Astell & Kern is still best known for keeping high-end MP3 players alive, but it's now branching out into Bluetooth speakers — and there might be reason to take notice. The Iriver (now Dreamus) brand's new Acro BE100 includes a 32-bit DAC to preserve the audio quality regardless of the source. Accordingly, it's also billed as the first Bluetooth speaker to support both the aptX HD and LDAC 24-bit codecs — you might not have to lose audio fidelity or limit your collection to one audio format.
The BE100 centers on a 55W class-D amp and boasts both a four-inch Kevlar woofer as well as two silk dome tweeters. A 3.5mm aux input jack provides wired audio if wireless just isn't pristine enough.
Not surprisingly, you can expect to pay for the extra quality. Astell & Kern will ship the Acro BE100 for $499 in black and white models when it ships on March 7th, with pre-orders starting February 25th. That's a huge outlay, but the BE100 also exists in a relatively niche space. Most wireless speakers approaching this price range are either party-oriented models like UE's Hyperboom or convenience-focused smart speakers like the Sonos Five. This might do the job if you're more interested in appreciating the subtle nuances of a classical piece than blasting audio around the house.
If you own an Amazon Echo, there’s a chance that just reading that word triggered a pavlovian “bimm” in your mind. Or, if you have the wake sound disabled, maybe it’s the timer alarm that makes you twitch if you hear it on a TV show (or someone else’s speaker). Whatever you think of the sounds a smart speaker makes, none of them are accidental. They have all been meticulously designed to pull your attention or provide reassurance, depending on their goal. And the Echo could have sounded very different from how we know it today.
The Echo series, in particular, has been instrumental in defining the smart speaker and the sounds we expect and (to avoid burned pizza) need it to make. Maybe you don’t think about these transient acoustic signposts much – the beeps and boops that bookend Alexa’s verbal responses – and that’s okay, that’s by design too. In fact, Chris Seifert, Senior Design Manager at Amazon wouldn’t mind if you don’t notice these sounds at all.
“One of the things that people often say about sound is you only hear about it when it's wrong,” Seifert told Engadget. “People don't go to a play and say how great the sound was, [it] probably wasn't a good play, if that's what your focus is.”
This is why, when you do say the magic wake word, Alexa responds precisely as it does. That “bimm” might seem like a neat, generic alert sound, but it was purposefully crafted that way. Seifert, the first person Amazon employed to build Echo’s sound design, reckoned that for users to be comfortable with a smart speaker, all the interactions – not just the spoken answers from Alexa – needed to feel natural and in context. ”If we just use skeuomorphism, and just real-world sounds, that's kind of strange, in a purely digital experience,” he said.
Amazon
This is a concept Seifert refers to as “abstract familiarity.” You know it, but you don’t know why you know it. And there’s no better example of this than Alexa’s wake sound, which is based on the ubiquitous and very human “uh-huh.” A sound we can hear dozens of times a day. A sound that lets us know someone is listening without us feeling interrupted.
“We took recordings of people saying that and we analyzed it and looked at the frequency it’s used and how long they typically took and how loud they were in comparison to their actual normal speaking responses,” Seifert said. “And then we recreated that, tried lots of different instruments. Some of them, real-world instruments, some of them completely synthetic, and found this combination of all of the above to create what we call our wake sound.”
If you have an Alexa device nearby, go ahead and try it. That short sound is also curiously practical. You might find that how you respond to it is different from someone else. I personally initially always waited for the sound and then issued my command. Turns out, I might have just been being a little too polite. Seifert informs me it was designed so that you don’t need to wait, you can happily talk right over it. Again, this is not a coincidence.
“I love this topic, because the whole point of the technology is it should work for you, right? Seifert said. “Even you know, during the day, I might say, ‘Alexa, what time is it?’ all in one phrase, right? Because I'm right by the device, just rattle it off. If I'm thinking of a larger question, before I start this long thing, I might actually pause to make sure I'm heard because I'm halfway down the hall. And I don't want to have to repeat the whole thing if it never heard me.”
If you ever wondered what that wake noise could have sounded like in an alternative universe or with some of the real instruments, then you can hear them in the audio embedded below.
Good sound design is an exercise in Occam’s razor: How does one create informative, appropriate feedback in a tone that’s maybe less than a half a second long? We’re all familiar with the dreaded Windows error alert or maybe the satisfying iPhone message swoosh. The terse, off-key alerts ignite frustration while the crisp chime of a task completed just feels right. But is it merely a case of choosing something that sounds positive or negative?
Not if the Echo wake sound is any indication. But sometimes, Seifert and his team have the luxury of a little more sonic breathing room. Like the Echo’s boot-up sound which is a full nine seconds. The audio equivalent of War and Peace in UI sound design terms. But also, the very first sound that any Echo owner is going to hear, so it has to count. Even more so back in 2014 when these things were new.
“We were making a speaker that you spoke to which now we totally take for granted,” Seifert said. “At the time, that was really a novel thing, like you're just going to speak to this, this device, you literally aren't having to touch it in any way, shape or form. So how do we encourage people to feel comfortable doing something that's so new, that that's just not expected?”
Seifert went on to explain how they needed to create expectations for everything to come. They needed a sound that would indicate this screenless device was powering up for the first time and that right at the end of those vital nine seconds Alexa was listening, waiting for you. The result is a pad sound that creates a little bit of suspense before breaking itself apart into three ascending notes that lead us right into Alexa’s first word: Hello.
These three notes also comprise the wake sound (two at wake, the third comes later in something called an “end pointing” tone). Oh, and the incoming call ringtone uses these three notes and adds in two more for fun. In fact, pretty much all of the Echo’s non-verbal signals boil down to just these three notes at some level. Just placed in different orders, pitches and lengths depending on whether they want your attention, already have it or no longer need it.
Elaine Thompson / Associated Press
“From the moment you boot up your device, you hear these three notes. When you speak to it, you hear two before you speak and one at the end, when you get an incoming call, you get a five-note version of that melody.” Seifert explained. “That's all happening before the logic part of the brain kicks in, and you start interpreting what you're hearing and thinking of the meaning of it.” In short, they are playing with our minds and we’re not even mad about it. If you’re still not convinced, maybe you will be when you learn that those three recurring tones are meant to sound like someone saying “Am-a-zon.”
But there’s one small thing that Seifert and his team haven’t been able to crack yet: Personalization. When it comes to our individual devices we can change and choose the sounds they make, but an Echo is often communal, part of the shared home. How does one allow for some level of personalization while maintaining the ubiquitous understanding of an “uh-huh?”
According to Seifert, that’s the next big challenge in smart-speaker land. “The next step is to make all of these experiences such that people can personalize them when it's just them, but that they're still understood by a collective group.” But he also remains tight-lipped, for now, about how that might actually work. “I think we’ll see a lot of the future is going to have more personalization and customization [...] and that's the challenge because prior to Alexa and Echo, most sounds were made, you know, one to one.”
It's no secret that the built-in speakers in most TVs are trash. They don't project enough sound out to the front so you can hear well — especially subtle details. Thankfully, you don't have to splurge for a five-speaker (or more) surround-sound setup to fix the problem. In most living rooms, a single soundbar and maybe a subwoofer will suffice. To help guide your shopping spree, we've compiled a list of everything you need to look for when searching for the best soundbar for you, along with a list of the top picks for a range of budgets.
What to look for in a soundbar
Features
When it comes to features, the more you pay the more you're going to get. Most affordable options ($150 or less) will improve your television's audio, but that's about it. Step into the $300 to $400 range and you'll find things like built-in voice control, wireless connectivity, Chromecast, AirPlay 2 and even options like Android TV. They're all helpful when you want to avoid looking for the remote, but the best audio quality is usually only in the top tier and the formats those premium devices support. I’m talking about things like Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and other audio standards. These are what you'll want to look for if truly immersive sound is what you crave for your living room setup. And not all Atmos soundbars are equal, so you'll need to look at the finer details carefully before you break into the savings account.
Ports
Sony
This is a big one. A lot of the more affordable soundbars have limited options when it comes to connectivity. They either offer an optical port or one HDMI jack and, if you're lucky, both. Things get slightly better in the mid-range section, but that's not always the case. The Sonos Beam, for example, is $449, but only has a single HDMI port. If you want to connect your set-top box, gaming console and more directly to your soundbar for the best possible audio, you'll likely want to look for an option with at least two HDMI (eARC) inputs. HDMI connections are essential for things like Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and other high-res and immersive audio formats. And with the new HDMI 2.1 spec, soundbars can support HDR, 8K and 4K/120 passthrough to make these speakers an even better companion for a game console.
Channels
Another big thing you’ll want to pay attention to is channels. That’s the 2.1, 7.1.2 or other decimal number that companies include in product descriptions. The first figure corresponds to the number of channels. A 2 would just be left and right while a more robust Atmos system, especially one with rear satellite speakers, could be 5 or 7 (left, right, center and upward). The second number refers to the subwoofer, so if your soundbar comes with one or has them built in, you’ll see a 1 here. The third numeral is upfiring speakers, important for the immersive effect of Dolby Atmos. Not all Atmos-enabled units have them, but if they do, the third number will tell you how many are in play.
Wireless
Sony
Most soundbars these days offer either Bluetooth, WiFi or both. When it comes to WiFi, that connectivity affords you luxuries like voice control (either built-in or with a separate device), Chromecast, Spotify Connect and AirPlay 2. Depending on your preferences, you might be able to live without some of these. For me, AirPlay 2 and Chromecast are essentials, but the rest I can live without. Those two give me the ability to beam music and podcasts from my go-to apps without having to settle for — or struggle to pair — a Bluetooth connection.
Size
This one might seem obvious but humor me for a minute. Nothing is more soul-crushing than getting a pricey soundbar in your living room only to discover you have to rearrange everything to find a spot for it. This was my plight when the Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar review unit arrived at my door. Yes, that speaker is absurdly large (and heavy), and most soundbars aren't nearly as big. Indeed, I learned a valuable lesson: Make sure the space where you want to put a soundbar will accommodate the thing you're about to spend hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars on.
Basically, it all comes down to the TV you have (or are planning to get) and what the primary goal is for your living-room audio. Is it ease of use? Do you want the best possible sound from a single speaker or speaker/sub combo? Do you just want to be able to actually hear your TV better?
Engadget picks
By paying attention to each of those areas, you should have a good idea of what to look for in a soundbar or soundbar/sub combo. With that said, we've put numerous products through their paces at Engadget over the years, and have a few favorites at various price points to get you started.
Best premium soundbar: Sony HT-A7000
The HT-A7000 and optional SA-SW5 subwoofer.
Sony
Sony has a long track record for high-end soundbars and its latest is another great-sounding product. The A7000 is a robust Dolby Atmos device, capable of immersive 7.1.2 audio thanks to Sony’s 360 Sound Mapping, Sound Field Optimization, vertical surround technology and S-Force Pro front surround. There’s a lot of tech at work here, and I haven’t even mentioned 360 Reality Audio or DSEE Extreme upscaling for compression, both handy when it comes to listening to music. Speaking of audio, you’ll have the option of using Chromecast, Spotify Connect or AirPlay 2 to send your tunes to the A7000.
Two HDMI eARC inputs means you can hook up multiple streaming boxes or gaming consoles to this soundbar. Thanks to HDMI 2.1 support, you can expect 8K and 4K/120 passthrough to your television, so the A7000 is a great option for gamers who crave a robust home theater setup. This soundbar is expensive at $1,400 and it doesn’t come with a subwoofer. However, Sony does give you multiple options for both a sub and rear satellite speakers. The SA-SW3 sub is $400 while the SA-SW5 is $700. For rear speakers, the SA-RS3S is $350 while the truly wireless (and much better looking) SA-RS5 set is $600.
The top end of Sonos’ home theater lineup was well overdue for a refresh by the time the company introduced the Arc in 2020. This unit replaced the Playbar that debuted in 2013, offering directional sound via Dolby Atmos as the main upgrade. The Arc sports a more modern design, stellar sound and all of Sonos’ smarts – including the ability to automatically calibrate to your living room and when you add additional speakers.
The $899 price doesn’t include a sub, but the Playbar didn’t come with one either. And sadly, Sonos doesn’t include a second HDMI jack here for directly connecting devices besides your TV. As is typically the case with the company’s wares, expansion gets expensive quickly as the wireless sub is $749 and satellite One speakers are $219 each. However, the combination of the Arc and a sub will get you pretty far sound-wise, even if they are separate purchases.
Solid sound quality? Check. Dolby Atmos? Yep. Compact and easy to set up? Uh huh. Compatible with other Sonos products for a more robust system? You betcha. The first-gen Sonos Beam has been one of our favorites since it arrived in 2018, but there was one thing it didn’t have: Dolby Atmos. With the 2021 model, the company’s big addition was that immersive sound, though it’s a bit limited since the Beam doesn’t have any upward-firing speakers. Sonos manages to make things seem more directional by tweaking audio timing and frequency instead of adding more drivers. The new Beam still only has the one HDMI port which means you won’t be connecting a gaming console or set-top box directly to this. It also means that if you have an older TV with an optical jack, you’ll need an adapter here.
If you’re looking for a way to improve your TV sound on a budget, Vizio has some solid options. With the V21t-J8, you get a 2.1-channel setup in a compact soundbar and 4.5-inch wireless sub combo. This would be a great choice if you don’t want your add-on TV speaker to take up a lot of space. There’s no WiFi connectivity, but that’s really the only sacrifice when it comes to the basics. HDMI ARC/eARC and optical connections link to your television while a 3.5mm aux jack and Bluetooth allow you to play music from your phone or another device. DTS Virtual:X compatibility offers some of the effect of surround sound without a bigger unit or additional speakers.
Roku has a line of products that not only allow you to improve your television’s sound quality, but they also have a streaming player built right in. For $130, the Streambar gives you all the benefits of a Roku player, including 4K HDR, inside of a soundbar with four 1.9-inch drivers. There are a lot of handy features here too, like the ability to dull the roar of commercials, enhanced speech clarity and compatibility with most voice assistants. Plus, the Streambar supports AirPlay for beaming both video and audio to the device. Roku doesn’t pair a subwoofer with this soundbar, but it does offer one separately for $180.
Universal Audio, which has long been known for its premium audio interfaces and plugins, is moving into a new market as it has revealed its first microphones. As with the company's other gear, expect to pay a pretty penny to get your hands on these.
Universal Audio
The SD-1 Dynamic is on the lower end of the initial lineup. Universal Audio says it's a broadcast-style mic geared toward capturing speech, vocals and instruments. It includes a "cardioid polar pattern and selectable low cut and articulation boost switches." It seems to be Universal Audio's attempt to cut into the market share of Shure's SM7B, a favorite among podcasters. You can pick up the SD-1 Dynamic starting today for $379.
Like the SD-1 Dynamic, the SP-1 Condenser has Apollo interface presets designed to help users attain professional-sounding audio quickly. The SP-1 comprises a pair of pencil microphones that Universal Audio designed to record drums, acoustic instruments and live performances.
Universal Audio
The company says the SP-1 is designed to block out background noise and off-axis audio. The SP-1 Condenser will be available this summer and cost $499.
At the higher end of the scale is the Sphere L22 Modeling microphone. Universal Audio says that, when paired with the UAD Sphere L22 plugin, the device will be able to replicate 34 classic ribbon, condenser and dynamic mics.
Universal Audio
It's a "large-diaphragm modeling condenser that pairs a dual-capsule design for stereo or blended mono recording with award-winning mic modeling technology," according to the company. With the ability to mimic many other "sought-after" microphones, it's not too surprising that the Sphere L22 Modeling microphone doesn't come cheap. It's available now for $1,499.
Looking further ahead, Universal Audio plans to release a series of tube and solid-state condenser microphones. The very pretty Bock Series mics are designed by David Bock and should arrive this fall.
Universal Audio
These products aren't really designed for creators who are just starting out (unless they plan to splurge on a high-end setup out of the gate). However, these mics should at least give experienced podcasters, streamers and musicians who want to improve the sound quality of their output more options to consider.
Much of the innovation on true wireless earbuds hasn’t included overall design. Sure, companies have extended battery life and added a slew of new features, but the primary exterior advances have been in reducing size rather than drastically changing the aesthetic. Well, Sony would like to have a word. Today, the company announced one of the most unique sets of true wireless earbuds we’ve seen.
Dubbed the LinkBuds ($180), this tiny set features an entirely open wear style that lets outside noise in by design rather than relying on an ambient sound mode. And Sony didn’t just build something that sits outside of your ear either. The company designed a circular driver that is entirely open in the middle, like a donut. As we’ve seen in the past, the always transparent audio presents a number of challenges to sound quality. Has Sony cracked the code or do the LinkBuds prioritize convenience over audio?
Design
This isn’t the first time Sony has tried its hand at an “open-style concept.” Back in 2017, the company debuted what would become known as the Xperia Ear Duo. These true wireless earbuds featured an open ring that sat outside of your ear canal with all of the necessary tech stored in an attached case that sat behind your lobes. They slid on from the bottom and they looked and felt awkward. Since then, Sony has primarily focused on more “traditional” true wireless earbuds with a component that actually goes inside your ear canal with a silicone or foam tip on the end.
The LinkBuds are a massive advance on the Xperia Ear Duo. True wireless tech has come a long way in the last five years, allowing companies like Sony to drastically reduce the overall size of earbuds. Here, there’s an IPX4-rated two-part design with a tiny dome-shaped housing holding the bulk of the components. Attached to it is an open circle that holds the ring-shaped speaker unit. The entire thing is made of hard plastic, save for the flexible “fit supporters” that help hold the LinkBuds in place.
Billy Steele/Engadget
Unlike the Galaxy Buds Live from Samsung or Bose’s Sport Open Earbuds, the Sony LinkBuds open up in the middle of the driver rather than putting a small speaker outside of your ear and not sealing off the canal. Due to this and the chosen materials, the LinkBuds aren’t as comfortable at the Galaxy Buds Live as there actually is something stuck into the opening of your ear. It’s just not shoved in too far like a typical set of earbuds. I don’t know how you could protect the driver and make that area softer, but a little cushion there would go a long way. And slightly more rigid “fit supporters” may help keep the LinkBuds in place slightly better.
Features and software
As we saw on the WF-1000XM4, Sony isn’t afraid to absolutely pack its true wireless earbuds full of tech, and that continues on the LinkBuds. First, the company opted for a touch-based setup for the controls, only you don’t touch the buds to complete the task. You tap right in front of your ear. A forward-facing motion sensor detects vibrations when you do so, allowing you to play/pause, skip tracks (forwards and backwards), adjust volume or summon a voice assistant. However, only double and triple tap gestures are in play here, so you only get four slots – two per side – to pick your most-needed actions. Thankfully, some folks can skip the voice assistant here as the LinkBuds offer hands-free access to Google Assistant (Android only) and Alexa.
Sony calls the technology Wide Area Tap and it’s remarkably reliable when you’re trying to use it as intended. However, I noticed that whenever I was chewing while listening to music or a podcast, the LinkBuds would often be tricked into thinking I just made some taps. That’s likely due to the protrusion of my jaw as I bite down. You can disable Wide Area Tap entirely if this happens to you, but you’ll have to reach for your phone to control the tunes which isn’t a great alternative.
The company also brought along some of the best features from the WF-1000XM4, including Speak-to-Chat. This tool automatically pauses the audio when you start talking, so you don’t have to awkwardly tap when someone walks up for a quick convo. Sony has refined the feature a bit too, allowing you to choose between three pause lengths (5, 15 or 30 seconds) before the LinkBuds will pick up where you left off. You can now adjust the voice detect sensitivity with automatic, high and low settings. Adaptive Volume Control also returns, the option that can tweak the level if the sound of your environment gets louder, and then go back once things quiet down.
Billy Steele/Engadget
As always, the Sony Headphones Connect app provides a host of handy items. You’ll get battery levels for individual earbuds and the case right up top on the main screen with media and volume controls underneath. Tap over to the Sound tab and you have the option to enable Speak-to-Chat alongside audio presets and manual EQ settings. There’s also the ability to redo the 360 Reality Audio analysis that personalizes sound based on photos of your ears. Lastly, DSEE is an option you can allow to do its thing automatically. As a refresher, DSEE or Digital Sound Enhancement Engine is Sony’s upscaling tech that attempts to improve compressed audio by restoring the “natural, expansive sound” when it’s enabled.
The System tab is the next option over and it’s where you can activate Adaptive Volume Control, customize/disable Wide Area Tap, adjust the automatic power off duration, disable automatic pausing when you remove an earbud and more. One of the Wide Area Tap options will allow you to automatically pick up on Spotify where you left off. Appropriately named Spotify Tap, the feature can also provide a personalized recommendation with an additional tap.
Sound quality
Sony designed a 12mm ring-shaped driver for the LinkBuds. This is how the part that goes into your ear is able to be open in the middle. It also means that a considerable amount of outside noise is coming in at all times. That convenience is the whole idea, but don’t expect flagship-level audio to accompany your environmental murmur or roar. The LinkBuds certainly allow you to tune into both your location and some music or a podcast, but you don’t necessarily get the best of both worlds.
Overall, the sound is a bit flat and compressed across genres. Chaotic metal like Every Time I DIe’s Radical is subdued, largely because the booming bass and dynamic details in the instruments are both restrained. The bluegrass stylings of Punch Brothers and other acoustic styles sound pretty good, but hip-hop is a mess. The bass on albums like Kendrik Lamar’s DAMN. almost pops instead of bumping. During my tests, I noticed the sound is actually pretty good if I push the LinkBuds further into my ear canals. The problem is they don’t stay here and it’s very uncomfortable. In the spot where the earbuds sit on their own for me, in accordance with Sony’s wear directions, the sound is just… there… for some genres.
Billy Steele/Engadget
LinkBuds support Sony’s 360 Reality Audio. If you’re unfamiliar, the format is designed to be more immersive, with simulated positioning of sound sources and instruments “around” the listener. The issue has always been that content is limited and accessing it requires a hifi music subscription from the likes of Amazon, Tidal or Deezer. Similar to other devices, 360RA tracks on LinkBuds are noticeably louder and have more presence than the same songs on Apple Music and other services. To me they sound better, but I will admit the open nature of these earbuds doesn’t exactly lend itself to listening in spatial audio. It's an experience best reserved for over-ear headphones or properly equipped speakers.
There’s no ANC here, but not countering noise is the whole point.. Sony made the LinkBuds for constant use, linking “online and offline worlds – hence the name. There’s no effort given to trying to block out the world around, but rather to enable you to be ever present by design. You can counter distractions with volume here, but even then you’ll still be subject to them even when you’re listening to music or a podcast. So if you want earbuds that will help you silence the roar so you can focus or relax, these aren’t them. And again, they aren’t meant to be.
When it comes to calls, Sony says “precise voice pickup technology” employs signal processing and a noise reduction algorithm to quiet ambient rumbling and focus on your speech. Lots of companies make claims about call quality that ultimately don’t pan out, but Sony comes through. Constant background roar like a white noise machine is cut out almost entirely as are distractions like TV dialogue. You still sound like you’re on speakerphone to the person on the other end, but at least the rumble of the room on your end won’t be as much of an issue.
Battery life
Sony promises up to five and a half hours on the LinkBuds themselves, with another 12 hours in the charging case. During my tests, I managed almost six hours of use before having to dock the earbuds, consistently getting around 30 minutes more than advertised. There’s no wireless charging here, but a 10-minute plug-in will give you 90 minutes of use. Honestly, the charging case for the LinkBuds is so small, I’d rather that component remain compact than for Sony to make it larger to fit any Qi-compatible bits.
The competition
Sony isn’t the only company to try the open fit concept on true wireless earbuds. Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Live have an “open type” design that covers your ears, but everything sits on the outside. This model is equipped with ANC, though it doesn’t offer robust sound blocking since your ear canal isn’t sealed off. Audio also isn’t the best, especially at high volumes. However, you get the added comfort of not having something shoved in your ear at all. Combine that with always-on Bixby, wireless charging, iOS integration and customizable controls, and you’ve got a decent set of earbuds. If you can live with the bean jokes, the going rate is around $100.
Another recent take on the open-ear idea are the Bose Sport Open Earbuds. These have a behind-the-ear hook design similar to the Powerbeats Pro and other fitness buds. Despite good battery life, reliable controls and the inherent merits of an open design, these earbuds don’t come with a charging case (it's more of a dock) and you can’t really customize them to your needs. What’s more, the hard plastic construction means they’re not very comfortable and the design actually hinders sound quality to a degree. Plus, they’re more expensive than Sony’s LinkBuds at $199.
Wrap-up
Sony largely succeeded at what it set out to do: It built a set of true wireless earbuds that offers transparent audio by design rather than relying on microphones to pipe in ambient sound. Indeed, the LinkBuds blend your music, podcasts or videos with whatever is going on around you. There are certainly benefits for this, whether it be the ability to be less of a jerk in the office or to stay safe outdoors.
Even with all of the handy tech Sony packs in, earbuds need to be comfortable enough to wear for long periods of time, and the area around the unique ring-shaped drivers is simply too hard to be accommodating. Consistent audio performance would make a big difference, too. For now, the LinkBuds are an interesting product that could be more compelling with some refinements. Hopefully Sony will do just that, because I’m very much looking forward to version 2.0.
The LinkBuds are available to order today from Amazon and Best Buy in grey and white color options for $180.
Audio-Technica is looking to up the battery-life ante with its latest true wireless earbuds. The company says the high-capacity battery in the ATH-CKS50TW can deliver 20 hours of continuous playback, or 15 hours with active noise cancellation (ANC) switched on. Add the charging case to the mix, and Audio-Technica claims you'll get up to 50 hours of on-the-go use. The company says that you'll get up to 90 minutes of listening time with ANC off after 10 minutes of charging the earbuds in the case.
The earbuds are lightweight and deliver "deep, powerful bass" thanks to 9mm HD TWS drivers, according to Audio-Technica. They're Sony 360 Reality Audio certified, so you should get the intended experience while listening to music that's formatted for the spatial audio tech.There's a low-latency mode, which should reduce audio lag when streaming video and playing games, as well as a passthrough mode. This, the company says, will lower the volume and let you hear ambient sound while enhancing vocal bandwidth.
The earbuds have multipoint support, so you can connect them to your phone and tablet or computer at the same time, and JIS/IEC protection from splashes, which Audio-Technica says is equivalent to an IPX4 rating. Other features include fast pairing on Android, the option to use one earbud at a time and customizable button assignments.
Audio-Technica is promising seriously impressive battery life with this model. The company's products typically deliversolid sound quality as well, so the ATH-CKS50TW could be well worth checking out. You might not need to wait long to put Audio-Technica's claims to the test either. The ATH-CKS50TW earbuds are available today in the UK and EU for £150/€169. The company didn't share US pricing or availability in advance.
Just watch Dune once with TV speakers or a basic soundbar, and you'll understand the appeal of a real surround sound system. You may already have stunning visuals thanks to that new OLED set, but if the enormous sandworms of Arrakis don't rattle your living room with butt-shaking goodness, then you're missing out on an essential element of that film. Thankfully, it's never been easier to bring the surround sound experience home without investing thousands of dollars in Hi-Fi components.
Pro tip: Think ahead as much as you can
It’s easy to snap up the cheapest surround sound system you can find, or overspend beyond what you actually need. So before you buy anything, I suggest sitting down and thinking about what you need now, and project ahead a few years to see if things may change. If you’re stuck in a small city apartment, it’s probably not worth investing in enormous speakers that you can never play loud. But if you’re moving within a year or two, maybe you can start with a smaller system and build up.
Different rooms may also require different types of equipment. It makes sense to go wire-free in a family room that’s always filled with kids and their toys. But if you’re lucky enough to have a basement or some sort of dedicated home theater space, feel free to go big. Just leave yourself room to upgrade: Consider an Atmos receiver, even if you’re not buying Atmos speakers yet.
Get a soundbar system
Kyle Maack/Engadget
Soundbars have come a long way over the last decade. It used to be that you'd sacrifice a significant amount of quality to have a tidy little box sitting underneath your TV. But today's entries are much better at mimicking two separate front channels and a center speaker. Some models also support newer immersive audio formats like Dolby Atmos and DTS:X by bouncing sound off of your ceilings with upward firing speakers. (That may seem a bit silly, but this technique does a decent job of simulating overhead sounds.)
As a bonus, soundbar systems only need one cable to connect to your TV. They also typically rely on wireless subwoofers and rear speakers, which don't require stringing any long cables around your living room like a traditional surround setup. Naturally, you'll still need to power those up, though, so be sure to have outlets nearby.
As you'd expect, the most expensive options sound the best, like Sonos's Arc ($899) and Vizio's Elevate 5.1 system ($799), but you don't have to spend that much to get a decent surround experience. Vizio's 5.1.2 M-series system ($500 normally, currently $350 at Best Buy) has everything you'd want: A powerful soundbar equipped with two Dolby Atmos/DTS:X height channels, a wireless subwoofer and two wireless rear channels. Vizio's V-series 5.1 system is even cheaper at $200, but the smaller speakers and subwoofer will sound significantly worse and you'll lose Atmos support.
Another simple option is Roku's family of speakers. The Streambar Pro ($150) is a capable soundbar that also doubles as a Roku streaming box, making it ideal for older TVs with no apps (or not-so-smart recent sets). It's a good option if you want to build your surround system over time: You can always add Roku's Wireless Speakers ($150) as rear channels, as well as the company's wireless subwoofer ($180) when you need more low-end oomph. The complete system will run you $480, but remember that it doesn't have any Atmos support like Vizio's M-series.
The beauty of soundbars is that they handle all the audio processing you'd need. But if you want to get really serious, you'll need a receiver that can decode your audio signals and direct them to speakers. Notably, sound isn't their only task these days; modern receivers are usually equipped with multiple analog video and HDMI ports to handle all of your devices. So instead of plugging your PlayStation 5 and streaming boxes into your TV, they'd go directly into your receiver. Any decent option will also offer Bluetooth, Spotify Connect and support for other popular streaming services, so they're still plenty useful without turning on your TV.
A receiver like the Denon AVR-S540BT ($349) is a decent start, with support for the latest non-immersive audio formats (Dolby True HD and DTS HD Master) and 4K HDR video at 60Hz. You'll have to step up to something like the Sony STR-DH790 ($450) to get Dolby Atmos and DTS:X support, unfortunately.
Since you probably won't be upgrading your receiver too often, I'd say it's worth paying for those formats now. They go a long way toward making your surround sound experience sound more natural. Instead of having audio coming from individual channels — say, just the center speaker for dialogue — Atmos and DTS:X treat individual sounds as objects that can move across all of your speakers. And once you have upward-firing speakers (or even better, units installed directly into your ceiling), those formats can make you feel like you're right inside a movie.
If you want to future-proof yourself even more, look out for receivers that support HDMI 2.1, which allows for 4K video at 120Hz and 8K/60Hz. The Denon AVR-S760 ($620) is one of the most capable options available now, though take note that this model (as well as other Denon, Yamaha and Marantz AVRs) currently has issues with the Xbox Series X. (A free box should fix that, though.) Alternatively, you could always connect your HDMI 2.1 console directly to your TV (assuming it supports that), and route that devices audio back to your receiver using eARC.
So now that you've got a receiver in mind, how about some speakers? The easiest way to solve that is with a boxed system, like Klipsch's Reference Black Home Theater ($360). It has the typical 5.1 setup: two fronts, a center, two rears and a convenient wireless subwoofer. The Reference Black system has been well reviewed by the team at CNET, and the current price is practically a steal compared to its original $1,000 MSRP. The ever-budget-friendly brand Monoprice also has an immersive system going for $250, which includes two satellites with upward-firing speakers. (And if you lucked into a receiver with more than two Atmos channels, there's also a $300 set with two more upward-firing speakers.)
If you're aiming for something closer to a premium Hi-Fi setup, Fluance's Elite 5.0 system ($500) is worth a look. It includes two front towers, a larger center channel and wall-mountable rear speakers. They're also available in a variety of colors, which is more than you see from some high-end offerings. I haven't tested these myself, but the reviews I've seen have been practically rapturous, and Fluance is a company known for producing high quality speakers. You'll have to add your own subwoofer down the line, but those towers should shake your living room plenty. And if you wanted to add Atmos later, you can just throw on some Atmos additions like the ELAC Debut 2.0 speakers ($260).
You don’t necessarily have to buy your entire surround sound system at once. In fact, that’s a great way to extend your budget, since you’ll have more money down the line to add better hardware. Once you’ve picked up an AV receiver, a decent pair of bookshelves like the ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2 ($340) will be an incredible upgrade over a simple soundbar or TV speakers. My only suggestion is to try to stay within the same speaker family to keep your sound consistent.
For example, you could add any of ELAC’s Debut 2.0 subwoofers for a bit of low-end action, or snag the C6.2 center channel ($280) to round out your front speaker setup. And eventually, you could add more bookshelves, or perhaps move them to the rear and pick up the Debut F6.2 towers ($400 each) for an even beefier sound stage. All of those components will add up to an incredible sounding system, though you’d never consider it a “budget” solution.
Korg jump-started the craze for affordable, portable synths when it launched the Volca series in 2013. Major players like Roland got in on the action. As did more niche companies like Critter and Guitari and Modal Electronics. But 1010 Music might deserve credit for cramming the most raw power into the smallest possible package.
The company is launching a new line of candy-colored Nanobox instruments, starting with Fireball (a wavetable synthesizer) and Lemondrop (a granular synth). These are impossibly tiny, full-fledged synthesizers with a level of depth that dwarfs any Pocket Operator. But they’re not cheap, either. While they were never going to reach impulse-purchase territory, current supply chain issues mean the Fireball and Lemondrop are coming in at a somewhat pricey $399. For context, that’s more than twice what most Volcas cost. The thing is, though, after about 10 minutes with 1010 Music’s latest instruments, it becomes clear that they’re not competing with the Volcas, and might not have any direct competitors at all.
Before digging into the software side of things, let’s talk hardware. The Fireball and Lemondrop are just palette-swapped versions of each other: one a rich red, the other a yellow that might be visible from space. (I’m sure you can figure out which is which.) They’re fun looking in a way that few other synths are, regardless of size.
On the front there’s a two-inch touch screen, two knobs and four physical keys. Mastering the buttons, and how exactly they interact with the UI, takes a little practice. But once you figure out the logic behind the menu system it’s not too difficult to get around. Each section (oscillators, home, etcetera) has layers, and each layer has pages, which you navigate with the arrow buttons.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
Around back is a USB-C jack for power (sadly, no MIDI over USB); ⅛-inch audio ins and outs; as well as TRS MIDI in and out anda microSD card slot. The synths come with a 32GB card installed, with over 100 sound sources and presets. If you want to load your own wavetables or sound files for processing with Lemondrop’s granulator, this is where you’ll need to copy them. But remember, since the Nanoboxes only use USB for power, you’ll have to actually take the card out, put it in a computer and copy the files over, before putting it back in the instrument.
The most distinctive thing about them physically, however, is their size. At 3.75 inches wide, 3 inches tall, and 1.5 inches thick, you can easily toss one (or both) of these in a bag or a large pocket. Even though I knew the dimensions beforehand, I was still shocked by just how tiny they were when I took them out of their boxes. And you’d be forgiven for immediately feeling skeptical of them. How can you possibly make music on something this small? And why would you want to? The answer to the first question is actually surprisingly straightforward. The second is a bit more complicated.
Let’s start with the easy bit. Despite the tiny size of the screens, both Lemondrop and Fireball are more than usable. Would it have been nice if they were a bit bigger? Sure. But they’re big enough to give you most of the important information at a quick glance: the movement of LFOs, envelopes, grains and changing waveshapes. The two knobs to the right of the screen are assignable macros when used from the main display screens. Twisting these can give you quick control over complex sets of parameters, or just change the filter cutoff. It’s up to you.
Those macros can also be controlled using the touchscreen when it's in X/Y mode. Frankly, for something of this size, it’s basically the ideal way to interact with it. It’s immensely satisfying and easy to dramatically alter the sound of a patch simply by sliding your finger around the screen. When you’re in this mode the two knobs change the default point of the macros on the X/Y axis, so you can push it all the way to the bottom left of the screen, then tap the top right to create intense rhythmic pulses.
Pairing X/Y mode with an external MIDI controller gives you a surprisingly hands-on instrument. But, if you want to just play the devices themselves, you can. There’s a grid mode where you can tap out notes, and you can lock it to a scale to avoid making too many mistakes. Now, this isn’t exactly the easiest or most enjoyable way to play a synth, but it gets the job done. I’ve found it particularly useful for sampling notes and chords from the Fireball to my PO-33, or playing a drone on the Lemondrop (using the hold function) and using the X/Y to create evolving soundscapes.
The biggest knock against the Nanoboxes on the hardware front is the lack of battery power. Yes, USB batteries are nearly ubiquitous at this point, but it would be great to have the option of powering them with a couple of AAs. Between audio, MIDI and power, there’s an awful lot of cables coming out of the back of what is ostensibly something portable.
Software
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
The two instruments share a lot in common under the hood as well. The UI is largely the same. They both have a pair of primary sound sources (two wavetable oscillators or two granulators), plus a third simple oscillator that can help thicken up a sound using saw, square, triangle or sine waves. They both have two envelopes, two LFOs and a modulation sequencer, plus two morphable filters (low pass, high pass, bandpass and notch) that can be routed in series or parallel. Lastly, they both have two effects slots, one for modulation (chorus, flanger / distortion, or phaser) and one for time (delay or reverb).
This means basically that every pro for the Lemondrop also applies to the Fireball (with one notable exception we’ll get to later), and every con for the Fireball also applies to the Lemondrop. For example, while the effects are solid, and having pingpong delay on board is a welcome touch, they’re not going to win any awards. I will say that the reverb is truly excellent, though. Cranking it to full gets you some lovely, slightly unnatural ambience. And, when combined with the distortion, it results in some gorgeous digital howls that are perfect for scoring the surrealist ending of an arthouse horror film.
The two envelopes and LFOs are extremely useful for shaping your sound. They can create motion or manipulate the oscillators to constantly shift the tone. And many parameters can have up to three modulation sources for serious unpredictability. But not everything can be a modulation destination. Oddly, too, some destinations can only use a specific set of modulation sources. So if you wanted to use the LFO 2 to modulate the rate of the flanger – tough.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
Similarly, the modulation sequencer is great for creating complex patterns, but it can only be used with a few different destinations. Thankfully, one of those destinations is oscillator pitch, and it can be quantized. That gives you access to a rudimentary sequencer, or makeshift arpeggiator without the need for additional gear. You can even use the sequencer to control just a single oscillator, giving you a note pattern played against a bass note.
I also can’t help but wish there was a centralized UI for controlling the modulation routing. Right now, if you want to see what macro X is controlling you have to dig through all the parameters one by one and go into the modulation submenu for it, and just kinda keep track as you go.
In general, designing patches requires a decent amount of menu diving. That’s not surprising given the size of the instruments. And credit to 1010music for designing an interface that never feels too cumbersome. That said, I do occasionally find myself forgetting where particular options are located.
Sound
Ultimately, the only real difference between the two is the sound engine. But it is a big difference.
The Fireball is very much a bread-and-butter wavetable synth. It comes with 103 wavetables and 123 presets covering everything from growly ‘90s bass tones to crystalline pads. But you can easily load your own wavetables if you have them. (The Fireball uses the same format as Serum – 2048 samples per cycle and 256 cycles – so finding wavetables should be pretty simple.)
The Fireball has eight note polyphony, which should be more than enough for most people. And the unison mode, with detune, is great for bulking up monophonic patches.
You can try to get something vaguely analog sounding out of it by using the right wavetables, and adding some drift with the modulation sources. But the 96kHz oscillators really are best at bright, clear digital tones. Which is fine, since the ‘90s are back in style, apparently. (See: the resurgence of Doc Martins and JNCOs.)
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
The Lemondrop, on the other hand, is something different. It, too, is obviously digital sounding. But it uses granular synthesis instead of wavetables. That means that it can take any sound file (up to 30 seconds in this instance), chop it up into tiny bits (or grains) and spit it back out. Those files can be literally anything you want: drum loops, synth pads, bird chips or the clanking of industrial machinery. There is only four-note polyphony here, but considering the complexity of the sound source, that’s more than enough. There are 16 grains per oscillator, and playing eight notes of jungle ambience simultaneously will only result in chaos.
What exactly each patch will sound like will depend largely on the audio source, but granular synth is pretty distinctive. Unsurprisingly, Lemondrop is exceptionally good at otherworldly soundscapes, atonal drones and oddball pads. While you find plenty of those among the 311 WAV files and 153 presets preloaded on the SD card, there are more traditional synth tones as well. By the way, you can, with the right settings and source material, create percussive loops that knock pretty hard when the granulators are beat-synced.
Granular synthesis isn’t new. But, dedicated hardware granular synths are few and far between. And often quite expensive. It’s far more common to find granular engines in Eurorack gear or as software. So that puts the Lemondrop in a fairly unique position as one of the only dedicated, standalone granular synths for under $500. Bastl’s microGranny is only $200, but its version of granular is far more limited, and it’s more of a lofi sampler than a proper synth. (That said, it is an awesome lofi sampler.
Both the Lemondrop and the Fireball also have external audio in jacks. You can feed other instruments through their built-in effects and use the X/Y pad to manipulate them in real time, just like with a Korg Kaoss Pad. This gives them both performance value beyond simply synthesizers. But, here again, the Lemondrop really differentiates itself from its sibling.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
The granulators can use live incoming audio as their source material. That means you could process live vocals, or a guitar, or another synth in real time, breaking it up into little grains and mutating it with the X/Y pad. A particularly neat trick here is feeding a monophonic synth into the Lemondrop, and instantly turning it into a four-note polyphonic one.
Wrap-up
The Fireball and Lemondrop are undeniably fascinating devices based entirely on their form factor. If space is the most important thing to you – whether that’s because your synth dungeon is the size of an airplane bathroom or because you’re trying to cram as much synth power as possible into a briefcase – there is obvious appeal here. These are among the smallest full-fledged synths you can get. And they offer a lot more power and flexibility than your average Volca.
There are obvious trade-offs, though. The lack of hands-on controls might deter some people. Sure, you can map an external MIDI controller to all the parameters, but that negates some of the portability. The lack of battery power also feels like a missed opportunity. Being able to throw one of the Nanoboxes in my bag with a couple of AAs and my PO-33 feels like it would be an almost unbeatable on-the-go setup.
Lastly, there’s price. $399 isn’t absurd considering the quality of the engines and the decent sound design tools. But, there is a lot of competition in the sub-$500 market. Modal’s Craft and Skulpt synths are tiny, dirt-cheap digital behemoths. To be fair, though, their interfaces are infuriating. And if portability isn’t a concern, there’s always the $349 MicroFreak, which requires almost no menu diving and is far more flexible than either Nanobox.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
But, what none of those synths offer, is granular processing. So, while the Fireball is a good synth that faces some steep competition, the Lemondrop is ultimately peerless. The GR-1 is one of the few dedicated granular synths out there. It’s a large, reasonably high-end unit that costs €849.00. An arguably better option, at that point would be an Organelle, which has a number of granular patches available for it and is a few hundred dollars cheaper.
Both the Fireball and Lemondrop are impressive feats in engineering and sound great. But of the two, it’s the Lemondrop that makes an obvious case for space in your backpack or studio.
Bose's QuietComfort family of headphones is a safe bet for those who want both great sound quality and strong active noise cancellation. You'll have to shell out quite a bit of money for a pair, however right now one of the latest models is back down to a record low. The QuietComfort 45 wireless headphones are on sale for $279, or $50 off and a return to their Black Friday price.
They may not be the slickest looking headphones (the Bose 700 take that title), but the QC45 have plenty of other things to love about them. They're comfortable to wear for hours on end and have handy onboard control buttons, a switch to go from ANC to ambient sound mode, a USB-C port for charging and an impressive 22.5-hour battery life. They pump out clear and balanced sound and Bose managed to improve upon its already stellar ANC. Multiple microphones along with a "proprietary digital chip" in the QC45 help detect and silence more mid-range frequencies, which should quiet things like the subway train you're riding or the sound of someone else's Zoom call nearby.
All of those features lead us to award the QC45 a score of 86 in our review, but the cans come with a few downsides. Aside from the lackluster, albeit comfortable, design, the QC45 don't have automatic pausing and their multi-device connectivity can be frustrating due to the fact that they don't automatically reconnect to a second device after you take a call. But if you can live with those compromises, the QC45 are a solid pair of wireless ANC headphones that are made even better by this sale price.
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If you're looking for a way to upgrade your TV setup before the big game without dropping too much money, one of Roku's soundbars could do the trick. Both the Streambar and the Streambar Pro are already competitively priced compared to other soundbars, but now you can get the Streambar Pro at its lowest price yet — only $150. The smaller Streambar has also been discounted to $100, but it's hovered at that sale price for a few months now.
The Streambar Pro is the larger cousin of the standard Streambar, and it adds a few extra features into the mix. First and foremost, it's larger and houses four 2.5-inch full range drivers and supports virtual surround sound. We were impressed by the Streambar's audio capabilities, particularly when watching action movies and content that has a lot of sound effects, so you'll likely get even better sound out of the Streambar Pro. The larger soundbar also supports private listening with included headphones, personal shortcut buttons on its remote and a lost remote finder using the Roku mobile app.
On top of that, the Streambar Pro has all of the features that the smaller soundbar does, including built-in 4K HDR streaming technology, Dolby Audio support and Bluetooth speaker capabilities. You're essentially getting a 3-in-1 device here — a soundbar, a Bluetooth speaker and a set-top box all in one. You also have your choice of voice assistant to use with the Streambar Pro as it supports commends with Siri, Alexa and the Google Assistant. If you don't want to drops hundreds on a new TV this year before the big game, updating your sound system while you can get the Streambar Pro for less is a good alternative.
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