigCBvQfJX_3hyXBLpMFrn5yTF8BYCQ0Tk6W90bbq61iwRavL66pI64zD7uOl-n7XupoBpsslEanQIs2BhOP7EGjCy/s1600/wae+neo+-+soundlink+mini.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS8hR2i0bO3sntPTxOnIdMrP_j3CjyvtI-tl27NMyPRpWoxy9lHBnigCBvQfJX_3hyXBLpMFrn5yTF8BYCQ0Tk6W90bbq61iwRavL66pI64zD7uOl-n7XupoBpsslEanQIs2BhOP7EGjCy/s1600/wae+neo+-+soundlink+mini.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />The WAE NEO is an interesting speaker for sure. If you like blinking lights and loud powerful sound without having to spend a fortune, the WAE NEO might do the trick. For home use and soft background listening the WAE NEO is not the best  choice, but take it outside and crank it to the max and it will "shine" easily outperforming most other portable and even more expensive solutions.  The WAE NEO might just be not as portable as all the others as it is considerably larger.<br />To make the experience close to perfect the WAE NEO would need some finer tuning at lower levels, of course I would like it to play even louder, but for the asked price you cannot have it all. If you need a funky portable party machine with decent battery life and some nifty lighting effects, you should have a closer look at the WAE NEO, just don't expect any highend audio experience and keep in mind the larger size of the speaker compared to many contenders.<br /><div class="a-size-large a-spacing-none" id="title">If you don't need all those lights, you might have a look at some alternatives as for the  same money an old Bose Sounddock Portable or a <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.co.at/2014/01/review-bose-soundlink-wireless-music.html">Soundlink Wireless Music System</a> can often be found on Ebay etc. They are smaller, more portable and  with an exchangeable battery but pump out a more serious sound than the  WAE NEO regardless of loudness level, you will be just missing the  funky lighting effects. The <a href="http://www.amazon.de/JVC-RV-S1BE-BoomBlaster-Audio-System-Dockingstation/dp/B00BFPQS2S/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1414492943&sr=8-4&keywords=jvc+boomblaster" target="_blank"><span class="a-size-large" id="productTitle">JVC RV-S1BE</span></a><span class="a-size-large" id="productTitle"> is even cheaper, but larger, heavier and needs 10 large batteries for portable use but the possible loudness puts most other portable speakers to shame. A <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Harman-Kardon-Onyx-Studio-rechargeable/dp/B00IYR8W2O" target="_blank">Harman Kardon Onyx Studio</a> costs the same as the WAE NEO and although it doesn't have any lights either it is similarly portable or non portable depending on how you look at it but the Onyx Studio puts out the best sound in this price range of all portable speakers I have heard. </span></div><br /><b>+ clean modern design </b><br /><b>+ loud powerful sound</b><br /><b>+ no bass reduction or compression on high levels</b><br /><b>+ neat customizable lighting effects</b><br /><b>+ great app with own player, EQ and Spotify/Deezer/Soundcloud support </b><br /><b>+ charging through Micro-USB</b><br /><b>+ good battery life </b><br /><b><br /></b><b>- a bit large to be easily portable</b><br /><b>- body mostly made of glossy plastic prone to scratches</b><br /><b>- sound could do with more refinement</b><br /><b>- treble slightly muffled and directional </b><br /><b>- bass doesn't reach very deep</b><br /><b>- weak sounding at lower levels</b><br /><b>- some distortion at maximum volume</b></p>

Recently I received an intriguing funky speaker called "WEA NEO" from Hercules which is a sub-brand from the french company Guillemot. WAE stands for "wireless audio experience" and represents a whole line of different wireless/Bluetooth speakers, th…

News: Binaural speaker recordings

<p>When I had the idea of doing <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.co.at/2014/10/news-speaker-fidelity-tests.html" target="_blank">"fidelity-tests"</a> of various speakers, I quickly noticed that it wouldn't be that easy to achieve really representative results.<br /><br />Apart from room acoustics etc. the microphones have a too strong self-sound, to really allow valid results. I had tested more than half dozen different handheld recorders, from Olympus to Yamaha and Zoom. And all of them sounded so different that I doubt they would allow any neutral results.<br />To give it another try, I lately ordered a <a href="https://www.zoom-na.com/products/field-video-recording/field-recording/zoom-h5-handy-recorder" target="_blank">Zoom H5</a> and an optional <a href="https://www.zoom-na.com/products/field-video-recording/field-recording/h6-handy-recorder/capsules#xy" target="_blank">XYH-6</a> capsule as I hoped these would give me significant improvements over the "cheap" Zoom H1 recorder that I am currently using, but in the end, the results were even worse. Not only did both mic-capsules emphasize treble too much, they did roll-off with low frequencies too strong, and there was a noticable divergency between left/right channel with the sound being not centered as it should be. Both microphones had a different bias towards left or right, therefore I sent both back totally disappointed.<br />Currently it seems as if I was still at the very beginning to find a better but still affordable recording solution which would allow the most neutral and flat recording.<br /><br />You can hear some of my previous test-recordings here. In this case the JBL Charge 2 was recorded with all recorder/microphone combinations in the same room with the same settings/distance etc. As the XYH-6 capsule supports 2 different directional patterns, I did recordings with both, you can also check out the original track for comparison:<br /><br />Excerpt of the original track:<br /> <audio controls="controls"><source src="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/893528/testfiles/recordertest/original.mp3" type="audio/mpeg"></source> <embed height="80px" width="100px"></embed> Your browser does not support this audio </audio><br /><br />Zoom H1:<br /> <audio controls="controls"><source src="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/893528/testfiles/recordertest/H1.mp3" type="audio/mpeg"></source> <embed height="80px" width="100px"></embed> Your browser does not support this audio </audio><br /><br />Zoom H5:<br /> <audio controls="controls"><source src="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/893528/testfiles/recordertest/H5.mp3" type="audio/mpeg"></source> <embed height="80px" width="100px"></embed> Your browser does not support this audio </audio><br /><br />Zoom H5+XYH-6 90�:<br /><audio controls="controls"><source src="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/893528/testfiles/recordertest/H6-90.mp3" type="audio/mpeg"></source> <embed height="80px" width="100px"></embed> Your browser does not support this audio </audio><br /><br />Zoom H5+XYH-6 120�:<br /> <audio controls="controls"><source src="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/893528/testfiles/recordertest/H6-120.mp3" type="audio/mpeg"></source> <embed height="80px" width="100px"></embed>  But in the meantime<br /><br /> </audio><br /><br />I think it is pretty obvious that all the used microphones have a different sound, there is even a noticeable sound-difference between the 90� and 120� setting of the XYH-6 capulse. I also tried a recording with my current measuring microphone the MiniDSP UMIK-1, but so far I am still in the process to include the calibration file into the recording procedure and will post it as soon as I managed.<br /><br />At the same time, I had also ordered a <a href="http://www.roland.com/products/en/CS-10EM/" target="_blank">Roland CS-10EM</a> binaural microphone. I wanted to try out something new and although these microphones are not really suitable for neutral direct recordings of a speaker, they seem perfectly suitable to record how a speaker would sound in a particular room thanks to a rather neutral sound. You have to wear headphones to hear how the sound was meant to be, or you can try playing it back through speakers with a crosstalk cancelling filter like "Liveaudio" from the Mini Jambox.<br /><br />To understand better how the listening situation was, what kind of room etc, I also did a photo of each listening position, so that you can see what I heard when I did those recordings wearing the microphones inside my ears. I am curious what you think about this kind of audio-demo, and if I should continue using it in future for further speaker comparisons too. I did not normalize the recordings, so the difference in loudness you hear is real and represents the real situation.<br /><br />Again I used the JBL Charge 2 (my current portable reference despite all the <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.co.at/2014/09/first-impressions-jbl-charge-2-new-king.html">distortion issues</a>, it is one of the best sounding portable speakers which can be already had for 129�) and recorded it in different rooms and positions from different distances, please have a look (and don't forget to listen through headphones):<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/6i-OCgsyUXo?rel=0" width="853"></iframe> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/7okQJlS21a8?rel=0" width="853"></iframe> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/uzm66CYAbDw?rel=0" width="853"></iframe> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/sqTam-tr5lY?rel=0" width="853"></iframe> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/fvc2T4qW5gI?rel=0" width="853"></iframe> <br /><br />Equally to the JBL I also tried recording some further speakers inside the shelf in the living room, I wonder if you can hear the difference in sound between all of them. I think that especially the increased stereo-separation of the EVA Blu and the Bose compared to the JBL Charge 2 and the mono Play:1 is pretty obvious:<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/OTk9KnWFblo?rel=0" width="853"></iframe> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/b6ne0Wk4rJ8?rel=0" width="853"></iframe> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/0dxDnOmP1S4?rel=0" width="853"></iframe> <br /><br />Please let me know what you think about these recordings. Does the binaural effect work for you? Do these recordings sound more real than the previous ones I did? Which listening position does represent the most realistic situation for you?<br /><br />Please leave a comment if you have further ideas!</p>

When I had the idea of doing "fidelity-tests" of various speakers, I quickly noticed that it wouldn't be that easy to achieve really representative results.Apart from room acoustics etc. the microphones have a too strong self-sound, to really allow v…

News: B&O vs. B&W - fight!

<p>Some will probably already have noticed two new and really interesting Bluetooth speakers, the <a href="http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/Wireless-Speakers/Bluetooth-Speakers/T7" target="_blank">T7</a> from Bowers & Wilkins and the <a href="http://www.beoplay.com/products/beoplaya2#at-a-glance" target="_blank">BeoPlay A2</a> from Bang & Olufsen. I am not sure if this is pure coincidence that two companies release their first portable Bluetoothspeakers nearly the same day.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh39LWVRx5SP8_a1lnt_onow0KOv6h7ExAYPdH72u3v9MtM4xsPqz0fx5zPmAk5GfBtHLYHG34x2pmEa7QQjrU-YJsrK9Prj6TRkodpdZB7q57gB86GZbRf4EgHQ1H4wQw7zQa7uBGCWs65/s1600/beoplay-a2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh39LWVRx5SP8_a1lnt_onow0KOv6h7ExAYPdH72u3v9MtM4xsPqz0fx5zPmAk5GfBtHLYHG34x2pmEa7QQjrU-YJsrK9Prj6TRkodpdZB7q57gB86GZbRf4EgHQ1H4wQw7zQa7uBGCWs65/s1600/beoplay-a2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeQXx42fMgHuCcPawHeFi7QUkLIY7RIO9FHoVAATJwxp3G8Ys-RWWE12vJDUfQupsOEql-09hd7F8PGkfmJkucZ5Bi4OFXoySStXzX08msLeSs_K1Ill2W6o1dt-BeMiOT54tUKLdOdZdW/s1600/BW-T7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeQXx42fMgHuCcPawHeFi7QUkLIY7RIO9FHoVAATJwxp3G8Ys-RWWE12vJDUfQupsOEql-09hd7F8PGkfmJkucZ5Bi4OFXoySStXzX08msLeSs_K1Ill2W6o1dt-BeMiOT54tUKLdOdZdW/s1600/BW-T7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />I won't go much into details and further tech specs, as you will find all information on their dedicated sites, but both speakers will cost exactly 349$/� thus making them directly comparable and putting them a step above current offerings from Bose, Infinity or whatever.<br />The big difference I see between both is that Bang & Olufsen really tried to make a portable speaker with an own grip, 360� sound, a 24 hours battery life and USB-charging of external devices while B&W was rather trying to copy existing concepts and make their own version out of it.<br /><br />I would really love to hear both side by side and prepare a detailed comparison.<br /><br /><u>Update:</u> The B&W T7 should arrive tomorrow, <strike>while I haven't got any shipping confirmation from B&O yet</strike>. According to B&O support, the Beoplay A2 should arrive on Friday, so stay tuned for some detailed comparison between both!<br /><br /><u>Update2:</u> My <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.co.at/2014/11/review-bowers-wilkins-t7-premium-sound.html">B&W T7 review</a> is already finished. I can already reveal that one of them is considerably more serious sounding... you guess which.<br /><br /><u>Update3:</u> Finally also my <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.co.at/2014/11/review-bang-olufsen-beoplay-a2-sounding.html">B&O Beoplay A2 review</a> is finished.</p>

Some will probably already have noticed two new and really interesting Bluetooth speakers, the T7 from Bowers & Wilkins and the BeoPlay A2 from Bang & Olufsen. I am not sure if this is pure coincidence that two companies release their first portable …

News: Bluetooth speakers "play different" - BenQ eVolo and Mass Fidelity Core

<p>One might think "not another Bluetooth speaker" every time a new model is announced.<br />Indeed the whole Bluetooth speaker market started becoming quite a bit boring. There are units costing less than 20$, others costing close to 1000$ or even more, colorful ones, swimming ones etc.<br />But there is hardly any innovation visible. Some Bluetooth speakers still refuse any quick re-pairing to already known devices...<br /><br />But two recently announced Bluetooth speakers managed to catch my attention. They are both portable, which means they will run from a rechargeable battery, and they are both pretty compact to really deserve the term "portable".<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br />The first one is revolutionary in the Bluetooth speaker market because it is the first portable electrostatic speaker. It is called eVolo and comes from a company which is rather known for their video projectors: <a href="http://info.benq.us/benqevolo" target="_blank">BenQ</a>.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq32arl37DNpjvLpPK_ebkuDewpuVl5KdZ-OgUGickm9uMXA4rQ_JYc8upCWlIks6Ee9lCledGaPe6C4l4Lna7iUBIyFSSIGuSs1_PiTqPI5oDJa5qpFu9WLbtGmGTkx2l1_WbjY7phtiK/s1600/evolo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq32arl37DNpjvLpPK_ebkuDewpuVl5KdZ-OgUGickm9uMXA4rQ_JYc8upCWlIks6Ee9lCledGaPe6C4l4Lna7iUBIyFSSIGuSs1_PiTqPI5oDJa5qpFu9WLbtGmGTkx2l1_WbjY7phtiK/s1600/evolo.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>If executed well, this might be a pretty good sounding speaker I guess. The "ears", which are the electrostatic drivers can be folded in for transport, or folded out for better sound dispersion. 2 bass drivers including 2 passive radiators are responsible for the lower frequencies and all drivers are driven by 4 amplifiers with additional DSP-processing delivering 40 Watts total.<br />The BenQ eVolo should become available in November for 299,- <br /><br />The other revolutionary speaker comes from <a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-core-wireless-speaker-system" target="_blank">Mass Fidelity</a> and manages to include some pretty unique techniques to stand out of  the crowd. It is currently still on Indiegogo but has already reached  much more of the original goal. You can still pledge to get one for  389$, or wait until the unit reaches the market and will cost 599$ then.  <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiTVzDJFGSlaRGPB1ylYgI0fMrkglRdW7kVyMbIyx8NKxxhyJ8bYytpJnZqlSCRrT_sRdCczn0qJGavX_ZjHXDgsTimG2TRAutzMWQniJ_nsD967h4bPbkKenWT4D5rQx_GiTdqAohfXpq/s1600/core.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiTVzDJFGSlaRGPB1ylYgI0fMrkglRdW7kVyMbIyx8NKxxhyJ8bYytpJnZqlSCRrT_sRdCczn0qJGavX_ZjHXDgsTimG2TRAutzMWQniJ_nsD967h4bPbkKenWT4D5rQx_GiTdqAohfXpq/s1600/core.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />According to the manufacturer the Mass Fidelity Core applies "wave field synthesis" to be able to create a kind of acoustic holography for real stereo sound out of a single box which isn't tied to any sweet spot. I am not sure how much of these claims can be called Voodoo, but real specs indicate that this small speaker has 4 drivers inside and an additional down-firing subwoofer which should play down to 44Hz. The whole unit contains several DSPs and additional processors with an amplifier delivering 120 Watts. Quite impressive for such a unit that should also play for 12 hours from one single charge. Other features include wireless pairing of up to 9 Cores to allow  multiroom without any hassle with network configurations. Thanks to the  big success of the Indiegogo campaign Mass Fidelity meanwhile announced  an additional wireless subwoofer too. <br />Some prototype units were already shown to various representatives and all seem to have remained impressed.<br /><br />I would really love to try out this little Voodoo-machine, if I had the chance!</p>

One might think "not another Bluetooth speaker" every time a new model is announced.Indeed the whole Bluetooth speaker market started becoming quite a bit boring. There are units costing less than 20$, others costing close to 1000$ or even more, colo…

News: Speaker fidelity tests

<p>I wanted to try out something new to allow for an even better judgement of a speaker's sound quality. Please let me know if you have some further ideas suggestions or wishes, so that this test could evolve to something helpful maybe.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a>With this test, which I will simply call "fidelity test" I will try to focus purely on the fidelity of a speaker and how it sounds compared to the original recording. There are lots of speaker tests and speaker videos available on Youtube which will play you some song through a speaker to show off its sound qualities. Without any additional reference (another speaker or whatever), it is hard to tell if the shown speaker really sounds that bad, or if the used recording setup, microphone or even the room, where the recording was done is just that bad, so that it makes the speaker sound bad.<br />Other videos are trying to compare several speakers at the same time, similar to what I was doing until now, but when switching over to the next speaker, there is hardly any difference noticeable. Such tests are pretty useless and wasted time for the creation part and for the watching part if you ask me.<br /><br />I don't claim that my videos I did so far to be good, but it really took an effort to make my setup as solid as possible and allow for direct speaker comparisons without having them at home at the same time thanks to referenced volume levels and a standardized recording setup with exact distances etc.<br />Despite all the effort I meanwhile noticed that I might still get differences in sound when I try to record the same speaker another time. Despite the same setup both recordings might still sound a little bit different, probably because of slight differences in angle between microphone and speaker, slight differences in distance (although +/-1cm shouldn't really matter), maybe even slight differences in outfit of the room, if one shirt is hanging at the left side instead of right might have an influence hahaha...<br /><br />Instead of comparing 2 or more speakers against each other like I previously did, now I want to show how close a speaker manages to sound compared to the original source. This is not really easy to achieve, as my room is acoustically not perfect. It is not a typcial room with typical acoustics. But I noticed that recordings done in this room give purer results than recordings in bigger undampened rooms. I think that the best results might be achieved outdoors, due to missing interreflections with any walls (with expection of the ground), you will get an even purer sound. Unfortunately all my outdoor videos I did so far, were a real pain to do. Despite dead kittens and locations protected against wind, I always had to fight with wind noise, plane noise, etc...<br />An optimized room maybe even close to anechoic would be probably the best way to go, but currently I don't have ressources for such a thing, despite my wife who already thinks I got crazy with all those stupid speakers...<br /><br />My idea is to record a song through each speaker in my usual recording room at one single fixed level. This level should be set not too low and not too high to simulate a comfortable listening volume and which should give a representative result for a speaker's sound quality. I currently fixed this level to exactly half volume of the Sonos Play:1, this corresponds to about maximum volume of the Mini Jambox, or step 9/16 on the JBL Charge 2, 67% on the Soundlink Mini etc. To bring this into some measurable SPL readings the recorded music gives me the following values at a distance of 50cm:<br /><b>LAFmax: ~75dB</b><br /><b>LZpeak: ~95dB </b><br /><br />For some speakers this level might already be too loud causing distortion or introducing compression artefacts, noticeable bass reduction etc, other speakers might sound better at even higher levels. Thanks to the dynamic sound processing of many modern active speakers, the overall sound character can differ quite much between low or high levels, as you can see here from the example measuring of the Bose Soundlink III where I overlaid both frequency responses for a rather low level (~25% blue) and a higher level (~75% red):<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggGvApoUPOkkcbEK1g5ykKcHEdMwEsTcZ8b6dTToTHy5P5FYnK9d7wXMXKu3dnZoNWWEn_QZvxEsbnS5abYNe0Vvi5wjHVyJtpveRe-EmwiiQeV3m6RXGz2VK9q-ZBN7oBRIftREpNKZ2h/s1600/bose.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggGvApoUPOkkcbEK1g5ykKcHEdMwEsTcZ8b6dTToTHy5P5FYnK9d7wXMXKu3dnZoNWWEn_QZvxEsbnS5abYNe0Vvi5wjHVyJtpveRe-EmwiiQeV3m6RXGz2VK9q-ZBN7oBRIftREpNKZ2h/s1600/bose.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />Both would sound completely different if both were played back with the same loudness, with only the mids still resembling the same speaker. But due to equal loudness contours of the human hearing in reality the differences might not appear that obvious as the human ear hears low and high frequencies differently at different volume levels. Everything is not that easy, still the goal is to give the best representation of the speakers sound character and bring that into relation to the original recording.<br /><br />Of course with this test I cannot cover other aspects of a speaker's  quality like directionality, loudness etc, as this would lead too far and  make it too complicated. This fidelity test will only provide the  soundquality exactly on-axis at optimum position which should give the best possible result  for every speaker, I might vary the angle between speaker and microphone slightly if this gives a better result. Especially on Bose speakers the sound can change a lot if you turn them only a little bit. While many speakers might still sound good from  higher above or from the side, I won't be able to give any statement on this like I already tried with some of my previous videos, where I also included sound recordings off-axis for comparison.  <br /><br />The used recorder and microphone will also have an influence on sound. My first preliminary tests are done with the Zoom H1, it is definitely not the most linear recorder, but I found it to record low frequencies better than the H2n, or the Olympus LS10 which I had also tried before. It seems to have some problems with treble though. It sounds too harsh and metallic compared to the original sound of the speaker.<br />I am in the process of trying out other recorders with a microphone that has hopefully a flatter overall response. Of course I am open for any suggestions. If other readers have more experience than me on this topic, please let me know. I really want realistic and representative results.<br /><br />So far I have chosen a funky recording from Fusion-bassist Gerald Veasley, I like this track and I think it is a pretty nice recording with good definition in both bass and treble, only mising some vocals. If you have better suggestions for a testtrack please let me know. It should be a rather non-commercial track to avoid copyright issues. Maybe there are even some real musicians among the readers who would like to contribute an own song, this could also be used as promotion for their own site etc. The premise is that it has to be a recording of high quality which allows conclusions to be drawn on a speaker's sound. When executed well, this could become a big database for sound quality of various (portable) speakers that I was thinking of from the beginning.<br /><br />Here you can find some first videos with speakers I currently had at hand. If you listen to them over headphones, you will immediately notice the lack of any stereo imaging from the speaker recordings compared to the original track. Maybe for better judgement I should also convert the original track to mono? When listening to these videos through speakers the lack of stereo is not as obvious though.<br />I am open to any suggestions, let me know if all this makes sense, and if the differences between all these speakers are noticeable at all. Please leave me a comment if you would like to contribute! Let's start with the Sonos Play:1 which is probably the most faithful speaker of the recorded ones:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/sbgTj8QXFPE?rel=0" width="853"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/zhvyWSOKKoI?rel=0" width="853"></iframe> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/2d5iiyjLPIM?rel=0" width="853"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/yfCK-lcFoow?rel=0" width="853"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/MsID79mme90?rel=0" width="853"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/lgA_JvMztSA?rel=0" width="853"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/j_TOz3WlkZs?rel=0" width="853"></iframe></div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/nHZCQoHXEqc?rel=0" width="853"></iframe></p>

I wanted to try out something new to allow for an even better judgement of a speaker's sound quality. Please let me know if you have some further ideas suggestions or wishes, so that this test could evolve to something helpful maybe.With this test, w…

Pimp my JBL Charge 2 - protection tweaks for transport

<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiicjOjVM7OAeIPsS0M2-4tJFjfBPphqMhV9jvErih359VGGWC4PIqkT4vGe0OfSrc-YDRlQ0JVMicKNBWF8fmPluollBhsUqR93byGN7KD_4ZluyT2Y_IulZ6XzpkNsliBV7C5eWnh-PCN/s1600/protect.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiicjOjVM7OAeIPsS0M2-4tJFjfBPphqMhV9jvErih359VGGWC4PIqkT4vGe0OfSrc-YDRlQ0JVMicKNBWF8fmPluollBhsUqR93byGN7KD_4ZluyT2Y_IulZ6XzpkNsliBV7C5eWnh-PCN/s1600/protect.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />A portable speaker which can be easily damaged during the first transport is pretty useless. I am not the only one who thinks that the unprotected passive radiators of the <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.co.at/2014/09/review-jbl-charge-2-failed-new-benchmark.html">JBL Charge 2</a> are the weakest part of the speaker, so some owners already came up with some tweaks to protect their new gadget.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a>Mark from Germany is pretty skillful and he tried his tweak by cutting apart a 0.75l mineral water bottle from Vitell. He managed to form his protective caps to such an accuracy that they can even stay mounted during playing music. He was very precise in defining how big the holes must be to avoid any port-like noise or whistling. According to him the holes must have at least a diameter of 7mm. One single drawback: His speaker won't stand stable with the caps mounted because the bottom base doesn't have any function any more, apart from that a pretty nice job:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiamy2jc-PeLT93iDYMvO5FbVb2YJA1Nu4epY6Y8KMtnqrGtIIVSSlz_6UTFLXx9EkM7aRDEDsDpNbpKX2hqtzA5IooI4PFr_jtnOx8VPuEdamUfC9nfzrouRNzgEZpeaVCSwXiWXMdKy8p/s1600/cap1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiamy2jc-PeLT93iDYMvO5FbVb2YJA1Nu4epY6Y8KMtnqrGtIIVSSlz_6UTFLXx9EkM7aRDEDsDpNbpKX2hqtzA5IooI4PFr_jtnOx8VPuEdamUfC9nfzrouRNzgEZpeaVCSwXiWXMdKy8p/s1600/cap1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYvuxwpX9X501KQppVOtQzzZERo_sFLNqrbXw75Y2To58SsVHgguy6jbgaWL9ky1Mnxl9iPj6vPKhsAENuSViFT-IngijW7zvYk_5VTl0_cg_h5JYlZ_wdTbNGyepaLbUqCAt9sWYSFZ0U/s1600/cap2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYvuxwpX9X501KQppVOtQzzZERo_sFLNqrbXw75Y2To58SsVHgguy6jbgaWL9ky1Mnxl9iPj6vPKhsAENuSViFT-IngijW7zvYk_5VTl0_cg_h5JYlZ_wdTbNGyepaLbUqCAt9sWYSFZ0U/s1600/cap2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5KvSIUHDg13okmjhPtuLZZ-QsHidInLORw0HskQIAuoqYo_9WWmcTGuoxeMJdWkMD1sOdZ8OKgDwAQgqUjz3Fe4AZ_bI9YyQtWHNRSW4EU7pkGJhz8T281BsUAnX7ZYQgkppPp9DDbqbu/s1600/cap3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5KvSIUHDg13okmjhPtuLZZ-QsHidInLORw0HskQIAuoqYo_9WWmcTGuoxeMJdWkMD1sOdZ8OKgDwAQgqUjz3Fe4AZ_bI9YyQtWHNRSW4EU7pkGJhz8T281BsUAnX7ZYQgkppPp9DDbqbu/s1600/cap3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />Sweetback44 from YouTube came up with his own solution for the same problem. His protection is easily "removeable" but seems quite stable for transport:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4sq1FynF-AL_QiOmudl6CfxsKZqeE9DCcISOkvpmOoyhyphenhyphenmEuo1AY5CXJo4mZO7tIMQLOnmpeKuvRbWKfZFYoAxu-n6TpxepuSg3DZ33EMm2ZuLNKkjHZklMCmaYOiHU-YJdQLbUpiYAqg/s1600/othercap1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4sq1FynF-AL_QiOmudl6CfxsKZqeE9DCcISOkvpmOoyhyphenhyphenmEuo1AY5CXJo4mZO7tIMQLOnmpeKuvRbWKfZFYoAxu-n6TpxepuSg3DZ33EMm2ZuLNKkjHZklMCmaYOiHU-YJdQLbUpiYAqg/s1600/othercap1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxhJhF8XlchPKY5eob1yVT51XoLTTxfvWlCYeuiRJqRMD3TO8JNPhz0050-wRoKcdaU0m36Z5wu5UQf9lPoTE07QU-U4BEXSFZKbbgrF3WAA9pJv4yY-ocUpPAvXCGixvDZj0kDTdZraBR/s1600/othercap2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxhJhF8XlchPKY5eob1yVT51XoLTTxfvWlCYeuiRJqRMD3TO8JNPhz0050-wRoKcdaU0m36Z5wu5UQf9lPoTE07QU-U4BEXSFZKbbgrF3WAA9pJv4yY-ocUpPAvXCGixvDZj0kDTdZraBR/s1600/othercap2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkO_BqIU5Cq-Ii5JfrervFyiMHvfhyphenhyphennNuiJb-7dRPk0_3Qb8kzFujEtBNePeSK9XwzAljL0MItTu3wB60W7Mh0_mIOAi1sfSEQ2Jcbjpduv-2acXeYSXNc6o27INf3Z0WPiz2lcGb3GZGs/s1600/othercap3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkO_BqIU5Cq-Ii5JfrervFyiMHvfhyphenhyphennNuiJb-7dRPk0_3Qb8kzFujEtBNePeSK9XwzAljL0MItTu3wB60W7Mh0_mIOAi1sfSEQ2Jcbjpduv-2acXeYSXNc6o27INf3Z0WPiz2lcGb3GZGs/s1600/othercap3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />My own protection is rather simple, I just bought the bag from <a href="http://www.amazon.de/Weiche-Neopren-Schutzh%C3%BClle-Charge-portable-Stereo-Aktiv-Lautsprecher/dp/B00NNKHWUU/ref=pd_bxgy_ht_text_y" target="_blank">DuraGadget</a>. It is a bit big though, the JBL Charge 2 has a lot of space inside. This bag might nearly be able take the larger <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.co.at/2014/10/review-infinity-one-premium-wireless.html">Infinity One</a> if opened and stretched well:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLaNKyugqwYig553GPv4IYILIf_T5qOCbvgmOqdoYQRaLm6fh3aTbA3erQ_ehZsPbKXFhhdAWHS-r6t0OH_iJfDaHmtBCAtNlUre_7eS62j_NR2Z5Fr8fz2nJtY8oTtjmUx8LF89wpO1s3/s1600/duragadget1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLaNKyugqwYig553GPv4IYILIf_T5qOCbvgmOqdoYQRaLm6fh3aTbA3erQ_ehZsPbKXFhhdAWHS-r6t0OH_iJfDaHmtBCAtNlUre_7eS62j_NR2Z5Fr8fz2nJtY8oTtjmUx8LF89wpO1s3/s1600/duragadget1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJTbp_tksNYUC9gyByElVT8xxlIQt9bpaUsr7Dz6D4L4B07CDgoDVValfpqJ9VdM-xpjcHTpwkClhKxbpFS800ukBwxV1ReI3zoZdSMQBd9cHCS8xN3bwdIBkg9PCy8lEDE3M8omklU54v/s1600/duragadget2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJTbp_tksNYUC9gyByElVT8xxlIQt9bpaUsr7Dz6D4L4B07CDgoDVValfpqJ9VdM-xpjcHTpwkClhKxbpFS800ukBwxV1ReI3zoZdSMQBd9cHCS8xN3bwdIBkg9PCy8lEDE3M8omklU54v/s1600/duragadget2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Here is another DIY solution, this time thanks to my Mum. She did this pouch from a scarf and it was originally ment for the Soundlink Mini. She chose the size quite generously, so that it could also accommodate a larger Sony SRS-X3 and now even the JBL Charge 2 fits inside with some stretching. Good thing is, the JBL Charge 2 can stay inside when playing, assumed you manage to hit the power button blindly. You lose a little bit of treble definition as the material filters high frequencies, but as the Charge 2 is not too shy of treble it doesn't do much harm to the sound. Maybe I will even do a measurement to see the impact on treble-response with and without pouch:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1XXaHJhzp4gcccckKqb1eyWz96IwueqV_BZm0zo7mDNKQMZ0_WLlsSFg-0elIzMpaltYSOOB0z5to4Jdon4qEuc5BKqtU9NzMkSmAVlcaionKvFxxp1pi8-e87EJRK_O_qsb7PsjM8orn/s1600/pouch1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1XXaHJhzp4gcccckKqb1eyWz96IwueqV_BZm0zo7mDNKQMZ0_WLlsSFg-0elIzMpaltYSOOB0z5to4Jdon4qEuc5BKqtU9NzMkSmAVlcaionKvFxxp1pi8-e87EJRK_O_qsb7PsjM8orn/s1600/pouch1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5RPDtprZ6cn15_hv41k6YvK-jppMACTwsad-l3aiDRCgX1TKAP7lZ3_VSaE70ACTZ-841Ks3nBqQGG8sKSRRSv3_mzmr-t344-TohfGr-RvMGrvrt3akMub7LtiE4uDb68Ct_L9057bTJ/s1600/pouch2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5RPDtprZ6cn15_hv41k6YvK-jppMACTwsad-l3aiDRCgX1TKAP7lZ3_VSaE70ACTZ-841Ks3nBqQGG8sKSRRSv3_mzmr-t344-TohfGr-RvMGrvrt3akMub7LtiE4uDb68Ct_L9057bTJ/s1600/pouch2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJYaE2DYgRphOfTpTjnlkDiz-3r3sMKUZy41TmH-FVqrOT88pOLTaz3wIEaOi_Gi4F9Ykm1gg7BuJYj5Ih8DVc7ovLiBkn4oFaUpUWG3hd-SHU6henKF0MWiOeaMZ5k8m3xn1OHlx6Ifl5/s1600/pouch3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJYaE2DYgRphOfTpTjnlkDiz-3r3sMKUZy41TmH-FVqrOT88pOLTaz3wIEaOi_Gi4F9Ykm1gg7BuJYj5Ih8DVc7ovLiBkn4oFaUpUWG3hd-SHU6henKF0MWiOeaMZ5k8m3xn1OHlx6Ifl5/s1600/pouch3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />I welcome any other suggestions for the best protection tweaks, please leave a comment to contribute!</p>

A portable speaker which can be easily damaged during the first transport is pretty useless. I am not the only one who thinks that the unprotected passive radiators of the JBL Charge 2 are the weakest part of the speaker, so some owners already came …

Review: Infinity One - Premium wireless portable speaker

<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMWW6u3Tds_BkFSK6PDrDHbv67ZhfdwX86AN44Cs9ZuNZotmGSSTk5wuAdVQ6OV8iHCpqiL6yYHp86q3KqX2O2TcHHzVHYm2e4GC34Z9D3ZJHkGnAyotqRNWfc8tfyjek1BcSSozoaCFS6/s1600/infinity-titel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMWW6u3Tds_BkFSK6PDrDHbv67ZhfdwX86AN44Cs9ZuNZotmGSSTk5wuAdVQ6OV8iHCpqiL6yYHp86q3KqX2O2TcHHzVHYm2e4GC34Z9D3ZJHkGnAyotqRNWfc8tfyjek1BcSSozoaCFS6/s1600/infinity-titel.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />I must confess that the Infinity One was the most awaited speaker I wanted to try lately. My request for a review sample directly from Harman was denied with the statement the Infinity One not to become available outside the U.S. I am not sure if they might change their mind, but even in the U.S. availabilty still seems quite a bit limited.<br />At least my good old friend is dependable as he took the risk of ordering one overseas paying some premium taxes and import fees. But this is what you are ready to pay for a "Premium wireless portable speaker", which the Infinity One is called according to the <a href="http://www.infinityspeakers.com/estore/inf/us/products/Infinity-One/INFINITY%20ONE_INF_US?skuId=INFINITYONEAM_INF_US" target="_blank">Infinity site</a>.<br />For all desperate potential buyers living outside of the U.S. there is still the option to buy the Infinity One directly from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LOL7HDC/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00LOL7HDC&linkCode=as2&tag=oluvsgadgets-20&linkId=OUWNGOH2BQAT5AFE">amazon.com</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=oluvsgadgets-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00LOL7HDC" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> as they seem to be shipping their units to Europe too or maybe even worldwide. Ultimatively you can try a delivery service like "<a href="http://www.myus.com/" target="_blank">myus.com</a>". <br /><br /><a name='more'></a>At the beginning I was not quite sure what makes it "premium", but the price it isn't, the Bose Soundlink III costing the same, or the Beats Pill XL, which therefore all might be called premium models as well. I am sure Infinity could have priced their "premium" portable speaker even higher, like other companies willingly do: Libratone, B&O, etc. Laudably they didn't because usually also Harman is known for offering higher priced speakers than the competition, but at the same time most Harman speakers do simply sound better than speakers from other companies. Many speakers from Harman that I know just sounded good, maybe not fully balanced, but just good with a professional tuning that makes listening to the speaker pleasant and enjoying without any weird frequency humps. I really liked the Harman Kardon go&play a lot (although it sucks when run from batteries). The JBL Radial being no excpetion with a very mature and deep sound from a rather compact body, or the JBL OnBeat Xtreme, which all sounded better than most similar competing models.<br />But most small and portable speakers from Harman were not up to this level, with either reducing sound quality when run from battery (like most onTour models), or just delivering tinny sound (JBL Flip, JBL Charge etc), the JBL Charge 2 being the first portable speaker from Harman which finally really manages to trump the competition in sound quality, albeit with some minor problems that I mentioned <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.co.at/2014/09/first-impressions-jbl-charge-2-new-king.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />After the JBL Charge 2 which impressed my soundwise but let me down due to the soundprocessing issues, I was eagerly waiting to hear the Infinity One in person, as it seemed to be a blown-up version of the JBL and could even become the reference for portable speakers in this size and price range, which includes models like the already mentioned Soundlink III, BIG Jambox, Beats Pill XL, several Braven models etc.<br />I currently still own a Pill XL, which I decided to sell but still only kept for a direct comparison with the Infinity One, and I even managed to get a Soundlink III directly from Bose, so I will be able to compare them all. I will also do a comparison with the JBL Charge 2, which of course is not as powerful but it is my current sound-reference for beer-can sized speakers, easily beating the Soundlink Mini, which suddenly started sounding pretty tired when directly compared to the JBL.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdKzH782ByXrsxuCn-dSovr89WUNN1Em99TwICkchzcZq9opi-7XGH-wopXY6-hTbmBFBHOnp_viOGdRzeu7c2xe0L65y9xVxSgI5TMwHggkh-mjhPFQyty5_RnOBVLGb3P9DluSgbUzlP/s1600/outdoor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdKzH782ByXrsxuCn-dSovr89WUNN1Em99TwICkchzcZq9opi-7XGH-wopXY6-hTbmBFBHOnp_viOGdRzeu7c2xe0L65y9xVxSgI5TMwHggkh-mjhPFQyty5_RnOBVLGb3P9DluSgbUzlP/s1600/outdoor.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />The main features of the Infinity One are an amplifier with 25 watts of power driving 4 speakers facing to the front and back <strike>thus offering close to 360� sound</strike> with 2 additional passive radiators at the sides for enhanced bass reproduction. A strong battery for up to 10 hours of run-time and the ability to charge other external devices directly from the speaker. The Infiniy One is also water resistant. I am still not quite sure to what degree, but I doubt you can really toss it under water and still expect it to work, like with the Fugoo. I rather think it is splash resistant only so that you can use it outdoors during rain without severe damage. Last but not least the Infinity One was tuned in collaboration with Linkin Park!!! Hmm..., I really don't know who that is. I haven't heard a single song from them and I would be probably more impressed if it was tuned by Quincy Jones, or Herbie Hancock, therefore I really do hope Linkin Park know something about speaker tuning, we'll see later!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_C8gZFZ5nmEeNY13skNsdTwWPxNV5d6xKLoXKsOOIdRG5BD1nlzaDBnyiSuo8WivVmlZsieZDuoc4O3oGXWWy5-tCrKWAf_9nHtK-7YY0hYnZP1caQyVavyUBn165Zla21QHa0Q1s0C04/s1600/front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzTfCRz6CO1ZDRE0pJXopROxdwA2ueRAncYeWPpgqaQjj7TQE1HbBa6hOxxGi71aFhHJYrfqSCG_smtM7VvBDrfGMtkFhaqwlcGI5nVn9kQA9mUbNITP9dsat381mxYW8H8zjuv9eDg6DT/s1600/back.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzTfCRz6CO1ZDRE0pJXopROxdwA2ueRAncYeWPpgqaQjj7TQE1HbBa6hOxxGi71aFhHJYrfqSCG_smtM7VvBDrfGMtkFhaqwlcGI5nVn9kQA9mUbNITP9dsat381mxYW8H8zjuv9eDg6DT/s1600/back.jpg" width="400" /></a><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_C8gZFZ5nmEeNY13skNsdTwWPxNV5d6xKLoXKsOOIdRG5BD1nlzaDBnyiSuo8WivVmlZsieZDuoc4O3oGXWWy5-tCrKWAf_9nHtK-7YY0hYnZP1caQyVavyUBn165Zla21QHa0Q1s0C04/s1600/front.jpg" width="400" /></div><br />The Infinity One definitely feels good in your hand, the body is made of aluminium with some additional ceramic coating. It doesn't feel plasticky at all, obviously this is what gives it this "premium" label. The design is pretty cool and reminds me a bit of a powerful grenade. Of all portable speakers I have tried, the Infinity One is definitely one of the better looking ones. But similar to the JBL Charge 2 the passive raditaors are fully exposed here thus quite easily to be damaged.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoVCnDAfJepI_YtsaQiey1QPPgQS_SC4UlB12FGOPqqsFQMBZwBeRTVpEnEV8P0fkAM6FeKLWmcAC6k0o-3gTbU-d2-yWvvxwEDElMBGRaknsNG9luVukSkfEHwuoEUHZRbuR5mMsoA85D/s1600/passiveradiator.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoVCnDAfJepI_YtsaQiey1QPPgQS_SC4UlB12FGOPqqsFQMBZwBeRTVpEnEV8P0fkAM6FeKLWmcAC6k0o-3gTbU-d2-yWvvxwEDElMBGRaknsNG9luVukSkfEHwuoEUHZRbuR5mMsoA85D/s1600/passiveradiator.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>  <br />Together with the shiny chrome rings around them, I really find this design questionalbe especially for a portable speaker, which you usually toss inside a bag for transport together with many other objects. No bag is included with the Infinity One and so far no suitable bags or covers are available although it was announced that some accessories might come in future (all of them probably being "premium"). As for now you need to wrap the speaker in a towel or shirt for transport, or you are creative and manage to tinker some own protective caps. I initially thought about a yoghurt cup, but my friend had a better idea to try it with a plastic bottle.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVqFa3R5tdwvWBmHPgmwDa9UCfDvdEYDnK23rXxXIqsC3v5dGFy6w8v51NfZ3wrK9zql8XsN2-9hDWyFLtx5FKvkHoDku6uSDbCU4TQqNnWNFGg2S_Ucr1X4iDWr7mpL04BNuIioUIwDyy/s1600/infinity-cap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVqFa3R5tdwvWBmHPgmwDa9UCfDvdEYDnK23rXxXIqsC3v5dGFy6w8v51NfZ3wrK9zql8XsN2-9hDWyFLtx5FKvkHoDku6uSDbCU4TQqNnWNFGg2S_Ucr1X4iDWr7mpL04BNuIioUIwDyy/s1600/infinity-cap.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />The Infinity One is not a small speaker anymore. I measured around 1.3 litres capacity, which makes it comparable to the <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.co.at/2014/05/review-creative-sound-blaster-roar-sr20.html" target="">Soundblaster Roar</a> and about twice as large as the <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.co.at/2014/09/review-jbl-charge-2-failed-new-benchmark.html">JBL Charge 2</a>. The Soundlink Mini would fit inside almost three times. And although the Soundlink Mini is already quite a brick, the Infinity One is around twice as heavy. It is definitely portable, but you will hardly carry it around in your jacket or in your trousers.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA-bKsK9iIgixDM8hLV8UJu-4u8ZMzUnB9_uANmfvRcOmJNR3arS7xTygFF0tSnDcnMgQN4RVDFh9VsAnzy-dQJ4cwD-NnV-ifcu151B_WnMrtJEsPvmMpD-CWZn3BEhXP_GHmIlYWQ8ts/s1600/infinity-charge2-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm4suB3g3uagN-eqW-I044j8dJONdQtIuwqIKZ6Ku4U4bJ051dPRZars1j-tfeJ9zTr9hY2swMWqaXGS7MqGWRubMg1Sjbz8RRc_CfIeMRXqXWb7yyOHwbRLWe2mg1YYd3NyQpeJ9xJ3tT/s1600/infinity-charge2-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm4suB3g3uagN-eqW-I044j8dJONdQtIuwqIKZ6Ku4U4bJ051dPRZars1j-tfeJ9zTr9hY2swMWqaXGS7MqGWRubMg1Sjbz8RRc_CfIeMRXqXWb7yyOHwbRLWe2mg1YYd3NyQpeJ9xJ3tT/s1600/infinity-charge2-2.jpg" width="400" /></a><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA-bKsK9iIgixDM8hLV8UJu-4u8ZMzUnB9_uANmfvRcOmJNR3arS7xTygFF0tSnDcnMgQN4RVDFh9VsAnzy-dQJ4cwD-NnV-ifcu151B_WnMrtJEsPvmMpD-CWZn3BEhXP_GHmIlYWQ8ts/s1600/infinity-charge2-1.jpg" width="400" /></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMhl2ck6qaqeo0aB2Bg5nIS0CaDiiTWGTYNJSRxSXwh3poELyb10VxT9b3dzqqfznv0fBzc_LSnizKAa7R1ba8qwo1AIGgRE3Wn9blxFc0nLVsO-bIF_cICzaU5wBkofmaoLssqxGFIaL9/s1600/infinity-soundlinkmini.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMhl2ck6qaqeo0aB2Bg5nIS0CaDiiTWGTYNJSRxSXwh3poELyb10VxT9b3dzqqfznv0fBzc_LSnizKAa7R1ba8qwo1AIGgRE3Wn9blxFc0nLVsO-bIF_cICzaU5wBkofmaoLssqxGFIaL9/s1600/infinity-soundlinkmini.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />There is no carrying handle, so you really have to be careful how you are going to grab it, as it is quite thick for a secure grip. But there are some lugs at the top of the speaker on both sides, which might even give you the option to let it hang from your neck like a BIG FAT Gangsta-chain! <br />My friend already used those lugs to strap the speaker to his rucksack during biking. I think there are hundreds of ways how these lugs can be used or misused...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4HVGuLUlA2bltujHvY8Dn_ypwgTJR8xHCrYslVam3HP2btjPu4Vkf8liOTZp0JOTmEmtiblJJUhaNcqhPKh_0L8VxQqACXIgJsZWyw5xlBrG8Dn7hPVyJQvjXRDwpph1R58ef7bRoIsG6/s1600/grab1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6yF-2abfYk32q2Bwr6UT1NrqL9fTDXRVILikHUkY1suggdjI2gXBBnYSoAFPf68WeD6N92SGdEsdisdlHR_Tt6YmknCJx3cMKMhgYoV8zjbTHCNs9kbD84gO-ERrdAZve-29TJrarhET7/s1600/grab2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6yF-2abfYk32q2Bwr6UT1NrqL9fTDXRVILikHUkY1suggdjI2gXBBnYSoAFPf68WeD6N92SGdEsdisdlHR_Tt6YmknCJx3cMKMhgYoV8zjbTHCNs9kbD84gO-ERrdAZve-29TJrarhET7/s1600/grab2.jpg" width="400" /></a><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4HVGuLUlA2bltujHvY8Dn_ypwgTJR8xHCrYslVam3HP2btjPu4Vkf8liOTZp0JOTmEmtiblJJUhaNcqhPKh_0L8VxQqACXIgJsZWyw5xlBrG8Dn7hPVyJQvjXRDwpph1R58ef7bRoIsG6/s1600/grab1.jpg" width="400" /></div><br />On top you will find all buttons underneath a rubber coat easily reachable, unlike the Pill XL, which has them somewhere at the back. The Infinity One is also equipped with an own playback button which you can use for starting or stopping music or skipping tracks forwards by double pressing or tripple pressing for backwards, this button also works for taking calls or for starting calls if you keep it pressed for several seconds.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigmWVXBrOCP7EZBnPrGr5QN9pIGbaHbJkMuMo9tfzf-6fTRfq2VvDoKrY8J3idpWbDWbGZnz2GPAJzLaThQqNFrZMQwCViDJM-1pFk9Yk4xTdQQVW3T9fH8R-J1_bLORmpXDkkgtVJDoWd/s1600/buttons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigmWVXBrOCP7EZBnPrGr5QN9pIGbaHbJkMuMo9tfzf-6fTRfq2VvDoKrY8J3idpWbDWbGZnz2GPAJzLaThQqNFrZMQwCViDJM-1pFk9Yk4xTdQQVW3T9fH8R-J1_bLORmpXDkkgtVJDoWd/s1600/buttons.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8D3Q3nNyMfhLPTyAk1IRrqvElsdx1Y3bx0rCWMSRukqxs8uZFraD41uf8XnTypsDT7-qbekKqzQIcA6YhV4iRdgurJ92bHZTb5SzCdMmUVHGSbuadbHFcb4sAzel3fsdllkBnRDm1IGLA/s1600/back-flap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8D3Q3nNyMfhLPTyAk1IRrqvElsdx1Y3bx0rCWMSRukqxs8uZFraD41uf8XnTypsDT7-qbekKqzQIcA6YhV4iRdgurJ92bHZTb5SzCdMmUVHGSbuadbHFcb4sAzel3fsdllkBnRDm1IGLA/s1600/back-flap.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />At the back you'll find the battery indicator, it has 5 distinct LEDs similar to the JBL Charge 2 although I am not sure why they had to be hidden at the back. They usually stay off and only light up if you press a button. Below a rubber-flap are all ports to be found. Thankfully this flap doesn't feel flimsy like on the TDK A33 for example, but really solid and well made and seems to be a part of the speaker, not just an additional flap.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi963Yu4HoS1_ov6zX5xHG7gKkLSCB_FyLAZ9NydveamKj-q0wWaO78LzheU_3elZudzCLUidmY98oCJdGLtUTCmA_xvEeEugjszICOA-EEwJitsvoRBxD5AvfDiZUXakRi07ow1jgLSOFd/s1600/charger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi963Yu4HoS1_ov6zX5xHG7gKkLSCB_FyLAZ9NydveamKj-q0wWaO78LzheU_3elZudzCLUidmY98oCJdGLtUTCmA_xvEeEugjszICOA-EEwJitsvoRBxD5AvfDiZUXakRi07ow1jgLSOFd/s1600/charger.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />You can charge the Infinity One either with the included charger which provides 13V at 1.7A or through Micro-USB which will definitely take much longer to fully charge the battery. An obligatory auxiliary input and an USB-port for charging external devices is also here. Btw. the included charger will work with 220V too, it is only that you'll need an own adaptor because there is no European plug included.<br />I cannot say much about the battery life yet, but according to my friend who already used the speaker more often,it should last for more than 7 hours at close to maximum levels, which is quite impressive as many similar speakers claim 12 hours, while shut off after 2 hours when played at maximum volume.<br />Update: meanhile I was able to test the Infinity One at its maximum volume and it didn't reach full 5 hours. This is not a bad result, but it falls a bit short of the Pill XL, which manages 2-3 hours more out of one charge being quite a bit louder at the same time. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNAHlbD1qD9k4qaeyS9UN575sAU8uSCCmQX4coi7cEwLJl_zxcu2JL09VxhKRNNvXc_jvCh6OMcaYCS3JU6st3cM9vtxNkQE9VFfchUDkcaVEYI7dKvur7E9sMloPFrOXIS_HxD2ZiNhqf/s1600/base.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNAHlbD1qD9k4qaeyS9UN575sAU8uSCCmQX4coi7cEwLJl_zxcu2JL09VxhKRNNvXc_jvCh6OMcaYCS3JU6st3cM9vtxNkQE9VFfchUDkcaVEYI7dKvur7E9sMloPFrOXIS_HxD2ZiNhqf/s1600/base.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgluqJBwmbCCnKqzUb4U-Fh18Xqgb0o2Ix5h0cnvd2pAHnMv9yCJJs3bXEEGM3uU88Wncb74lWLfmevsNXSOA9-VV7ajBvieCvaM-Do_1EhADavcJypfHhVFZgfHXl4av5qHwMNWqVZzlln/s1600/float.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgluqJBwmbCCnKqzUb4U-Fh18Xqgb0o2Ix5h0cnvd2pAHnMv9yCJJs3bXEEGM3uU88Wncb74lWLfmevsNXSOA9-VV7ajBvieCvaM-Do_1EhADavcJypfHhVFZgfHXl4av5qHwMNWqVZzlln/s1600/float.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />The rubber-flap fades into an own rubber-base, which acts as a foot for the completely round design of the speaker and makes it float a bit so don't need to worry about scratching the bottom part of the body if you place it on concrete or stone. I am not sure how durable this special ceramic coating is to tell the truth, as it is pretty unique for a portable speaker and feels like, well stone or ceramic hahaha... I am quite a bit afraid, that this material might even be a bit brittle, and might quickly crack if knocked against another object, it might be quite scratch resistant though, although I haven't dared to really test this.<br />Despite the rather narrow base the Infinity One seems to stand more stable than the JBL Charge 2, which has an overall similar design, but if you nudge the Infinity One slightly it will immediately stop after 3 bounces, while the JBL Charge 2 will bounce more than 10 times back and forth or simply roll away.<br />Unlike the JBL Charge 2 the Infinity One doesn't seem to be meant for upright placing. The edges on both sides are rubbered though, so you could indeed put it vertically, but you would cover one passive radiator like this. Thanks to both radiators firing in opposing directions, vibrations of the whole speaker are minimal and the speaker shouldn't rattle around, let alone dance or creep at higher levels.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjes7bEBajfVx8hLYlEsSwE57uP5cb4xw8-4MyBbQQr_ax0ObA8TqnrSrUv3bfLQwRAsqfRC2PdxRr6LoT1KlxOi6HZJxn_ZOtGapEGwlo7CvxFscRrHLRjhpprk26CMQNneJIY8FjCuuWe/s1600/vertical.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjes7bEBajfVx8hLYlEsSwE57uP5cb4xw8-4MyBbQQr_ax0ObA8TqnrSrUv3bfLQwRAsqfRC2PdxRr6LoT1KlxOi6HZJxn_ZOtGapEGwlo7CvxFscRrHLRjhpprk26CMQNneJIY8FjCuuWe/s1600/vertical.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />After power on, the front logo will magically light up which really looks cool. There seem to be several LEDs behind and if looked from a higher angle the light magically starts to disappear. Also the powerbutton is lit, as well as the Bluetooth button when a connection is established. When playback is started the play-button will glow too. I just don't understand why the volume-buttons are not lit either. They are black on black thus hardly visible, this was already strange on the JBL Charge 2 as I don't care if I can see the Bluetooth button in darkness, but would rather prefer to know where to press to change volume.<br />The status tones are exactly the same as on most other JBL/Harman speakers. You will get the same bubble-sound after power on, the same sonar-sound when in pairing mode etc. It is a pity that you cannot turn off the sounds completely, or make them softer. Funnily you will also hear some slight background-hiss every time a sound is played, nothing I had noticed on any other Harman speaker so far.<br />Pairing is pretty simple, at the back you have the NFC-area, or just press the Bluetooth button and start pairing directly from your streaming device until you hear the typical "ping" sound, when both devices are connected. Unfortunately the Infinity One seems to be expecting the latest connected device every time after power on. If that is not present but some other already paired devices instead, it still won't pair to them automatically. In this case you have to force a connection to the speaker directly from any of the other devices. This seems to be exactly the same behaviour that I noticed on the JBL Charge 2. Sometimes it even takes up several seconds until the speaker finally connects to the desired device. Many other speakers mange to connect immediately within a second after power on.<br />Update: Me and my friend suddenly managed to establish 2 simultanous Bluetooth connection from 2 different devices to the Infinity One. This is an undocumented feature and I have no idea what we did to get there. But we were able to switch playback from our both phones just in the same way as the social mode works on the JBL Charge 2. A pity this function is not explained anywhere in detail.<br />Unfortunately Bluetooth reach seems quite limited with the Infinity One. Outdoors it may start breaking up after 5-6 meters. It seems better indoors but far not as good as on many other speakers. Sometimes even when standing close to the speaker it can be enough to turn away with your phone and playback will start stuttering.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHIzcbnwFe5lpZCq1W0DjHYCceg9CNs27upWHZgx1U_fAkWn-tH1CnmbaBg9ypqoVgoC8fKbmddzgJvunWbjGt3-wCLN-gPdtIk8StUPMi_Q37oVjBKlaSHRulJ81zzhFci_oGRzyxFSku/s1600/infinity-pillxl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHIzcbnwFe5lpZCq1W0DjHYCceg9CNs27upWHZgx1U_fAkWn-tH1CnmbaBg9ypqoVgoC8fKbmddzgJvunWbjGt3-wCLN-gPdtIk8StUPMi_Q37oVjBKlaSHRulJ81zzhFci_oGRzyxFSku/s1600/infinity-pillxl.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />On iOS devices volume is mirrored between speaker and player. But there are still only about 20 distinct volume-steps. The speaker will allow more presses from min. to max, but you can hear that the volume will not always change with each step. This is a pity because other companies show that even 100 own steps are possible like on the new Soundlink Colour.<br />Although the first volume step is not really loud (it is comparable to the second step of the JBL Charge 2), I sometimes wished an even softer level. At least the lowest possible volume on the Infinity One is still lower than that from the Pill XL, which meanwhile also gained a synced volume control with the latest firmware-update. While you could previously still lower volume on your device to bypass this first level, it is not possible anymore, which makes the Pill XL hardly usable for background listening now. Thank goodness I haven't noticed any processing artefacts on the Infinity One which are mainly present at low levels on the JBL Charge 2. While the Infinity One might share many other aspects of the smaller JBL brother, the sound processing is without flaws here!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-3shgOdsAPq2OSAkoL-RQ-1ZFcH4yIUMkaLkCYongjLLYtNGINQLkfOhledKpWqj1rKZ15nh8dUzgXt9Vi2KQVpZOAXPeGImnsCQ1d4XXR62GfZLxng4lBGX2J3x0mRHWaj4xhXr4Dw32/s1600/infinity-soundlinkIII.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-3shgOdsAPq2OSAkoL-RQ-1ZFcH4yIUMkaLkCYongjLLYtNGINQLkfOhledKpWqj1rKZ15nh8dUzgXt9Vi2KQVpZOAXPeGImnsCQ1d4XXR62GfZLxng4lBGX2J3x0mRHWaj4xhXr4Dw32/s1600/infinity-soundlinkIII.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Now let's hear if the Infinity One really can meet the high expectations for a "premium" speaker.<br />First thing you notice is that although it has drivers to the front and back it is not a real omnidirectional speaker. Although I expected full 360� sound similar to the Fugoo, the Infinity One still has a backside, as treble will only be hearable at the front. It doesn't seem to be a true 2-way system with an own crossover for the back and front drivers, but I rather have the impression as if the back drivers were just low-pass filtered compared to the front. I am not sure about this approach, maybe they wanted to "spread" around the sound more or there was not enough place for all drivers at the front, but I initally really hoped the Infinity One to be a 360� speaker. Thanks to the back drivers it still manages to add a bit more ambience to the sound, while most other speakers sound much more focused. The Infinity One has a more diffuse sound, which gives the music a bit more space around, giving the impression as if the speaker was larger than it is. I noticed the same effect from the Fugoo, but the Fugoo takes this even further, as it spreads the sound to all 4 sides, because it has all drivers facing all 4 directions. I am not counting the passive radiators as full drivers, because due to the omnidirectinal character of low-frequency acoustic waves, the passive radiators might be even mounted at the top or bottom and still sound pretty much the same.<br />Overall the Infinity One definitely manages to impress soundwise. It is a powerful well balanced sound, although you'll notice quite a bit of boom from the bass part, while bass doesn't reach overly deep. I really hoped for more bass extension than the JBL Charge 2. I wouldn't call the JBL Charge 2 an anemic speaker, but the Infintiy One is twice as large and should definitely play deeper. Instead the bass is boosted more, but it also has a similar falloff at about 70Hz already. Even the much smaller Soundlink Mini manages to play deeper, albeit at lower loudness levels only. If you like the sound of the Soundlink Mini, you should love the Infinity One as well, as it sounds much more refinded, with much better treble extension and less directional dispersion and a more dynamic sound, but the general tuning is rather similar, which is boosted bass and boosted treble, with the boost starting at 3kHz already. It is especially at medium levels and above, where you will notice the advantage of the Infinity One over the Soundlink Mini or even the bigger Soundlink III which both seem to start sounding a bit edgy. At lower levels though the Soundlink Mini even manages a fatter sound, with a more punchy bass. Bose usually applies loudness processing with an additional bass boost at lower levels to compensate for the human loudness curves. The Infinity One doesn't do this, it sounds equal at the first volume step as it does at its medium volume step. It is only above half volume that bass is starting to get reduced, but the Infinity One still manages to keep more lower bass punch than most other similar speakers, which only leave some mid-bass. At really low levels though (I would say the first 3 or 4 volume steps) the sound din't impress me that much as it did above. The Infinity One doesn't sound bad, but at low levels you simply don't hear all the potential it can offer. When switching back and forth between the Infinity One and the Soundlink Mini, I found the Soundlink Mini to be more impressive, despite the weaker treble rendition, but the sound was more full-bodied and sounded more serious with bass that just had more oomph. Although the Fugoo has even slightly less bass than the Infinity One, at low levels the differences between both were less, than between Infinity One and Soundlink Mini, but thanks to the very clear treble and mids reproduction of the Fugoo for soft background listening I sometimes even peferred the Fugoo over the Infinity One. You really need to turn the Infinity One up some notches to get the best out of it.<br /><br />A more disturbing fact is that at higher levels close to top volume there is considerable intermodulation distortion noticeable, something that is completely missing from the JBL Charge 2. It is not as severe as on the Sony SRS-X3, and the levels needed to notice it are usually quite high already, but demanding ears will hear it easily. Some punchy bassheavy mixes may already start to distort at levels below half volume, while others remain quite clean up to maximum volume. But music prone to that problem (lots of deep bass notes played together with cymbals etc) will sound quite disappointing through the Infinity One as it will start sounding pretty harsh and strained when volume is raised to higher levels. When I compared both JBL Charge 2 and Infinity One side by side, the dynamic compression as bass-reduction seemed even stronger on the Infinity One, it nearly sounded like a gated effect with some songs, while the JBL Charge 2 was still perfectly usable at its maximum volume despite all the applied dynamics compression. The sound of the Infinity One becomes too mouldy, together with the intermodulation distortion it also sounds more scruffy while the difference in overall loudness between JBL Charge 2 and Infinity One is in reality not that much higher (maybe 25-30%). The Infinity One can play with a comparable loudness to the Bose Soundlink III, although the Bose doesn't manage to keep that much low bass, it sounds cleaner at the same time, without that obvious distortion and with dynamics compression being not that invasive.<br />I also noticed some rattling from the passive radiators with many songs. Usually the problem shouldn't be noticeable as other instruments will most likely mask and side noises. But if you listen to Jazz with some pure upright bass playing, there might be some rattling noticeable. I rather rule out sample variation, as I have tried 2 different units and both behaved exactly the same (the left passive radiator showed slightly stronger rattling both times). <br />Regarding loudness the Beats Pill XL is in another class than both though. The Pill XL doesn't apply any compression and while it also dials back bass at top volume, it still sounds very dynamic and punchy and at the same time manages to play about 4-5dB louder. On the Pill XL you really can feel every kick-drum of a house-song, while it starts to become quite a mush on the Infinity One.<br />This left me a bit unimpressed to tell the truth. I didn't expect the sheer loudness of the Beats Pill XL, which still remains one of the loudness kings at this size, but I expected a cleaner and more controlled sound, similar to the JBL Charge 2, just louder. This is not the case unfortunately, sometimes you really hear the negative side effects of the dynamic compressor and together with the distorted and ringing treble the Infinity One seems to be struggling while still not being really loud enough for those circumstances where high loudness is actually needed. The UE Boom will play nearly as loud, but of course with less bass but also with less obvious distortion. <br />Speaking of volume, the volume curve of the Infinity One is tuned pretty strange. The speaker becomes quite loud very quickly, but then above half way loudness won't increase much more. At half level the Infinity One will already reach the top volume of the JBL Charge and you might think it will play that much louder, but in reality it is already much closer to its top setting than to the lowest setting. Within the upper volume levels you will only notice more added dynamic compression and more bass reduction, which are both tricks in order to achieve a higher perceived loudness at the cost of loosing all peaks and stronger drum-hits.<br />If the 16 possible volume steps of an iPhone are taken as reference when directly accessed through its volume buttons, the Infinity One will still sound good without that strong intermodulation distortion or too strong bass reduction until step 9-10. At levels above it will only become slightly louder, but the sound will deteriorate more. Some songs may already distort below step 8 though. The problem of that strong intermodulation distortion seems to be  based on missing tweeters because the front drivers are forced to  playback lowest and highest frequencies at the same time, but are unable  to cope with both. When listening to the back drivers which are  filtered for higher frequencies, the intermodulation would be hardly  noticeable even at maximum volume. It would have helped if the sound designers had added some  simple tweeters taking over the entire treble-range, while filtering the front  drivers to the same degree as the back drivers. It is a pity this design  choice was not considered as the sound would definitely become cleaner and more controlled. <br /><br />I was quite a bit torn to decide if I liked the flatter tuning of the JBL Charge 2 more, or the more bloated sound of the Infinity One and I am not sure what impressed me more in the end: the JBL Charge 2 and that it managed to keep up with sound (except overall loudness), or the Infinity One because of the added bass-boost and a slightly smoother sound.<br />The JBL Charge 2 has clearer treble which sometimes might even appear a bit harsh as the frequency-hump at 14kHz is pretty obvious, but the JBL Charge 2 is less directional too. Altough the Infinity One doesn't become extremely muffled when not listened on-axis, the JBL Charge 2 definitely has an edge here. The drivers on the Infintiy One are tilted upwards, I cannot say at which angle exactly (I assume they fire slightly above the front logo, at the height of the side-screws), so you should get the best sound, when listened slightly from above, put it on ear height and unlike most other speakers treble from the Infinity One will already suffer, it will sound better if placed on a lower desk than on a higher shelf.<br /><br />Of course I also took some effort to do several measurements. First is an in-room response from 50cm at all available volume levels (smoothed with 1/6 octave). You can also see that bass is being reduced more aggressively from about the 15 level and that within the latest steps there is hardly any change in loudness anymore:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPlAspx5jsM849lsTpbUbsubzlsgCOBpTfqs7iGuEUX9DGZGZw0jNUIvBaTIKjibjSisgsZoA6gnb8el194MB0kcX77mpf2bS9S-RIYLB2LahFZmutpcjEDGnzGR6y2GCXcdDTwBSuTsWX/s1600/volume+range.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPlAspx5jsM849lsTpbUbsubzlsgCOBpTfqs7iGuEUX9DGZGZw0jNUIvBaTIKjibjSisgsZoA6gnb8el194MB0kcX77mpf2bS9S-RIYLB2LahFZmutpcjEDGnzGR6y2GCXcdDTwBSuTsWX/s1600/volume+range.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />I also wanted to know how the sound differs between the front (red) and backside (blue) of the speaker, this measurement is done at the 8th volume level. There is some frequency boost between 1-2kHz from the backside, which might hint at a different tuning of both front and back-drivers.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7InWpLpB_ZzTF7AQnNkluZTJlT6WswaULvSDwtjzLMtumTBFbhOmB_St7Z1wiooF-QEHgDezwyfmyzQpttlmEsRZLilaISEC24KUltdB98r3BAUCPu4GolhnEC0U1w7QagbXk4MtKjdBT/s1600/front-back.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7InWpLpB_ZzTF7AQnNkluZTJlT6WswaULvSDwtjzLMtumTBFbhOmB_St7Z1wiooF-QEHgDezwyfmyzQpttlmEsRZLilaISEC24KUltdB98r3BAUCPu4GolhnEC0U1w7QagbXk4MtKjdBT/s1600/front-back.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />I tried to demonstrate the effects of different listening angles with the following measurements. All my measurements were done with the Infinity One tilted slightly forward, so that the drivers would aim directly at the microphone, which is usually placed horizontally at the same height as the drivers. If the speaker was standing flat on its base, the microphone would aim below the drivers with a certain angle and would give a slightly duller response. <br />The black curve is the on-axis measurement with the speaker tilted forward, the green measurement is with the speaker standing flat, without changing the microphone position. Blue and cyan are the measurements from 30cm above (about 37� off-axis), with the blue curve for the speaker tilted forward and the cyan curve for the speaker standing flat. There is an obvious treble loss when listened off-axis, which is quite a bit stronger than what I measured from the JBL Charge 2. Maybe this is also the reason why the drivers are mounted with an angle, as the engineers probably expected the speaker to be placed below ear height most of the time, like on a table for example and wanted to give the best results. Most other speakers standing on a table need to be either tilted back towards the listener, or placed at an elevated position.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvC-HbwpCpONktWkdShFAJBCfhLCvzROgQ6Ki5X0ND1R4h7rInnHpE-06aL4qRxFfjXZEbMOhJteZKmcj0O1EKNC38wx9AD2eGLubOHO3VNygyTT_6oWGhlSIyjFAwIhnY3pzk9NbTJ7Pr/s1600/off-axis.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvC-HbwpCpONktWkdShFAJBCfhLCvzROgQ6Ki5X0ND1R4h7rInnHpE-06aL4qRxFfjXZEbMOhJteZKmcj0O1EKNC38wx9AD2eGLubOHO3VNygyTT_6oWGhlSIyjFAwIhnY3pzk9NbTJ7Pr/s1600/off-axis.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />For a more accurate response I also did some close measurements from 10cm which should minimize any unwanted room influcence. If we compare the 1st volume level of the Infinity One (black) to the corresponding level of the Bose Soundlink III (red) which is about 25%, you can clearly see, that the bass from the Bose reaches deeper with a similar overall boost:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWxJgoLAVDpn9YREgmWuvyw_7kgjghdry_c4Llmivk6BjpcfEtgOxFjCZBcSpzVd0BLBrk5SU8rkYV2fznGhJEgU8N8EouXH1nQxXa1NgmHRswx5x8Wkolc6v_nQ575tXsQqoiVE-B1BJE/s1600/low-volume.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWxJgoLAVDpn9YREgmWuvyw_7kgjghdry_c4Llmivk6BjpcfEtgOxFjCZBcSpzVd0BLBrk5SU8rkYV2fznGhJEgU8N8EouXH1nQxXa1NgmHRswx5x8Wkolc6v_nQ575tXsQqoiVE-B1BJE/s1600/low-volume.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />At the 7th step (which is about 50% on the Soundlink) differences in bass response become nearly negligible. Up from there the Infinity One manages to maintain a stronger bass, while the Soundlink III starts reducing bass more and more to become rather mid-focused at its maximum volume.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPhEBKBoCt7Wl1wMeO1NMneYtvh9tMi_krtF0JEvN_-zHEFLAylq5c1HqHGm2lQq_Wqa3Qi4ufDfLe-qJ2Qz0nT6P2I0V_u2TUak-glpXHiLX3-o0tmSNYLleS9E_YUfea54G0NZTeNYtS/s1600/medium-volume.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPhEBKBoCt7Wl1wMeO1NMneYtvh9tMi_krtF0JEvN_-zHEFLAylq5c1HqHGm2lQq_Wqa3Qi4ufDfLe-qJ2Qz0nT6P2I0V_u2TUak-glpXHiLX3-o0tmSNYLleS9E_YUfea54G0NZTeNYtS/s1600/medium-volume.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />Here another comparison with the JBL Charge 2 at the 5th level for the Infinity One and the 7th level for the JBL Charge 2 which is shown in grey: <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXKWRzkChyaTMw2pWykzm2m3BTvmAgZVzehPRIPYMGjpkQQNmu5_0AXPmEFEA3eII3XjFz_2wJaE6wg6-kHfpS9p5t4pYJQ1M57YN0YaP_tdnvZY05xGECSja1xtizvRqdZ1AgofxTeRJ-/s1600/one-charge2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXKWRzkChyaTMw2pWykzm2m3BTvmAgZVzehPRIPYMGjpkQQNmu5_0AXPmEFEA3eII3XjFz_2wJaE6wg6-kHfpS9p5t4pYJQ1M57YN0YaP_tdnvZY05xGECSja1xtizvRqdZ1AgofxTeRJ-/s1600/one-charge2.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br />Next I prepared some comparison videos with the biggest contenders: A comparison with the Bose Soundlink III at various volume levels and a comparison with the Pill XL, which generally doesn't sound that impressive, but skip over to the last part of the video (from about 2:23) to hear both at their maxium volume level and how much louder and cleaner the Pill XL manages to play.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/45mX0gfLrp4?rel=0" width="853"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/P34hYjGCFgY?rel=0" width="853"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>For those interested, I also prepared a comparison video with the half as small and half as cheap JBL Charge 2, so that you can judge if the difference in sound is really worth the extra:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Ap_8t68vfhc?rel=0" width="853"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Last but not least another video for everyone who cares about loudness. This time all 3 contenders are playing a very dynamic house-track at their maximum volume, with lots of punch from the kickdrum and a groovy bassline. At the same time I let the measuring microphone monitor the sound pressure level and filmed the result live from the notebook screen which you can see overlaid and synced at the right. I chose A-weighting and slow decay, but should have maybe went for fast decay instead because of the strong dynamics changes within the song. I also had to put back the measuring microphone 10cm compared to the recording microphone because the Pill XL was so loud it caused overload as 108dB seems to be the maximum limit for the microphone. The Pill XL has 40 Watts thus 60% more power than the Infinity One, therefore the difference in loudness shouldn't be that surprising. It is nevertheless impressive how clean the Pill XL manages to remain even with this strong dynamic track, it doesn't give the impression as if it was playing at maximum volume. There is hardly any limiting or compression noticeable, only bass is reduced down to a more healthy degree. In contrast both Infinity and Bose are struggling quite a bit with this track.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/czvEe9X0alA?rel=0" width="853"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>There is not much not to like about the Infinity One. I think it is one of the best looking and sounding speakers in its class, I have yet to find a better sounding one. I like the sound more than that of the Bose Soundlink III and much more than the strange nasal sound of the Beats Pill XL. The Infinity One just falls short of overall loudness as it cannot play that loud but will already struggle with a forced and distorted sound.<br />I would have wished for a more natural tuning with a less boomy bass but reaching deeper instead. Harman/JBL have already proved often enough that they can really build nicely natural sounding speakers, I think the obvious frequency boosts are just thanks to Linkin Park and my suggestion would be to hold them back doing any future speaker tunings. It is not that the Infinity One sounds bad, but it would be definitely more hifi, if the tuning was rather kept laid-back similar to the JBL Charge 2.<br />Although the total package is really compelling, including sound, design and functionality, there is certainly room for improvement. Bluetooth connectivity seems pretty simple, the speaker <strike>does not support multipoint connections</strike> seems to accept simultanous Bluetooth connections somehow, although this feature isn't documented anywehre, neither I am sure if it is AptX enabled at all. A great addition would also be the ability to connect 2 speakers for wireless stereo. These are all features that are already present on the Beats Pill XL for example.<br />My biggest wish would be some finer sound tuning at low levels with added loudness compensation and a different volume curve or at least more distinct volume steps for a more sensitive control over loudness. My biggest point of criticism is the sound at higher levels which gives the impression as if it was getting out of control a little bit. The intermodulation distortion is becoming pretty obvious with many tracks, while the added dynamic compression has a big impact on overall sound quality too resulting in some mushy dynamics response. I expected a bit more finesse from Harman to tell the truth. Especially the intermodulation issues are putting me off as the speaker can already start sounding quite bad at not that high levels.<br /><br />The Infinity One is an impressive speaker without doubt, I would willingly recommend it as the best all around portable speaker to anyone who asked about my favorite. Unfortunately like many other speakers the Infinity One doesn't manage to cover all applications satisfyingly, because if you really need highest loudness, there are better choices out there. If you like listenting to music at lower levels, there are better or even cheaper solutions available as well.<br />Despite those cutbacks I nonetheless think that below 300$ the Infinity One could currently be one of the best choices for a compact portable speaker easily outperforming the Bose Soundlink III on sound but also offering more features and an outstanding design with a unique finish. The same goes for the Pill XL which wins on features though and on maximum loudness, but loses big time on sound-quality or on looks. <br />In the meantime I was really tempted to order the Infinity One for myself, but for my general purpose I am still quite happy with the JBL Charge 2 despite its processing issues. If not those issues, I wouldn't even think about the Infinity One more as it does not sound that much better than the JBL but is already considerably larger and less portable not to mention twice the cost...<br /><br />Big thanks to my friend who lent me his brand new baby for this review!<br /><br /><br /><b>+ gorgeous design</b><br /><b>+ premium finish</b><br /><b>+ water resistant </b><br /><b>+ great punchy overall sound</b><br /><b>+ back drivers add a bit of ambience to the sound </b><br /><b>+ track control directly from the speaker</b><br /><b>+ synced volume control between speaker and streaming device</b><br /><b>+ charging with dedicated charger or through MicroUSB</b><br /><b>+ recharging of external devices</b><br /><b>+ NFC </b><br /><b><br /></b><b><br /></b><b>- sound quite forced at higher levels with strong dynamics compression</b><br /><b>- too strong bass reduction at levels above 2/3</b><br /><b>- passive radiators tend to rattle with pure bass notes </b><br /><b>- intermodulation distortion can already become noticeable below 1/2 volume with bassheavy mixes</b><br /><b>- rough volume control with first volume level being too loud</b><br /><b>- no loudness compensation thus a bit lifeless sounding at low levels</b><br /><b>- treble quite a bit more directional than on the JBL Charge 2</b><br /><b>- passive radiators completely exposed without any protection</b><br /><b>- Bluetooth functionality very basic without <strike>multipoint or</strike> wireless stereo pairing</b><br /><b>- Bluetooth reach quite limited </b><br /><b>- status tones too loud </b><br /><b>- durability of ceramic coating questionable</b></p>

I must confess that the Infinity One was the most awaited speaker I wanted to try lately. My request for a review sample directly from Harman was denied with the statement the Infinity One not to become available outside the U.S. I am not sure if the…

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