audiosplitz: NFC

IT Show 2016 - Portable Music Roundup

March 12, 2016

One of the quarterly consumer tech shows is now in full swing at Suntec Convention Centre from 10 to 13 Mar 2016.

Wait no more!
Check out our roundup of portable audio gizmos at the IT Show 2016 that is going for steal.

Wireless Earphones

Earin
Price: SGD 329 (from SGD 349)
Features - Totally wireless (ie. no cables) / Trend setter / With charging capsule
Location - audiosplitz / Treoo (6571)

Jabra Rox Wireless
Price: SGD 128 (from SGD 168) with Free Magnetic Pouch
Features - Wireless / Dust and water proof
Location - Best (8245) / Harvey Norman (6138) / Nubox (309)

Wireless Headphones

Sennheiser URBANITE XL Wireless
Price: SGD 419 with Free Gift of either OCX 686 Sports or PMX 686 Sports wired earphones (each valued SGD 149)
Features - Over-ears comfort / Wireless or wired / Touch controls / NFC
Location - Sennheiser

Sony MDR-1ABT
Price: SGD 399 (from SGD 499)
Features: Over-ears comfort / Wireless or wired / Touch controls / NFC
Location: Treoo (6571)

Noise Canceling
Bose QuietComfort 20 (QC 20)
Price: SGD 399 (from SGD 499)
Features: Kick-ass noise canceling / Wired / Aware button for toggling ambient sound level
Location: Atlas Warehouse Sale (336)

Sports Earphones (Wired / Wireless)
Bose SoundSport In-Ear
Price: SGD 99 (from SGD 219)
Features: Wired / Great value / Comfortable StayHear tips
Location: Atlas Warehouse Sale (336)

Jaybird X2 Wireless
Price: SGD 229 (from SGD 259)
Features: Wireless / Excellent sound / Great fit / Comply Foam tips
Location: audiosplitz / Treoo (6571)

Sony NWZ-WS413
Price: SGD 149 with Free Casing
Features - Dust and Waterproof (you can swim with it!) / 4GB memory / No external music device needed
Location - Sony (8115)

Wired Earphones
Jays a-JAYS Five
Price: SGD 108 (from $138) for Android / iOS
Price: SGD 69 (from $138) for Windows
Features - Great value / Great bass / Dedicated in-line remote for device type
Location - Treoo (6571)

Wired Headphones
Klipsch Reference R6i On-Ear
Price: SGD 175 (from SGD 199) for 1 pair purchase promo at 10% off
Price: SGD 169 (from SGD 199) for 2 pairs purchase promo at 15% off.
Features - Very lightweight / Great bass / iOS compatible remote
Location - Best (8245) / Challenger (8321) / epiCentre (8101) / Harvey Norman (6138) / Nubox (309)

Speakers
UE BOOM 2
Price: SGD 269 (from SGD 319)
Features - Wireless / 360 degree type / 15h battery life
Location - Best (8245) / EpiCentre (8101) / Nubox (309)

Bluetooth

Bose AE2 SoundLink - Listen in Comfort

December 08, 2015

Bose sprung its first wireless headphones back in 2013, nicknamed the AE2w. They were easily distinguished by a control module that stuck out like a sore thumb. Two years on, they have unveiled a new over-ears offering that looks thankfully more streamlined. Called the Bose SoundLink around-ears wireless headphones II (SGD 399), it is a highly descriptive (quite a mouthful) and understandable name that summarizes the product. We prefer to call it by its acronym - the AE2 SoundLink.

Design
And we start with the unboxing.
Here's the box front with the shrink wrap still on.

Tearing away the wrap and sliding out the outer box reveals a blue cardboard layer with nothing but the company name smack at the bottom third.

The underside of the blue layer shows an intuitive quick guide on how to connect through Bluetooth / NFC and button usage. Strip the thin layer of black foam to reveal the carrying pouch that stores the product proper.

On taking the loot out, the packaging contents include:
- Bose AE2 SoundLink headphones
- Carrying pouch
- USB charging cable
- Audio cable (3.5mm to 2.5mm)

There are 2 color variants - white and black. However, the white version (our review model) thankfully removes the blue accents seen previously on the Bose OE SoundLink, making for a more classic look.

The materials used make the AE2 SoundLink very comfortable to wear - the padded foam on the underside of the headband and the ear pads' leather feel plush. Even weight-wise, at 198g, this is one of the lightest in class for a wireless over-ears model. The Sony MDR-1ABT, the Sennheiser URBANITE XL WIRELESS (both at 300g) and the V-Moda Crossfade Wireless (292g) all weigh almost a 100g more.

The earcups swivel flat for safekeeping in the pouch but unfortunately do not fold inward for even more compact storage like its on-ears sibling, the OE SoundLink. There are giant 'L' and 'R' markings on the inner earcup that guarantee you won't be scratching your head on how to put on the headphones.

All that said, this is one visually appealing pair of headphones to be seen with. Punctuated with the distinctive Bose logo printed on the matte earcup, this could very well turn a few heads.

The carrying case is sturdy and practical enough. There's an inner pouch to store the cables and a flap to separate the two ear cups from abrasion.

Features
Connecting to your music device is a piece of cake. To link via NFC, you need to activate the NFC and Bluetooth on your device, flick the power switch on and press the middle of the outer (right) earcup to the NFC touchpoint of your music player.

For Bluetooth pairing, you just need to flip the power switch up to initiate. Once the Bluetooth indicator flashes blue, just select 'Bose AE2 SoundLink' from your device to complete the pairing and the status light will glow a solid white. The unit can connect to up to two devices (phone and tablet perhaps?) at the same time. You just need to halt playback on one to start music on the second unit.

The voice prompts make the user experience intuitive. Whenever you turn the power on, a voice will inform of the battery charge level. The pairing process is complemented with prompts such as 'Ready to pair' and 'Connected'. With an 11 language selector, Bose has clearly thought of the global reach of its headphones.

Interestingly, Bose is conspicuously absent from the list of aptX-compatible headphones. aptX supposedly delivers a "near CD quality" experience but as we've mentioned before, it ain't a showstopper.

The provided white audio cable doesn't include an in-line remote. What this means is that using the over-ears in wired mode, you will need to control playback through your device. It plugs to the Bose AE2 SoundLink through a 2.5mm port and to your device by the conventional 3.5mm jack.

The earcups are user replaceable, a welcome feature should they degrade through usual wear and tear.

Performance
We tested the sound quality and there is no bass emphasis. The neutral sound is actually emphasized in the press release where it states that 'What you hear is as close as possible to what was recorded, rather than re-created or altered'. This may work for some folks, depending on their usage.

For commuters, the flatness in delivery may not be a good option if you need a certain measure of bass to take it one step above the ambient traffic sounds. The low frequencies are not as strong as other bass-inclined headphones like the Klipsch Reference R6i On-Ear. That said, Sarah Cracknell's vocal clarity on In The Dark is clean but not overly crisp. If used in a controlled environment such as the office or home, the sound comes across as pleasantly well balanced.

Wireless and wired performance is almost on par which is an impressive achievement. However, the wired option still gives the edge in providing slightly better clarity. Do note that wireless mode will give a very (very) negligible hum in the background.

We mentioned this earlier but there's absolutely no harm reinforcing the notion - it's so darn comfortable! Passive noise isolation is a plus point as what can be expected from an over-ears model. The ear pads envelop your ears completely to seal off a certain level of ambient sound.

The battery lasts a rather average 15 hours on a 3 hour charge given the what the Sony MDR-1ABT (30h) and the B&O BeoPlay H7 (20h) promise. On a 15 minute quick charge, you can get 2 hours of juice. A thing to note is Bluetooth will deactivate once the USB cord is plugged to the headphones. Oh, and the battery ain't user-replaceable.

Overall
The Bose SoundLink around-ears wireless headphones II is one of the most comfortable pair of headphones in its category. The minimal bass emphasis may be a turn off for commuters but the balanced sound coupled with a stylish design to boot could very well appeal to the fashionistas.

The Bose AE2 SoundLink is available at selected stores in Singapore such as the Atlas Experience Showrooms.

Audio Sources
Around the World - Daft Punk (Tidal 1411kbps FLAC) on Samsung Galaxy S4
In The Dark - Sarah Cracknell (960kbps FLAC) on Sony NW-ZX100 Walkman

Credit to Atlas and Affluence PR for a review unit.

aptX

Sennheiser URBANITE XL WIRELESS - Club Sound on the Move

October 15, 2015

Sennheiser announced a flurry of headphones at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2015. One of the new products was the URBANITE XL Wireless (SGD 419), an extension of its URBANITE product line which had wired and on-ears variants previously.

Design
Before checking out the actual product, let's see the unboxing.

The box is massive. But on the other hand, for a relatively bulky pair of headphones, you need a box of size to match.

The Sennheiser is packaged in a no frills manner. Taking out the cover gives you direct access to the folded over-ears with the other contents tucked in a hole on the bottom right.

On laying everything out nicely, we see that the full package contents include:
- Headphones
- USB charging cable
- Audio cable (3.5mm to 2.5mm with in-line remote)
- Carrying pouch
- Quick start and safety guides

And now for the headphones. The URBANITE XL WIRELESS weighs a hefty 300g, quite on par with several over-ears like the Parrot Zik 3 (270g) and Sony MDR-1ABT (300g) but way heavier than the Bose SoundLink around-ear wireless headphones II (198g).

The headband, made from stitched canvas on the top side and lined with white-coated rubber on the underside, looks and feels great. The ear cups actually follow the circular design of its on-ear sibling instead of going for the more traditional elliptical shape for an over-ears. When fitted on the head, they are undeniably comfortable though not to the level of a snug fit as they tended to tilt when I shifted my neck from side to side.

Sennheiser put in some nice touches too - when adjusting the cups up and down for head/ear fit, the flat cable delivering the audio extends and retracts cleanly. The cans have an inward folding mechanism for easier storage, but we've gotta say it's still bulky nonetheless. Try storing it in the carrying pouch and you'll get the picture.

When connecting the audio cable for a wired connection, I just had to plug the 2.5mm jack and align the protrusion, into the right ear cup and twist clockwise to secure it in place.

Features
The Sennheiser crams all the latest textbook features of what a pair of Bluetooth headphones should include. There's aptX codec usage, allowing CD quality transmission of audio over Bluetooth.

There's near field communication (NFC) that allows a quick connection with your NFC-enabled player to the Sennheisers. These over-ears meet the Bluetooth 4.0 standard, which promises lower power consumption, and also allow convenient connection to two devices simultaneously.

To pair the URBANITE XL WIRELESS, just flick and hold the power switch to the Bluetooth logo and the LED will flicker blue and red. Activate Bluetooth on your source, select the headphones to pair and you're good to go.

The touch panel lies on the right side. It allows playing of music / taking calls (single touch) and volume adjustment (slide the finger up / down). However, it can get a little sensitive and I ended up canceling some calls that were accidentally initiated when adjusting the fit of the headphones.

The sticker says it all

The in-line remote is designed to function when the audio cable is plugged in which in turn deactivate Bluetooth and the touch panel. The multifunction button plays tracks and takes calls with a single touch and skips tracks with a double / triple press. The volume control is a slider is great 'cos it allows compatibility for both iOS and Android.

The ear pads are easily removable and replaceable. We are currently checking on the cost of the pads.

Update (16 Oct 2015)
In Singapore, the ear pads cost SGD 48.15 (inc. GST) and are available at the Sennheiser Service Centre at 438B Alexandra Technopark.

The voice and sound prompts were certainly useful. Let's take two examples. When increasing the volume to the max, two beep alerts will sound. When finalizing the Bluetooth pairing, the voice prompt 'Connected' will confirm that there's a handshake.

Performance
Sennheiser put in their press release that the URBANITE series is geared for 'an emotional, powerful club sound on the move'. We put this claim to the test.

We tried Skrillex and Diplo's electronic dance-themed Where Are Ü Now which delivered a controlled performance with a good balance between the infusion of beats and the vastly contrasting dolphin like wails (of Justin Bieber's pitched voice methinks?).

Nothing beats David Guetta's Sexy Bitch when it comes to thumping basslines punctuating the 'emotive' outbursts from Akon about finding the right words to describe a girl.

The result from the URBANITE XL 'phones for both tracks is an engaging performance where the bass delivery is top notch. Unlike other bass-enhanced headphones, it doesn't overwhelm and it complements the treble which comes across as sufficiently clear.

On to noise isolation. This was tested during a bus commute and the result was unexpectedly poor, especially for an over-ears, as ambient sounds could easily heard through the music playback.

For the battery power, Sennheiser claims an excellent playback / talk time of up to 25 hours with a 2 hour charge of the built-in Lithium Polymer battery. This is remarkable given its performance of its Bluetooth over-ears peers like the V-Moda Crossfade Wireless (12 hours) and comparable to the Sony MDR-1ABT (28 hours).

Overall
The Sennheiser URBANITE XL WIRELESS is a well built and fashionable pair of over-ears. Though the touch controls come somewhat short, these headphones sparkle with excellent audio reproduction and a diverse feature set, inclusive of a 2 year international warranty.

Audio Sources
Where Are Ü Now - Jack Ü (Skrillex and Diplo) with Justin Bieber (Spotify 320kbps MP3) on iPad Air
Sexy Bitch - David Guetta feat. Akon (Spotify 320kbps MP3) on Samsung Galaxy S4

Credit to Sennheiser and Ketchum for a review unit.

IT Show 2016 - Portable Music Roundup

Bose AE2 SoundLink - Listen in Comfort

Sennheiser URBANITE XL WIRELESS - Club Sound on the Move

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