recrem
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| 13 Apr 2006 5:45 PM |
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BlueAnt Have sent me two neat devices for testing and review. The first is the X5 Stereo Headset and the second is the BlueSonic Bluetooth Portable Speakers. This thread will be focusing on the BlueSonic.
When BlueAnt first told me about their new speakers before they were released, and sent me a pic, my first thought was that they were chunky. Upon recieving them yesterday, I can now say that the pictures don't do them justice. The BlueSonic speakers are reasonably small in size and nicely slim. Two strong magnets on the rear grant easy mounting on any ferrous metal surface, which was very handy for me at work.
I didn't install the included USB BT dongle (not enough USB ports available when I am working) but instead paired the speakers to the BT Streamer unit included with the X5. The stop / pause / play / next track / previous track buttons will only work when paired through the USB dongle, so haven't tried these out yet. Sound quality was impressive for their size, and the quality was far better than the stereo speakers in my laptop.
The BlueSonic Bluetooth Portable Speakers also have a built-in microphone for VoIP calls, or to answer your phone if you were using your A2DP enabled Pocket PC / Phone to listen to music.
So, what would our readers like to see in the upcoming review? Bear in mind that my XDA Atom died on Wednesday night and is in transit heading to MPS in QLD for repairs - so I can't test for reported hiss just yet!
Here are the links to the BlueSonic Bluetooth portable Speakers product pages for Australia / New Zealand and North America.
The link to my review will be here when it is complete. |
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Recrem...
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recrem
MTekk Moderator - Yeah Baby!!!
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| 20 May 2006 8:36 PM |
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The review is now complete and has been published.
Comments anyone? |
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FredS
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| 21 May 2006 2:26 AM |
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An excellent review recrem.
On a scale of 1 to ten how does the sound compare to say a good set of Computer Speakers (mid Range Logitech ones for example)
What range do you get?
Will it work through brick walls?
Any issues with interference with Cordless phones, Microwaves etc?
No hissing sounds?
I might get a set depending upon your answers 
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Cheers
FredS
Time is fleeting - madness takes it's toll
"Facts are stupid things."
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recrem
MTekk Moderator - Yeah Baby!!!
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| 21 May 2006 6:21 AM |
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Hi Fred,
I have never owned a mid range set of desktop speakers - only cheap and nasty ones. The BlueSonic speakers sound 2 - 3 times better than my laptop speakers if that helps.
The range is around the 10 meter mark. depending on objects in the way (walls etc) the audio is great up to around 8 meters, and then starts decaying to an annoying level after 10 meters. If I set up my computer in the middle of the house, I can get good audio anywhere including partly outside.
It does work through brick walls but the range is greatly reduced to 2 - 5 meters depending on single / double brick etc
I experienced no issues with interference - our house has two 2.4GHz cordless phones, three computers using wireless cards, one wireless access point and a microwave oven.
You can hear a faint hissing sound when you put the speakers against your ear and have the volume set to maximum. If music starts playing it will deafen you during this test! Honestly, the hissing sound is next to non existent during normal use and you won't hear it.
Thanks for your comments! I hope this answers your questions...
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FredS
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| 21 May 2006 7:23 AM |
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Thanks Mate,
yep - the range thing kinda knocks it out for me, my BBQ is about 10 metres from where my PC is and it would have to go through a single brick wall or maybe just a window- bummer.
It's good that there is no interference though, because that was a major concern. If you say the hissing is next to non existant well I definately wont hear a thing.
I've been thinking about doing a hard wired solution and this would have fitted the bill very well - except for the range! Oh well maybe Bluetooth 2 will improve things.
Thanks again recrem.
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Cheers
FredS
Time is fleeting - madness takes it's toll
"Facts are stupid things."
Ronald Reagan ... |
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recrem
MTekk Moderator - Yeah Baby!!!
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| 21 May 2006 8:06 AM |
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| You could always look into getting a 100 meter usb adapter that uses the BlueSoleil software (same as the BlueAnt 10 meter adapter). Don't know what or where though - but an idea. |
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FredS
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| 21 May 2006 9:03 AM |
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| D-link have a 100 metre adapter - I have one actually, but I guessed (assumed) the speakers require the blueant adaptor - maybe not ey? |
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Cheers
FredS
Time is fleeting - madness takes it's toll
"Facts are stupid things."
Ronald Reagan ... |
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recrem
MTekk Moderator - Yeah Baby!!!
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| 21 May 2006 4:42 PM |
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| Then again - the speakers have a range of 10 meters to remote control the media player. So in your situation they may not be the solution you are looking for... |
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zan5hin
Posts: 27
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| 23 May 2006 2:56 AM |
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Good review? I have to disagree. No portable speaker system deserves 10/10 unless you are getting paid. Funny how there is already a link to your review from the bluesonic homepage.
No extensive testing to verify their battery life claims (at full volume, you could have stuck it under a pillow).
No mention of the output in watts (not even in the specs on blueants website) and no mention if it gets distorted if you put the volume up too high.
The Saitek A250 has a sub-woofer and also supports A2DP (as an undocumented feature) http://blogs.msmobiles.com/mobilephonefan/?p=1084
The blueant doesn't have a sub-woofer, so by a basic market comparison it cannot score 10/10.
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recrem
MTekk Moderator - Yeah Baby!!!
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| 23 May 2006 5:41 AM |
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Hi zan5hin,
All good points.
Point No 1: No, I am not getting paid. Our time and experience is given voluntary here on MTekk. As for you comment about the link on the BlueAnt website, funny how you chose not to mention the other two links to different reviews. What exactly is your point? You don't think they are worth a full 10/10 or that I am getting paid and therefor this review is fraudulent in nature? If your intentions were the latter - Tread Very Carefully! If they were the former, then everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
Point No 2: Yes, extensive testing was conducted but not at full volume. As I have indicated I have been using these speakers for the past month, and they last a day at work (~ 8 hours) at between 1/3 and 1/2 volume (volume changes depending on who is in the workshop and phone calls being made etc..) BlueAnt Wireless claim the device lasts 10 hours at 65dB - and since I have already stated that this figure doesn't mean a lot to me, practical tests indicate that at a low volume it will indeed last 10 hours. So in my opinion and testing the battery life claims have been verified.
Point No 3: The speakers run from a 3.7 volt Li-Ion battery. Thus, using (V^2)/R to get the maximum electrical power disspiated by the speakers, we get the following dc calculations...
8 Ohm Speakers: 1.7 Watts per speaker
4 Ohm Speakers: 3.4 Watts per speaker
2 Ohm Speakers: 6.8 Watts per speaker
Without pulling the speaker unit apart to measure the speaker winding resistance, only normally available values have been given.
Distortion: All amplifiers, regardless of quality, cause distortion when the amplifier volume is wound up full. Higher quality amplifiers will limit the amplifier gain so that at maximum signal amplitude (+/- supply or GND to Supply), no more gain is allowed and the signal is not clipped like cheaper units. On these speakers at full volume (playing Bryan Adams - Summer of 69) there was very little distortion. The audio is surprisingly clear and definitely loud enough considering the 3.7 volt battery. Bass response through the twin speakers is also surprising for the size of them.
I don't understand why a portable speaker system can't score a 10/10. I based my score on whether the unit lives up to the marketed claims, and ultimately how easy it was to use, quality of sound (including distortion), loudness for it's low voltage supply, build quality, looks, portability and VoIP audio quality etc.. In every point it exceeded my expectations for this device.
I have just read through the Saitek A250 reviews and comments. I definitely don't like the size, color and shape of these speakers. Yes, they do have a sub woofer, but that's all they have going for them. The BlueSonic have the added functionality of using them as a hands free device for VoIP calls and to even answer the mobile phone (if listening to music on your phone) without having to disconnect the high quality profile and connect up the headset profile. Music is also paused during the call and playback resumed afterwards. The BlueSonic's slim line profile and magnetic base make it easy to put where ever you want it - plus they look way more portable and fit in my laptop bag with ease. The BlueSonic speakers can also pair with upto 10 different devices, making switching devices so easy. This is why I gave the BlueSonic a 10/10. I was considering a 9.8/10, but decided to go the full 10 based on how much this product surprised me with its performance.
If I were reviewing the Saitek speakers, they would get about a 7/10 simply because they lack so many other features - including a re-chargeable battery!
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FredS
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| 23 May 2006 6:43 AM |
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zan5hin,
Whoa mate! for a start recrem's review was not a comparative review - and he just states what his personal view is.
You are entitled to disagree - but you are not entitled to imply that recrem is misleading people and recieving payment.
Actually I think that the rest of your post is quite reasonable - but you lost me with your opening remarks.
We welcome discussion on reviews and other matters - that's what this site is about really, but that kind of remark is not welcome. In future please put your brain into gear before your fingers lose control. Like I said the rest of your post is reasonable, it's a pity it stated so poorly. |
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Cheers
FredS
Time is fleeting - madness takes it's toll
"Facts are stupid things."
Ronald Reagan ... |
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recrem
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| 23 May 2006 6:52 AM |
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Fred,
I thought the same about the rest of his post - quite reasonable indeed. I'll be sure to add the extra bits to my next review regarding battery life, distortion and power. |
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zan5hin
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| 24 May 2006 4:51 AM |
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Guys, I was just making an off-hand remark. There are hardware sites overseas that have done cash for comments and 10/10 just seemed too good.
Fine to have plenty of pros, but you have to throw in a few cons. |
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recrem
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| 24 May 2006 5:15 AM |
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| Yeah, no problems. To be honest, I haven't found a con yet. Regarding the rated power you queried, BlueAnt have got back to me saying they have a max power of 1 Watt RMS. I did notice today while at work that music playback paused briefly (maybe 1/2 sec) during one song. It paused in the same spot when the song repeated some time later. |
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recrem
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| 27 May 2006 12:31 AM |
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Hi Guys,
I have reloaded the Oscilloscope software onto my laptop with an additional hardware interface to try and achieve better results. I pulled the BlueSonic apart this morning and ran a series of tests to demonstrate the following points:
1. Comparison between the BlueSonic audio response and my laptop soundcard audio response.
2. Look for audio distortion in the form of clipping, skewing etc when at full volume
3. Measure the Total Harmonic Distortion at three frequencies.
This post contains images of the results for points 1 and 2.
For the first point a comparison was achieved by generating a sweeping sine wave at approx half volume between 20Hz and 20kHz (the limits for my card) and plotting both results on the same graph. To test the sound card the sine wave was generated on the line out connector while I used the line in to measure the signal. For the BlueSonic, I generated the same level sweeping sine wave on the Bluetooth AV output, and measured the signal across the speakers on the line in connector. The difference between the two is only in relative amplutide (BlueSonic signal lower than my laptop signal). The top curve is my laptop sound card and the bottom curve is the BlueSonic speakers. My apologies for a dark chart but that's the best I could do.
With this test, it is clear that there is no difference between the BlueSonic's audio response and my laptop sound card. Both handle low frequencies quite well (bass) and also the high frequencies.
For the next point, I recorded the signal across the BlueSonic's speaker with the volume turned up full. As can be seen here, there is no distortion from clipping or skewing. So, for performance at full volume, the BlueSonic handles the audio very well indeed.
Both images can be seen below.
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recrem
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| 27 May 2006 12:56 AM |
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Point three was used to determine the value of another kind of distortion (Total Harmonic Distortion or THD). THD is the measurement of the relative amplitude (or power) of the signal, and a ratio is made between the primary signal and harmonics present of this signal. A harmonic is a multiple of the primary signal. In this case signals of 1kHz, 10kHz and 20kHz were used to test the BlueSonic over it's frequency range (~20Hz - 20kHz).
Harmonics, when present in sufficient amplitude or power, cause the nice curved shape of the sinewave to flatten out. The worst case of a sine wave, with high amplitude, infinite in number, harmonic components creates a square wave. Now here is a little piece of information for the network buffs: If the transmission line used for networking doesn't have sufficient bandwidth for the data speed (bandwidth being the highest frequency range it can handle) the higher frequency harmonics will be left out - reducing a square wave to something resembling a sine wave. The equipment recieving this signal has great trouble determining where one data pulse starts or finishes...
Enough of that little tip and back to the BlueSonic's THD.
Below are the three images, the first one tested at 1kHz (harmonics can be seen at 2, 3, 4kHz etc..), the second at 10kHz and the third at 20kHz. Given that the test at 1kHz reveals the most harmonics, this value will be used to rate the BlueSonic Speakers THD. Another point worth mentioning is that my test generator and soundcard recorded a THD of 0.1%. This being known and noting the THD recorded in the first image of 0.1904%, we could happily say that 0.09% was introduced by the BlueSonic speakers.
To sum it up, at full volume and at a frequency of 1kHz, the BlueSonic speakers have a THD of only ~0.1% which is very good im my books.
I hope this information has been of interest to those looking at these speakers!
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FredS
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| 27 May 2006 3:38 AM |
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| Hmm... All in all a pretty good result, I'd say. |
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Cheers
FredS
Time is fleeting - madness takes it's toll
"Facts are stupid things."
Ronald Reagan ... |
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