The Bluetooth LE connection that the Bang & Olufsen app uses to control the speakers is independent from the Bluetooth Classic connection that's used for audio. Because these are two different Bluetooth connections, you can pair the speakers with any other device, such as the Sound Burger, for audio and still use the app on your phone to set up the stereo pair.
I noticed that. I have both this speaker and some B&O headphones and I can be connected and listening to one, but if I use the app on the phone I can still access details about the device (like the remaining battery life)
Yeah I have a big speaker that does that too, it has two channel of bluetooth, this is a really smart way as I can let friends connect, pool up their Playlist and switch to their phone while I still control the speaker on my own phone.
Idk why, most BT speakers struggle with this function I know that JBL has this function for ages, but nevertheless needs some tambourine dance every time I wonder is it really so hard to achieve ? Also various Chinese “true wireless” buds always had that problem
That was mentioned in passing. The main point is that the speakers forget the stereo pairing, and that it seems impossible to set this up without the app. It works when using the app.
When I was a mixing enginner, I used to mix the song in mono first, trying to get everything in its place, in terms of frequency, volume and compression. Only when I was satisfied I would open the stereo field, that made it much easier to mix and to be compatible with most of the speakers that would play it back, because even though they are in stereo, the wideness of the speaker array, can change the sound, the distance to the source is also important. If you can make it good with one speaker, it will be great with two.
I came to say the same thing - I imagine (actually this is a fact) a lot of engineers think that process is nonsense since "everyone has stereo nowadays" and they completely ignore what you've described. I tend to fall into your camp on this but I would guess the mixes Techmoan was listening to were definitely done with a mind to stereo only, and everything opened up when he went to the second speaker. Also to add: what he's talking about at 10:26 or so is exactly a perfect example of why I say you should still optimize for mono in 2023 - if someone is far enough from the stereo speakers, they effectively become one "composite mono" source to the listener's ears, and you can compensate for that in the mix if you're considerate enough :)
People usually track a left and right guitar recorded separately, which increases the fullness. If you ''quad-track'' and add a center guitar, it enhances even more. The same goes for vocals. The imperfections between the two tracks. Panned hard left and hard right make the sound fuller.
The issue of making a stereo mix compatible with mono playback is a very basic part of any mixing session. I am surprised though that even early recordings from the 1960's would have phase cancellation issues - I am sure people were aware of it back then.
@@martifingers greatly aware, how do you think you calibrate a tape machine's azimuth? you record a sine wave on the farthest tracks from each other on the tape and have them phase cancel, once they add up completely your azimuth is aligned perfectly
Great review, as always! Our ability to discern information in a stero image is also exploited by Garmin in its aviation radios. One can listen to an airfield approach radio in one ear and the weather (ATIS) in the other.
You are joking right? Why would I want to listen to the two channels simultaneously? I'll select ATIS to get the current information and note it down correctly then switch back to the appropriate frequency and pass my request noting that I had the most recent information. Stereo is two complementary signals that add up to a complete image. You are suggesting the equivalent of German in one ear and Portuguese in the other. Please don't take up flying for a career.
@@AnthonyHigham6414001080 If they can process two information channels at once, I'd say more power to them. Anyone that doesn't may be free to use the interchanging method you describe, and in the 99.999% of non-critical situations, it is probably just as fine. I'd be fine with being a passenger on a plane either of you pilot.
I have the Beoplay A1 first Gen for over 5 years. On the first month of use, a friend of mine had an A1 as well and we gave a go at stereo… We were absolutely blown away by the results, wondering what kind of magic trick was happening before our ears. absolutely ear pleasing that everyone in the room could appreciate. We both purchased another speaker immediately (in another colour to distinguish L/R). Definitely the sum of both is much better than x2 speakers. Just to say that I am very satisfied to see we were not the only one liking it, and thanks you for sharing this with the community. However, for me, with time, stereo pairing became harder and more finicky, often dropping music on one side or not playing if speaker were more that 2 metres apart. It did not do it at first. Also,, my understanding is that the Beoplay A1 Gen 1 is better in sound quality than the Gen 2 (and this is the opinion of my B&O dealer too), I am not too sure if that is still true with the software updates. Regardless, the sound in stereo pairing of Two Beoplay A1 Gen 1 may not be the loudest I have heard, but is is by far the best I have experienced with Bluetooth Speakers, by a long shot.
A professional music engineer will be checking during the mix process by switching between stereo and mono. It’s practical because many people listen to music on mono devices, but it also can be very helpful for making mix decisions, and checking for any phase cancellation issues in your mix. I do wonder whether some digital devices / codecs are better than others at streaming while mixing stereo down to mono and preserving all the information.
i think it would be good to introduce the concept of „stereo” in general. people confuse it with what should be called „double mono”, calling - for example - amiga music capabilities „stereo”, when in fact they aren’t. it’s not about playing some instruments through one speaker, and some through the other (yes, i know there was this trend in the 60s), and this quite often remains an unrecognized feature.
@@MadBiker-vj5qj that’s a good question, I’m not sure. I know producers will often send multiple versions out to be mastered though, like an instrumental, one with vocals a bit louder and one with them a bit quieter.
10:18 this is why I miss the Boomboxes of the early 80s... People used to think that some of the really long, oversized boomboxes' designs where simply about being "bigger is better" but there is a great deal to be said about the advantage of separating the speakers on a stereo setup. No matter how small mankind is able to compress audio equipment with advanced in electronics, our many years of evolution plays a big part in how we end up perceiving things.
@@MadBiker-vj5qj : PS : I'm a German guy, living since 2019 in Poland. I have a small ranch and over here the powerlines are really WEAK. IF i power up to 2/3 the STREETLIGHTS are flickering ! (5000Watts RMS) lolololololol
This echoes the experience I've had with B&O H9i headphones - great sound, great build quality but a hit-and-miss experience with the UI on the device. It would be nice if they included a simple hardware switch for selecting channels as they did with their active speakers in the past - sometimes the old-fashioned way is the best.
Plenty of dedicated "professional" bluetooth device reviewers never even refer to the codecs, so this was a fantastic review! It's particularly good to know AptX Adaptive is a superset of HD and LL.
Bluetooth codec isn't the decisive factor, high bitrates of SBC also sound decent, AAC only sounds best on Apple devices, Android AAC sounds vary, but in general not as good as Apple, LDAC is the best on paper, in reality LDAC very easily gets signal interfered.
yea years ago I was used to thinny sounding speakers and when I walked around in a local store I noticed a new small bluetooth speaker on the counter connected (Jam Classic) to a player playing demos when you pressed a button. I was amazed of the deep bassy sound and for the 25 Euros I decided to buy it. Since then the 'dollar stores' here sell them for a few Euros and they sound similarly good. I Guess it all has to do with the Neodymium driver magnets being used.
Consumer-level tech has just taken off in recent years. You've got smartphones with professional-level cameras and drones that can take shots that a few years ago would have required a helicopter. There's small RUclips channels producing videos that can rival the work of professional studios.
Mixing and Mastering engineers put a lot of care into what you were asking about, it's called Mono-compatibility, which is basically just doing everything to ensure that the final song sounds great both in mono and stereo
I'm glad my own impressions are confirmed; I was pretty blown away when I got a second one and paired them. You can set them up in a room and people wonder where the proper hifi is hiding.
Would it work well outside? I have a proper hifi setup at my house, but I have one of these for picnics, or the beach etc. I love it because it fits so easily in my purse, realistically I don't want extra volume because I try and be respectful to others in public - but I love the best quality sound even at low listening volumes. Would having 2 of these say on a picnic sound that much better than 1?
@@svm5543 I set them up in an outdoor patio area at a friends before he had his outdoor speakers connected, and people were wondering where all the sound was coming from. They were just lying spaced apart on the pavers.
The Sony SRS-XB23 also has the stereo feature - but they actually have a physical button on them to do this. And they even feature a party mode that allows you to connect up to 100 of them together.
I recently became deaf in one ear from an acoustic neuroma benign tumor so when I played songs in mono I noticed this mono "loss" you explained here right away. Luckily I found a guy who makes stereo headphones for the single sided deaf community called the "2E1 Headphones" (stands for "Two Ears in One") where both left and right drivers are in one ear can of the headphones and his website describes the same exact explanation you did here regarding mono versus stereo. Those 2E1 headphones with both left and right drivers in one headphone ear cup allow my one ear to hear in stereo again and is an improvement over hearing stereo converted to mono. For someone like me who went deaf in one ear whose hobby was hi-fi stereo headphone related these 2E1 headphones are a life saver for me. I am 100% nerve deaf in one ear so bone conducting headphones don't work for me (I recall your review on those for your hard of hearing father-in-law).
I have hearing loss in my left ear due to a damaged ear drum. I had no idea about those headphones. I need to go find these. I usually end up listening to my headphones too loud to compensate for the one ear. I also tried bone conduction as well and it still sounds the same as regular headphones. Those headphones sound like a godsend lol.
@@lauralulu4444 Yea, they are called "The 2E1 Headphones for the Single Sided Deaf Community" and and I highly recommend them - they have been a quality of life game changer for me. I can hear two stereo again with one ear with the 2E1 and I will never go back to mono!
I do miss the days when albums actually used stereo, as you say it seems most are just mixing for single speaker setups and it feels like we've taken a step backwards. As for these, much too expensive for my blood and I'll continue to enjoy music with a nice set of headphones.
I believe that's down to another reason, the "loudness war". Where composers try to make their music as *loud* as possible. It's typically achieve by using a compressor to "compress" the sound, making the louder thing still stay loud and softer thing louder. In the end you get pretty much zero dynamic range where everything is so damn louddd lol.@@IsoMacintosh
Great point about playing stereo music as mono, and how this affects the sound, something almost unavoidable with a Bluetooth speaker. Recording for stereo broadcasts I have to ensure mono playback compatibility, in general terms it's a matter of ensuring correct phase alignment across the mic inputs 🎶
Another thing about stereo/mono: during stereo recordings, the sound from one side is usually also recorded on the other side, but with a slight delay because of larger distance (this becomes especially important in the case of the higher frequencies). When replayed in stereo this effect adds to the stereo experience, but when replayed in mono these frequencies tend to be cancelled out due to being in counter-phase, making it overall sound rather "dull"❗
'Immersive' techniques, yeah, that'd do it, though i'd expect the band & olsen to simulate a listener between the two channels and reproduce that sound instead. They might well do that to be fair as it is a simple enough way to improve your mono speaker. Various effects already rely on similar principles. If they do indeed do that, the effect is more likely brain isolation, as techmoan suggests, as humans can 'concentrate' on one ear over another to pick out bits. It'd be a worthwhile dissertation/thesis for someone.
That's fake stereo. True stereo is using a stereo mic or two mono mics on separate channels. Copying a track and put some milliseconds delay on it is dangerous because of phase.
Great video, as always. Looking at the B&O speakers and the need to pair them through the app, there's a lot to be said for having specific buttons on the device with a single function. For example, I have a pair of Sony SRS-XB23 Bluetooth speakers which have the facility to link them as a stereo pair. It's a one-time process - switch both speakers on, press the Bluetooth button on both (as for normal pairing), then press the ST.PAIR button. When connected to each other, a voice prompt will sound 'Left' through the one and 'Right' through the other so that they can be positioned correctly. To then connect them to any Bluetooth source device, pairing the source picks up the stereo pair as though they were a single device that happens to have two speakers. The speakers then 'remember' this setting. To connect the paired device in future, one then just switches on the device's Bluetooth mode, then switch on both speakers. A voice prompt will then do the 'Left' / 'Right' thing followed seconds later with a 'Bluetooth Connected' prompt. No app required!
Sound engineer here that’s mastered for a few record labels. All tracks should be mastered to play back in both stereo and mono playback. BUT you will lose definition and clarity moving to mono due to phasing and filtering issues. As an engineer, you try your best to mix for both but stereo will always get more focus. When I started mixing for broadcast, mono had more focus since that’s what most TV’s were, as we progressed so did the emphasis move to stereo. Now we have gone full circle again and moved back to mono devices. But yes, spot on, what you’re hearing is not only the left and right mix interacting with one another, but also the ambience or aura bubble that comes with it.
The stereo effect has more to do with than just having different instruments in different speakers. When you double track the same instrument and pan it to different speakers it gives a sense of width and "chorusing", and that's what you're losing when you collapse it down to mono.
great review/lab test - not all just talking, like so many rev iewers , but sound tests , diagrams text the works - Very useful - begs the question how many wireless speakers are brilliant paired up.!! Had me engaged the whole way through so look forward to other audiophile tests ...
3:50 Left Speaker: Left! Right Speaker: Right! Left Speaker: Left! Right Speaker: Right! Left Speaker: Left! Right Speaker: Right! Left Speaker: Left! Right Speaker: Right! Matt: Right.
Hi Matt I'm a keyboard player and have had numerous mono keyboard amps. I now have two PA speakers with a mixer. The output from my keyboard is stereo although you can make it mono. I have to two speakers behind me on stage. But the keyboard sounds so much better in stereo. I get a much more fuller sound. If I use one mono speaker now it sounds really " naselly" and flat. Wouldn't have a keyboard amp now
Great video as always. I’m often tempted to upgrade to a different Bluetooth speaker or smart speaker but generally am put off by the mono nature of these things! So interesting to see your opinions.
@@hermanmunster3358better still, plug a BT adapter into the aux port of an old stereo amp and speakers. Soundbars are marginally better than the mono speakers but still not a patch on proper separation that can only be achieved by spacing the speakers out around your listening position. And given that people have been ditching their old audio kit for a few years now because it 'takes up too much space' or the speaker wires look 'unsightly' in their mimalist grey modern interiors, its often much less expensive than buying a soundbar too.
I've done this with Google Nest audio paired in stereo I've actually got 2 paired in a group in a plant pot with a mesh covering in the garden. It channels the sound from the back to the deck. 4 speakers in 2 groups of pairs.
I picked up pair of Edifier MP202 DUO wireless portable stereo speakers for €50.00. They are a great pair of speakers with true wireless stereo(TWS). When you turn them on they auto connect and a white LED comes on behind the grill and tells you which is left and which is right. They can take a Micro SD Card with audio. Aux audio is also supported. USB charging is also supported. I use them a lot with my phone and iPad. I would love to hear you review them.
I need a video conference between Paul and Techmoan. Paul at PS Audio, could answer a lot of questions. I see a podcast, type of video, that last 45 minutes, if not an hour.
You know, everybody who joked about airpods being the death of high quality audio were laughed at back in the day. Yet here we are with middling audio mixing (pun intended) and people thinking Spotify is as good as it gets for music quality. The daft part is that it's cheaper in the long run to buy CDs (not to mention better for the musicians), a USB CD/DVD drive to rip them, and a dedicated music player with a wired audio port and wired headphones. Wires are still the best means to transmit data, _especially_ digital data. Remember that when the UK decides to pull something stupid like replacing the copper phone lines with VoIP and we're left with no internet when it rains.
Cool video. I’ve had 2 Bose Soundlink Revolve speakers and listening to them paired in stereo is a real treat. It’s hard to believe that the sound is coming from such a small set of speakers.
One issue that is usually overlooked when listening on a mono speaker is masking. As a mix engineer, yes, eq and dynamics play a part in blending an element into a mix, but arguably stereo placement plays a more important role. You mentioned a keyboard and guitar, which potentially contain similar frequencies, fighting against each other for your attention. The simplest way to sidestep this is to move them away from each other and hey presto, you can hear them much more optimally. Stereo works because we have two ears after all! I’ve simplified the issue somewhat I admit lol
Yeah I have something similar with my dual HomePods on my TV (and dual HomePod Mini’s on my bedroom TV). Single speakers just don’t cut it no matter how good they sound. Adding the second speaker is a huge difference.
As being hearing impaired in one ear (100%R / 0%L) the topic of playing stereo on a mono device was very interesting to me. I have always noticed that some of my old favourite 4 track pioneers, such as The Doors, sound terrible played on mono through my MP3 players. I stopped listening to it on portable devices and instead listened to it through stereo speakers set up next to each other. I finally understand why this is the case now, thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge!
Matt, my favorite set of desk speakers is the Klipsh Promedia 2.1. The original v.2-400 was a beast but the more recent version isn't bad either. At only about a hundred dollars, they are an incredible bargain. Definitely worth checking out. Great explanation on stereo. I don't know how many people don't realize just what they are missing when listening to a mono speaker or their phone. A phone where the speakers are 4" apart. Last I checked, my ears a bit farter apart than that and I don't tape my phone to my forehead when listening.
Phase cancellation is an issue for mono. That's why it sounds muffled. If you take a look at musical instruments, like keyboards/synthesizers, they have two outputs: L/Mono, R. If you plug both jacks you get obviously a stereo sound. But if you want mono, you just connect the L jack. When R is not plugged, L switches to a special mono mode that makes all required changes to minimise the phase cancellation effects and still of course reproduces the R sound as well.
The problem with stereo organs and keyboards is that often they sound great in stereo but when a stereo recording of the instrument is played in mono it sounds strangely muffled. I have experienced this especially with a big Elka organ and some of Casio's synthesizers. What I do to fix this is that during mixing I reduce the stereo separation for these instruments by blending the channels together so that left is maybe 70% left and 30% right and vice versa. This of course makes the stereo effect a little less impressive but it sounds much better when played in mono. Because many people today listens on a mono speaker I have chosen to sacrifice a little of the stereo to satisfy the mono people.
@@organfairy I think you've made a huge mistake. The quality difference more than justifies two versions. Also, it can be mitigated in software, which i believe many devices do. The ones that do will will sound better with the stereo version than your adjusted one as you still retain huge amounts of degradation.
@@mandowarrior123 The way I see it mixing is a compromise. I know that some purist producers only mixes their products for people with good speaker systems. However, as tennant in the basement of the Tower of Song I cannot be picky; I have to mix my music so it sounds reasonably good on as many devices as possible instead of picking just the casual mono listener or the high end connoisseur. And besides I have never been criticised for the way I do my mix - as a matter of fact I have been complimented for their clarity where every instrument can be heard instead of being drowned in reverb and stereo antics .
Excellent additional review. I did the same. In fact, I did things a little differently. I got the old A1, then got two of them. Then, I got the new A1 and compared them. Finally, I got two of the old and two of the new and decided that I was keeping the new as they have more features. The old A1, however, has a more powerful bass and is louder. The new A1, the Gen 2, has a much more delicate sound and absolutely clear highs which the older A1 didn't have. As I was never planning to blast them in a huge call, I didn’t need the extra volume and did like the features and the sound quality, so I kept the new ones and sent the old ones back. These speakers in stereo are absolutely superb. I have found everything you have, and I am so glad to hear my assumptions were not far off. The music sounds better with two than it ever did with one. This is true for every set of Bluetooth speakers I have had in pairs. I now will not have or use a Bluetooth speaker if it is not in a stereo pair. What is the point? I have all this technology only to be losing so much of the music, and when people hear the output in a stereo pairing, they realize that there is actually a lot of the music that is simply not heard when one speaker is doing the work alone. Operational experience: I use them with a Sony Walkman a lot of the time, and I use them in a stereo pair. I am able to connect them easily, and it works almost every time on the first try. You were able to do it once, so it should be able to happen. Not sure why that was. They were known to have some connectivity problems, so that might be it. Also, it is worth looking at what Bluetooth version the record player is using. One thing I am wondering is if the codec being used is the reason I noticed the difference in the sound of the Sony Walkman. I had the older one you have, and I got the newer one with Android and compared them. The newer one had a sound quality that was somehow better. I couldn't put my finger on why it was better. I ended up returning it because the battery life was so low compared to the previous version, and using the Clear Audio added a real boost in audio quality anyway. Sony has since released a newer version of the Walkman, and the battery life is better, but it is quite expensive, and given what I do with mine, I have not yet been able to justify the price. I will have a look again as the sound quality difference is really a thing. It might be the codec. I just didn't think that could have been it. We live and learn! Loved seeing the screen save tape play....that alone makes me want to go and get that player. Thanks for making the video for people like me who are a bit too nerdy for their own good. Looking forward to more. BTW, if you get the opportunity, I recommend listening to the Bose SoundLink Revolve+ in stereo pair, and also the Bang and Olufsen P6 in stereo pair. They are both just amazing. The sound is quite something to behold. The A1 2nd gen is excellent, but both of these provide almost all of what the A1 provides with added volume, width, and depth. The bass rendition on the P6 in a stereo pair is just amazing and would give a quite high-end HiFi system a real run for its money. Those P6 speakers have three drivers in them and three powerful amplifiers as well. No passive bass reflectors here - just real, deliberate bass from the amp. Amazing. Amazing!
Sony SRS-XB12 bluetooth speakers also have a function for stereopairing and from the experience i've had with those it does give a pretty nice stereo image of the sound. Allthough a bit bass heavy for what bass a mini speaker can provide
I picked up two of the Tribit XSound Go for $5 each on clearance at Walmart. They are stereo by themselves and you can also link them together for separate right and left channels. They link together pretty easily and remember that they are linked, no app needed. They are IPX7 waterproof and have a 4400mAh battery. The sound quality is pretty good for such a small speaker, and the build quality is very nice. I definitely agree with the idea that 1+1=3 when it comes to linking the two, the listening experience is hugely improved.
@@DomRivers67 I had no idea what they were. What really got me interested was how heavy they are for the small size. For $5 I figured I'd give them a try. I'm pretty happy with them.
@@DomRivers67 Just had a look at their website, and they were down to $36.99. Unfortunately all sold out, with a very similar newer product at $59.99. I'm guessing it's the new model. Very similar except for some small improvements. Except for the battery size, which has dropped from 4400mAh to 2200mAh. They claim a 20 hour battery life though, compared to the larger battery's 24 hours. Hmm. Still a decent price price if they are as good as this chap says though! Maybe keep an eye out at Walmart in about a year or two!
I use two Harman Kardon Studio 6 speakers. It's a bluetooth speaker, but they are party speakers, very powerful. They can sync via bluetooth but I think in mono only, so I use a splitter 3.5mm cable. Finding that cable was harder than you'd think. Also grounding the setup was harder than you'd think. But the sound quality is amazing, it'll shake the walls. Downside is no remote control for volume. But "bluetooth" speakers have come a long way, today they are basically as good as any powered speaker you can buy. And most powered speakers have bluetooth built in today!
The fw update update is such a cathartic closed loop i never expected. I don't own any of these speakers but your reporting on the money is far above and beyond the delivery of many authors (GRRM)...
Can i just say, I don't always love "throwback" things, but I am SO happy this particular shade of green is back in electronics! I used to drool over the Infinity Kappa green car speakers back in the late 90s; they looked exactly like this and it's time they brought them back!
I had some of those green Kappa speakers in my car. 6 x 9, 2-way in the back parcel shelf and 4" 2-ways in the top of the dash, in the front, all powered by a 4 x 100W amp. They sounded amazing, I didn't have a subwoofer and didn't feel like I needed one. People listening in the car often asked me where was the sub.
@@Shaun.Stephens The 6x9s were the ones!! I still see some popping up on eBay sometimes; I’m so tempted 😄
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I do hope the auto configuration part of this kind of multi-sink stereo Bluetooth setup gets improved a lot when the new Bluetooth LE Audio becomes mainstream. It supports this natively. Currently these are all proprietary hacks on the Bluetooth Audio standard afaik, so no wonder why it doesn't work universally.
@@MayaPosch Bluetooth 5.2 came out in 2019, it's supported on iPhone 13+, Intel AX210+ (11th gen+). The hold up was the codec, which is done in software anyway. The PipeWire stack on Linux can do it today as well as Android 13.
This maybe relative to B&O bluetooth speakers; I found with a Bose bluetooth speaker the owner said it just stopped pairing one day and would not pair with his new phone. Basically, you can only pair so many devices, say 8. If you've been connecting loads of different devices, there's a chance that the bluetooth memory is full. I was able to clear all previously paired devices and the speaker worked again.
Thanks Matt. #1 reason to be a Patreon of yours is you can jump on these items before the "Techmoan Effect" hikes up the prices when the videos hit the general wider public. I wanted one of these speakers after watching your initial video, but just wasn't willing to pay the price of it at the time (cheapest I could find was around or over $200 if I remember correctly), but having seen your Patreon early posting of this video and then learning of the stereo pairing capabilities, and I having some disposable income at the time paired with seeing an eBay listing by a reseller for some used/refurb ones for $100 each I could not resist. Glad I did buy them when I did weeks before you posted this video to the general public, as I see the prices have gone up across the board for all colors, even from the seller I purchased from who undoubtedly likely hiked up their listing price of their remaining stock as a result of the increase of sales/interests. I even see the listings for the green model shot up over 200% in price... I skipped over the green one myself, as when I got the two i did for $100 each, the cheapest green one at the time was ~$170, now the cheapest listing I see today for the green one is $380!!
I have some Riff Orbz speakers which connect as a stereo pair and don't require an app to set them up. They also cost a lot less than the b&o speakers and don't forget they were configured as a stereo pair when you power them down
The whole stereo thing is why I love the Teufel Rockster GO 2 bluetooth speaker I got! It's a stereo bluetooth speaker with some clever processing to make it sound more spacious and you can link two of them up as a pair just like the Bang and Olufsen one... so it goes from stereo to even more stereo xD
The reason a L + R speaker arrangement is more than just locating a sound in the distance between the two speakers, involves the phasing of frequencies. That phasing of the sounds adds the third dimension to the sound. The reason stereo-mix-to-mono sounds thin is that these out of phase frequencies are cancelled out by their varying degrees relative to being 180 degrees out of phase between the channels. This is one of the reasons that separate stereo and mono mixes were made in the early days of stereo-- to accommodate mono only record players (other reasons for that also that I won't go into involving the cutting matrix). A lot of pop music is mono-heavy to minimize these cancellations. Also having instruments full-left or full-right helps. Anything in-between or processed in stereo (a stereo chorus on a guitar for example) will be subject to a certain level of cancellation. It's up to the engineer to decide how much is acceptable.
Good point about modern stereo mixing vs stereo from the 60s and 70s. Hard ping pong stereo aside, I've noticed "remastered" old music tends to mean a more centred stereo image. Good for small systems and phone speakers but less than wow over hi-fi.
It was bound to happen, when people began to care more about convenience over sound quality. 2 into 1 is notoriously difficult to achieve, without some compromises.
This is why I much prefer to have my own music collection over relying on streaming. That way I don't get stuck with new remasters which often botch things like this, not to mention crushed dynamic range.
@@Blitterbug Some remasters are good, e.g. I have the 50th Anniversary Blu-ray for The White Album and Abbey Road, but that's the beauty of it - I get to choose what version I want to listen to.
I got 2 minirig speakers for this exact reason. Still expensive but not as much as these. And to be fair they sound better than any other speaker I have owned. Fabulous sound.
I think speaker separation is key for a good stereo sound. My mini component system had built in speakers that were right next to eachother, so i extended the wire on the right one and moved it so my TV is in the middle of them, and they went from pretty lame to absolutely incredible just from that. Edit: I listen to almost exclusively 60s-80s music including the beatles and pink floyd, so that stereo seperation is key
Sony'a stereo pair on the SRS-XB13 was seamless and works every time, as well as remembering the pair after reboots Just hold the bluetooth button on the left speaker, then the one on the right. After they find each other, connect to the left speaker.
I had one Sony SRS-XB43 and I thought it sounded great. I found them on sale last year and bought a second one. Every time I listen to them, I'm amazed at how good the stereo pairing sounds.
I used to work in a warehouse of a supermarket in Sydney quite a while ago. The sound system was wired up so that the speakers in the warehouse got one channel, and all the ones in the shop got the other. They played WSFM, which was classic rock. I particularly remember how odd A Space Oddity and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds sounded when only listening to the left or right channel! Anything by The Beatles in fact, they'd put half the song on the right, and half the left until proper stereo with Abbey Road.
Worked in a KFC and the ceiling speakers in the restaurant were fed one side and the kitchen was the other side. I used to bring in Beatles CD’s….exactly as you think it would sound, unless you were standing between the kitchen and the restaurant. 50’s mono Elvis and Buddy Holly sounded great though lol
I’m a longtime home recorder ( click the crow to hear ). I’ve been listening to my home recorded music though a mono Bose speaker recently. The difference in what is heard is surprising and I played every note and mixed it. You’d think it wouldn’t be so surprising. I’m rethinking my mixing strategy. That 60s style separation has a geewhiz factor bit might not be the best sound overall.
There's a fun Easter egg in Gorillaz's Clint Eastwood. If you listen to the part at the end of the rap where it says "It's all in your head" through a mono speaker the left and right channels cancel out and it's silent, so it really is _all in your head._
Soundcore Boost make fantastic stereo sound and automatically pairs and changes the color of the controls so your stereo pair don’t get mixed up also has one button power off and are waterproof. The soundstage wide detailed with a surprisingly good base, has replaced all my other Bluetooth speakers. iPhone plus power on and away we go with awesome stereo sound, highly recommended.
Mixing for mono, either -3dB or -6db for level "equiveillance" Haas compensation for delay (or S level) is all things that were part of the training for sound operators at the BBC during the 1960s. The training is still there but less so. The cocktail party effect you mention with your 2 radio demo (11 mins in ) is spot on, even more accurate in doors where you can utilise early and late reflections from walls. Intelligibility or audibility, as it is also known within Aunty (dialogue comprehension) is compromised for TV in nearly every modern home. What is the ideal, viewing distance for HD when viewing 1080i 25? 4.6 x the screen height (this allows for the interlace factor) 3.5 x screen height if watching 1080p50 (not 25 fps as that causes too much motion blur). For a 52" screen this is 2.97m (sorry for mixing measurements) now assume a sound bar of similar screen width is placed under the same TV. This means the speakers are only 1.15 meters apart. To hear stereo correctly you should sit at the point of an equilateral triangle with the speakers at the other two points. To do that you would be sitting 97cms from the same screen. So to view the screen correctly you will not hear the stereo. You will hear two speakers that are too close to each other, and most sound will seem to emanate from a "blob" in the middle with only the extremes of left and right been truly discernible. Add hard floors into the environment too and corner placement and its no wonder people struggle to understand the dialogue. Mixing for mono is critical. This guide covers signal level and the short embedded video covers mix down levels for surround to stereo, but the same principles apply. www.bbc.com/academy-guides/why-is-loudness-such-an-issue-for-tv-viewers/ Excellent review but for the moment I'll stick to my LS3/5as connected to the computer by wire.
I have two Oontz Angle 3 Ultra speakers that remember the stereo pairing. These really punch above their weight when used in stereo. They are $70 for a pair! Sound great, run forever on a charge and are waterproof. Perfect for camping.
This is why I love my House of Marley Get Together stereo speakers. If I turn on both at the same time, they automatically pair in stereo, then connect to the default device. They sound wonderful with their bamboo enclosures and dedicated woofers and tweeters. Only one speaker has a battery though, which is the only downside.
As always fantastic video! Thank you for all the information and going the extra mile to try out different options and configurations. Hanging the speakers from a clothesline using wooden hangers had me laughing 😂 excellent work, mate!
I remember playing a record in 1971 (so you're probably too young Matt :) ) that had the most difference between the left channel and right channel I had ever heard. It was "Rosetta" by "Fame & Price Together" In the verses Georgie Fame was on one channel and Alan Price on the other...and both together in the chorus. Maybe there is another song with even more separation but I've always remembered this.
I have never liked single speaker Bluetooth speakers, which is why I ended up with a Sony because it’s true stereo from the 2 seperate drivers within the unit. Much better than the 90% of Bluetooth speakers that are single drivers mashing together the stereo channels.
I picked out this speaker for my mom 2 years ago after i tried it out and its SO good for its size. I thought they couldnt be connected togeather though! 😊
This was some useful information as I do have one of those speakers and had considered getting a 2nd one for stereo (which will have to be a different color since mine was the limited run Nordic Ice). Not being able to easily have them auto sync to stereo would be annoying. But who knows, maybe they will patch that sometime in the future.
I feel sad that so many people have never experienced a proper HI-Fi stereo system. I would only use bluetooth speakers if i am on holiday not for general use. For a little extra cost you could make yourself up a fairly decent used Hi-Fi system.
Mono compatibilty and phase issues iare well known parameters among us musicians. We always have checks on that on our mixes by playing them in mono and we also use correlation meters/phase checkers plugins. Thats the basis.
I have an Oontz Angle 3, while the speakers are not separated it does have a right and left speaker. I have found, at least to my ears, that even without the separation that the music (even more modern stuff) sounds better than the mono speaker bluetooth.
The main reason stereo speakers sound better in separated pairs is because of the phase transducence influx properties causing interlacing response frequencies to induce linear plaining offset divergence.
Techmoan discovers stereophonic sound ! (He says, listening to the video on his phone through decent stereo headphones…) I also mourn the loss of decent stereo reproduction through speakers. With all the single Bluetooth speakers we are mostly forgetting about sound stage, location, etc. that was so much a part of the 1960s when stereo was still new-ish tech. I also have a pair of B&O powered speakers, the S3s that I have had several years. I absolutely love their tonality and imaging. They go surprisingly full range for their size. They can be used as single speakers, multiple mono or a stereo pair. Via Bluetooth or wired on 3.5mm in / out jacks on each speaker. I have them set up as a wired stereo pair to the analog 3.5mm input on one speaker. My experience to set it up that way was the same sort of nightmare you experienced with your attempts to set yours up with the individual speakers! It’s as though they never behave exactly the same way twice. The “IKEA-like” instructions don’t help. But, “B&O, so simple, it’s complicated” has always been a thing, ever since I installed some of their component stereo systems in the 1980s. Excellent sound. Needless complexity.
Since you have searched for a modern day boom box in the past, maybe have a look at the Sony SRS-XG500. I think it's the modern equivalent of an 80s boom box: Large but portable with all current day technologies. The price has drop to almost half since the release two years ago.
I wish B&O would make some nice easel stands for them. I’ve got an A1 and prefer it when it’s facing me rather than flat on a surface. And yes you could probably find a stand somewhere that would work, but B&O make beautiful things, so would love them to make a stand!
I've got a pair of Sony SRS-XB23 and although they seem to require the app before they become a stereo pair (TL;DR the manual), they stay a stereo pair most of the time. Only once they forgot. And yes, they also require firmware updates from time to time. Happy with the way they sound, and from what I can tell, they do require some additional mass to do that. These have bass top and bottom speakers. Happy buyer.
Recording mixers/masterers check mono to make sure it will sound okay. Even before everyone listened to music on cellphones and mono bluetooth speakers. Retail stores, restaurants, bars, clubs, etc. play music in mono.
There are many misunderstandings about stereo. Recording each of several instruments in mono and then using stereo to place them in different positions left to right, that's not stereo! Not real stereo, anyway. Most humans have two ears, so when we hear a sound, it sounds slightly different in each ear. So you only get real stereo when each instrument has been recorded through two separate microphones placed a suitable distance from each other. My parents used to have an old Tandberg device that was a radio receiver + tuner, a cassette tape recorder and a record player. This device had a mono/stereo switch. I did a little experimentation with it. I'd put on a record with a recording of suites 2 and 3 by J.S.Bach played by "Herbie's Band" (the Berlin Philharmonics conducted by Herbert von Karajan - joke curtesy of the Irish flutist James Galway). I'd play the famous "Air" movement which consists of two parts, each repeated. I'd play the first part in mono and when it repeated, I'd switch to stereo, and it wasn't two or three times better, but simply infinitely better! It was like the ceiling opened and Heaven came through. Your observation about two different radio announcers talking at the same time is absolutely correct, by the way.
6:25 if you check out the track list of the Vogue Machine Hard Limited reel to reel and 8 track, you can see the track listing has special mixes for monocompatibility! We had a trouble with one effect causing a huge phase flip! Nathan Brown managed to fix it using some dark magic. At least I think those mixes are on the tapes, I know they're online.
Great channel, I would be interested to see you do a video on the Sharp VZ1550. I used to have one, it's unusual as it plays both sides of a record without requiring turning over. The needle goes around to the underside of the record. Not for audiophiles but fun nonetheless!
Thanks for this informative video. It's interesting that the prevalence of mono bluetooth speakers has led to a revival in the need for mono compatibility. When I worked in BBC radio, and later on at ITV, the importance of "considering the mono listener" when mixing sound was always emphasised. More this began to be ignored with an assumption that "everyone" would be listening in stereo but, clearly, what goes around comes around . . .
While i'm not a professional at all i'm pretty sure at least popular music has for long taken mono compatibility into consideration since stores and other similar places tend to use mono audio.
Excellent video and very useful. I think modern mixes use spectrum analysis for mixing which optimises the listening experience even via mono speakers. Spectral mixing keeps tracks from clashing too much with each other in a mono block with transitional expertise in mixing as well. The final added subtleties to give a stereo mix only further enhances the mix. Older stereo recordings are likely to lose fidelity with a mono speaker and things may go muddy or missing altogether. Ultimately, depends on what kind of music we are listening to .. where we can get away with one mono Bluetooth speaker or ideally need two in a proper stereo configuration. The fact that this product does not pair manually to a stereo mode (without the app) is really a bug and hope is fixed with an FW update. This speaker does sound awesome with its 3.5" bass driver and 0.6" tweeter and what with B&O's high quality wizardry. I think I will give this one a go as it is just so compact especially for a desk or bedroom for that matter! Nice one.
The Wonderboom speakers (I think that's their name) do this also. They're designed to be used outdoors, and have a special button that (not sure how) make it sound deeper outdoors. At any rate, they can be paired between each other, and the sound does indeed get much clearer/spatial, giving the same kind of impression you're describing. However, getting them paired together is dead easy, they have a special pairing button just to pair between speakers instead of any other device, and in our experience it has worked every time first attempt.
The Bluetooth LE connection that the Bang & Olufsen app uses to control the speakers is independent from the Bluetooth Classic connection that's used for audio. Because these are two different Bluetooth connections, you can pair the speakers with any other device, such as the Sound Burger, for audio and still use the app on your phone to set up the stereo pair.
I noticed that. I have both this speaker and some B&O headphones and I can be connected and listening to one, but if I use the app on the phone I can still access details about the device (like the remaining battery life)
Yeah I have a big speaker that does that too, it has two channel of bluetooth, this is a really smart way as I can let friends connect, pool up their Playlist and switch to their phone while I still control the speaker on my own phone.
This fact definitely better be included in the video, imo
Idk why, most BT speakers struggle with this function
I know that JBL has this function for ages, but nevertheless needs some tambourine dance every time
I wonder is it really so hard to achieve ?
Also various Chinese “true wireless” buds always had that problem
That was mentioned in passing. The main point is that the speakers forget the stereo pairing, and that it seems impossible to set this up without the app. It works when using the app.
When I was a mixing enginner, I used to mix the song in mono first, trying to get everything in its place, in terms of frequency, volume and compression. Only when I was satisfied I would open the stereo field, that made it much easier to mix and to be compatible with most of the speakers that would play it back, because even though they are in stereo, the wideness of the speaker array, can change the sound, the distance to the source is also important. If you can make it good with one speaker, it will be great with two.
I came to say the same thing - I imagine (actually this is a fact) a lot of engineers think that process is nonsense since "everyone has stereo nowadays" and they completely ignore what you've described. I tend to fall into your camp on this but I would guess the mixes Techmoan was listening to were definitely done with a mind to stereo only, and everything opened up when he went to the second speaker. Also to add: what he's talking about at 10:26 or so is exactly a perfect example of why I say you should still optimize for mono in 2023 - if someone is far enough from the stereo speakers, they effectively become one "composite mono" source to the listener's ears, and you can compensate for that in the mix if you're considerate enough :)
So a compromise then is that it?
Make it sound good enough with one but a totally different experience with two or perhaps more? 🤔
People usually track a left and right guitar recorded separately, which increases the fullness.
If you ''quad-track'' and add a center guitar, it enhances even more. The same goes for vocals. The imperfections between the two tracks. Panned hard left and hard right make the sound fuller.
This is true. This is how I record my tracks. I'm no professional but it seems to make a massive difference to the overall sound
@@revivedfears alternatively, long history of ADT and similar. Waves makes a great cheap plugin replicating Abbey Road's bespoke device.
The issue of making a stereo mix compatible with mono playback is a very basic part of any mixing session. I am surprised though that even early recordings from the 1960's would have phase cancellation issues - I am sure people were aware of it back then.
@@martifingers greatly aware, how do you think you calibrate a tape machine's azimuth? you record a sine wave on the farthest tracks from each other on the tape and have them phase cancel, once they add up completely your azimuth is aligned perfectly
@@searchiemusic Thanks for the detail - I did not know that.
Great review, as always! Our ability to discern information in a stero image is also exploited by Garmin in its aviation radios. One can listen to an airfield approach radio in one ear and the weather (ATIS) in the other.
You are joking right? Why would I want to listen to the two channels simultaneously? I'll select ATIS to get the current information and note it down correctly then switch back to the appropriate frequency and pass my request noting that I had the most recent information.
Stereo is two complementary signals that add up to a complete image. You are suggesting the equivalent of German in one ear and Portuguese in the other.
Please don't take up flying for a career.
@@AnthonyHigham6414001080 If they can process two information channels at once, I'd say more power to them. Anyone that doesn't may be free to use the interchanging method you describe, and in the 99.999% of non-critical situations, it is probably just as fine. I'd be fine with being a passenger on a plane either of you pilot.
DJs do a similar thing when cuing up the next song, jingle, etc - you have the current output in one ear and PFL (pre-fade listen) in the other.
I have the Beoplay A1 first Gen for over 5 years. On the first month of use, a friend of mine had an A1 as well and we gave a go at stereo… We were absolutely blown away by the results, wondering what kind of magic trick was happening before our ears. absolutely ear pleasing that everyone in the room could appreciate.
We both purchased another speaker immediately (in another colour to distinguish L/R). Definitely the sum of both is much better than x2 speakers.
Just to say that I am very satisfied to see we were not the only one liking it, and thanks you for sharing this with the community.
However, for me, with time, stereo pairing became harder and more finicky, often dropping music on one side or not playing if speaker were more that 2 metres apart. It did not do it at first.
Also,, my understanding is that the Beoplay A1 Gen 1 is better in sound quality than the Gen 2 (and this is the opinion of my B&O dealer too), I am not too sure if that is still true with the software updates.
Regardless, the sound in stereo pairing of Two Beoplay A1 Gen 1 may not be the loudest I have heard, but is is by far the best I have experienced with Bluetooth Speakers, by a long shot.
A professional music engineer will be checking during the mix process by switching between stereo and mono. It’s practical because many people listen to music on mono devices, but it also can be very helpful for making mix decisions, and checking for any phase cancellation issues in your mix. I do wonder whether some digital devices / codecs are better than others at streaming while mixing stereo down to mono and preserving all the information.
Amateur recordists who mix do this also not just for mono comparability but to find any phase issues that're disguising/masking some of the music.
i think it would be good to introduce the concept of „stereo” in general. people confuse it with what should be called „double mono”, calling - for example - amiga music capabilities „stereo”, when in fact they aren’t. it’s not about playing some instruments through one speaker, and some through the other (yes, i know there was this trend in the 60s), and this quite often remains an unrecognized feature.
Do they still do special "radio mixes" to send out to DJs on radio stations?
@@MadBiker-vj5qj that’s a good question, I’m not sure. I know producers will often send multiple versions out to be mastered though, like an instrumental, one with vocals a bit louder and one with them a bit quieter.
10:18 this is why I miss the Boomboxes of the early 80s... People used to think that some of the really long, oversized boomboxes' designs where simply about being "bigger is better" but there is a great deal to be said about the advantage of separating the speakers on a stereo setup. No matter how small mankind is able to compress audio equipment with advanced in electronics, our many years of evolution plays a big part in how we end up perceiving things.
ALL my audio is from the 70's-80's ...
Pioneer, Electro Voice, Marshall, Sansui, Wangine.............................
Now those same boomboxes go for a pretty penny right now, SMH.
@@TomKappeln Electro Voice? You've got some nice kit. 🙂
@@MadBiker-vj5qj Thank you !
I also have a tinitus ! LOL !
@@MadBiker-vj5qj : PS : I'm a German guy, living since 2019 in Poland.
I have a small ranch and over here the powerlines are really WEAK.
IF i power up to 2/3 the STREETLIGHTS are flickering ! (5000Watts RMS) lolololololol
This echoes the experience I've had with B&O H9i headphones - great sound, great build quality but a hit-and-miss experience with the UI on the device. It would be nice if they included a simple hardware switch for selecting channels as they did with their active speakers in the past - sometimes the old-fashioned way is the best.
Plenty of dedicated "professional" bluetooth device reviewers never even refer to the codecs, so this was a fantastic review! It's particularly good to know AptX Adaptive is a superset of HD and LL.
It's not. But it does include features from both LL and HD.
Bluetooth codec isn't the decisive factor, high bitrates of SBC also sound decent, AAC only sounds best on Apple devices, Android AAC sounds vary, but in general not as good as Apple, LDAC is the best on paper, in reality LDAC very easily gets signal interfered.
Excellent review, Mat. Well, done, sir. I always appreciate the high level of quality on all levels with your videos.
It's crazy how good small speakers can sound now, bass and everything.
yea years ago I was used to thinny sounding speakers and when I walked around in a local store I noticed a new small bluetooth speaker on the counter connected (Jam Classic) to a player playing demos when you pressed a button. I was amazed of the deep bassy sound and for the 25 Euros I decided to buy it. Since then the 'dollar stores' here sell them for a few Euros and they sound similarly good. I Guess it all has to do with the Neodymium driver magnets being used.
But no POWER !
A V8 engine is a V8 engine ... not a 1.3 Turbo
Consumer-level tech has just taken off in recent years. You've got smartphones with professional-level cameras and drones that can take shots that a few years ago would have required a helicopter.
There's small RUclips channels producing videos that can rival the work of professional studios.
@@TomKappelninefficient big block aren't really powerfull. Also v8 doesn't mean big. There are 0.5 liter v8's
It could pretty good idea use them in modern tv s. But tv going to expensive then I guess.
Maybe in future.
Mixing and Mastering engineers put a lot of care into what you were asking about, it's called Mono-compatibility, which is basically just doing everything to ensure that the final song sounds great both in mono and stereo
You’ve just repeated what he said…
I'm glad my own impressions are confirmed; I was pretty blown away when I got a second one and paired them. You can set them up in a room and people wonder where the proper hifi is hiding.
Would it work well outside? I have a proper hifi setup at my house, but I have one of these for picnics, or the beach etc. I love it because it fits so easily in my purse, realistically I don't want extra volume because I try and be respectful to others in public - but I love the best quality sound even at low listening volumes. Would having 2 of these say on a picnic sound that much better than 1?
@@svm5543 I set them up in an outdoor patio area at a friends before he had his outdoor speakers connected, and people were wondering where all the sound was coming from. They were just lying spaced apart on the pavers.
The Sony SRS-XB23 also has the stereo feature - but they actually have a physical button on them to do this. And they even feature a party mode that allows you to connect up to 100 of them together.
Nearly all of Sony's (and I believe JBL's) BT speakers have this feature.
@@nimoy007yeah, JBL has this function for ages
Even the lowly (entry level?) SRS-X11 has this, and claims to be able to resume stereo pairing after being turned off.
So does the XB13
I recently became deaf in one ear from an acoustic neuroma benign tumor so when I played songs in mono I noticed this mono "loss" you explained here right away. Luckily I found a guy who makes stereo headphones for the single sided deaf community called the "2E1 Headphones" (stands for "Two Ears in One") where both left and right drivers are in one ear can of the headphones and his website describes the same exact explanation you did here regarding mono versus stereo. Those 2E1 headphones with both left and right drivers in one headphone ear cup allow my one ear to hear in stereo again and is an improvement over hearing stereo converted to mono. For someone like me who went deaf in one ear whose hobby was hi-fi stereo headphone related these 2E1 headphones are a life saver for me. I am 100% nerve deaf in one ear so bone conducting headphones don't work for me (I recall your review on those for your hard of hearing father-in-law).
I have hearing loss in my left ear due to a damaged ear drum. I had no idea about those headphones. I need to go find these. I usually end up listening to my headphones too loud to compensate for the one ear. I also tried bone conduction as well and it still sounds the same as regular headphones. Those headphones sound like a godsend lol.
@@lauralulu4444 Yea, they are called "The 2E1 Headphones for the Single Sided Deaf Community" and and I highly recommend them - they have been a quality of life game changer for me. I can hear two stereo again with one ear with the 2E1 and I will never go back to mono!
I do miss the days when albums actually used stereo, as you say it seems most are just mixing for single speaker setups and it feels like we've taken a step backwards. As for these, much too expensive for my blood and I'll continue to enjoy music with a nice set of headphones.
Sometimes they went overboard though
it looks like we're heading backward to mono era again.
Agreed. Luckily there isn't much from the last ten years or so that I care to listen too anyway.
Not really, modern music still sounds much flatter when listened in mono@@Alberos
I believe that's down to another reason, the "loudness war". Where composers try to make their music as *loud* as possible. It's typically achieve by using a compressor to "compress" the sound, making the louder thing still stay loud and softer thing louder. In the end you get pretty much zero dynamic range where everything is so damn louddd lol.@@IsoMacintosh
Great point about playing stereo music as mono, and how this affects the sound, something almost unavoidable with a Bluetooth speaker. Recording for stereo broadcasts I have to ensure mono playback compatibility, in general terms it's a matter of ensuring correct phase alignment across the mic inputs 🎶
In games you could choose mono or stereo but it must be harder for broadcasts.
Another thing about stereo/mono: during stereo recordings, the sound from one side is usually also recorded on the other side, but with a slight delay because of larger distance (this becomes especially important in the case of the higher frequencies). When replayed in stereo this effect adds to the stereo experience, but when replayed in mono these frequencies tend to be cancelled out due to being in counter-phase, making it overall sound rather "dull"❗
'Immersive' techniques, yeah, that'd do it, though i'd expect the band & olsen to simulate a listener between the two channels and reproduce that sound instead. They might well do that to be fair as it is a simple enough way to improve your mono speaker. Various effects already rely on similar principles.
If they do indeed do that, the effect is more likely brain isolation, as techmoan suggests, as humans can 'concentrate' on one ear over another to pick out bits.
It'd be a worthwhile dissertation/thesis for someone.
That's fake stereo. True stereo is using a stereo mic or two mono mics on separate channels. Copying a track and put some milliseconds delay on it is dangerous because of phase.
I have listened to music while looking at a phase correlation meter and rarely does it go to negative side so not sure how common that actually is.
I was considering buying a couple of these. Your review has helped me not make an expensive mistake. Thank you.
Ah the old clothesline mounting option. So airy and refreshing 😁 Loved that!! Thanks as always for these Mat!
Great video, as always. Looking at the B&O speakers and the need to pair them through the app, there's a lot to be said for having specific buttons on the device with a single function.
For example, I have a pair of Sony SRS-XB23 Bluetooth speakers which have the facility to link them as a stereo pair. It's a one-time process - switch both speakers on, press the Bluetooth button on both (as for normal pairing), then press the ST.PAIR button. When connected to each other, a voice prompt will sound 'Left' through the one and 'Right' through the other so that they can be positioned correctly.
To then connect them to any Bluetooth source device, pairing the source picks up the stereo pair as though they were a single device that happens to have two speakers.
The speakers then 'remember' this setting. To connect the paired device in future, one then just switches on the device's Bluetooth mode, then switch on both speakers. A voice prompt will then do the 'Left' / 'Right' thing followed seconds later with a 'Bluetooth Connected' prompt. No app required!
Which is why I ❤ Sony, they just seem to know what people want, and come up with the goods, more often than not.
We had quadraphonic in the 1970's. Now our journey is to rediscover stereo?
Sound engineer here that’s mastered for a few record labels. All tracks should be mastered to play back in both stereo and mono playback. BUT you will lose definition and clarity moving to mono due to phasing and filtering issues. As an engineer, you try your best to mix for both but stereo will always get more focus. When I started mixing for broadcast, mono had more focus since that’s what most TV’s were, as we progressed so did the emphasis move to stereo. Now we have gone full circle again and moved back to mono devices. But yes, spot on, what you’re hearing is not only the left and right mix interacting with one another, but also the ambience or aura bubble that comes with it.
The stereo effect has more to do with than just having different instruments in different speakers. When you double track the same instrument and pan it to different speakers it gives a sense of width and "chorusing", and that's what you're losing when you collapse it down to mono.
Unless you did it while recording as the 60´s great mono recordings...
great review/lab test - not all just talking, like so many rev iewers , but sound tests , diagrams text the works - Very useful - begs the question how many wireless speakers are brilliant paired up.!! Had me engaged the whole way through so look forward to other audiophile tests ...
3:50
Left Speaker: Left!
Right Speaker: Right!
Left Speaker: Left!
Right Speaker: Right!
Left Speaker: Left!
Right Speaker: Right!
Left Speaker: Left!
Right Speaker: Right!
Matt: Right.
I almost didn't watch this - but pleased I did. That was excellent.
Please Allow Me To digress A Moment! That Is a Handsome 👁️Tuxedo Moggy On Your Lawn👍🙏
Hi Matt I'm a keyboard player and have had numerous mono keyboard amps. I now have two PA speakers with a mixer. The output from my keyboard is stereo although you can make it mono. I have to two speakers behind me on stage. But the keyboard sounds so much better in stereo. I get a much more fuller sound. If I use one mono speaker now it sounds really " naselly" and flat. Wouldn't have a keyboard amp now
Great video as always. I’m often tempted to upgrade to a different Bluetooth speaker or smart speaker but generally am put off by the mono nature of these things! So interesting to see your opinions.
Buy a Bluetooth soundbar, if you can live with the elongated form factor. They are stereo by design, and come in various sizes.
I thought that was odd as well. Mono many have worked in the 1960's, but not in this day and age.
@@hermanmunster3358better still, plug a BT adapter into the aux port of an old stereo amp and speakers. Soundbars are marginally better than the mono speakers but still not a patch on proper separation that can only be achieved by spacing the speakers out around your listening position. And given that people have been ditching their old audio kit for a few years now because it 'takes up too much space' or the speaker wires look 'unsightly' in their mimalist grey modern interiors, its often much less expensive than buying a soundbar too.
Apple home pods can also be paired for stereo. I have one that's black and one that's white, named yin and yang. Very satisfied with the sound.
This worked with my homepods when I bit the bullet and got the second one, the sound was incredibly improved. They also stay paired!
I've done this with Google Nest audio paired in stereo I've actually got 2 paired in a group in a plant pot with a mesh covering in the garden.
It channels the sound from the back to the deck.
4 speakers in 2 groups of pairs.
I picked up pair of Edifier MP202 DUO wireless portable stereo speakers for €50.00. They are a great pair of speakers with true wireless stereo(TWS). When you turn them on they auto connect and a white LED comes on behind the grill and tells you which is left and which is right. They can take a Micro SD Card with audio. Aux audio is also supported. USB charging is also supported. I use them a lot with my phone and iPad. I would love to hear you review them.
I need a video conference between Paul and Techmoan. Paul at PS Audio, could answer a lot of questions. I see a podcast, type of video, that last 45 minutes, if not an hour.
You know, everybody who joked about airpods being the death of high quality audio were laughed at back in the day.
Yet here we are with middling audio mixing (pun intended) and people thinking Spotify is as good as it gets for music quality. The daft part is that it's cheaper in the long run to buy CDs (not to mention better for the musicians), a USB CD/DVD drive to rip them, and a dedicated music player with a wired audio port and wired headphones.
Wires are still the best means to transmit data, _especially_ digital data. Remember that when the UK decides to pull something stupid like replacing the copper phone lines with VoIP and we're left with no internet when it rains.
Cool video. I’ve had 2 Bose Soundlink Revolve speakers and listening to them paired in stereo is a real treat. It’s hard to believe that the sound is coming from such a small set of speakers.
One issue that is usually overlooked when listening on a mono speaker is masking. As a mix engineer, yes, eq and dynamics play a part in blending an element into a mix, but arguably stereo placement plays a more important role. You mentioned a keyboard and guitar, which potentially contain similar frequencies, fighting against each other for your attention. The simplest way to sidestep this is to move them away from each other and hey presto, you can hear them much more optimally. Stereo works because we have two ears after all! I’ve simplified the issue somewhat I admit lol
Yeah I have something similar with my dual HomePods on my TV (and dual HomePod Mini’s on my bedroom TV). Single speakers just don’t cut it no matter how good they sound. Adding the second speaker is a huge difference.
As being hearing impaired in one ear (100%R / 0%L) the topic of playing stereo on a mono device was very interesting to me. I have always noticed that some of my old favourite 4 track pioneers, such as The Doors, sound terrible played on mono through my MP3 players. I stopped listening to it on portable devices and instead listened to it through stereo speakers set up next to each other.
I finally understand why this is the case now, thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge!
Matt, my favorite set of desk speakers is the Klipsh Promedia 2.1. The original v.2-400 was a beast but the more recent version isn't bad either. At only about a hundred dollars, they are an incredible bargain. Definitely worth checking out.
Great explanation on stereo. I don't know how many people don't realize just what they are missing when listening to a mono speaker or their phone. A phone where the speakers are 4" apart. Last I checked, my ears a bit farter apart than that and I don't tape my phone to my forehead when listening.
Interesting stuff. Also, I miss the post-credits sketches from The Moans.
Phase cancellation is an issue for mono. That's why it sounds muffled. If you take a look at musical instruments, like keyboards/synthesizers, they have two outputs: L/Mono, R. If you plug both jacks you get obviously a stereo sound. But if you want mono, you just connect the L jack. When R is not plugged, L switches to a special mono mode that makes all required changes to minimise the phase cancellation effects and still of course reproduces the R sound as well.
The problem with stereo organs and keyboards is that often they sound great in stereo but when a stereo recording of the instrument is played in mono it sounds strangely muffled. I have experienced this especially with a big Elka organ and some of Casio's synthesizers. What I do to fix this is that during mixing I reduce the stereo separation for these instruments by blending the channels together so that left is maybe 70% left and 30% right and vice versa. This of course makes the stereo effect a little less impressive but it sounds much better when played in mono. Because many people today listens on a mono speaker I have chosen to sacrifice a little of the stereo to satisfy the mono people.
@@organfairy I think you've made a huge mistake. The quality difference more than justifies two versions. Also, it can be mitigated in software, which i believe many devices do. The ones that do will will sound better with the stereo version than your adjusted one as you still retain huge amounts of degradation.
@@mandowarrior123 The way I see it mixing is a compromise. I know that some purist producers only mixes their products for people with good speaker systems. However, as tennant in the basement of the Tower of Song I cannot be picky; I have to mix my music so it sounds reasonably good on as many devices as possible instead of picking just the casual mono listener or the high end connoisseur. And besides I have never been criticised for the way I do my mix - as a matter of fact I have been complimented for their clarity where every instrument can be heard instead of being drowned in reverb and stereo antics
.
Yes
If the timing system is correct
I have two Marley speakers and the bt doesn't sync between them proper which means phasing and glitching
Excellent additional review.
I did the same.
In fact, I did things a little differently.
I got the old A1, then got two of them.
Then, I got the new A1 and compared them.
Finally, I got two of the old and two of the new and decided that I was keeping the new as they have more features.
The old A1, however, has a more powerful bass and is louder.
The new A1, the Gen 2, has a much more delicate sound and absolutely clear highs which the older A1 didn't have.
As I was never planning to blast them in a huge call, I didn’t need the extra volume and did like the features and the sound quality, so I kept the new ones and sent the old ones back.
These speakers in stereo are absolutely superb.
I have found everything you have, and I am so glad to hear my assumptions were not far off.
The music sounds better with two than it ever did with one.
This is true for every set of Bluetooth speakers I have had in pairs.
I now will not have or use a Bluetooth speaker if it is not in a stereo pair.
What is the point?
I have all this technology only to be losing so much of the music, and when people hear the output in a stereo pairing, they realize that there is actually a lot of the music that is simply not heard when one speaker is doing the work alone.
Operational experience:
I use them with a Sony Walkman a lot of the time, and I use them in a stereo pair.
I am able to connect them easily, and it works almost every time on the first try.
You were able to do it once, so it should be able to happen. Not sure why that was.
They were known to have some connectivity problems, so that might be it.
Also, it is worth looking at what Bluetooth version the record player is using.
One thing I am wondering is if the codec being used is the reason I noticed the difference in the sound of the Sony Walkman.
I had the older one you have, and I got the newer one with Android and compared them.
The newer one had a sound quality that was somehow better. I couldn't put my finger on why it was better.
I ended up returning it because the battery life was so low compared to the previous version, and using the Clear Audio added a real boost in audio quality anyway.
Sony has since released a newer version of the Walkman, and the battery life is better, but it is quite expensive, and given what I do with mine, I have not yet been able to justify the price.
I will have a look again as the sound quality difference is really a thing.
It might be the codec.
I just didn't think that could have been it.
We live and learn!
Loved seeing the screen save tape play....that alone makes me want to go and get that player.
Thanks for making the video for people like me who are a bit too nerdy for their own good.
Looking forward to more.
BTW, if you get the opportunity, I recommend listening to the Bose SoundLink Revolve+ in stereo pair, and also the Bang and Olufsen P6 in stereo pair. They are both just amazing. The sound is quite something to behold.
The A1 2nd gen is excellent, but both of these provide almost all of what the A1 provides with added volume, width, and depth.
The bass rendition on the P6 in a stereo pair is just amazing and would give a quite high-end HiFi system a real run for its money.
Those P6 speakers have three drivers in them and three powerful amplifiers as well. No passive bass reflectors here - just real, deliberate bass from the amp.
Amazing.
Amazing!
For the price of one B&O A1 you can buy two Minirigs and set them up as a stereo pair plus you can add a sub later on if you want more umph!
Sony SRS-XB12 bluetooth speakers also have a function for stereopairing and from the experience i've had with those it does give a pretty nice stereo image of the sound. Allthough a bit bass heavy for what bass a mini speaker can provide
I picked up two of the Tribit XSound Go for $5 each on clearance at Walmart. They are stereo by themselves and you can also link them together for separate right and left channels. They link together pretty easily and remember that they are linked, no app needed. They are IPX7 waterproof and have a 4400mAh battery. The sound quality is pretty good for such a small speaker, and the build quality is very nice. I definitely agree with the idea that 1+1=3 when it comes to linking the two, the listening experience is hugely improved.
That's a hell of a price, they are amongst the best little speakers at fifty bucks!
@@DomRivers67 I had no idea what they were. What really got me interested was how heavy they are for the small size. For $5 I figured I'd give them a try. I'm pretty happy with them.
@@DomRivers67 Just had a look at their website, and they were down to $36.99. Unfortunately all sold out, with a very similar newer product at $59.99. I'm guessing it's the new model. Very similar except for some small improvements. Except for the battery size, which has dropped from 4400mAh to 2200mAh. They claim a 20 hour battery life though, compared to the larger battery's 24 hours. Hmm. Still a decent price price if they are as good as this chap says though! Maybe keep an eye out at Walmart in about a year or two!
@@t7plus If you're talking about the MaxSound Plus, they list it at 7.4v 2200mAh, so it should be the same watt hours as the XSound Go.
I use two Harman Kardon Studio 6 speakers. It's a bluetooth speaker, but they are party speakers, very powerful. They can sync via bluetooth but I think in mono only, so I use a splitter 3.5mm cable. Finding that cable was harder than you'd think. Also grounding the setup was harder than you'd think. But the sound quality is amazing, it'll shake the walls. Downside is no remote control for volume. But "bluetooth" speakers have come a long way, today they are basically as good as any powered speaker you can buy. And most powered speakers have bluetooth built in today!
The fw update update is such a cathartic closed loop i never expected. I don't own any of these speakers but your reporting on the money is far above and beyond the delivery of many authors (GRRM)...
That outdoor mounting system was pretty nifty, a great way to take your tunes out into the garden.
Can i just say, I don't always love "throwback" things, but I am SO happy this particular shade of green is back in electronics! I used to drool over the Infinity Kappa green car speakers back in the late 90s; they looked exactly like this and it's time they brought them back!
I had some of those green Kappa speakers in my car. 6 x 9, 2-way in the back parcel shelf and 4" 2-ways in the top of the dash, in the front, all powered by a 4 x 100W amp. They sounded amazing, I didn't have a subwoofer and didn't feel like I needed one. People listening in the car often asked me where was the sub.
@@Shaun.Stephens The 6x9s were the ones!! I still see some popping up on eBay sometimes; I’m so tempted 😄
I do hope the auto configuration part of this kind of multi-sink stereo Bluetooth setup gets improved a lot when the new Bluetooth LE Audio becomes mainstream. It supports this natively. Currently these are all proprietary hacks on the Bluetooth Audio standard afaik, so no wonder why it doesn't work universally.
BLE Audio relies on BT 5.2, which is still a long while off from becoming mainstream. Maybe in a few years, though...
@@MayaPosch Bluetooth 5.2 came out in 2019, it's supported on iPhone 13+, Intel AX210+ (11th gen+). The hold up was the codec, which is done in software anyway. The PipeWire stack on Linux can do it today as well as Android 13.
This maybe relative to B&O bluetooth speakers; I found with a Bose bluetooth speaker the owner said it just stopped pairing one day and would not pair with his new phone. Basically, you can only pair so many devices, say 8. If you've been connecting loads of different devices, there's a chance that the bluetooth memory is full. I was able to clear all previously paired devices and the speaker worked again.
If he is correct that the green one is an ex-store demo unit then this could be a possibility.
@@AlexNZL - agreed. Also, Matt has many devices and him being a tech head, I imagine he has paired them all.
Thanks Matt. #1 reason to be a Patreon of yours is you can jump on these items before the "Techmoan Effect" hikes up the prices when the videos hit the general wider public. I wanted one of these speakers after watching your initial video, but just wasn't willing to pay the price of it at the time (cheapest I could find was around or over $200 if I remember correctly), but having seen your Patreon early posting of this video and then learning of the stereo pairing capabilities, and I having some disposable income at the time paired with seeing an eBay listing by a reseller for some used/refurb ones for $100 each I could not resist.
Glad I did buy them when I did weeks before you posted this video to the general public, as I see the prices have gone up across the board for all colors, even from the seller I purchased from who undoubtedly likely hiked up their listing price of their remaining stock as a result of the increase of sales/interests.
I even see the listings for the green model shot up over 200% in price... I skipped over the green one myself, as when I got the two i did for $100 each, the cheapest green one at the time was ~$170, now the cheapest listing I see today for the green one is $380!!
I have some Riff Orbz speakers which connect as a stereo pair and don't require an app to set them up. They also cost a lot less than the b&o speakers and don't forget they were configured as a stereo pair when you power them down
The whole stereo thing is why I love the Teufel Rockster GO 2 bluetooth speaker I got! It's a stereo bluetooth speaker with some clever processing to make it sound more spacious and you can link two of them up as a pair just like the Bang and Olufsen one... so it goes from stereo to even more stereo xD
The reason a L + R speaker arrangement is more than just locating a sound in the distance between the two speakers, involves the phasing of frequencies. That phasing of the sounds adds the third dimension to the sound. The reason stereo-mix-to-mono sounds thin is that these out of phase frequencies are cancelled out by their varying degrees relative to being 180 degrees out of phase between the channels. This is one of the reasons that separate stereo and mono mixes were made in the early days of stereo-- to accommodate mono only record players (other reasons for that also that I won't go into involving the cutting matrix). A lot of pop music is mono-heavy to minimize these cancellations. Also having instruments full-left or full-right helps. Anything in-between or processed in stereo (a stereo chorus on a guitar for example) will be subject to a certain level of cancellation. It's up to the engineer to decide how much is acceptable.
Good point about modern stereo mixing vs stereo from the 60s and 70s. Hard ping pong stereo aside, I've noticed "remastered" old music tends to mean a more centred stereo image. Good for small systems and phone speakers but less than wow over hi-fi.
It was bound to happen, when people began to care more about convenience over sound quality. 2 into 1 is notoriously difficult to achieve, without some compromises.
This is why I much prefer to have my own music collection over relying on streaming. That way I don't get stuck with new remasters which often botch things like this, not to mention crushed dynamic range.
Giles Martin definitely hasn't made this mistake with any of the Beatles remasters
@@Blitterbug Some remasters are good, e.g. I have the 50th Anniversary Blu-ray for The White Album and Abbey Road, but that's the beauty of it - I get to choose what version I want to listen to.
I got 2 minirig speakers for this exact reason. Still expensive but not as much as these. And to be fair they sound better than any other speaker I have owned. Fabulous sound.
Your explanation of why two speakers would sound better [10:18] was great! You made it so clear at about [10:24], so black & white!
😊
These speakers should still have an input jack so you can connect via cable if preferred with no app required for mono or stereo.
I think speaker separation is key for a good stereo sound. My mini component system had built in speakers that were right next to eachother, so i extended the wire on the right one and moved it so my TV is in the middle of them, and they went from pretty lame to absolutely incredible just from that.
Edit: I listen to almost exclusively 60s-80s music including the beatles and pink floyd, so that stereo seperation is key
Sony'a stereo pair on the SRS-XB13 was seamless and works every time, as well as remembering the pair after reboots
Just hold the bluetooth button on the left speaker, then the one on the right. After they find each other, connect to the left speaker.
I had one Sony SRS-XB43 and I thought it sounded great. I found them on sale last year and bought a second one. Every time I listen to them, I'm amazed at how good the stereo pairing sounds.
Also means once the app is no longer supported I assume the speakers become junk.
I used to work in a warehouse of a supermarket in Sydney quite a while ago. The sound system was wired up so that the speakers in the warehouse got one channel, and all the ones in the shop got the other. They played WSFM, which was classic rock. I particularly remember how odd A Space Oddity and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds sounded when only listening to the left or right channel! Anything by The Beatles in fact, they'd put half the song on the right, and half the left until proper stereo with Abbey Road.
Oh man, anything by the Beatles hearing only one channel? Ouch. Did monkeys set up your sound system??
Worked in a KFC and the ceiling speakers in the restaurant were fed one side and the kitchen was the other side. I used to bring in Beatles CD’s….exactly as you think it would sound, unless you were standing between the kitchen and the restaurant. 50’s mono Elvis and Buddy Holly sounded great though lol
I’m a longtime home recorder ( click the crow to hear ). I’ve been listening to my home recorded music though a mono Bose speaker recently. The difference in what is heard is surprising and I played every note and mixed it. You’d think it wouldn’t be so surprising. I’m rethinking my mixing strategy. That 60s style separation has a geewhiz factor bit might not be the best sound overall.
There's a fun Easter egg in Gorillaz's Clint Eastwood. If you listen to the part at the end of the rap where it says "It's all in your head" through a mono speaker the left and right channels cancel out and it's silent, so it really is _all in your head._
Soundcore Boost make fantastic stereo sound and automatically pairs and changes the color of the controls so your stereo pair don’t get mixed up also has one button power off and are waterproof. The soundstage wide detailed with a surprisingly good base, has replaced all my other Bluetooth speakers. iPhone plus power on and away we go with awesome stereo sound, highly recommended.
I had same experience with two Sony SRS xb13, they sound incredible in stereo pair! Specially for the size and price.
Hi Mat, nice little video for the weekend. Thanks.
Mixing for mono, either -3dB or -6db for level "equiveillance" Haas compensation for delay (or S level) is all things that were part of the training for sound operators at the BBC during the 1960s. The training is still there but less so. The cocktail party effect you mention with your 2 radio demo (11 mins in ) is spot on, even more accurate in doors where you can utilise early and late reflections from walls. Intelligibility or audibility, as it is also known within Aunty (dialogue comprehension) is compromised for TV in nearly every modern home. What is the ideal, viewing distance for HD when viewing 1080i 25? 4.6 x the screen height (this allows for the interlace factor) 3.5 x screen height if watching 1080p50 (not 25 fps as that causes too much motion blur). For a 52" screen this is 2.97m (sorry for mixing measurements) now assume a sound bar of similar screen width is placed under the same TV. This means the speakers are only 1.15 meters apart. To hear stereo correctly you should sit at the point of an equilateral triangle with the speakers at the other two points. To do that you would be sitting 97cms from the same screen. So to view the screen correctly you will not hear the stereo. You will hear two speakers that are too close to each other, and most sound will seem to emanate from a "blob" in the middle with only the extremes of left and right been truly discernible. Add hard floors into the environment too and corner placement and its no wonder people struggle to understand the dialogue. Mixing for mono is critical. This guide covers signal level and the short embedded video covers mix down levels for surround to stereo, but the same principles apply. www.bbc.com/academy-guides/why-is-loudness-such-an-issue-for-tv-viewers/ Excellent review but for the moment I'll stick to my LS3/5as connected to the computer by wire.
I have two Oontz Angle 3 Ultra speakers that remember the stereo pairing. These really punch above their weight when used in stereo.
They are $70 for a pair! Sound great, run forever on a charge and are waterproof. Perfect for camping.
This is why I love my House of Marley Get Together stereo speakers. If I turn on both at the same time, they automatically pair in stereo, then connect to the default device. They sound wonderful with their bamboo enclosures and dedicated woofers and tweeters. Only one speaker has a battery though, which is the only downside.
As always fantastic video! Thank you for all the information and going the extra mile to try out different options and configurations. Hanging the speakers from a clothesline using wooden hangers had me laughing 😂 excellent work, mate!
Would you ever consider doing a video on the Edison Diamond Discs? It’s old and obscure these days so it should be right up your alley.
I remember playing a record in 1971 (so you're probably too young Matt :) ) that had the most difference between the left channel and right channel I had ever heard.
It was "Rosetta" by "Fame & Price Together"
In the verses Georgie Fame was on one channel and Alan Price on the other...and both together in the chorus.
Maybe there is another song with even more separation but I've always remembered this.
I have never liked single speaker Bluetooth speakers, which is why I ended up with a Sony because it’s true stereo from the 2 seperate drivers within the unit. Much better than the 90% of Bluetooth speakers that are single drivers mashing together the stereo channels.
I picked out this speaker for my mom 2 years ago after i tried it out and its SO good for its size. I thought they couldnt be connected togeather though! 😊
This was some useful information as I do have one of those speakers and had considered getting a 2nd one for stereo (which will have to be a different color since mine was the limited run Nordic Ice). Not being able to easily have them auto sync to stereo would be annoying. But who knows, maybe they will patch that sometime in the future.
I feel sad that so many people have never experienced a proper HI-Fi stereo system. I would only use bluetooth speakers if i am on holiday not for general use. For a little extra cost you could make yourself up a fairly decent used Hi-Fi system.
Mono compatibilty and phase issues iare well known parameters among us musicians. We always have checks on that on our mixes by playing them in mono and we also use correlation meters/phase checkers plugins. Thats the basis.
I have an Oontz Angle 3, while the speakers are not separated it does have a right and left speaker. I have found, at least to my ears, that even without the separation that the music (even more modern stuff) sounds better than the mono speaker bluetooth.
I do this with a couple of old BW iPod docks, a Bluetooth adapter and a headphone cable. Feeding each a single channel.
It works.
The main reason stereo speakers sound better in separated pairs is because of the phase transducence influx properties causing interlacing response frequencies to induce linear plaining offset divergence.
Exactly.
Techmoan discovers stereophonic sound !
(He says, listening to the video on his phone through decent stereo headphones…)
I also mourn the loss of decent stereo reproduction through speakers.
With all the single Bluetooth speakers we are mostly forgetting about sound stage, location, etc. that was so much a part of the 1960s when stereo was still new-ish tech.
I also have a pair of B&O powered speakers, the S3s that I have had several years.
I absolutely love their tonality and imaging. They go surprisingly full range for their size. They can be used as single speakers, multiple mono or a stereo pair. Via Bluetooth or wired on 3.5mm in / out jacks on each speaker.
I have them set up as a wired stereo pair to the analog 3.5mm input on one speaker.
My experience to set it up that way was the same sort of nightmare you experienced with your attempts to set yours up with the individual speakers!
It’s as though they never behave exactly the same way twice. The “IKEA-like” instructions don’t help.
But, “B&O, so simple, it’s complicated” has always been a thing, ever since I installed some of their component stereo systems in the 1980s.
Excellent sound.
Needless complexity.
Since you have searched for a modern day boom box in the past, maybe have a look at the Sony SRS-XG500. I think it's the modern equivalent of an 80s boom box: Large but portable with all current day technologies. The price has drop to almost half since the release two years ago.
I wish B&O would make some nice easel stands for them. I’ve got an A1 and prefer it when it’s facing me rather than flat on a surface. And yes you could probably find a stand somewhere that would work, but B&O make beautiful things, so would love them to make a stand!
I've got a pair of Sony SRS-XB23 and although they seem to require the app before they become a stereo pair (TL;DR the manual), they stay a stereo pair most of the time.
Only once they forgot. And yes, they also require firmware updates from time to time.
Happy with the way they sound, and from what I can tell, they do require some additional mass to do that. These have bass top and bottom speakers.
Happy buyer.
Recording mixers/masterers check mono to make sure it will sound okay. Even before everyone listened to music on cellphones and mono bluetooth speakers. Retail stores, restaurants, bars, clubs, etc. play music in mono.
There are many misunderstandings about stereo. Recording each of several instruments in mono and then using stereo to place them in different positions left to right, that's not stereo! Not real stereo, anyway. Most humans have two ears, so when we hear a sound, it sounds slightly different in each ear. So you only get real stereo when each instrument has been recorded through two separate microphones placed a suitable distance from each other.
My parents used to have an old Tandberg device that was a radio receiver + tuner, a cassette tape recorder and a record player. This device had a mono/stereo switch. I did a little experimentation with it. I'd put on a record with a recording of suites 2 and 3 by J.S.Bach played by "Herbie's Band" (the Berlin Philharmonics conducted by Herbert von Karajan - joke curtesy of the Irish flutist James Galway). I'd play the famous "Air" movement which consists of two parts, each repeated. I'd play the first part in mono and when it repeated, I'd switch to stereo, and it wasn't two or three times better, but simply infinitely better! It was like the ceiling opened and Heaven came through.
Your observation about two different radio announcers talking at the same time is absolutely correct, by the way.
Thanks for the Sound Burger test... I was thinking about getting a pair for it, but it looks like the they need to work on the connectivity.
6:25 if you check out the track list of the Vogue Machine Hard Limited reel to reel and 8 track, you can see the track listing has special mixes for monocompatibility! We had a trouble with one effect causing a huge phase flip! Nathan Brown managed to fix it using some dark magic. At least I think those mixes are on the tapes, I know they're online.
Great channel, I would be interested to see you do a video on the Sharp VZ1550. I used to have one, it's unusual as it plays both sides of a record without requiring turning over. The needle goes around to the underside of the record. Not for audiophiles but fun nonetheless!
Thanks for this informative video. It's interesting that the prevalence of mono bluetooth speakers has led to a revival in the need for mono compatibility. When I worked in BBC radio, and later on at ITV, the importance of "considering the mono listener" when mixing sound was always emphasised. More this began to be ignored with an assumption that "everyone" would be listening in stereo but, clearly, what goes around comes around . . .
While i'm not a professional at all i'm pretty sure at least popular music has for long taken mono compatibility into consideration since stores and other similar places tend to use mono audio.
Excellent video and very useful. I think modern mixes use spectrum analysis for mixing which optimises the listening experience even via mono speakers. Spectral mixing keeps tracks from clashing too much with each other in a mono block with transitional expertise in mixing as well. The final added subtleties to give a stereo mix only further enhances the mix. Older stereo recordings are likely to lose fidelity with a mono speaker and things may go muddy or missing altogether. Ultimately, depends on what kind of music we are listening to .. where we can get away with one mono Bluetooth speaker or ideally need two in a proper stereo configuration.
The fact that this product does not pair manually to a stereo mode (without the app) is really a bug and hope is fixed with an FW update. This speaker does sound awesome with its 3.5" bass driver and 0.6" tweeter and what with B&O's high quality wizardry. I think I will give this one a go as it is just so compact especially for a desk or bedroom for that matter! Nice one.
Just discovered this channel and I had been watching a few videos and I keep thinking "James May"!
6:41 you’re right, I’ve never thought about it!
Excellent video so many ways to here sound.
Will you do a review on your md & cassette machine you bought from Japan.
The Wonderboom speakers (I think that's their name) do this also. They're designed to be used outdoors, and have a special button that (not sure how) make it sound deeper outdoors. At any rate, they can be paired between each other, and the sound does indeed get much clearer/spatial, giving the same kind of impression you're describing. However, getting them paired together is dead easy, they have a special pairing button just to pair between speakers instead of any other device, and in our experience it has worked every time first attempt.