Perfect for a Portable Synth Setup? Low Latency Wireless Studio Monitors AIAIAI UNIT-4
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- Опубликовано: 5 июн 2024
- Video sponsored by AIAIAI. Today we are checking out the UNIT-4 from AIAIAI. Learn more about AIAIAI’s UNIT-4 Wireless+, the world’s first portable wireless studio monitors: aiaiai.audio/u4bobeats
Note that all music in this video is recorded with the stereo microphone on the Zoom H6
CONTENT
00:00 A Change of Scenery
00:50 Overview & Specs
05:44 Setup Examples with Computer & Synthesizers
10:29 Sound Quality
11:47 Pros & Cons
13:41 Who are they for?
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Heads up, we will be shipping all UNIT-4 monitors with protective magnetic steel grilles, and offer additional accessories in the form of a carrying case, bumper cases and isolation pads 😊
Some three year old would get into those comes and membranes with a lot of interest fast. But nah… fancy sleek design. Lifestyle product. You are teenage engineering spoiled. Sad that people reward that behaviour. Make something that survives a whole life. Sorry but a carying case should be standard for a mobile product at that price range. Oh, whats the ip water resistNce btw? I‘d throw these into the back of an old golf iv… with campingstuff.
@@dasczwo The speaker doesn’t have an IP rating but is resistant to light water, such as light rain or an accidental drink spill
@@TomFletcher-AIAIAI at least something. Lets see how they stack up against a pair of jbl control one, i use those outside even survived falling into a lake. Nice to see you are pushing latency down after all its 2023, no flying cars and still audio cables from the 19 hundreds. But please make it acessible, bring prices down.
Very nice 😄
Why no usb-c?
Now I won’t need to leave my music hobby at home when I’m off living my #vanlife
Imagine being parked up in the middle of the moors or up in the Welsh valleys and being able to play my maschine or Logic. This is so sick!
Is there going to be any other models? Maybe some half the size for half the price? I’d love a pair of these but it’s a lot of funds for me at the mo.
I need these for my studio!
Beautiful home Bo!
Good for working in classrooms or doing presentations, where you want to minimise potential trip hazards and cut down on cables and set up time in general.
Interesting idea!
I allways wanted sone of that for monitoring on a live jam
Thank you for a thorough review! 👍 Do they work with the wireless transmitter from TMA studio wireless? It’s well built and has a built-in battery
As far as I know it does not work with this transmitter but perhaps they can make it work? I'd like to see that
X01 (the headphone transmitter) has been designed to work with headphones and isn’t compatible with UNIT-4 unfortunately!
Good to see you still jammin on the Maschine+ 😉
👌
Hopefully, they'll produce receivers that we can use on existing speakers to make those wireless.
That would add latency, so no.
That would be dope like an XLR to Transmitter for L and R speaker and a unit that goes to the sound source like with these BUT they wouldn’t sell their own speakers then so no probably not.
Very interesting, thanks so much Bo! How would you use these with an audio interface? Would you use audio cables from interface to speakers? So you couldn't use them wireless
You would simply connect the transmitter to the audio interface headphones output or monitor output
@@BoBeats ah that makes sense, thanks so much! Long day so brain not quite awake.. Lol or it's just middle aged madness!
i am genuinely curious if you are into the idea of wireless studio monitors? How would you use them? drop a comment
I would have been interested in a more detailed analysis of the sound quality, specifically because they are wireless. We already know wired sounds better than Bluetooth, but this is an unknown.
Been using my rode wireless gos (you have there) in conjunction with bose s1s or my cheap version (makita 18v battery into cheapo amazon 10€ 50x50w with street found hifi speakers or jbl control one pros) to play guitar/synths through a derelict zement factory. Just use the mic ins on that rode transmitter as a line in. Have a battery powered mixer to control level (use the tc blender)
Is nice to use an old cement silo as a reverb from 50 meters away.
-Once managed to setup a cheapo quadraphonic setup in a derelict factory hall using 2 fm transmitters set to different frequencies from amazon, and 4 cheapo radios as receiver. Instant lofi (not to bad) but NO latency. Not strictly legal though. They have a range of 50 to 200m max so in that factory setting no one was affected. Dont do that at home.
800 for those speakers is just to much, sorry. Maybe ok for op field buyer types.
Donner, joyo, behringer we are waiting!
I think for a scenario where want to travel and create its a cool idea, but to be honest not for a studio on mixing. If you buy crappy wires, they affect the sound on speakers, wireless would be the same, and also, it would suck to be in a session and have the battery of the transmuters die on you. That is the reason I have ditched my Aiaiai wireless +. But, I could see use if you are on the go and want to make some music while traveling.
Based on my experience with AIAIAI’s H10, I’ll avoid these ones. High noise level unless the volume is super low, and when they sold them to me they didn’t even have a way to update the firmware for Apple users (they do now finally, way too late).
Lastly when my first headband arrived broken (had a deformation and would pop and click) their way of replacing units is for you to send them a picture of the product after cutting the wires with scissors - hard to support that kind of e-waste in 2023. I took mine to be recycled but you can’t expect everyone to make that effort
I work mainly in the box and when I'm on vacations, on the move, I've a dedicated laptop, miroring my main setup (same plugins, same soundbanks on SSDs). During these moments I only use a pair of headphones. Consequently I don't have use of such things. #1 I keep my mobile setup light and simple and a pair of speakers would be cumbersome. My mobile setup fits in a briefcase and I've a very tiny car (a laptop, a 7506, an Xkey Air 25, 2 external disks, some cables, an AC adapter). #2 I'm a composer and I don't share my compositions up until they're finished and mixed on a "real" setup.
And yes, carrying 2 big power bricks to power that... It's a no no for me.
Low latency portable great sounding bass speakers? Shuddup n take my money! They should make bigger speakers for stage, street and bigger studio scenarios 💪🏽💪🏽
Bo what power bank do you recommend that would power an external synth like my Virus TI2 and Elektron Rytm outdoors? I want a portable outdoor setup.
Nice speakers. My only concern is the lack of protection on the front. How long do you think it will take until you accidentally put your finger though the tweeters when unpacking your gears.
They do come with a grill but unfortunately it wasnt ready for the video shoot
We will be shipping all UNIT-4 monitors with protective magnetic steel grilles, and offer additional accessories in the form of a carrying case, bumper cases, and isolation pads :)
This is pretty cool.
Even to just use them running on AC power but wireless audio is super appealing.
Pretty cool. I like their headphones.
Good to know! I found them a tad too noisy (why i havnt featured them) for my taste, but definitely solid wireless performance
@BoBeats glad to see you acknowledge the noise, something I wish I had seen mentioned in other reviews before buying them
Now we have Bedroom Producers, Livingroom Producers but do we really need another Kitchen, Bathroom or Toillette Producers 😂
😂
Yes
Seems cool. I'm not in the target market, but it looks like it greatly improves the main downside of wireless speakers.
Thanks for checking out the vid. definitely not for everyone but yeah, they are pretty cool
Excellent review Bo.
I thought you made a very lucid point about the difference between using a Groovebox versus using an interactive device that is very latency sensitive like a synth keyboard.
With a Groovebox if you’re doing knob, tweaking and firing clips that timing problem is probably literally a rounding error.
With a keyboard 16 ms Can be pretty painful especially when connected to a laptop with ASIO, or even a Mac. Of course if you have an RME interface maybe that becomes tractable. Still it has to add 5 to 10 ms of latency, and 25ms becomes very noticeable.
Which leads me to your other excellent demonstration of connecting cables to the speakers. The claim of wireless is really a 2X factor: wireless power and wireless audio. I’d be willing to put up with wired audio to achieve a low latency if I have a highly portable speaker.
Can you confirm that connecting audio cables to your speakers from a device really was as low as connecting to normal monitors sometimes wireless speakers with aux inputs, do not achieve low latency. For example, my Spark Go practice amp or some Bluetooth speakers, or Sonos speakers. I hope you could comment about that or forward that question to Tom.
Do you think the speakers would work for busking?
Hey! Connecting the speakers with a normal audio cable has no latency. They run just like normal speakers would. And like you say if you connect via an audio interface there is a bit of added latency with that interface. However in most on the go situations I think its more useful to go with the dongle as an audio interface in itself. I ran decently heavy projects with it in Cubase and it worked well.
Hey both, thanks for checking in on my comment. Yeah, I think that the speakers would be just fine for a groove boxes and mixing on the go. However, if you are planning to play a midi keyboard with Burchell Instrument, I would probably choose to plug those audio cables in from the interface
I recently purchased their wireless headset. It should be coming Tuesday. I’m very excited about that because I hear the latency on those headphones is quite good in your review. I thought I heard Tom say something about there being twice the latency because of syncing up to receivers is that accurate?
hey I have not reviewed the headphones but I have them. I wasn't a big fan of them because they have slightly higher noise to signal ratio than I like. But i think they hold up really well wirelessly
It’d be interesting to compare these to a 2.1 (or even 2.2) MINIRIG setup. The latter aren’t low latency (I don’t mind running cables from synth to speakers) but have great sound, battery life and portability.
Is Minirig the brand? I am not familiar with them
@BoBeats Yep! Based in the UK and making ultra-portable, battery-powered wired/wireless speakers for a long time. They're on their 3rd iteration of the main monitors and sub - the sound quality and volume are amazing for the size and price. They can be quirky (and they don't have anything like AIAIAI's low-latency tech), but they came in clutch during Knobcon when others needed speakers but didn't have them.
Exactly, just as Alex-r-t pointed out.
I have mine for some years and I’m still blown away by what they deliver!
Definitely worth checking out for an audiphile/synth head like you ;)
minirigs are also a let down in my opinion. the bluetooth latency isn't terrible, but like almost every bluetooth device they seem to go to sleep if there is not a constant audio stream so if you are using them with an instrument, they will drop notes randomly. also, they've invented a new problem that I have never seen any other device do, but they don't give phono jack absolute priority so if you are plugged in and a previously paired device comes in range and pairs, you will lose your hardwired audio connection! completely egregious functionality for a company that markets toward mobile DJs. a reliable audio stream is sort of important. Why can't anyone get this right?
Can you get a smaller power supply cable, even just to charge them?
Testing/recording speakers outside in order to avoid the sound of the room. Smart idea.
(The neighbors can have an other idea on this subject 😉 but as long as it's not an habit, can work well)
Haha! Im gonna make it a habit for sure!
@@BoBeats When I said it's a smart idea I'm sincere. Usualy when people try to record the sound of speakers it's a real crap, even if the speakers are somehow good. When you record in an open space, without or with less reflexions, you can get more from the speakers and less from the environment.
Gonna use this to fight the teens on the subway with their mini portable speakers. Sweet revenge is gonna be mine at last!!! All jokes aside. This is great for mobile DJ's and Mobile Synth artists.
this the best comment i have gotten in a while
Do it.
Hello Bo, Using a Blue tooth speaker with My tablet for audio Apps is impossible because the latency is ridicules. My question is why is it that Mobile DAWs and Music creating apps have terrible latency on bluetooth speakers but no latency when using and music app or playing a video? Are these speakers a solution to that?
Hey! BT speakers always have pretty bad latency regardless if its music production or just playing a video. You just do not notice it when you watch a video because your video as a consistent stream of audio. Try playing a pad sound. Initially you hear the latency. When u hit the keys there is a delay. But then it just drones on. What these speakers do differently is they are much lower latency and that makes it possible to actually make music wirelessly
@@BoBeats I see, great video, and I'll definitely be looking in to these, I like making music outside, get away from distraction of nabors.
Why wouldn't they just send analogue signals with very low latency, like in-ear monitors?
Hmm maybe the solution I'm looking for...
Personally I think 16 ms is still too high for wireless speakers, especially for monitoring work where you need real time feedback.
I do a lot of video editing and this would be useless to me. I only ever use a wired solution, even my supposed gaming mode on some of my BT earbuds are useless with my TV.
Trying to sync lips with sound is a nightmare. I learned to lipread pretty well due to my hearing so latency really does play a big part when I am listening to anything which requires feedback.
I have a pair of Sennheiser wireless earbuds that present zero issues as they come with their own wireless transmitter.
When I use them in BT mode, this is when I notice latency, I am thinking they have their own proprietary wireless to make latency a non issue.
Personally I have no idea what you would use these for, who they're marketed to, just not convinced you would use them in any form of professional application.
Interesting! I edited the entire video with the speakers and the latency was not an issue. But for syncing audio/video (i line up the clap transients so I dont rely on audio for it) i bet it could be tricky. I don’t think its a alternative to wired, rather its for situations where wireless is more convinient. Interesting thoughts tho and it goes to show that professional needs differ.
@@BoBeats I do some intense editing (well it can be), I am working mostly with 24P footage and going down to 1 frame edits, Davinci Resolve likes to be a little bratty and gives me some missed hits when working this accurately.
I have my wave file shown but because I am not editing sound per se but editing to sound, you can imagine how important it is to have zero latency, especially when you have multiple time lines.
I have to render my footage to see if all is well, it can be 5 minutes before i know something is off. It's no fun editing at 24 frames, you get less ability to sync to beats, depending on how the music is.
I recently had a project that I had to remix the music for, since I no longer had the original edit files, I just used the old render and tried to match up the new mix with.
This was a nightmare, so I think more induced latency would have been an even bigger headache.
Maybe I am just too fussy with my accuracy lol.
Not available in México 😢
Very nice, compact format. Quite expensive, though...
Yepp. Its not cheap. I suspect it reflects that AIAIAI are a small company. They can’t compete against massive corps in terms of scale
They look and sound great, but the price is a bit out of reach, maybe top it off around the £499 mark 🤞🤞👍
Would be interesting to know what's the power consumption of the transmitter. Maybe it can be powered by a tiny power bank or a small battery on a 3D printed add-on.
I like the fact that it's a high quality BT speaker on it's own, so i would get rid of my BT speaker and studio speakers and use this instead.
I hope AIAIAI can answer that in the comments. I used an Anker power bank but Tom had a much smaller powerbank he used with the transmitter. So my guess is you could power the transmitter with a pretty small bank.
Thanks for the interest. The power consumption is 5V/0.5A so you can use a very small powerbank.
Would have been useful to have seen Bo recording a drum beat up against a click track
THAT would so me more about the real world latency in the context of making music not just listening or
doing elbow pads or floaty keys that isn't really time dependant that much.
rrp £700.00
Yeah I thought about that and I tried doing that but I am simply not good enough at finger drumming. It would simply look and sound like its off, because of my lack of skill.
For me the speakers also having line inputs SAVED it
making wireless optional was a very very smart move as i see the speakers for me as self powered hi fi speakers.@@BoBeats
Carrying a wire is easy , getting power out to my back garden isn't!
Yeah 100% that is the big thing for me! I dont necessarily need wireless but battery is king
Btw I saw SanjayC did pretty much the test you wanted to see.
yeh saw that today also@@BoBeats
Tweeter should be protected. Otherwise cool stuff!
They actually come with a grill unfortunately I didn’t have one as I had access to early units.
Just a heads up that we will be shipping all UNIT-4 monitors with protective magnetic steel grilles, and offer additional accessories in the form of a carrying case, bumper cases and isolation pads.
I don't mean to be negative but 800 is getting into established monitors and low latency is ok but as it's still there, not something that excites me. I'd live with cables. But decent battery life (sound is objective) and for those occasions where you need low latency wireless, it will find it's market and I hope it succeeds as it may get more affordable and improve over time.
Totally get your pov, thanks for adding your thoughts to the discussion
Wow, I missed that they were 800..
I commend Tom Hardy and the team for their efforts in this space
Been using the rode wireless mics with my boses for low latency transmission. Just use the mic ins as line ins…Works perfect. 800? Sorry. Make it 400.
In this scenario, which I have considered, how does the impedance and level match cause they understand the lapel mic is not mine lol how did the sound?
@@reganjo1955 surprisingly good. In the end those lapel mics are nothing different from all the cheapo electrets drawing 1,5 v or so and connected to the line in of computer soundcards forever. Its just a line in. Try. Had a mixer before going in to gainstage.
Is this your signal chain?
Instruments-> mixer stereo out -> 2 Rode Transmitter lapel mic inputs { wireless} -> Rode receiver -> splitter -> speakers
I’ll have to try it again. I may not have set it up with the right levels.
if you can hear them talking its not that loud!, but they sound clear and clean, wireless is priceless in a way no? im afraid to check the price, looks like a dongle there
$800 a pair!!!!
Ok the price is very high, then the company seems to be drawing attention too and using wireless as the major selling point to me which seems odd because the feature looks like an afterthought not very well developed at all it clearly has latency issues otherwise you wouldn’t of spent so much time talking about it, as a bass player and drummer I know that 16ms is too high, why not just use 2.4ghz like rode I’ve been using rodelink for years to send wireless audio from my iPad so I can roam about stage live sampling other musicians never gone wrong as good as zero latency. But having said all that the real hot selling point here is the battery power and high quality stereo audio this is something I am excited for, as all the other battery options out there are mono when it comes to wiring for zero latency.
thats a really interesting question, I hope AIAIAI can swing by and answer you as to their standard vs 2.4 ghz standard of wireless mics
In regards to if 16 is too high: Many audio interfaces has a round trip latency of 10ms, where the best one has about 5 or so on a very low buffer (the best I’ve ever had was a TB interface with 6 ms on 32 sample buffer) so 16 wirelessly is not bad at all. But it is interesting if there’s a particular reason why you couldn’t use a 2.4gHz solution!
@@BoBeats this probably goes some way to explaining why I don’t bother with audio interfaces I just record outside of the box and then bring the audio in or just work in the box since being on apple headphone outputs are perfectly serviceable for getting audio out 😂😂
Cmoncmon, slap it into a dongle bluetooth transmitter receiver thingy… finally
they really dropped the ball making the transmitter without a battery. its like a half executed product. the whole "compact" excuse and "battery wearing out" is super duper lame. have they seen wireless earbuds? airflys? the flood of wireless guitar transmitters? all battery powered and compact. if they are truly worried about longevity they also need to address that with the speakers themselves. heres an idea, replaceable/removable batteries. I really really wanted to like these. I do fit the persona who would need such a thing, but the lack of battery powered transmitter is such a collassol FU that I can't, I just can't.
Ouch 🤕 that price
Hummm… I am really skeptical about these: I would be on the market for a pair of honest battery powered portable studio monitors to bring them everywhere but there is definitely too much emphasis on the wireless thing on the reviews and i think that for a pro musician, it’s just a gimmick. They are close monitor so cable lenght never exceed 1.5 meter maximum! As for the adapter bricks: these are just jokes considering the price of the monitors.
I am slightly disappointed because I thought Aiaiai was more than a gimmicky brand for fortunate trainspotters…
@bobeats: I understood they are better than iloud micro monitors but it like comparing carrots and apples… How would they compare to Neumann KH-80 (which would be a fairer comparison, price point wise) ?
The Adams I compared them with was similar in price and size (and with todays inflation would have been more expensive for a pair). Unfortunately i dont have the neumanns to compare with. My spontaneous guess after looking at the specs for them I’d say Neumanns are likely better. But the main question is not wether there are better similarly priced speakers (surely there is) but wether u want portable and wireless. Because its not a gimmick. Its a very useful feature IF you need it. If you dont you are paying a lot for something u dont need!
Thanks@@BoBeats
I think these are really cool, but I must pass due to the price. $800 is quite steep.
I told AIAIAI that it could absolutely be a deal breaker for alot of ppl
Cool but 800€ hm I don't think
Much will be interesting to get ones
800 definitely is to much
$800 buys you B&W’s
drivers are too small.
You know you're in for an overpriced item when the display page is one of those endless scrolls to the bottom!