Yamaha has launched a 10 watt, A2DP-compatible, Bluetooth speaker called the NX-B02. The device is designed to handle output from Bluetooth-compatible PCs, PDAs, and of course your mobile phone. In case that wasn't enough, it's also equipped with a 3.5mm line-in socket, so you can easily connect your MP3 player or PMP.
The NX-B02 has dual 4.5cm (1-3/4-inch) full range speakers, and each speaker has an SR-Bass (Swing Radiator Bass) diaphragm. This diaphragm moves by the vibration of the main diaphragm and efficiently increases bass energy, producing larger sound pressure levels for deeper and stronger bass.
The speaker can be used as a portable device as it runs on four AA batteries. According to Yamaha, battery life is about four hours with alkaline batteries and seven hours with NiMH batteries. You can also choose to run it on the AC adaptor that comes with the package.
The NX-B02 is priced at Rs 7,883 ($199.95).
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Yamaha Launches A2DP Bluetooth Speaker
X-mini Capsule Speakers
Here comes a pocket-sized savior for laptop owners who have so far been used to the tinny sound their small speakers put out. The X-mini runs the danger of being overlooked, for it is tiny. I'm normally critical of anything that looks suspiciously small (and therefore presumably incapable of driving sound), but in this case I was happily proved wrong. Indeed, I was pleasantly surprised by its performance.
The speakers are a one-stop solution for all those travelers who are looking to carry something less weighty. I was impressed by the words "Hearing is believing" written on the cover.
The player can easily fit anywhere in your laptop bag, and if it’s your office desktop that you are buying the speaker for, you need worry only about locating it amidst all the clutter. The mid section can be unscrewed to reveal a jack in the box, quite literally, for the speaker extends a bit vertically. In performance, this trick only guarantees a slightly improved bass response.
Stripy Music Studio
From wall systems to PC speakers, we've come a long way over the past decade. We may take this progress for granted, but the fact is we owe a lot to technowizards who helped make the transition. The latest device to undergo upgrades is the portable speaker! It's not radically new, perhaps, but the advances are still encouraging.
Portable speakers need to be small and light enough to carry around, and powerful enough to be able to sustain the mood in a hotel room. I have seen some devices worth mentioning, but the one I'm talking about marks a comfortable equilibrium. Yes, the Stripy Music Studio speakers can be your perfect travel companion – they are small, stylish (very important) and offer great sound. They are ideal for your office computer too.
The speakers comprise two satellites and a volume hub. The satellites incorporate a cool swivel design that allows you to focus sound in any direction. Or you can just keep them upright. I like the compact form factor, but I don't like the fact that they can't be charged for remote playback. No electricity, no music. This sucks, so kindly look elsewhere if you plan to go camping.
Each satellite has room at the bottom to store the cables running out of them. Talking of cables, you may constantly run the risk of entangled wires. All the connections are hosted on the volume hub; three of them actually. This includes inputs from each speakers, and one DC slot for the power.
I like the cool purple ring that illuminates when the speakers are powered on. All you need to do is press and hold down the white dome on the volume hub until it turns purple. This also happens to be the volume knob: press it once and it will turn blue, and you can control the bass level. Green means treble.
That's all there is to these speakers really. A 3.5mm plug allows you to listen to music on MP3 players, your phone if it takes a 3.5mm jack, or, as I mentioned earlier, your computer. Both left and right speakers come with 1.5m cables.
As far as the performance is concerned, you may be impressed or not based on what you're looking for. The speakers are virtually incapable of driving a strong bass response; that's not what they're all about. For this purpose alone, I tested them with a loud bunch of friends out of the city. The speakers delivered more than what we bargained for.
The sound is loud, but jars when cranked up real high. Clarity is good, and mids are quite satisfactory. In a quiet neighborhood, you will find that the speakers can deliver better sound – the sound does seem to reproduce pretty well at moderate volumes. This is why I don't recommend that you take these speakers along to any event where plenty of loudmouths are invited.
The highs easily overshadow the lows, but you can control that, if only to a degree. To test the clarity on these small speakers, I played a movie on my iPod... and boy, did it rock! You can watch movies, listen to music... so what else would you need?
Stripy Music Studio is not only stylish, but functional as well. If you travel a lot, and miss listening to your music while staying in an assortment of hotel rooms, pick these up – you can let them play as you drift off to sleep. The speakers look good, are durable, deliver decent sound, and cost Rs 3,000. If this fits your budget, go for it.
Norge 75 Bookshelf Speakers
Norge is a brand that's weathered many a storm and taken on some fancy competition, yet never yielding to gimmicks or tall claims. The company makes only audio gear, such as stereo amps and speakers, so a lot of audio purists opt for Norge as the products are very reasonably priced. They're from India, not Norway, which probably explains how costs can be cut.
From what I've seen so far, most of Norge's gear fall in the band of decent-to-good, notwithstanding some obvious flaws. Do the new Norge 75 bookshelves offer any significant enhancements? Can decent sound can be achieved from a device whose cost runs into just four digits? I'm as curious as you are; so let's go ahead with our review.
Design and Features
These are classic bookshelf speakers with a basic straight-edged rectangular cabinet; the type that brings back memories of a bygone analog era. The cabinet is MDF, with a PVC coat of light oak. Though the beauty of PVC is arguably in the eye of the beholder, this one does look warm and rich.
The front panel is coated in black and supports the tweeter and woofer drivers, making this a two-way reflex design. The bass port is at the back, along with the most basic speaker connectors. The design is unpretentious, but some may want a jazzier look – perhaps some smooth curves to make things interesting. All that comes at a cost, so whatever we have is not bad.
The silk dome tweeter is 30 mm in size, while the woofer with a 'specially treated' cone is 5.5 inches. Encouragingly, the drivers are from Wavecor. The weight is 5.5 kg, which I think is on the lighter side.
Logitech Announces Speakers for Gamers
Logitech today expanded the G-series of PC gaming peripherals, with the Logitech G51, a 5.1 speaker system featuring 360-degree surround sound with dual Matrix modes for a more immersive gaming experience.
Using Logitech's proprietary Matrix surround sound technology, the G51 speakers split the audio signal into six channels of sound, without degrading the audio quality. That means, even if their game doesn't provide six-channel audio, people can enjoy it anyway. As a result, gamers can gain the competitive advantages of surround sound - first-person-shooter gamers; for example, can now hear enemies creep up behind them. If they're being shot at, they'll know what direction the bullets are coming from.
With 155 watts of total RMS (root mean square) power, the G51 speakers feature Frequency Directed Dual Driver (FDD2) technology, which produces a uniform sound field by housing two drivers in each satellite. FDD2 overcomes high-frequency overlap that leads to uneven sound - a major barrier to dual driver speakers in the past. The result is uniform, intense sound from any place in the room. And with laser-tuned audio drivers, the speakers provide clear audio with less distortion.
G51 Surround Sound Speaker System is available at a suggested retail price of Rs. 12,995 with a warranty of 2 years.
Sony to Sell Golf Ball-sized Speakers
The new speakers from Sony are as tiny as golf balls but deliver the big, robust sound of a top-notch home-theater sound system.
The roughly cube-shaped speakers, to go on sale in Japan next month, measure just 1.7 inches on each side, Sony Corp. spokeswoman Eiko Sato said Thursday.
The 90,000 yen ($870) system includes five golf ball-sized speakers as well as a bigger, 17 inches tall box for the amplifier and subwoofer, a feature for producing bass sounds.
The Home Theater System HT-IS100 will go on sale in North America and Europe, but pricing and dates aren't decided yet. The technology for achieving the miniature size cannot be disclosed, Sato said.
The system connects to TVs, Blu-ray disc recorders, Sony's PlayStation 3 video game consoles and other gadgets, according to Sony.
Logitech G51 5.1 Speaker System
Any product that comes into the Tech2.0 lab in bubble wrap gets a bonus point! Actually I wish it were that simple. If it's a familiar brand like Logitech we kinda know what we’re in for, especially when it comes to multimedia speaker systems.
We were aware that Logitech had released its G51 5.1 speaker system, which is specially targeted at gamers and PC users. Naturally, it was only a matter of time (a few days) since its release before we got our greedy paws on it...
Design and Features
Logitech's speaker aesthetics are in step with the times and, more importantly, so is their functionality. The system comprises five metallic-finish satellite speakers with slight bulges housing the lower driver. The exterior is black with a faint metallic luster, and with a chrome-colored plate on the bulge. The face bears the Logitech logo.
On opening the black cloth grilles, the satellite drivers are exposed – looking rather like alien eyes, straight out of some new-age RPG. These are dual 2-inch drivers, which Logitech refers to as ‘laser tuned’. The sub is all-black, with a downward firing 5.25 inch woofer. I like downward firing subs because of the increased ‘kickbutt’ factor.
The main part of the system is a control pod, typically available with all Logitech systems, though this one looks different; it's a bit like video game controller, again in black-and-chrome. It has a mute buttons, I/O for mics and phones, plus a largish round dial in the center to switch modes and control volume etc.
A 'Matrix' switch does the task of converting stereo to 5.1 surround, though if you want authentic surround-sound your soundcard must support 6 channel out, and of course the game should have surround-sound tracks.
The subwoofer has all the needed inputs/outputs, in a vertical array lined up on the left side of the back panel. The power rating of the system is 155 watts.
TRITTON AX51 Headphones :: Introduction
Computers have become your complete multimedia entertainment center. You them for music, movies, games, photos, and more. When you’re playing your favorite game, watching a movie or listening to music it is fun to turn the volume up a bit so that you can really hear and feel what’s going on. Well if you’re like me you do.
But what happens when you are in a situation where you can’t have that 800 watt 7.1 surround sound system turned up? Maybe you have a roommate, family or neighbors three blocks away who don’t want to hear what you’re doing. So you plug in your headphones and do your best to enjoy what you have going on. Nine times out of ten this means standard stereo two speaker audio with little to no bass and only virtual surround sound to let you know what’s happening behind you. Well today we are going to change that, today we take a look at the Xtreme audio 5.1 headphones from Tritton, a product that promises to wrap that 800 watts of surround sound goodness around our heads. Warning hearing loss may occur ahead.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Bose Introduces New Home Theatre System
Bose has jumped on to the upscaling bandwagon. The mega audio corporation has just expanded its Lifestyle product line with the introduction of the V30 and V20 home theater systems. According to the press release, the two systems "provide high-quality audio and video from almost all entertainment sources available in the market, including those with HDMI."
The Lifestyle V-Class systems integrate easily with HD televisions and components such as DVD players, cable/satellite boxes, DVRs, MP3 players, and gaming consoles. Each system delivers 5.1 surround sound with the help of five small speaker arrays, a receiver ('media console'), and a subwoofer ('Acoustimass module').
All audio and video sources connect to the media console, which can be hidden away in a cabinet or closet. The included RF remote can control connected sources, and what's more, it's a learning remote.
The Lifestyle V30 includes five award-winning Jewel Cube speaker arrays, which deliver performance rivaling many larger speakers. The V20 system includes five Direct/Reflecting cube speaker arrays. Each system features a horizontal center channel speaker array, which helps to provide clear, focused dialog and balanced surround sound.
Both systems include the proprietary ADAPTiQ audio calibration system, which analyzes and automatically adjusts the system’s sound to the room, speaker location, furniture placement, and listener location. Bose Link, an expansion feature, can extend the music benefits of each system to 14 additional rooms.
The V30 and V20 systems are available in black or white. The V30 will sell at Rs 1,91,138, and the V20 will cost Rs 1,29,263. They will be available in Bose stores and from the company website, starting today.
Divoom COMET-A1 home theatre system
The 5.1 channel COMET-A1 system, with 400 watts (RMS) of power, features a slim AV receiver designed to match almost all A/V equipments like DVD, VCD, MP3, PS2, TV, FM/AM etc. COMET-A1 comes with twin-tone silver and black finish and 5 floor standing satellites with 20W speakers. The system includes 100 W subwoofers and supports onboard Dolby/THX hardware decoding, which can generate multi-channel sound from stereo sources like an MP3 player, CD player or computer. It has all the inputs, including optical and coaxial as far as connectivity is concerned.
Vakul Bhatnagar, COO-Branded Business Group, eSys Technologies, India said, "Our Divoom COMET-A1 will surely prove to find favour with the consumers who like their favourite movies and music to be served in an exciting manner. We are confident that COMET-A1 system will not only amaze them with clear and crisp sound and impress them with its myriad features but also make their in-home movie experience really exciting!"
The eSys Divoom COMET-A1 is priced at Rs.9,000 + tax (MRP) and is re available in more than 50 plus points in India. The product can also be be purchased online from www.cafegadgets.in.
