audiosplitz: September 2016

IFA 2016 - Sony's Portable Audio Lineup

September 25, 2016

IFA held in Berlin is always a great place to find breaking news on the latest in consumer electronics. This year didn't disappoint. In this article, let's focus on Sony, which launched a whole slew of portable audio products. Sony President and CEO, Kazuo Hirai was there to talk about the company's latest developments.

What's So Special?
Sony introduced a 6 new products in its portable audio range (I must emphasize 'portable') - 2 players, 1 headphone and 3 wireless in-ears. All support Sony's LDAC codec, which promise a high quality sound over Bluetooth. Let's check out the unique features of each.

Players -
1. NW-WM1Z / NW-WM1A Walkman

Sony introduces a new Signature Series flagship line of products for audio purists of which the WM1Z, with a gold-plated copper chassis and black WM1A are a part of. Sized at 73 x 124 x 20mm, both are capable of High-Resolution Audio.

They support Sony's LDAC codec for wireless high quality sound over Bluetooth (no news on aptX though) and come with a microSD slot to add more music if needed. There's Sony's DSEE HX audio upscaling technology to digitally enhance the sound quality. Wanna know the price? Read on. Your eyes may just pop.

WM1Z (gold) specs - 455g / 256GB / 33h MP3 playback
WM1A (black) specs - 267g / 128GB / 33h MP3 playback

You can now purchase the NW-WM1Z on Amazon for USD 3,199.

2. NW-A30 Walkman

For something more affordable, the NW-A30 series slots in nicely with the Sony's h.ear lineup with 5 sprightly colors.

NW-A35 specs - 98g / 16GB / 45h MP3 playback
NW-A36HN specs - 98g / 32GB / 45h MP3 playback / includes noise-canceling (NC) in-ears

Headphones -
3. MDR-1000X (Wireless over-ears)

The noise canceling headphone category is really spicing up with the Bose QC35, Plantronics BackBeat PRO+ and Sennheiser PXC 550 having been released recently. Sony's offering is the MDR-1000X, weighs 275g and looks pretty darn good.

The MDR-1000X is an over-ears headphones and a High Resolution Audio device that supports the LDAC codec (yes, it's compatible with the WM1 series). Its most interesting feature is its 'Quick Attention' mode where you place a palm over the earcup to allow a conversation to take place. It sports touch controls and you can activate ambient sound mode to stay aware of your surroundings while listening. Available in Beige / Black.

Specs - 275g / 20h (NC on) and 22h (NC off) playback

You can now purchase the MDR-1000X Beige or Black from Amazon at USD 399.

Wireless In-Ears -
4. MDR-XB80BS (Sports Clip-ons)

These are of the clip-on variety, similar to the Beats Powerbeats3 Wireless. They are washable, have an extra-bass mode, come in three colors and when connected by Bluetooth, can stream music with Sony's LDAC codec.

Specs - 27g / 7 hours playback / IPX5 rated / 12mm dynamic drivers

You can now purchase the MDR-XB80BS Black / Red / Blue from Amazon at USD 149.

5. MDR-XB50BS (Sports Wireless)

These are straightforward Bluetooth in-ears with arc supporters to insert in the ear to minimize dislodgement. They also have an extra-bass mode and come in Red / Blue / Black.
Specs - 22g / 8.5 hours playback / IPX4 rated / 12mm dynamic drivers

You can now purchase the MDR-XB50BS Black / Red / Blue from Amazon at USD 79.

6. MDR-XB70BT (Neckband)

The XB70BT are neckband earphones, a category popularized by LG TONE, that come in 3 colors.
Specs - 43g / 9 hours playback / 12mm dynamic drivers

You can now purchase the MDR-XB70BT Black from Amazon at USD 99.

Availability
They will all be slated to be available in Singapore in October to November 2016. If you want to get any of the products earlier, do click on the links above to purchase from Amazon.

Pricing
We are checking on Singapore pricing. If it is the same as last year, this will be released closer to the launch date. For the moment, here are the expected prices worldwide.

The pricing is as follows:
(Use landscape mode on mobile to view)

Product	Retail Price
NW-WM1Z Walkman	USD 3199
NW-WM1A Walkman	EUR 1200
NW-A35 Walkman	AUD 349
NW-A36HN Walkman (with NC in-ears)	AUD 449
MDR-1000X headphones (NC)	USD 399
MDR-XB80BS sports in-ear	USD 149
MDR-XB50BS sports in-ear	USD 79
MDR-XB70BT in-ear	USD 99

Bluetooth

Bose SoundLink Mini II - Review

September 18, 2016

The Bose SoundLink Mini II portable speaker (SGD 329 / USD 199) was announced back in late 2015. I wrote a first take and promised to deliver a review. Subsequently, a decision was made to focus more on earphones. Now that a year has past and a ton of headphones and sports audio gear has been reviewed, we now diversify to have a look at some portable speakers. I brought the SoundLink Mini II (Carbon) to the beach in Krabi to check out how it fares.

Pros (+): Excellent bass response; Good battery life; Compact and sturdy frame.
Cons (-): Audio loudness in outdoors could be improved.

Design
The Bose SoundLink Mini II sports a relatively compact profile at 51 x 180 x 58 mm. At 670g, these Bose speakers are relatively lightweight compared to other speakers like the JBL Charge 3 (800g), but feel very sturdily built with its aluminum casing.

There are 2 color variants (Carbon / Pearl) to choose from and 5 colored soft covers (SGD 39 each) give some color options.

Bose SoundLink Mini II - Soft color covers

Features
There are 5 buttons on the top - power, volume controls, Bluetooth pairing and a multi-function button. The SoundLink can pair to up to 2 devices simultaneously eg a tablet and your phone and this is one example where the voice prompts come in useful. Language selection is real easy - just press the multi-function and + buttons together and you can choose from a range of 11 languages.

The connection points are all on the right edge. There's one auxiliary-in and a convenient micro-USB charging point. This is a ~~big~~ massive improvement over the original SoundLink Mini 'cos you don't need to lug a proprietary charger with you. Just use a (non-Apple) phone charger :)

The charging is not limited to connecting to the unit. You can also link the USB cable to the supplied dock (80g) and then place the speaker on it to initiate charging. This eliminates the inconvenience of unnecessary plugging / unplugging.

Don't have a soundbar for your TV in your hotel room? Well, the auxiliary-in allows connection from external sources to be plugged in. I used this a lot at the Dusit Thani Krabi resort and it certainly boosted the bass range of the TV sound source.

Performance
The sound quality for its size is quite amazing. For a full size living room, the bass is able to impose itself remarkably well. The only flipside is that the audio reach in the outdoors is somewhat limited.

At a swimming pool or a beach, the sound range was most effective within 2-3 meters, and more so if your ears are on the same level. Putting things in perspective, there was ambient sound such as a cascading water feature and waves crashing. In a more quiet and controlled environment such as your bedroom, the sound envelops the surrounding area very effectively.

Bose states a battery life of 10 hours, an improvement over the 7 hours of its predecessor. During my trips to the beach and swimming pool, I had absolutely no issues with this 'cos I was never prompted to recharge.

Overall
This is a really enjoyable pair of speakers to bring with you on a holiday. Perhaps the audio may not be the clearest out there, but they are compact enough to throw in your luggage without taking up too much space and deliver an excellent dose of bass for its size. Highly recommended!

Where To Buy
If you like what you have read, do feel free to support me by buying either the Carbon or Pearl variants from Amazon via this affiliate link. Prices start from USD 199.

Pair with the Amazon Echo Dot
The Bose SoundLink Mini II is a great portable speaker. If complemented with the Amazon Echo Dot, the listening experience is made even better.

And how so? The Amazon Echo Dot serves as a voice-controlled assistant, named Alexa. Give a command like 'Alexa, play Trance playlist from Spotify' and boom, the music plays on your Bose. You can either link the Echo Dot to the SoundLink Mini II via Bluetooth pairing or through a 3.5mm audio cable.

The Echo Dot is capable of much more than purely music playback. It can help order pizza, bring up your itinerary, cook your food (ok, i'm joking about this last item)...well you get the idea. It basically creates a smart environment around you without lifting your finger.

You can buy it together with the Bose SoundLink Mini II for USD 213.99, just USD 14 more if you only get the Bose speakers. When the Echo Dot is purchased as a standalone, it goes for USD 49.99.

Credit to Bose and Atlas for a review unit.

Bluetooth

Wireless Sports Audio Part 5 - Jaybird Freedom Wireless

September 13, 2016

Back in January at CES 2016, Jaybird announced the impending launch of two sports in-ears - the Freedom Wireless and X3 Wireless. This week, the former will finally be available on sale at SGD 259 in Singapore.

As Part 5 of the Wireless Sports Audio series of articles, we bring you the full review of Jaybird Freedom Wireless F5. I took these buds on my most recent trip to the relaxing Dusit Thani Krabi Beach Resort in Thailand earlier this month to better test these out.

Jaybird Freedom Wireless F5 - Carbon over-ears

Credit - Jaybird

Pros (+): Clear treble delivery; Convenient over-the-ears placement; App support; Good voice prompts.
Cons (-): Loose ear fin fit; Need for Charging Clip; Low battery life.

Unboxing
There are 4 color variants at launch - Gold, Blaze, Ocean and Carbon. I was provided the darkest of the hues for the review.

Jaybird Freedom Wireless F5 - Carbon Gold Blaze Ocean

Credit - Jaybird

Just pop the top lid open like a book to reveal an endorsement pic of Ironman Triathlete, James "The Iron Cowboy" Lawrence, on the left and on the other, the earbuds under a transparent plastic blister.

I was provided the X2 Wireless in 2015 by Jaybird and seems like they did quite a few (positive) changes to the packaging process. For one thing, they reduced the amount of sticky tape to the extent that only one is needed to seal the transparent plastic down. Peel it up and you can already pull out the earbuds from the white inner foam layer.

Deeper beneath lie the carrying pouch, containing the necessary accessories, and an intuitive visual user guide.

Spilling everything out, the packaging contents contain a helluva lot of items:

Freedom Wireless Buds
3 x Silicon tips (S / M / L)
3 x Comply Foam Sport tips (S / M / L)
4 x Ear Fins (S / M / L / XL)
Charging Cable
2 x Cord Management Clips
Cord Clip
Charging Clip
Carry Pouch
Quick Start Guide

Jaybird Freedom Wireless F5 - Carbon packaging contents

Design
The stylish looking Jaybird Freedom Wireless (nicknamed F5 for fifth gen Freedom) weigh 13.8g, similar with the X2 Wireless and less than the Bose SoundSport Wireless (22g). One key difference is its sand blasted metal accented frame that is much sturdier but provides a smaller area for your fingers to manoeuver with. The cable which was previously a flat-type is now rounded. There are two modes to wear these - the usual under-the-ears method where you'd need to slip on the ear fins.

Jaybird Freedom Wireless F5 - Carbon ear fins

The other is the over-the-ears mode where ear fins are not needed. The good part over the X2 is that you no longer need to swap the left and right audio channels when toggling between modes.

While the X2's carrying pouch was undoubtedly solid, it was very bulky to carry around. By contrast, the Freedom's pouch is lightweight and hence more portable. It comes with a squeezable clasp at the neck to seal its contents in. Just make sure to insert all items within properly.

Jaybird Freedom Wireless F5 - carrying pouch

Now let's take a break from the specs. Here's a video on Jesse, Lauren and their son Jude. If you can't figure the connection, well click on.

Features
The Freedom Wireless F5 is supposedly sweat resistant, which I found to be accurate thus far from 2 barefoot jogs on the Nong Thale beach.

The in-line remote lies on the right side and is way bulkier than the X2's for a reason. Previously, the LED indicator and charging point was fitted on the earbud. Now, they lie on the remote and you'd need to attach the Charging Clip to the gold circular points on the underside to initiate charging.

Jaybird Freedom Wireless F5 - Charging clip

One point to note is you have to bring the Clip with you at all times 'cos the micro-USB point lies here. The remote comes with the standard controls for playback / taking calls, volume adjustment and skipping tracks.

To initiate Bluetooth (v4.1 for the record) pairing on the F5, just hold the center button for 4 seconds. The LED will flash red / green with an accompanying voice prompt. Just activate Bluetooth on your mobile device and you're good to go. The Jaybird can now conveniently pair to 2 devices at the same time. In addition, it appears to have a share mode where you can link 2 Freedoms to a single device, though I was not able to test this.

The audio and voice prompts come in handy during pairing and informing the battery percentage. The power on / off also comes with an accompanying tune that you'll either love or hate.

For microphonics reduction, it is preferable to tie up the cable with the 2 cord management clips. As for the cord clip, it provides an added option to secure the cord in place.

Jaybird Freedom Wireless F5 - Cord management clips

Using the cord management clips

With the new MySound application, Jaybird enters the app arena. It is compatible with iOS 9+ / Android 4.4+.
Key features include the customization of equalizer and sound setting selections used by Jaybird endorsed athletes. What was useful to me was the ability to see the Freedom's battery on Android (see the notification on the top left of the screenshots) that only iOS users had access previously. You can even switch left and right audio channels if you prefer the in-line remote on your left. Is the app a must have? I'd say it's not crucial but needed if you want a change from Jaybird's signature sound preset.

Performance
We test these sports earbuds in three areas when jogging:
1. Fit - Did it fit into the ears snugly? Did the weight of the cord tug on ears causing it to fall out?

2. Noise Isolation - We checked out the degree to which external noise is blocked. This is what you'd deem as 'passive noise cancelation'.

3. Microphonics - This is basically the sound of the cable rustle when there's any kind of friction, be it wind friction or the cord swishing when running.

On to the jog, a peaceful run along the crashing waves of Nong Thale beach. Out of the multitude of customization options, I settled on the M-size silicon and Comply Foam tips and used the default sound setting. When on the under-the-ears mode, I used the M-size ear fins.

1. Under-ears:
While the experience with the X2's was very acceptable in this mode, I cannot say the same for these buds. I could hear ambient sound very clearly whether using silicon or Comply tips. The ear fins were difficult to fit in. The curved design of the buds makes you instinctively want to press the buds toward your jaw and this dislodges the ear fins. I found that the way to insert is to press the buds in and tug them away from your ear.

Jaybird Freedom Wireless F5 - Carbon under-ears

2. Over-ears:
This is obviously the mode of choice to wear the Freedom Wireless F5. Unlike its predecessor, you don't need to insert ear fins in this mode. It is way easier. Just remove the fins, hook them around your ears and boom, you're good to go. I jumped up and down many times they rarely dislodged. Cable rustle is thankfully almost insignificant. The noise isolation is much improved compared to under-the-ears though waves can still be heard. As I like my sound with more bass, I used Comply Foam tips. Those who prefer clarity may use silicon tips instead.

Sound Quality:
The 6mm drivers provide a good balance of bass and treble though the emphasis veers towards clarity. Sarah Cracknell's vocals are sparkling clear on Saint Etienne's Tonight but that is not to say the bass is weak. It delivers enough oomph to compliment well enough. If somehow the bass isn't at your level, don't forget to use the MySound app.

Battery Life:
The buds last 4h on the go, much lower than the Jaybird X2 or the UA Headphones Wireless, both rated at 8h. And this is where the provided Charging Clip comes in useful. When attached, you get a total of 8h. Technically, you can actually wear this Clip on your jog but I wouldn't recommend it due to the cable tug from the added weight.

Jaybird states 2.5h is the charge time to power both the Freedom Wireless buds (60mAh) and Charging Clip (125mAh). The red LED on both units indicates charging is ongoing and green shows full power.

Overall
The Jaybird Freedom Wireless looks great and sounds great. Sure some work could have been done on the battery life and the fit, but there are a million and one customization options through both the accessories and the new MySound app. The recommendation is to use them over-the-ears with cord management clips for an optimal jogging experience.

If you already have the Jaybird X2, is this a must have? I would say no. The X2 is a brilliant product and it would be interesting to see what happens when / if Jaybird releases the X3.

Where To Buy
If you like what you have read, do support me by purchasing the Jaybird Freedom Wireless from Amazon via this affiliate link for Gold / Carbo n / Ocean / Blaze colors.

Prices start from USD 199.

Audio Sources
Tonight - Saint Etienne (Spotify 320kbps MP3 on Samsung Galaxy S4)
Silenced By The Night (Alesso Remix) - Keane (Spotify 320kbps on Sony Xperia XA)

Credit to Jaybird and Logitech for a review unit.