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OB–4 – Portable high fidelity loudspeaker

teenage.engineering

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Re: OB–4 – Portable high fidelity loudspeaker

#181

Post by samatman »

nitrogen wrote: post #127
jascii wrote: post #121

I would be in the market for a powered/bluetooth speaker that doesn't sound like shit. For the price I'd expect (near) audiophile sound, however little in the marketing even seems to mention sound quality, it just seems very gimmicky. Does anyone have any recommendations for a semi portable powered/bluetooth speaker that focuses on accurate sound reproduction (within the limits physics puts on a smaller enclosure)?

I've never used them, but a friend used to run engineering at Braven. He's no longer there, so I don't know what that company's current status is, but he was a serious audio guy who made sure that every product he designed or sourced was high quality once all of the marketing-mandated boost features were turned off. Do let us know if you give them a listen, and whether they are as good as I expect.

My old Braven, the one that looks like an OG cheesegrater Mac Pro, was the best sound per cubic centimeter I've owned.

Not really in the market for a portable speaker anymore, but if that changes, I'd most likely just get another of the same unit.

So yeah. Next time you see your buddy, tell him some rando on the Internet thinks he did a good job.

Re: OB–4 – Portable high fidelity loudspeaker

#182

Post by samatman »

mnw21cam wrote: post #146
thelazydogsback wrote: post #119

Exposed, non-protected woofers looks cool - but I can imagine a butter-side-down Murphy's law event happening to me within a week of getting that thing...

Also, 4-inch woofers? That's pretty small to be attempting to produce any serious amount of bass. (Source: I made myself a bass amp for my bass guitar when I was a teenager. It had a 12-inch woofer, and needed it. I don't think speakers have broken the laws of physics quite that well in the intervening years.)

I believed the same thing, right up until I picked up a HomePod, which quickly cured me of it.

Does it shake your chest? Not quite. Can it literally shake the windows? I mean, make actual windows produce an audible buzzing noise?

Yes, it emphatically can. I would still choose a larger cone for a bass guitar, though; it's right there in the name.

Re: OB–4 – Portable high fidelity loudspeaker

#183

Post by samatman »

twic wrote: post #179
teruakohatu wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plug a cheap fm radio into a rpi and record and stream it to the Internet and then play it on your phone. Maybe a weekends work?

You're not wrong, but this has big "DropBox? just use rsync" energy.

Except this was an answer to a specific question, not a dismissal of the product. If that famous comment had been a reply to "wow Dropbox is cool and I signed up for the beta, but hey, how would you implement something like this yourself?", no one would remember it.

Re: OB–4 – Portable high fidelity loudspeaker

#184

Post by pvarangot »

Guest19023892 wrote: post #126
jascii wrote: post #121

I would be in the market for a powered/bluetooth speaker that doesn't sound like shit. For the price I'd expect (near) audiophile sound, however little in the marketing even seems to mention sound quality, it just seems very gimmicky. Does anyone have any recommendations for a semi portable powered/bluetooth speaker that focuses on accurate sound reproduction (within the limits physics puts on a smaller enclosure)?

What about KEF LSX or LS50? Or Devialet Reactors?

I wouldn't call that semi-portable.

Re: OB–4 – Portable high fidelity loudspeaker

#185

Post by thelazydogsback »

dimnsionofsound wrote: post #164
mnw21cam wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, 4-inch woofers? That's pretty small to be attempting to produce any serious amount of bass. (Source: I made myself a bass amp for my bass guitar when I was a teenager. It had a 12-inch woofer, and needed it. I don't think speakers have broken the laws of physics quite that well in the intervening years.)

You’d be surprised what modern neodymium drivers in a well designed enclosure can accomplish bass-wise. Though you are right in that the laws of physics have not changed, and something has to give, usually what has “given” is the increase in power output of small amplifier boards, thus allowing DIYers (like myself) and manufacturers alike to throw more power into lower efficiency, but higher mass (and thus more bass…

Reminds me of the venerable Radio Shack Minimus 7 -- this was truly a revolutionary product at the time at set the bar for "bookshelf" speakers for years.

Re: OB–4 – Portable high fidelity loudspeaker

#186

Post by morsch »

ehsankia wrote: post #149
kemonocode wrote: post #100

Teenage Engineering makes cute, fun things, but more often than not they feel like they're very overpriced cute fun things for their functionality, and this is honestly no exception. In a sense they're like the Apple of nerdy products. Their Pocket Operators are the closest thing to a "cheap" product they have and even then, last time I checked, they don't even come with a protective case, which I personally find pre…

"Apple of X" categorization is very apt, but I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with trying to occupy that part of the market. I also consider Nespresso and Dyson to also be in that category, for example. It's obviously not everyone, and far from being the best value you can get, but I'm glad they exist.

Nespresso and Dyson? Wow. That comparison doesn't reflect positively on Apple.

Re: OB–4 – Portable high fidelity loudspeaker

#187

Post by samatman »

sanitycheck wrote: post #113
amagumori wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah it’s a weird situation where I feel like a lot of the people who the OP-1 is aimed at either can’t afford it, period or aren’t going to pay $1300 on a “toy”. Because of its market positioning it ends up being this unattainable luxury item that only professional/ established musicians use, instead of a MPC-esque everyman’s tool. The “toy” design positioning and huge price tag work in tandem to keep it unattainabl…

I'm not going to try to defend this expensive radio thing, but regarding the OP-1 I don't think $1300 is an "unattainable luxury item", I'd reserve that label for something like a proper Leica camera. There are plenty of ways to spend a lot more on a musical instrument - buy a decent saxophone, or a Moog One! I just found a ukulele online for $1500. The OP-1 seems overpriced because it's very small, but that's also t…

What's an "unattainable luxury item" and what isn't is a function of product + price tag, not price tag alone.

$1300 is a nosebleed luxury price tag for shoes, but it's a junker car.

But for a synth? Yeah, wouldn't blink. Musical instruments in general have personality, and they cost what they cost.

Re: OB–4 – Portable high fidelity loudspeaker

#188

Post by thelazydogsback »

kazinator wrote: post #152

"incredible sounding stereo". With speakers within inches of each other, and you standing many feet away, and moving around? I don't think so.

I would love it if every product in this category to be able to stream from the same source and be selectable as stereo (if two speakers), mono-center, mono-left-only and mono-right only -- this way I can by more than one and place them as I like. I'm not sure Bluetooth is up to it, which means that one would need to act as master and broadcast to slaves. (And the master would probably have to delay a bit to phase-match w/the remote.)

Re: OB–4 – Portable high fidelity loudspeaker

#189

Post by Firaxus »

amorroxic wrote: post #161
JohnBooty wrote: post #133

I have not heard this speaker, but like many portable speakers, the design is distinctly suboptimal even by portable standards. In a portable device, stereo is actually not desirable. Two reasons. One, you will certainly not experience the intended effect of stereo (the illusion of spatial separation) when the drivers are so close together. Two, the drivers will actually interfere with each other. Not only are you no…

Thank you for the perspective here. A wish there was a way to bookmark comments on HN..

To expand a little on what grzm said:

If you click on the "X time-unit(s) ago" part of the comment heading in a new window/tab, it will open that comment as its own item where you can then favorite it.

It's a little hidden, I have often wished the same thing as you without remembering that favoriting comments is possible, even though I've evidently done it before since when I favorited the parent I found other favorited comments in my favorites list.

Re: OB–4 – Portable high fidelity loudspeaker

#190

Post by monadic2 »

I'm a little peeved that a site named "teenage.engineering" is not an educational one. I realize this is not entirely rational, but I would have expected (and welcomed) a build-a-kit, not yet another generic consumer product.

This isn't even waterproof. What teenagers do you know?

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