Martin Lévay Meet: the best portable speakers for iPhone - Bose SoundDock Portable. There is not much else to write, so for the rest of the article I will simply describe how dynamics work in reproduced music. This will come in handy in the next installments.
Battery pack
There are two accumulators – one feeds the amplifier and the other has the task of covering the "peaks". Before we look at the SoundDock itself, let's discuss the theory. Much shortened to understand why it makes sense to pay extra for better audio for iPhone or iPad.
Three guitars
When I strum one string on one acoustic guitar, a sound comes out. But when I strum four strings simultaneously on the second guitar, the sound gets louder and covers the first guitar. When I hit all the strings on the third guitar at the same time with a pick, the third guitar covers the sound of the first two guitars. If all three guitars were playing at the same time, we would still hear all three guitars in the room, even if the weakest one were almost inaudible, a trained ear would hear it without too much trouble. I will call those strong sounds "acoustic spikes".
Technique
A microphone in a recording studio has a so-called sensitivity. The high sensitivity allows it to capture not only the strong sound of a guitar with a pick, but also the delicate sound of a single string on the first guitar. The difference between the volume of a single string and six strings sounded by a pick is several times. We would have to multiply one string six times and a bit more to catch up with the pick. Six times and maybe even ten times. I hope you didn't get lost. Twice the volume is equivalent to 3 decibels. For example, we will show it on the number 2. The increase in volume from 3 dB to 6 dB is therefore double, for the sake of understanding, we express it as 4 = (2×2). We express increased volume to 9 dB as 8 = (4×2). At 12 dB it is 16 and at 15 dB it is 32. Now instead of the numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, you can easily put the power in watts. That's why connoisseurs buy speakers for hundreds of thousands, you need a 1000 watt amplifier for them. This is so that the speaker can clearly play said note from one string while still having a reserve for the acoustic peaks from a louder guitar. Here we are dealing with bad mastering of modern recordings, but that is another song. We are interested in how it works. To give an idea, a speaker system below 50 watts is not able to deliver enough "quality" to reproduce dynamics, therefore all the better audio devices are above this limit, see Zeppelin, A7, Aerosystem, OnBeat Extreme, ZikMu and the like.
Dynamics
If we want to listen to one string from the speaker to hear it intelligibly, we need, for example, one watt of power. One watt is enough, the radio in the office playing in the background is a quarter to half a watt. For acceptable reproduction of the second guitar, we will need an estimate of 4 watts, since 4 strings sound louder than one. If we want to play the third, noisiest guitar in the same song, we will need 10 watts of power to achieve some decent accuracy. This means that sounds will range from 1 to 10 watts. This could express the dynamics, the range of sound of the recording from the lowest to the highest volume. A device with worse dynamics would therefore only play sounds from 5 to 10 W, with the weakest sounds simply not being heard.
Audio compressor
The work of a sound compressor is that if we only have a 5W amplifier, we cannot play a 10W loud guitar. So what the compressor does is that it mutes the quieter guitar from 10W to 5W of maximum volume, and at the same time increases the volume of the first guitar from 1W to 4W. Now it adds the middle guitar and increases the volume of that 4W to 5W. ”, in which it is difficult to recognize what which guitar is playing. Therefore, the compressor is not used for the whole song, but only for individual instruments when mixing in the studio. This is because when you use a compressor on the first guitar, it will sound roughly the same volume all the time and will not fluctuate in volume with individual notes (strings). In some genres it is absolutely desirable, for example a rock or pop guitar is almost impossible to do without it. If you do it in jazz, someone older might get up and slap you.
Digital Sound Processor
Sound processing tries to solve the disadvantage of a compressor, which would make a "shapeless lump" out of the sound. It only came with the advent of digital sound. There you can tune the sound for the speakers especially for low volume and at the same time you can set corrections for it when playing at full power. It's like we have a little sound engineer in the speaker who adjusts the EQ and compressors for us to sound good, and then re-adjusts everything to sound good when we turn the speakers all the way up. DSP therefore has the task of squeezing the maximum out of a specific model, therefore it cannot be bought separately as a box that can be connected to anything. It's good to accept that all "better" AirPlay speakers have DSP, and we definitely want it because it saves us time setting up the sound. If we know it's in the Zeppelin, in the AeroSystem One and in the Bose SoundDock, we absolutely adore it.
I hope I explained it in a way that it can be understood. In reality, it's a little more complicated than that, but that doesn't concern us regular users.
Sound
Incredibly! The way that little plastic box plays is incredible. The sound is like from much larger speakers, the highs and mids are clear and clean, maybe a little less pleasing than the competition, but I find them more realistic, uncut. When I listened to the SoundDock on its own, I really liked the sound, until compared to the Zeppelin I had to admit that the Zeppelin has more power and better tweeters (taken from speakers worth a million crowns), but it takes up a lot of space and cannot play an eight-hour disco on the porch without an extension cord. Bose can handle it on the left rear.
Using
Personally, I would use it as a place to put my iPhone 4S when I get home. It charges and also has a remote control that I can use to play music from iCloud - from iTunes Match. Even if I only want to use it twice a year on vacation and at the cottage, it's worth it. Compromises? Not at all. Take your music and visit the Bose SoundDock Portable store to listen. It's just a shame that the current model does not support the Lightning connector on the iPhone 5. So we can assume that a new model is being worked on. The portable SoundDock also has a younger brother, without a battery, with a better price and a Lightning connector.
How long does it last on batteries?
The built-in batteries lasted me over 17 hours of playing as a backdrop in the office, at higher volume they should last eight hours. But the mess can't be sustained, so I never got around to checking it out. One of the users confirmed to me six hours at least. SoundDock is one of the best-selling models, so the most common feedback from customers is "they play great, they carry great and the battery lasts". After more than 4 years of sales, I have not encountered any problems with the battery, so I think it works for most users long after the warranty. I've even had customers recommend it to each other, who had it, recommended it to the person who was interested in the SoundDock in the store.
Plastics and metal grid
The processing is first class, the engineers at Bose did not cheat. The metal grill over the speakers sits in the plastic, and the strength makes it easy to handle the Bose SoundDock Portable with one hand without feeling like I'm going to tear the diaphragm or dent the plastic shell. In addition, it has a bass reflex on the back, which can be conveniently carried as if it were a carrying handle.
Dock is sexy
It just is! When you push into it with your finger like a ballpoint pen, the iPhone dock rotates out to reveal the dock connector. I put my iPhone in it and play. When I finish playing, I simply turn the dock to hide it again. I felt like I was autistic at times, but the sliding out and hiding of the dock somehow calmed me down. Note that when the Bose SoundDock Portable is not connected to power, the iPhone does not charge either. This applies to all portable speakers. None of the portable speakers (audio docks) I've tried can charge an iPhone while running on battery power. You can only charge your iPhone with a connected charger, an audio dock connected to power or in the field using an external battery or charging solar case.
Buttons and flashing lights
There are more or less no mechanical buttons, there are only two touch pads on top of each other on the right side. These control the volume, there are + and - signs on them for increasing and decreasing the volume. You won't find a switch or any other buttons, only a 3,5mm audio jack (AUX) connector for connecting other players from the headphone output. The device turns on by plugging it into an outlet and wakes up by inserting an iPhone/iPod into the dock connector. In the center at the top of the front grill is a two-color diode that shows the charge status of the built-in lithium-ion battery. When it shows charged, give it two more watches in the charger, not for the good feeling, but for a full charge.
Battery care
The SoundDock does not mind if it is connected to the power supply most of the time, the charging electronics are adapted to this and do not overcharge the batteries unnecessarily. For a longer battery life, it is enough to discharge the SoundDock with normal use once every six months and then fully charge it again. The most annoying thing about the battery is the complete discharge, so if you want to hide the SoundDock in the closet for half a year, charge it fully beforehand. When you pull it out after months of non-use, it will take a quarter to half an hour to recover and start responding, so don't be alarmed if it doesn't work immediately after plugging it in. If it does not respond for more than an hour, contact service. It probably won't be anything serious, but a certainty is a certainty.
True truth
I love SoundDock. He's my favorite and it's frustrating not having him around, I've cried many nights over it. That the SoundDock is filled with technology to the top is clear from the first listen, and thanks for that. You won't find better portable audio for iPhone anyway, so don't bother looking anymore. Not only will you not embarrass yourself in front of your friends, but the sound also brings the joy of perfect sound. But you'll know when you pay, unpack at home, and let loose on the porch.
updates
Instead of the SoundDock Portable, the Sound Dock III (without the Portable) is on offer, which has a Lightning connector instead of a 30-pin one. It is slightly stronger in performance, roughly the same size. The non-portable version without a battery has a mains power adapter, it cannot AirPlay, so it is best to combine it with AirPort Express. But Bose has other treats for connoisseurs on offer, but more on that later.
We discussed these living room audio accessories one by one:
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Oh no,
finally stop with the "discharge and charge" team to increase the lifespan. Why are you going to electric car races with the team? It's such an unbelievably stupid thing!!! Is it written somewhere in the instructions?? Why should I use an unnecessary cycle from the life of the flashlight??? In addition, you do not write anywhere about the battery technology used. This is quite an important figure, so that I know how and how I should treat it, how big its self-discharge is, and thus how often I should recharge it without using the device.
I agree with you, but many people still have a tendency to do the "charge-discharge" process unnecessarily often even with new polymer batteries, where it is harmful. That's why I proposed that it is enough to go through the charge-discharge cycle in months. I also write that the battery should always be connected to the power supply, thereby minimizing its wear and tear, exactly as you write.
Therefore, at the end of the given sentence in the article, there is a link to a video on the care of the battery in the MacBook. It's the same technology.
"When it shows charged, give it two more hours in the charger, not to feel good, but to fully charge."
Hello, I'm thinking about buying some kind of portable music player. Anyway, thanks for your series. I would like to ask about the comparison of Bose sounddock portable and Bose soundlink airplay? I would be interested in the second option, won't airplay and the absence of a dock affect the quality of the music? Thanks for the reply
I have them at home and they play amazing. I just have an iPhone 5, so I don't charge it anymore, etc... I think I'll buy an iPod Classic because of that...