Reviews related to : Speakers
This is a Microsoft Teams dual microphone Speaker Phone, I found it also did its job with other similar products like Zoom and other platforms.
The speaker phone has two microphones capable of detecting angles up to 1.5 metres away as well as a 50mm quality speaker. The unit is suitable for rooms around 3x3 metres. It is 18x8x4cm and has a wrap round USB 'A' lead of 72cm length. The controls on the top front are simple and easy to understand. Just four touch buttons volume -, microphones off, volume + and phone connect, if you have this version designed for Microsoft Teams there is a fifth button on the left of the others.
Whether indoors or outdoors, you can take the Woodland with you to deliver music to all around.
Under the banner of "Joyful Listening", in the form of a DAB+/FM radio that has Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity. This unit has been designed to feel equally at home when used either in an indoor location or for alfresco events that are organised to take advantage of the summer weather. With its dark green fabric covering, that is easy to wipe clean should it prove necessary, the Woodland has a sort of squashed cylinder appearance.
Whether indoors or outdoors, Pure feels you should have music where ever you are located.
Some older readers may remember my reviews of the excellent products from Pure covered in the past. Recently, however, information regarding the company and its product has failed to reach me but that situation has just change. Pure has just announced a brand relaunch with the arrival of its P which will be available from the Pure website and other retailers . The Pure Woodland is a DAB+/FM radio that also includes support for Bluetooth 5.
Few devices get reviewed more than once, one exception was another Pure offering called ‘The Bug’ and that was one of their first offerings and it is still in daily use. So when a friend asked me to see if I could get her Pure StreamR working I sort of remember reviewing it shortly before Lockdown so I said yes.
She had got it cheaply somewhere and all she had was the unit so firstly I downloaded the Instructions and then found a lead to charge it, while it looks like a USB ‘C’ it’s not so that took a while of sorting out from a range of slightly older offerings. This is basically a battery unit and you should only need to recharge it after around 15 hours of use. Next I left it charging overnight and when I looked in the morning a saw a green light on top of the near square unit.
Sharing your personal collection of favourite music, in a variety of locations, is possible with this next product.
While earbuds and headsets are fine for personal individual listening to your favourite music or audio book content stored on mobile devices, they can not really be considered adequate for group listening sessions. One possible solution to provide group listening capability would be through the use of a sound bar that could deliver a wide spread of audio output as part of its functionality.
This latest Sound Bar from Sound Blaster is a 2.1 system meaning not only do you get the main bar but also another box that contains the bass speaker. This gives not only normal sounds such as speech and music from the speakers in the sound bar but also the low notes such as bass action from the other box and in action movies this really give the cinema effects.
Putting it another way as the Quick Start Guide does, this is a ‘Tri-Amplified Multi Channel Super X-Fi Gaming Sound bar with compact Subwoofer’ So while designed for games – hence the subwoofer – it works perfectly well for TV and indeed for Audio. The sound bar is quite small ideal for those who do not have 55 inch or larger TV’s but still want to hear the sound clearly of films and not just the older ones.
Most flat panels have speakers built in, however in order to keep the panel thin the speakers are not that great. The same is true for most Laptops and Notebooks in facts the majority put the speakers underneath so sound is projected directly into the desk or whatever it is rested upon. So should you want to watch a movie or three or listen to music you need something better, here is one such solution the Creative Sound Bar.
Most Soundbars are longer and are designed to give you more sound and better quality sound from your TV. This unit designed to do the same from your PC, Laptop, Phone, Tablet and according to the instruction sheet also from PS4, PS5 and Nintendo switch. This unit can use the USB cable to take music from a PC, it can also use 3.5mm socket from audio devices or connect to any Bluetooth device. It is 7cm tall 40.5cm long at the front 37.5cm long at the back and 8cm deep. It weighs 1107grams.
Something I get to see all too infrequently are Soundbars especially ones that come with a separate sub-woofer. Here the latest offering from Creative Labs a company best known for everything ‘sound related’ such as sound cards, headphones, earbuds and speakers. So when I was offered this I was happy to give it a good thorough testing.
First the main unit it has four push buttons on the front on/off, volume -, volume + and source along the 26.5cm length, the back mains power in, three HDMI in a row (two in and one out) then in a row optical, USB and sub-woofer connector in a central area along the 23.5cm length of the back, the unit is 8cm tall and 6.5cm deep. The sub-woofer can be up to 100cm away from the main unit. It is 11cm wide, 24cm deep and 40cm tall with the speaker on the right side 18cm cm across.
Following the end of Lockdown, LG offers a speaker to entertain those you invite to celebrate the freedom.
LG Electronics has announced the arrival of its new XBOOM 360 speaker. As the "360" part of the product's title indicates, this product is capable of delivering an all-round omni-directional audio experience that LG feels will be perfect for any listening space or occasion that requires an audio environment. As yet I have not had the opportunity to check out this speaker in situ and, as a result, and this report is based on the information supplied by LG Electronics.
And now it is time for yet another instance of the Big Red Bus syndrome as news reaches me of this next product.
No sooner had I send off my report on the arrival of a new speaker system from Tronsmart than information arrived regarding the launch of a new speaker from Fyne Audio. This is a company founded in 2017 as the brainchild of six audio-industry professionals. Based in Scotland, Fyne Audio, the UK's fastest growing audiophile brand, has developed their latest offering which is the F500SP speaker model.
Creative Labs do a lot in sound, most will know this with SoundBlaster range of headphones and earbuds however they also do DAC’s and of course speakers, here a set of rather nice speakers so those who like to fill their rooms with sound can get satisfaction.
They are 20x8x12cm and while by far the simplest way of taking sound from your PC or notebook is via USB and these speakers do that they also need a mains connection to work. If you only have USB then you are still catered for by an adapter in the box but natively the connection is USB ‘C’ and the lead to the master speaker is 1.
Tronsmart claim you can give your ears a treat with this product.
Tronsmart, a tech brand that designs and manufactures world-class tech accessories, has announced the launch of the Studio 30W SoundPulse® Portable Bluetooth Speaker. Featuring TuneConn™ pairing technology, this product also offers Type-C fast charging and voice assistant capability. It is expected to be available from the Tronsmart website and Amazon.com priced at £69.99 with Amazon UK expecting stock to arrive within the next two months.
This is the latest item from Pure to cross my desk, it is a Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Auxiliary music playing device that has Spotify support and also works with Alexa and the last named can allow you to select what you play on Spotify without leaving the comfort of your chair. Best of all the output from its speaker sounds excellent. So this is not a radio as such but a Smart Speaker with 360 degree playback.
The Pure DiscovR measures 13cm tall when open and is roughly square at 9cm. It works on its rechargeable internal battery and can be used whilst being charged. A USB ‘C’ to USB cable is supplied in the box but no USB plug front, Pure are being waste conscious and they say that any PC or other device can do the job.
Having recently told you about a small DAC from SoundBlaster here a larger one, this however is not just a DAC it is also an external 7.1 sound card and still more. While the recently reviewed DAC was useful for those on the move to get great sound quality here the X4 is definitely for those in a static position probably to get improved sound where an internal card is not available.
The SoundBlaster X4 measures 12.5x12.5x3cm with a big round volume control knob on the top that increases the height by close to another centimetre. Also on the top are three indented touch buttons for Audio Balance, Direct Mode and Super X-Fi. The front has 3.5mm input for microphone and 3.5mm output for headphones. Both the left and right sides are clear. The back has four 3.5mm Line out sockets for front, side, rear and Q/Sub, there are also Line in, Optical Out and USB ‘C’.
This is a quality speaker that has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Chromecast and Auxiliary input; it has control by voice curtesy of Google and of course like everything of quality ‘size is not everything’ as it is quite small. Setup should be a matter of minutes then just enjoy the quality of the sounds and wonder why other speakers even large ones do not sound so good.
The Braun LE03 measures 16x16x7.5cm but the power lead sticks out from the back by another 4cm, if you were thinking placing it on a shelf it weighs 1.7kilos. There is possibly another problem but I will mention that later. Setup is first placing the unit, then linking it to Google Home and then enjoying your purchase.
The SoundBlaster Play 4 is a DAC, a plug in device to USB or USB ‘C’ that improves the sound quality of music and indeed of the spoken voice be in from a phone call or any other source. As a plus it can also improve your voice be it a phone call or any other connection with other people. In the simplest of terms a DAC is a Digital (to) Analogue Converter.
The SoundBlaster Play 4 measures 5x1.5x.8cm and has a 3.5mm headphone or earbud connection at one end and the other end has a hard wired 8cm lead ending in a USB ‘C’ plug, an adapter for USB ‘C’ to USB is included in the box, this would add 2.5cm to the length. A lot of Notebooks and most Tablets compromise audio; I have even seen a Tablet without a 3.5mm socket.
A pair of good quality speakers sold as ‘True Wireless Speakers’ which they are but they can also be used with RCA sockets, Optical, 3.5mm socket and even USB stick. Or course you still need power but by default when you power on they will default to receiving their signals via Bluetooth. Here they can also be used separately should you wish to.
The speakers are each 23x15x24cm the last figure the depth allows for connection of the power cable. Each speaker weighs 3.3 kilos. While there are controls on top of each speaker, they can also be controlled from your phone or other unit and there is also a remote control supplied. The User Guide suggests ramping the volume to maximum on the speaker and assuming your SmartPhone as the input then turning the volume down from that.
Rather than rising from your favourite armchair, why not ask Alexa to carry out tasks.
The Alexa influence continues to spread its net wide as our households become more reliant on smart technology. The latest member of this Amazon family to be released into the wild, and make its way to my home, is the 4th Generation Echo Dot.
It is rare for me to form an instant like or dislike and even rarer for this not to change during the course of the review period. This arrived as I was trying to stream something via a notebook that has adequate speakers when it is on your lap or desk, if you walk to the door you lose the context so as soon as I unpacked the Creative Pebble I plugged it in, instant plug and play and I could clearly hear even outside the room.
The Pebbles are 12cm across, 12cm tall and 12cm from back to front, however they are not round and in places are far less than that. A triangle might describe them better as the speakers are angled at 45 degrees. The left unit is hardwired to the right unit. The right unit has a wire emerging from the back to link to the left unit and another also hard wired that goes to the USB ‘C’ port.
While this may look like just another speaker I can assure you it is not. Just hear the sound quality from any of a range of sources and you will understand, be it Bluetooth, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Optical or even a USB Stick. It is not cheap but if it was then I would know there was something wrong, this is quality.
The Pulse Flex 2i measures 18x12x9.5cm and weighs 1530grams. The top has controls for back a track, forward a track, play/pause/on/off, - volume and + volume. In front of this are the numbers 1-5 these allow you to preset various things like a favourite over the air radio station. The rear has external connectors for USB ‘B’, Ethernet and Service in one line, below this another line of connections Headphones out, USB in, Optical In and Analogue In.
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