Posts Tagged portable speakers
Altec Lansing Orbit Speaker – Comes with Bass!
We’ve reviewed a lot of different portable speakers on this travel gear blog because it’s something a lot of travelers consider an essential item. Earbuds are nice, but they’re not so hot for social situations or when you’re just hanging out in your room. This Altec Lansing Orbit IM237 one does something few others manage though: it cranks out the bass.
I like the little travel speakers like the iHome IHM7 and X-mini Capsule Speaker and they certainly don’t take up much room, so for most travelers they’re “good enough.” But it’s hard to make out the low end rumble on anything and forget the rich full-spectrum sound you get with a good pair of computer speakers. Good speakers are heavy though and while Corbett Barr put them in his 5 Things I Always Pack post, most people on the move aren’t that dedicated.
So consider this Orbit speaker a good compromise between tiny/lightweight and big/heavy. It’s significantly bigger and it weighs more (close to a pound), but the sound difference is huge. It’s just hard to get any bass out of a tiny speaker with a tiny magnet unless it’s stuck in your ear canal.
This IM237 model is actually the second version of the Altec Lansing Orbit I’ve reviewed. The first version also had good sound, but it was a poorly-designed pain in the rear in actual use. (See the review from the original version of this blog here: old Orbit speaker.) It got to the point where the only way I could turn it on and off was to insert/remove the batteries.
Speaking of batteries, that’s still the main drawback of this one. It uses 3 AAA batteries instead of something built-in that can be recharged by outlet or USB. Three being an odd number, that means you’re left one short or with one extra from a retail pack, including the rechargeable ones. Though they’ll supposedly go “up to 24 hours” without running out, that’s still a lot of landfill acid waste over time if you’re not carrying a battery charger along.
Otherwise though, this model is vastly improved. There’s a simple on-off button on the side instead of the odd method the older version used. It feels far more solid and better made, plus it’s dead simple to use: the volume is controlled through your player. Since it just uses the headphone jack, it’ll work with any type of portable MP3 player. It retains the ability to wrap the cord around the bottom and tuck it in, plus it comes with the nice carrying case with carabiner pictured here.
The big reason to get this model though is the sound. When I plugged in cheap computer speakers, then my iHome capsule speaker, and then this to test the difference, the result was, “Holy crap!” There was nothing subtle about the improved audio output. Even the official site for this doesn’t list the actual audio specs like frequency range, so you’ll have to take my word for it—or you can read the close to 300 5-star reviews on Amazon for this speaker. Trust me, it cranks.
The Orbit comes with a one-year warranty. The list price is $40 and I’ve seen it for that much in retail stores, but you can find it for $25 or less online. Considering the sound that comes out of this thing, that’s a bargain.
Posted by Tim L. in Travel Light on October 27th, 2010
X-Mini HAPPY Speaker/Music Player: Pleasing Sounds on the Road
Earlier, I discovered the X-mini portable speakers that can give great sound to a music player or laptop, while taking up little room in the suitcase.
Now, X-mini has come up with another clever device for travelers—the HAPPY, a small capsule speaker that includes its own MP3 player.
That’s right. Just put some of your favorite tunes on an SD/SDHC memory card and the HAPPY will happily play them from its built-in speaker.
The HAPPY sounds every bit as good as the X-Mini Capsule Speaker. And it’s very easy to use.
My Windows computer recognized it as a mass-storage device when connected through a USB port. So I just copied some of my favorite tunes to an SDHC card. The HAPPY can also be used as a card reader.
One control turns the device on and off, controls play and pause, skips tracks forward or back and adjusts the volume.
There’s also a mute button, headphone jack and mini-USB plug for charging. A two-hour charge provides about 10 hours of playback time. And a cable with a standard stereo miniature plug is included to connect it to a laptop or external music player, or chain together a series of the X-Mini II Capsule Speakers for even bigger sound. The capsule expands with a twist for improved bass response.
The only drawback is there’s no way to see a menu of the songs on the card when the player is not connected to a computer. But it’s easy enough to just load the songs you want on the card, and the track control still lets you skip forward or repeat a song. It’s possible to store hundreds or even thousands of songs on a card, depending on the size and recorded bitrate.
The X-mini HAPPY retails for $79, with discounts available at Amazon.
It’s hard to find a device that does so much, sounds so good and still fits in the palm of your hand. When you’re packing light and still want to carry your favorite tunes, the X-mini HAPPY will make you just that.
Posted by JohnG in Business Gear, General Gear, Travel Light on August 30th, 2010
Sounds Good: iMainGo2 Speaker Case
If you believe good things come in small packages, the iMainGo2 speaker case for the iPhone and portable music players proves the point.
Portable Sound Laboratories did a superb job designing a great-sounding and reasonably-priced speaker system that works with Apple’s iPhone, all iPods and Microsoft’s Zune (second generation and later). It’s ideal for taking on the road and playing your favorite tunes in a hotel room, on the beach or at the campsite.
The small speakers are built into a padded case and setup is simple.
For my iPod Touch, I just plugged in the audio cable, strapped it into the case, turned on the built-in amplifier, zipped the case shut and enjoyed the music.
The iMainGo2 is powered by four AAA batteries. Be careful when installing the batteries. If they’re not installed properly, it can cause all kinds of havoc such as distorted sound or even battery overheating or rupture.
A plastic screen on the front of the iMainGo2 allows use of the touch controls for choosing music, skipping tracks and adjusting the volume.
Another nice feature is an alarm switch. If your iPod includes a wake-up alarm, the case switches to a battery-saving mode until the alarm activates with music or video.
Of course, none of this really matters if it doesn’t sound good. And the iMainGo2 does not disappoint.
The small, titanium speakers deliver a rich sound that can easily fill an average room. The bass response is impressive and there’s no tinny sound common in smaller speakers. The iMainGo2 allows for comfortable listening for hours. And you won’t have to make frequent battery changes. A set of batteries will last up to 30 hours.
Side by side with other portable speakers I reviewed earlier, the X-mini Capsule and Max II models, the sound of the iMainGo2 wasn’t quite as bright on high-end frequencies. But the iMainGo’s sound was still clear and not muddy. (My colleague, Tim, also reviewed the iHome IM7 travel speaker.)
Many MP3 players include equalizers that can adjust the bass and treble response to your own preferences.
The retail price of the iMainGo2, $39.95, is a pleasant surprise. I could easily see a portable speaker set that sounds this good costing more. It’s available from Amazon and other retailers.
Besides being ideal for iPhones, iPods and most Zunes, these portable speakers will also work with many other cell phones and could even be connected to a laptop or portable gaming system.
The iMainGo2 does add some bulk to sleek iPhones and iPods. It’s about the size of a paperback book. In a way, the size reminds me of a portable transistor radio I listened to as a kid in the ’60s. I know, I’m dating myself.
But a transistor set listening to AM radio never came close to sounding as good as an MP3 player and the iMainGo2. That’s progress.
Posted by JohnG in Business Gear, General Gear on April 19th, 2010
Little Package, Big Sound: X-mini Speakers
Hearing is believing. And one listen to the latest X-mini portable speakers from Xmi convinced me, as the holidays approach, that good things do come in small packages.
Using a standard audio plug, these versatile speakers can plug into MP3 players and many brands of music-ready cell phones. A perfect size for traveling, they are powered by batteries that are recharged through a USB port. And your friends can bring along their X-minis and chain them together for even bigger sound.
In fact, while doing some side-by-side testing with a big-name manufacturer’s larger, powered speakers on one of my computers, my wife told me to switch back to the X-mini because it sounded better.
The smallest in the lineup, the X-mini Capsule Speaker, second generation, is ball-shaped and easily fits into the palm of your hand at less than two-and-a-half inches (60 mm) in diameter. With a slight twist, it expands slightly with a resonator that improves the frequency response.
This mono speaker will easily clobber any built-in speaker I’ve ever heard on an iPod, cell phone or laptop. It holds its own or even surpasses much larger speakers in a well-designed, easy-to-carry package. The built-in audio cable tucks neatly into the base of the speaker, so there’s no worry about dangling or lost wires.
Compared to the first generation X-mini Capsule Speaker, the new version contains a larger driver for better frequency response and triple the battery life. And the $29.99 price is easy on the budget.
This speaker really saved the day while I was making a video presentation recently to a small group. We were watching it on a DVD player but needed to fast forward and could not find the remote control. So I quickly fired up the laptop and played it from there. The built-in speakers on the laptop weren’t loud enough and sounded tinny, anyway—so I plugged in the X-mini and it was perfect!
If you’re looking for stereo separation, X-mini recently introduced the MAX II portable speakers. The MAX II consists of two speakers, each slightly over 2.5 inches in diameter (66 mm) with the resonator closed. The speakers join together magnetically in an egg-shaped package for easy carrying.
Just like the one-speaker version, the MAX II speakers twist and expand, with the resonator works like a sub-woofer for boosting the bass. The results are impressive—much better than I would have expected on speakers this size. If you want even more bass, most music playback programs have equalization settings which can tweak the sound to your preferences.
These mini speakers can easily fill a large room with clean, transparent audio without the distortion and tinny sound that plague other small speakers.
The batteries on the Capsule Speaker and Max II last 11-12 hours between charges. The retail price for the Max II set is $59.
The X-mini products have won international design awards and the manufacturer, Xmi Pte Limited in Singapore, is also hinting about more good things to come. Xmi officials say the company is committed to bringing the “very latest wave” of multimedia products to the world market.
These mini speakers make a mighty sound. And if that’s any indication of what’s to come from Xmi, we have a lot to look forward to in the future.
Posted by JohnG in Business Gear, General Gear, Travel Light on November 16th, 2009
