Bluetooth speakers and High Resolution Music Players



Looking for better than cell phone sound?  Tired of the limitations of iPods?  




I knew the solution was first to get a better speaker, so I didn't need to have ear buds falling out or wires dangling about.  But I wanted PORTABLE, grab and go, pocket sized, high quality sound.  Of the dozen or so portable speakers I tested, the best sound was, surprisingly, the Bose SoundLink Mini.




FiiO X3
The Bose is very loud, clear and has good bass.  Not as loud as say the Marshall Kilburn, but I disregarded the Marshall immediately, at 7 pounds it isn't a portable, it's a lugable.  And certainly not pocket size. And overkill for all but the largest rooms.  The Marshall's are sound for the whole neighborhood to hear. What I wanted was just a better than the speaker in my phone sound that I could keep with me and setup anywhere I was.  The Bose fit the bill, at less than 3 pounds and 5x9 inches. The only question was quality of sound, most of the Bluetooth speakers I tested sounded really bad, hardly better than the phone speaker, just louder.  But the Bose really sounds excellent, outstanding room filling sound for such a small size!










However I could still tell something was lacking.  The speaker was great, but still the sound was flat, dimensionless and compressed.  I was hearing the limitation of the DAC in the phone (Samsung Galaxy S4) and Bluetooth streaming.  Phones simply are not made for being music devices.  The iPod I have (Classic 120gb) was lacking too, not much better than the phone's sound. See my Linux blog for how to reinstall an iPod with RockBox and make it more usable.


The Fiio X3 (left) about the same size as the Apple iPod



To improve the sound I started by looking at Neil Young's Pono player.  This had exactly the features I was looking for, it has a high end DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) , pocket sized and played all the high resolution audio formats (DSD, FLAC 24/96).  And Neil's put out everything he's ever recorded in Hi-Res 24/192 format to listen to on it. However at $400 a bit expensive for something to carry around that could be easily lost, broken, stolen.  After reviewing several of the portable DACs I choose the FiiO X3.  Same features as the Pono. half the cost ($170) and smaller.  The X1 would have done as well, at $99 it's likely the best price/features buy, but I wanted to experiment with the computer DAC interface the X3 had.



The single microSD slot is more than enough storage now that 256GB cards are out, and yes they work fine in the X3 even though the manufacture says they only support up to 128GB, I've used both the SanDisk Ultra 200GB Micro SD (which Amazon had on sale for $59) and the Samsung 256 GB EVO Plus MicroSDXC in the FiiO X3 Gen 2 without trouble, running the X3II FW1.4 firmware.




Of course you can use an Android phone with the Bose speaker for streaming services, YouTube, Netflix, it supports both wired and Bluetooth connections.  But another interesting feature on the X3 is the OTG interface.  This allows you to connect external USB storage to the X3, like a USB Flash drive, which costs about 1/3 the price MicroSD for 256GB.  Or a 5TB hard drive (not yet tried it).  Or, you can reverse the connection, put the OTG interface on an Android phone, and use the X3 as a DAC.  The pic shows a DSD file being played on the phone and 2822KHz/1bit signal being outputted to the X3 via OTG/USB.  So conceivably such a connection can add Wifi connectivity to the X3.




Android 5.0.1 on Samsung S4 with HiByMusic OTG connected to X3 getting 24 bit /192KHz playback





For those occasions when one must wear headphones, I demo'd many brands with the X3 player and my Galaxy S4 phone, with size and cost being no consideration, I found the best sound came from the inexpensive Bang & Olufsen 1641325 Form 2I Iconic Headphones.






I was predisposed to buy only over the ear cans, thinking that would be the best sound and comfort, as I really can't stand any of the "ear buds" headphones, I find they are always either falling out or painful, or both. However the over-the-ear "earmuff" headphones are hot, and claustrophobic.  I feel I need to take them off and 'breath" after only a few songs.  But I didn't think great sound quality was to be found in the on-the-ear headphones, having already owned the Sennheiser PCX 250, they are ok and very good at tuning out outside sounds, but not the great quality high end sound I was listening for.  I was planning to get something like my old Koss Pro 4X/plus, likely a higher end Sennheiser, but I kept going back to the B&O's.  After 3 trips to the stereo shop, the B&O on the ear headphones were the ones to beat, anything I tried had to sound as good or better than the B&O's.  But nothing did, so I bought the B&O's.

What I like about these Form 2I Iconic Headphones is one, great full range sound, lots of details. And two, comfort.  I can wear these for hours and hardly notice I have headphones on.  The open design doesn't heat up my ears like the over-the-ear earmuffs do and the B&O's are so light!  But also fragile, I doubt they will stand up to being tossed around or sat on, so I ordered a hardshell storage case for them.  The X3 fits in there nicely too!


The past, best, portable audio.  Long before Apple "invented" the iPod, others such as Creative, actually invented the portable MP3 player, the 20GB unit I have was out a year before anything from Apple, and others like the Diamond Rio where out a couple of years earlier.











I believe the Nomad pictured here was the first ever harddrive based portable music player.











Also a notable portable player was the Tapwave Zodiac.  With 2 SD slots it held up to 8GB of music and video, it had gaming controls (a joystick no less!) and as far as I know, was the only cell phone sized device with built in stereo speakers!  Why can't we have good things like this today??!?!





Steedly Dan and Alan Persons stopped by and we got a
Sound test here


Anker, priced at $40 on top, Bose $150 on bottem



Rated at 12 watts it sounds plenty loud, will fill a medium sized room with sound, might be a little underpowered for outdoor use.  It's smaller and lighter than the Bose Soundlink 2.  The Anker is waterproof and is rated for 24 hours play on a charge, the Bose is only 10 hours.  Of course the Bose at 50 watts is louder, but not 4x louder, more like 20% louder.  Not certain how they rate the watts but I'd say on a sound volume scale if the Anker is 12 watts the Bose sounds like 18 watts, and at full volume level the Bose is deafening if you are right next to it.  As for sound quality/clarity the Anker is good, good enough in fact.  The Bose is better, again I'd say maybe 25% better, not 4x better.  The Bose seem to have a sightly wider range and slightly more powerful, clean base.


Bottom line - the Anker is good, fine sounding.  The Bose is better.  A little better, but not 4-5 times better.  Anker SoundCore 2 is a $40 device, I paid $150 for the Bose Soundlink 2.  The current v2 model is $200 on Amazon.  It's also heavier and not waterproof, I'd say the Anker would survive much better in a drop test.

In 2021 I choose to get the Bose Soundlink Mini II mainly because I wanted replace exactly what I had in the Soundlink I. The difference between the two is trivial. Only thing I like better in the II is it has voice prompts, it tells me it's on when I press the power button. Still, many other devices are just as good and less expensive.   











But what about the 2023 Santana BT speaker 🔊 ?

For only $23 on Amazon could it sound as good as $200 Bose Soundlink Mini II?

Well no it doesn't. The Bose sounds much better, most especially in the low end, the Bose thumps, the Santana does not. However the Santana does sound good, very good, great in fact for a $33 speaker. The quality and sophistication at this price point are really impressive. 

And the Santana has more features, it's water proof, rubberize drop proof and weighs half what the Bose does. You can pair two Santana's together and have a left and right speaker. It has a wired input plus the BT and microphone for use as a speaker phone. Most outstanding is the SD slot, so it can operate, play music, without being connected to any other device.

What's the Frequency, Kenneth?

It seems none of the BT speaker models talk about frequency response, a very common specification for other speakers. Using a tone generator we can figure it out.

Santana = 60Hz-12.500kHz.  Volume drops signicatly below 60Hz, and nothing can be heard above 12,500.
Bose Soundlink Mini (first edition) = 45Hz-18,000kHz. Good sound down to 45Hz where it drops off, at the high end sharp to 12,500kHz but still there's signal up to 18kHz.

2019 shootout, Fiio X3 vs Pioneer XDP-30R




The main problem is Hi-Res audio files are big.  And SD cards, at the half TB size, are expensive. Swapping smaller cards looking for files is tiresome. I went looking for a player that had 2 slots, after I moved the X3 to the car, replacing the iPod.

So now I can do a side to side and ear to ear test between the X3 ($150) and the XDP-30R ($300).

The device size and weight is nearly identical.  The XDP has 2 SD slots and a balanced out plug. The X3 has a much richer set of playback options and the build quality is better, all metal on the X3 vs very thin plastic on the XDP, and the X3 ships in a protective rubber case, I've dropped it several times and it just bounces, no damage. I doubt the XDP would survive a fall and oddly there's not a decent case out for it!

But the sound quality is what we're here for, and yes I think the XDP sounds a bit "cleaner, clearer". However not so much that I could say the sound of the XDP is "better" than the X3, they are close in sound but slightly, subtly different. Might be a matter of taste as to which sound you prefer. In conclusion, these are both great portable Hi-Res audio players and I'm glad I have the 2nd SD slot, but why on Earth would anyone spend twice as much money for the XDP in 2019 when SD card price are dropping fast?


Two years later, the Pioneer XDP is dead. Battery won't charge. Folks on the net say it's a very common problem for both the XDP and its brother the Onkyo DP-S1 Rubato. Good news is it's very easy to pop the case and replace the battery. Bad news - you can't buy replacement batteries. Only option is to send it to Pioneer for repair, looks like that would cost $80.  And with this being a common problem, how long would it last. I'd rather put the money toward a new unit, not made by Pioneer. Btw - the Fiio X3 I bought in 2015 is still going strong, I expect to buy a 512GB card for it this year.





2021

Listen to it here:


HiBy R3 Pro Saber Hi Res Music Player!!

Yes I bought another one. Why? When phone audio quality and storage has about made portable audio players obsolete? Because I don't really use these devices as portables, I use them as dedicated audio components in a fixed system. You get something like the HiBy and hook it up to a good pair of speakers or Soundlink and you'll have an excellent music system, that isn't draining your phone battery. I like to use my phone for important things, like playing games with sound and have the music system separate.

And sometimes I do pick up my HiBy and Bose Soundlink and use it in another room.

The HiBy R3 Pro Saber is the best of the 3 players I've had. It has both hard buttons and a big touch screen which makes it easy to navigate and select music. In a lot of ways, it combines the best of my other 2 players, the Fiio X3 and Pioneer XDP-30R (RIP). 



The new HiRes player, HiBy R3 Pro Saber. So many features here, most around WiFi streaming services I've not tried yet. Timed power off, which I use every night. Two features that have become superfluous, storage and sound quality, both of which are more than you need.  Supported formats, everything as far as I can tell. And oh yeah, an eBook reader, how cool!





Couple of faults with it, Bluetooth connection to my Bose speakers is iffy, sometimes it works fine, other times I have to reboot the HiBy before it sees the speaker again, as with many Bluetooth devices, seems connection problems exist. Album art, some times works, sometimes fails to load, doesn't seem to be a size issue, some time soon I'll try to tie down the problem. On the Fiio album art just works. Of course when it does work it looks great on the big HiBy screen. Unlike the Fiio, the HiBy doesn't come with a good case, the leather ($29) case is a must buy as the HiBy has no grip on it, like handling wet glass.


Smaller and lighter than the Fiio X3, it is a step better than the Pioneer XDP-30R or the Fiio, it has both a big touch screen and hard buttons on the side. Remote control via WiFi is a good feature.


Will a 512GB SD card work in a 7 year old Fiio X3? Yes it does!! SAMSUNG EVO Select UHS-I, U3, A2, V30, $49 on Amazon.

On the road!!


How's this for mobile audio, my Grand Cherokee L, 19 speakers, 950 watts of McIntosh power. 2 USB stick inputs, 1TB worth of audio!











Comments

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_Jukebox

    I friend of mine had one in '99 or '00 and I was oh so jealous...

    -J

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very interesting! I never knew about this one.

    ReplyDelete

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