Hi there,
Got the question of how the performance of Soundots compares to various products that you out there may have some level of familiarity of. I thought this was a great way to let people know a bit more of what Soundots is, as well as how it compares to others.
Of course the tonality of Soundots is something I have carefully crafted and it is up to you to like the sound of Soundots or not, however in this comparison I guide you to what stack of Soundots that I see compare to each product. I also note what differs from the tonality that I desire, sometimes even to the favor of the product I compare with. All this is my opinion and I write it as my guide to you and there is absolutely no wrong in having other opinions.
I do not focus on connectivity that much in this comparison. Soundots is developing in this end and we compare with products spanning from simple v2.1 Bluetooth speakers with low cost line-in at best, to Airplay Wifi Speakers so it is a really broad range in this regard.
I do have first hand experience of these products as sometimes customers offered them to me when working with past products for ODM manufacturers, as their customer wanted their own product to be similar to any of these. Some products I have gotten just for the fun of it, just inorder to have a first hand experience.
Let me Finnish up this foreword with a note on what I use when tweak speakers. One part is of course measurements for distortion and also frequency range but there is also substantial hours of listening behind every tweak. I use Tidal in HiFI mode for this, either with a modified RME Babyface Pro audio interface (changed OP amps to make it sound less sterile on the line out) for Line or Optical out or over BT from my MacBook that do have apt-X over Bluetooth, occasionally I also use my phone.
It is not to be snobby to go Tidal and I do use Apple music allot for casual listening with the iTunes Match service that makes me have my music with me at all time even if the tracks are not available on any of the streaming services. convenience over quality 🙂 However, Tidal have its edge as it is high resolution enough not to apply any apparent tonality in the high frequency range. This bias is a must to be without when judging the tonality of speakers as well as when enjoying high end sound as Soundots definitely respond to in larger stacks.
Have fun reading!
Cheers,
Fredrik
Bose Soundlink Mini vs. One Soundots – First thing to spot in this product is rich bass and full midrange but it distorts allot to achieve that richness especially in the bass region. It may come a cross as a thud muddy in comparison to Soundots. Sound pressure is similar at one meter but as this product distorts allot, one Soundots clearly measure to be louder in the cross section of a room with up to 8dB at points. The MkII is really a wonder in engineering to make it perform identical to Mk I on moderate levels but the Mk II construction simply have no power when cranked up, I am still seriously impressed that they achieved so similar performance and a substantial cost cut over the first version. It is really to tailor performance. the typical china customer that commonly enjoy their speakers maxed out will notice. 🙂
Sony SRS XB-30 vs One Soundots – Wow that is allot of bass at a really low cost, it got lights too! But hey, is hight frequencies something that is totally out of fashion? It is typical for a construction like this to offer tons of battery time, charge from standard USB, bass in high quantities, that actually is not that difficult to achieve but with the natural tradeoff of lack of highs and accuracy, but did I mention it got bass. 🙂 Sound pressure vise, Soundots with smaller cone area maxes out at the same level, around 90dB. The cone area should be a benefit of this product leaving Soundots to shame in the SPL war, but that is not the case.
Big JamBox vs Two stacked Soundots – This box is a good sounding product, and it do have its perks sound vise. It has a raw power that make it come across as honest in a compelling way. On the negative side it do have its fingerprint in the mids and high frequency easily get a bit brittle. I need two Soundots to match this both because the product do come down in the bass region quite nicely and two Soundots stacked on top of each other hit slightly lower with their combined 55Hz than the Big Jambox. SPL vise it is also a match. They both max out at about 96dB a point none of them is enjoyable at. Distortion is not comparable for normal listening levels. Soundots is way cleaner. Cost is higher for two Soundots so without the Soundots modularity that allow you to connect and reshape it would be no game for Soundots. Two Soundots cannot make up too many stacks but it is anyway two smaller portable speakers that still make your TV sound great, and still competes with this product if stacked together.
Sonos One vs Three stacked Soundots – Don’t want to state the obvious but this is a mono speaker. It does offer impressive low end performance. Soundots play stereo that is projected way beyond the enclosure of the products only to be enhanced when the arch that they constitute is extended by more Soundots. The bass performance is why I want to match this with three Soundots. It does even match a pair of this product unless you only fancy to hear the separate speakers. If so, then two of the play units may be a better fit than Soundots. This product does not connect to your TV. Soundots three in a row do and becomes your soundbar if you wish even if performance for a late night movie is there already with one Dot. For that this company is offering a lineup of three products adding way more money to the game. When comparing, cost is rather similar until more applications are needed to cover. then Soundots thanks to its modular design and flexibility kicks the competition out of the water.
Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air vs six Soundots – I need to choose six here to compete with the low end at higher volume. If I am happy with less max volume I can easily go with four or even three to still compete with the performance on moderate levels. If going for six Soundots in this head to head competition is some hundred bucks more expensive. But!! any of the Soundots may also double as your soundbar to your TV and do fit in your back pack to run presentations at work or what ever you may come up with, so… adding all those costs to the bill as well make this stand alone music system plus all the rest of the stuff you need quite costly when summed together. Of course if you already have all that other stuff… then it may feel troublesome with this “one size fits all” sound system, but for the rest of the world I believe it is the best fit, cost effective and even environmental sustainable to a greater extent than any other option for high quality sound.
Yamaha YAS-306 vs Three Soundots in a row – This is a soundbar with included “sub” and it does have some low-end to put out. For every day TV watching I need only one Soundots to get better clarity of speech than this soundbar that is quite muddy in the midrange and go more for bass and close to, but not fully there “sizzling” highs, so three Soundots do outperform this soundbar on moderate levels. If really cranking this soundbar upp for a party there may be a need to add some more Soundots to gett more bass and higher output but this is more up to the needs of the listener. Again Soundots have the cost vs flexibility where Soundots win greatly as a cost efficient option in the case there is more use for them around your home. The sounbar is a cheaper option if you just want and need a soundbar.
TBC…