The Big 'Bang & Olufsen A1' Review

I love music, and I also love portable speakers. Over the years, I've demoed quite a few to replace my Bose SoundDock which I've had for 10 years now. But I wanted something smaller. (The Bose is about 503 in³ and 5.2lbs) But I needed it to still be loud and sound great.

I decided to try Bang & Olufsen's Beoplay A1. (43 in³ at 1.3lbs) B&O is known for their design and craftsmanship of home entertainment products. Designed by Cecilie Manz for Bang & Olufsen, the A1 doesn't disappoint in the design factor.



Packaging is clean and simple. A bit snug sliding the bottom half out, but the weight of the A1 helps. Inside you'll find the speaker, a USB-C charging cable with the B&O logo, and a quick start manual. That's it. No charging block or case. Very bare. A nice velvet pouch would've been nice specially for $250. But all that aside, the speaker itself is beautiful. Sophisticated, classy, and refined. The aluminum dome is perfectly sculpted and has a very luxurious feel to it. The base is made of a rubber-like material and helps keep the speaker stable when set down on a surface. The buttons are hidden and spread around the base area, along with a 3.5mm input jack and USB-C port. The speaker comes with a leather strap which you can use to hang the speaker on a hook while you're indoors or on a tree branch when you're outdoors.


Pairing the Beoplay with your phone is easy. Turn the speaker on. Press and hold the Bluetooth button til the white power indicator flashes blue. Select the A1 on your phone's Bluetooth list, and you're done. You can also download the free Beoplay app which allows for some basic tone functions. It lists preset EQ curves as 'warm, excited, relaxed, and bright'. There is some benefit to using the EQ, but the speaker naturally sounds good that other than the initial novelty of the EQ, I leave it off most of the time.




I was preparing myself to be underwhelmed by the audio quality. Usually, when a speaker is this compact, the first thing that gets compromised is the bass. B&O claims the A1 can go as low as 60Hz. Your ears will confirm that claim. Not only does it reproduce adequate bass, it does it accurately and cleanly. No muddiness or distortion. No hollow sound. Quite an amazing feat for such a compact speaker. The treble is smooth and controlled. Not harsh or ear grating. Very pleasant. Although the A1 shines with classical, jazz, and ambient tracks, it does justice to rock, electronica, house and even dubstep. With bass heavy tracks, I found that keeping the volume at around half maintains the bass balance of the track. But what if you want more bass at a higher volume level?


Then get a second Beoplay A1!

For true stereo or ambient audio. Adding a second A1 increases its performance dramatically. Pairing can be done via the Beoplay app, but any EQ presets you have will be turned off when paired with another A1. You can also pair two A1s without the Beoplay app, I've found this method more reliable. To pair the speakers without the use of the app:

1. Turn on the first speaker, you'll heard a power on beep and the indicator light will be white.
2. Press and hold the Bluetooth button. Indicator will start flashing blue for about five seconds then it will start flashing white.
3. Wait about 20 seconds for a second beep then turn on the second A1.
4. Press and hold the Bluetooth button on the second A1 for five seconds until the light starts flashing white.
5. Wait a while, then you'll see the indicator lights on both speakers sync up then glow a steady white.
6. Now connect your phone to the first speaker, this will be the Master speaker as well as the LEFT audio channel. The second speaker will be the Slave speaker as well as the RIGHT audio channel.

And how do two paired A1s sound? Like bringing your home stereo system out with you where ever you go! Seriously good portable audio. Although at this price point, you may be asking why not just get the Beolit 15 or 17? It's louder and the bass is a lot deeper. So why choose two A1s over the larger Beolit 15? It boils down to a matter of preference and purpose. Two A1s (100 in³ and 2.6lbs for two) are still easier to pack and carry than a single Beolit 15 (358 in³ and 5.7lbs). Two A1s can be spread out over two rooms to play different music in each room. Two A1s can be stereo paired to give much better imaging and ambient audio. You'll definitely be happy with either purchase, but for my needs, I chose to have two A1s that can be used together or separately.

Now, it's not all party all day and night with the Beoplay A1. There are limitations that come with the compact size, great audio, and relatively low price (low for B&O anyway). And partying all day and night is one of those limitations. To be specific, a short battery life. B&O claims 24 hours of playback at moderate levels. This probably means about 25% volume. Because anywhere close to 50-60% volume, that rating drops to about 6 hours. Crank that up to 70% or more and you're looking at maybe 2-3 hours max.

The other limitation is related to the stereo pairing. The range is extremely short. Bluetooth has an effective range of about 30ft. The A1 can only be about 8ft apart with a CLEAR LINE OF SIGHT. Any obstruction within that 6ft of separation and you will start getting dropouts on the slave speaker. The more realistic distance is about 4-5ft. I'm guessing power to the Bluetooth chip was limited to minimize the effect on the already short battery life. Either that or the beautiful aluminum dome acts as a Faraday cage and shortens Bluetooth range. Either way, this limits how far you can place the speakers from each other when paired. Another limitation of stereo pairing is that it doesn't work if the source is a line-in source. So only Bluetooth streamed audio will work for the stereo pairing.

With regards to the design, my only complain are the buttons. They look great hidden behind the rubber bottom but they're not very easy to press. Now, this can be a good or a bad thing. It does prevent accidental presses but it also makes actually pressing the button quite difficult. Even though there's minimal interaction with the buttons, when you do need to use them it takes a bit of hunting to actually find the right one and press it. The tiny icons make the control surface look clean and very minimalist but the lack of tactile indicators means you have to actually look for the symbols to know which button you're actually pressing.

Are any of these deal breakers? Not for me. I'd rather take the time to memorize the button locations and work around the limited Bluetooth range just to be able to use these wonderful sounding works of art. If you want a Bluetooth speaker that is small and easy to pack for traveling, sounds like a home hi-fi system anywhere you go, and looks like tiny work of art, then the Beoplay A1 is the speaker you've been waiting for.

Not the Sounds of Silence (A Sonos Review)

There are many wireless speaker systems out there. The most recent ones that have been gaining popularity are the Amazon Echo and Google Home systems. These are a new breed of smart speakers that offer more than just music playback. But that's for another blog entry. Today will be for a more traditional wireless audio system, the Sonos. Specifically, the Play 1.

Sonos has been around for quite a while. And their product lineup hasn't really changed much. It offers less functionality than smart speakers, but the multi-room capabilities and the simplicity of the app are what really make it shine. Their app came at the heels of people playing music locally (stored on your computer or local hard drive) mostly through iTunes. But now that streaming services are more popular, smart speakers have become the weapon of choice for most people. Why should you still pick Sonos over the others? Two main reasons. Simplicity and Multi-Room capabilities. Sonos isn't the only one with this capability. Bose would be the closest match, but I didn't like their app interface. Then there's Google Chromecast Audio which can do something similar but not quite and still relies on streaming services.

Playing music in separate rooms isn't a simple task. Wiring up your home to a central amp and music server takes time, planning, and a lot of work. Doing it the wireless way isn't that simple either. Synchronizing playback and centralizing your source isn't for the average user either.

Sonos does this quite simply and elegantly. My main consideration for the Sonos was "How easy would it be for anyone in my home to access my music and playback what they want". I needed something that could easily access my local music library as well as streaming services. Something that wouldn't be crippled if my internet connection went down (this is always a consideration of any tech I invest in). No other system offered ease of use like Sonos did.

And for those that actually care about sound quality, Sonos sounds great. Disclaimer on my statement, it is NOT meant to be a listening room system. It is also not meant to be the solution for just a single room (there are others that can fulfill that need at a lower price point). It is meant for whole house, multi-room music. And it does that job extremely well. Even against larger more traditional systems, the Sonos Play 1 can hold its own. It's very easy to conceal, and it's also moisture-proof if you want music in your bathroom!

Sonos is supposedly working with Amazon to integrate Alexa into their control UI, that would be an excellent combination and one that would bring Sonos back up to the front of the smart speaker pack. But even without it, Sonos is still one of the better multi-room systems available today. The ease of use and audio quality make it perfect for anyone in the home to enjoy great sound. It also helps that they have a wide array of products to suit your specific needs. From the easy to conceal Play1, to the Sound bar and wireless subwoofer for decent movie audio, Sonos is a great product family all around.

Sony Ericsson Xperia ray Review: Part 2 - Pump Up The Volume!

After seeing how great the Xperia ray's screen in my Part 1 review was, naturally I wanted to check how good its media capturing capabilities are.  Does the Exmor R camera really deliver?  How's the audio during video recordings?  What about music and movie playback?  Or are they all just marketing stickers on the box?

First up, audio/music playback.  Test was conducted using the ff:

• Included Sony Ericsson headset
• AKG K324P In-ear Isolation earbuds
• AKG K240DF Studio headphones w/ Meier Corda 2 Move Headphone amp
• X-Mini 2 (to compare against the built in speaker)

I decided to compare it against my X10 Mini Pro as a reference playback unit.  I used a 256kbps mp3 of Dave Brubeck's famous Take 5.  The results from switching from one playback system to another are:

• Included headsets aren't great.  Better than Apple's stock earbuds, but not by much.  So I won't bother giving a detailed review of these.  But these choke the sound quality of the ray to about 40% of their capabilities.
• The Xperia ray's volume is about ¾ of the X10 Mini Pro.  This makes it quite weak, even with efficient headsets.  Although volume levels are loud, some people may feel it isn't loud enough.  Personally I find it's well within the safe db levels of listening even at maximum volume.  I would however, recommend using a headphone amp.
• Xperia ray has an annoying clicking while NOT playing any media, this can only be heard through my reference K240DFs, not the K324P or the included headphones.
• The Xperia ray has much cleaner bass frequency response than the X10 Mini Pro, bass notes are fuller at lower frequencies without being muddy or overpowering.  Treble on the ray seems more balanced than on the X10MP, which may make the MP seem 'clearer'.
• xLoud feature on the Xperia ray only affects the built-in speaker, and not headphone playback (good call!)
• The X10 Mini Pro built-in speaker is much louder and much fuller than the Xperia ray.
• Both the Xperia ray and Mini Pro built-in speakers sound 'clearer' than the X-Mini 2, albeit a lot weaker.
• xLoud feature on the Xperia ray makes ringtones sound just as loud as the X10 Mini Pro.
• Xperia ray built-in speaker sounds best 1 notch below maximum volume, at maximum volume, you get a resonant buzz from the casing of the phone itself... this resonant buzz is not present on the X10MP, I'm assuming this wasn't by design, but just basic acoustics.  The sheer volume of the X10MP gives the built-in speaker a larger 'cabinet' to work with thus making it sound fuller and louder.
• EQ has a few presets, I'm not an EQ kind of guy, but they work better than the ones on the iPhone 4 or iPod Touch 4 which to me introduce way too much distortion.  The ray's EQ is acceptable... although I would still recommend leaving it flat for the best audio quality.

Over-all, I'd say the Xperia ray has average music playback capabilities.  Nothing bad, nothing great.  I find it cleaner and clearer than the older X10 Mini Pro, but the lack of volume output makes using a headphone amp almost necessary, which negates the convenience of a small phone.  Although using it in the car is quite nice and I prefer the output going into my car headunit.

It won't win any audiophile awards, but then again, neither will any mobile phone... will you be happy with the music playback capabilities?  I would say yes.  Unless you like listening to your music at ear-bleeding volumes, it's quite decent for most users.  It sounds better than the 2nd gen iPod Shuffle, but not as good as the iPod Touch 4.

Final verdict: Average music playback.  Decent frequency response and respectable bass extension.  Low volume output, not a deal-breaker, but some may find it a bit too soft.  The included earbuds aren't isolation buds so they do let in a lot of ambient sound, which drowns out the already weak volume of the ray.  So unless your unit came with the LiveSound headset, I'd seriously recommend getting a better pair of cans.

Next up - Say Cheese!  It's picture time!  The big deal behind Sony's Exmor sensor.

Sound Sculpture : Zikmu Parrot by S+arck

Parrot by S+arck: These are one of the nicest looking compact home speakers available.  Technology used are a couple of NXT (now Hi-Wave) panels that handle the high frequencies, and a couple of downward firing subs under each speaker.

The system is wireless and powered.  Each speaker needs to be plugged into a wall outlet to supply the 50watts per channel.  The system does not work individually, since the control panel is on one speaker, and the iPod dock is on the other.

The pair also accepts audio via Bluetooth but reliability drops off beyond 2m every now and then so the iPod dock would really be the way to go.  Wifi audio streaming is much more reliable.

The remote operates over RF so line-of-sight is not critical for operation.

The set comes in a really cool carrying case that looks like a trumpet bag... although I don't really see people lugging this set around after initial setup.  They are light enough to carry around from room to room.

The Parrot is perfect for art/design oriented people that want a simple, all-in-one system for a small room or apartment.  Although loud enough for large rooms, anymore than 15 people and the sound gets drowned out quite quickly.  They make great conversation starters and center pieces for room decor.

On the audio quality, they sound ok.  Not bad.  Do not think that these are speakers that happen to look nice... these are decorative pieces of furniture that happen to make sound.  I was disappointed however with their overall height.  When I first saw the pictures, I was expecting them to be at LEAST 1m tall... but they're only .75m and this doesn't really maximize the potential range and dispersion of the sound.

Forget left-right directionality since the natural dipolar properties of NXT panels creates a nice diffused sound field that has a better ambient mood than traditional speakers.  These will most likely be used in a living/dining room or casual area where conversation will take priority over sonic accuracy.  I wouldn't recommend these for listening rooms, or home theaters.

At Php88,000 (or US$1,600 abroad) they're cheap for an art piece, but not cheap for speakers.  If you consider that you're getting 2-in-1 then it's a pretty good deal.

*Audiophiles should stay away!  If you're an audiophile, want decorative speakers and have deep pockets... check out Avantgarde instead.  Their entry level system starts at Php400,000 (US$8,000)*

Mixing It Up: A Mackie 402-VLZ3 Review

Are you a solo musician?  Podcaster?  Ever wanted to just make a simple recording at home?  Sometimes expensive interfaces and large mixing boards don't really make things easier.  Enter Mackie's 402-VLZ3 micro mixer.

There are quite a few direct-to-USB mic adapters and USB Podcast kits available if you just need one mic. But what if you want to record in stereo?  Or just need a simple, but high quality mixer for a couple of mics during a live gig?  And maybe have an iPod as a backing track?  A lot of micro mixers just come with one microphone input...and a whole lot of line-in/stereo ins.

Mackie has offered a very different solution.  A micro mixer with 2 high quality XDR pre-amps, and 2 (if you count the Rec-In) pairs of stereo inputs.

This is great for home studio recordings, live solo gigs, or basic podcasting needs.

The 402 is part of Mackie's VLZ line which means that it comes with their higher-end XDR preamps.  These sound fuller and quieter than the ones found on their CFX boards.

It doesn't have pan-controls for the mics however, they're either center/mono, or a full left-right split.  Depending on your needs, this may or may not be a deal-breaker.  There are no mid-eq controls either, but the mic ins do come with a high-pass (lo-cut) filter, as well as built-in DI switches on both mic inputs for instrument connectivity.

It's a great little mixer, and you'd be hard pressed to find anything that can match it in terms of flexibility, price, quality, durability, and size.  It would be a great addition to any music production setup, whether it be as an on-stage monitor control, home studio mixer, or just to add 2 more preamps to an existing board.  If only they could've made it battery powered like the Peavey RQ200... this would've been a killer mobile rig as well.

**Hallo, ich lerne Deutsch und ich kann ein paar Fragen zu beantworten.

Je parle un peu français aussi. Je peux répondre à des questions sur mes messages.**

Do You Hear What I Hear?

It's almost Christmas!  The next few posts I'll have will be some small gadget gift ideas.  Let's begin with gift ideas for the ever popular iPod or digital music player.

I've been noticing more and more people using circumaural headphones (full-sized) out in the streets.  I really do prefer how these sound over in-ears, although for travel and convenience, there are a lot of good in-ears nowadays.

The main advantage of upgrading from the included iPod earphones is almost like going from an AM radio to a full sized stereo system.

My personal fav are my AKG K240 DF mated with a Corda 2Move amp, although it seems that Jan Meier (no relation to John Mayer) no longer has crossfeed built into his smaller portable amps)  But for traveling, I bring my smaller AKG K324P or K81DJ (aka 518DJ) ... although I'm personally partial to AKG, there are many brands that are excellent, like Sennheiser, Grado, Etymotic, Shure, and JBL to name a few.  Some of the newer brands like Skullcandy, Monster and Urbanears sound decent as well, and have very funky designs too!

Seeing as how a music player is almost as common as having a mobile phone, it does make sense that the earphones, which are the most visible part of the gadget, look good aside from sounding great.

If you're planning on giving a set of earphones to a girl, they have very nice and classy designs as well.  Swarovski crystals, Lady Gaga designs, pastel colors, smoother shapes and designs and color coordinated wires/cords all help remove the industrial look that earphones used to have.

Goodbye iChat... Hello FaceTime!

Today's Tech Gospel is about the FaceTime for Mac Beta.  Finally.  I think everyone found it odd that the iPhone 4's FaceTime app couldn't make video calls to Apple's iChat Video system.

Thankfully Apple reacted quickly and has released a crude FaceTime Beta for Mac.

Now, understand that this is still in Beta, so a lot of features are still a bit buggy, and there is a known security flaw.  Not a big deal unless you frequently allow other people to use your computer.

This, however, is a Snow Leopard only program.  If you haven't upgraded yet, now would be a good time to do so.

For those with Mac Minis, or a Mac Pros, you can use Apple's LCD monitors w/ the built-in camera, iSight camera, or any Firewire video camera lying around.  If you want to buy a webcam, make sure it's the newer UVC compliant webcams.  But I prefer using a proper Firewire video camera w/ a boom mic to eliminate room echo and much better audio quality.

My FaceTime rig is my old Canon DV cam w/ a Rode shotgun mic connected to my Mac Mini.

Pre-blog: 3rd time is not quite the charm for the iPod Shuffle

When I first got the email about the new iPod Shuffle, I was impressed with the design, and the Voice-over function.  But when I finally got to try it extensively, I was very disappointed.

One, it's NOT small.  Well, ok, it's small, but not as small as the pictures depict.  It's slightly (and I mean, SLIGHTLY) smaller than the 2nd generation Shuffle.  But, unlike the previous Shuffle, the new one doesn't have any controls.  Instead, you have this annoyingly retarded button that you click, double click, long click, triple click... and Morse code all day long just to move from song to song.

Which brings me to number two... the crappy earbuds.  Apple has probably THE worst earbuds on the planet... which is usually the first thing to chuck when you buy an iPod... but now, since they moved the controls to the earbuds, the new Shuffle does NOT work without the crappy earbuds.

Granted that most Shuffle owners are not audiophiles (ironic since the Shuffle is the best sounding iPod) it's still annoying since they didn't save any space at all by moving the controls from the iPod to the earbud cable.

But I guess all things have to change.  Apple will probably use this as an interim model before going back to a design similar to the previous Shuffle.

Don't get me wrong, it's a sleek new music player that looks great ... but ergonomics REALLY suck... and it would sound good, if you could use other earbuds, but since you can't, it sounds kinda crappy.  At 2x the price of the previous Shuffle, it isn't really a bargain either.

I'd recommend buying the previous Shuffle instead.

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On a more positive note, I finally got to audition the B&W Zeppelin iPod Dock, and I have to say, it is THE BEST iPod dock I've heard to date.  It's like the Bose SoundDock & the Harman Kardon Go + Play combined... it has the clarity of the Harman, and the bass extension of the Bose.  BUT, it also costs as much as both those iPod docks combined... ringing in at P36k.  Plus it doesn't run off batteries so it's not really portable.

But it does sound great, and it looks just as good.

Pre-blog: Great balls of sound!

The best sounding speaker under P2000, and under 100g! A bit larger than a ping-pong ball, the X-Mini 2 is a great successor to the original X-Mini, and X-Mini Max.

Decent size, price, sound, and battery life... this is a great accessory to have for anyone who enjoys listening to music. Having tried all the other XMI products, I have to say, that you can't really go wrong with any of them, but my personal choice would be the X-Mini 2 over the original or the Max.

The Original is smaller, and cheaper, so go for that if the size is an absolute priority, or if you don't really care for the additional sound quality of the 2. The Max is stereo, but it's larger and has a lot more wires to consider a portable solution. The Max is nice for laptop users looking for an acceptable solution for presentation work.

Specs state a 100Hz cut-off but realistically, it sounds closer to 130-50Hz, but again, for the price, and size, it's great. I haven't heard anything this small, sound this good...period. It won't replace great earphones, but it sounds way better than a lot of generic desktop computer speakers. And even sounds better than a lot of the entry-level JBL On-Stage products.

To get the best audio quality from this speaker, turn the volume on the X-Mini to the max, then half a turn back. Then set your volume on your music player to about 60-70%. This keeps distortion to a minimum, while maximizing bass response... the X-Mini 2 driver is strong enough that anything louder makes this tiny speaker rattle around your desk whenever bass notes are strong.

Go to: http://x-mini.com/ for more info.

I bought mine from http://silienation.com/ Great site, lots of nice accessories, and quick delivery via Air21

Pre-blog: Bose Sounddock Portable

The best sounding iPod dock/portable speaker system in it's SIZE & PORTABILITY category.

Mind you, size was my primary criteria for choosing the new SoundDock Portable. It's louder than the original SoundDock, rechargeable, and can now accept Aux-In sources. Unfortunately, the carry-bag is optional (typical Bose)

The Bose SoundDock Portable (like most of their products) fits a very specific need for me ... for people who want to have a battery-powered, portable speaker system, that fits inside a small/medium sized messenger bag, light enough to bring everyday, and sounds decent.

The Bose is extremely small for the volume of sound it can give out, even outdoors. It's good enough for small get-togethers with friends... about 6 people or so.

The battery lasts about 3-4 hours at high volume, but I wouldn't recommend it since any sound system doesn't really sound its best at it's higher volume capabilities. At moderate levels, I've gotten a good 6 hours from one charge. Not bad at all.

The wall-adapter is worth special mention since it's SOOOOO F***IN HUGE!!! Geez... you'd think you've seen 'em all... this thing is like 2 Apple Macbook adapters stacked!!! At least it's 110/220v and has a cord winder similar to Apple's adapters.

The SoundDock Portable is worth the premium if size/weight/portability are your primary concerns for an iPod dock or portable personal sound system.

The iPod docking cradle also retracts into the speaker system for transport or when using the Aux-in port so the system looks sleeker.

The included remote works on all current iPod models except the iPod Shuffle.

The SoundDock also recharges your iPod whether it's running from AC or DC power.

Click here for more info on the Bose SoundDock Portable

**Important Note** This is NOT the best SOUNDING portable iPod dock I've heard. That title goes to Harman/Kardon's Go+Play sound system. It's a lot cheaper than Bose's offering, runs of regular D-cell batteries, has video-out, and storage for it's remote...but, it's about 4x bigger than the Bose SoundDock Portable.

If size/weight wasn't an issue, I would've chosen the Harman/Kardon Go+Play hands-down. But the Harman Go+Play doesn't fit in my bag. For something that you won't be lugging around everyday (like occasional trips to the beach, or a friend's condo), the Harman is a much better choice, better treble extension, and better accuracy. Not to mention it's about P10k cheaper than the Bose SoundDock Portable. The Harman also runs 8 D-cell batteries which makes it a lot heavier, but cheaper to run on battery mode.

Click here for more info on the Harman/Kardon Go+Play

**Update August 2012, the rechargeable battery on my Bose Sounddock Portable died. Time for a replacement. A four-year operating life for the Li-Ion battery sounds about right.**

Pre-blog: Speak Into The Mic Please!

I originally purchased a pair of Shure KSM109s... which BOTH turned out to be defective... since there were no more KSM109s in stock, I opted to try out an Audio Technica AT3032. Slightly more expensive than the Shure's I originally purchased, but more than worth it!

Transient response is much better as is frequency response! The KSMs had a slight bass roll-off, the ATs don't. ATs also capture highs much better than the 109s did (when they weren't crackling)

I do wish I had a chance to try the KSMs in their full working glory... but I'm glad I gave the Audio Technicas a chance.

Pre-blog: The 2nd Generation iPod Shuffle

(General review will come ahead... specifics and technicalities will come towards the end, and is only for those who really want to read my absolute opinion on this iPod, and the iPod in general... those that are happy with their iPods need not read further than my general review)

Ok, this is my first iPod ever...actually it's my 1st portable MP3 player. Although I've heard almost every iPod since the gen 3 version, (I liked the 1st gen ones but I only really took notice when the solid state controls of the 3rd gen iPod came out... I miss those controls) this is the first one I've ever owned. I've always liked the iPod's design, but never enough to want to lug one around with me ... When the Nano first came out, I was really close to getting one since it was a size I was willing to carry around with me all the time.

The new iPod Shuffle is just amazingly small... about the size of the iPod radio remote. It comes in only one capacity, 1GB... this holds about 240 regular iTunes songs at 128kbps. For my collection, it only holds about 100++ of my mp3s since I encode at a much higher rate of 256kbps.

Just like any other iPod, it's the easiest portable music player to use. It comes bundled with it's own docking cradle since it's too small to have a built in USB plug. Data transfer rates are decent, taking only a couple of minutes to fill up the 1GB.

Sound quality is a bit different from the original Shuffle (which was hailed as the best sounding iPod ever) ... it sounds a bit more balanced, but does have a very faint hiss. (early reports were right) Not a deal breaker.

Over-all, I'm very happy with my 1st iPod. It's something I can bring around with me everyday.
---------------end of general review------------------







Ok, now to get down and dirty.... No iPod has deserved more than 3 stars with me, with the 1st gen Shuffle edging a bit at maybe 3.5 stars, 2nd Gen Shuffle getting 3.3 stars, and all other iPods getting 3 stars. Design of the iPods gets 4 stars (-1 due to the annoying ever-changing docking port), sound quality hovers in the 3 star area. Creative's MP3 players get 3.7 stars for audio quality, 2 stars for design and ergonomics... granted these are MP3 players, I'm trying not to be too harsh because they do their job well... they play mp3s.

Why didn't I go for Creative's offering, or iRiver? Well, at the end of the day, usability and design more than made up for the iPods short comings in sound quality. Creative's sound quality is good, but not enough to make up for the shortcomings of the mp3 format in general, and their annoying software and old-school designs don't help either. And to be honest, the best mp3 player I've heard are the SonyEricsson Walkman phones, granted they do have enough space to house better electronics, between a Creative player and an SE phone, I'd pick the SE phone any day. (Sound quality for Walkman phones is about 3.8-3.9 stars)

The new Shuffle does have a very faint hiss... some early reviewers noticed this right away, other early users didn't... why? Headphones. The Apple earphone aren't sensitive enough to pick up the hiss... this also means that the bundled earphones are the first thing that chokes the sound quality of your iPod. If you're happy with the Apple earphones, stick with them, they hide the hiss. But the hiss doesn't show up in most earphones either... only popping up in my AKG K81 (really, REALLY faint) ... and more prominent in my Shure E3 canalphones. But mind you, the Shure's are extremely sensitive... a volume of 1 or 2 is already equal to a 5 when using other earphones.

I suspect the hiss is actually due to the Shuffle's minute size, having the electronics so close to each other, I think the jack actually picks up noise from the DC regulator. It doesn't seem to be amp noise since it doesn't increase or decrease with volume.

The original Shuffle doesn't have hiss... BUT... the new Shuffle does have better FR, bass actually is a BIT better than on the original Shuffle... but again, it does have hiss... so it's a trade-off... hahahaha.

Other iPods don't sound as good as the Shuffles... note... at 'higher' volumes. Both the Nano and regular iPods start distorting at much lower volumes than both the 1st gen and 2nd gen Shuffles, transient response also degrades faster than the Shuffles. No confirmation on whether the 2ng gen Shuffle has the push-pull component that the 1st gen Shuffle did, but it does sound close (except for the hiss) so I'll assume that it does... I'm suspecting that it does, but since Apple switched manufacturers, I'm guessing this is the cause for the hiss.

This isn't to say that the other iPods sound bad as a lot of audio reviews claim... they don't sound as good as the Shuffles... under certain circumstances and with better earphones/speakers. As I said, among the mp3 players I've heard, the Walkman phones have the best sound so far... with Sony's MegaBass being the least distorting EQ among them all (the iPod presets are the most annoying for me, introducing the most amount of distortion, which is why I like the fact that the Shuffle doesn't have an EQ) Kill the EQ, and just get better earphones... Sennheiser CX300 earphones are a pretty good upgrade for any iPod. Trust me, those little earphones that came with the iPod are choking at least 30% of the sound. The CX300s are a good bump up, and aren't too expensive considering the sound quality improvement they give.

Back to the iPod... as an everyday mp3 player... I wouldn't buy anything else. They're easy to use, look great, and sound good (when matched with decent earphones).

Pre-blog: Nice Cans! AKG K240DF

Although there are better headphones out on the market, these are one of the best for the price. Studio-Reference standard, and one of the very few headphones that passed the broadcast standards set by the Institute of Radio Technology in Munich.

These are from the same family as AKG's K240S (the new consumer version) and the K240M (the original version)... the DF takes the M version higher by calibrating the drivers to sound like you were in a mixing studio (instead of listening from a headset)

These aren't for your average iPod though, (you get AKG's K240S for that) these require a decent headphone amp to power the high impedance drivers.

For those that are starting a home studio... these are the best substitute for near-field monitors.... specially for portable studios.