Bluetooth Speaker Advice

[Neo Bri]

Yo!

I need to invest in a Bluetooth speaker for teaching lessons in a little practice room at a dinky school. This will be used to play Aebersolds, iRealPro, etc.

Requirements:

Small (should fit in a backpack)
Loud (to compete against two trombones while providing clear harmonic information, particularly from walking bass)
Reliable
Rechargeable

Don't tell me to "pick three." Notice I didn't say it had to be cheap? That being said...cost is a consideration.

Thanks, TCers!

[tbathras]

Bose SoundLink Revolve or Revolve Plus might be an option. I have the "non plus" model and it gets decently loud. They usually have these out in like Target or Best Buy where you can listen to them.

[PaKETaZ]

I have the JBL Xtreme. I find it clear and loud. And if you can catch a second one later, you can build a stereo system which works just fine. And loud!

[tbathras]

And if you can catch a second one later, you can build a stereo system which works just fine. And loud!

Same deal with the Bose Revolve. I have two setup in stereo in my living room... live streamed the BSO just a few weeks ago and, wow, it was quite immersive with two 360-deg speakers.

[Neo Bri]

Good advice, guys. I'll research these and see if anyone else chimes in, too.

[boomski]

I use an Anker Soundcore 2. It's $30 on Amazon, so definitely a lower price class than what's been suggested, but I have no issues with it. I use it for iRealPro when I'm playing by myself, and for drums/bass when I play with a piano player. I've never had issues with sound being too soft, and the bass line comes through clearly. Not sure how it would be with two loud trombones though...

[Neo Bri]

I use an Anker Soundcore 2. It's $30 on Amazon, so definitely a lower price class than what's been suggested, but I have no issues with it. I use it for iRealPro when I'm playing by myself, and for drums/bass when I play with a piano player. I've never had issues with sound being too soft, and the bass line comes through clearly. Not sure how it would be with two loud trombones though...

Interesting - the plot thickens. Thanks for the tip.

[boomski]

I realized you had a few metrics, and figured it might be useful for other people, so I thought I would rate both the Anker and Sony SRSX11's that we use in the rest of the house based on the 4 metrics you laid out.

Anker SoundCore 2: $30 on Amazon

Size: I give it a medium size- it's not big enough to be conspicuous, but it's on the larger size of the scale. Fits in my bag/backpack no problem.

Loudness: When playing by myself, I have my ipad turned up between 1/2 and 3/4 depending on how loudly I want to play. When I play with a piano player, it needs to be all the way up- however sound quality and volume are not an issue at that point.

Reliable: it's waterproof. Has a soft-touch silicone type coating on the outside of the speaker, which makes it non-slip and I assume would add some slight protection if dropped. Also, I've never had an issue with the connection and I use it everyday. I use it interchangeably with both my iPad and iPhone with no issues, though it only connects to one at a time.

Battery Life: I use it around an hour every day (meaning, speaker is on, not always producing music) and recharge it once every few weeks. It charges in about 2 hours, and has a light that changes color depending on status.


Sony SRSX11: $30-35 on Amazon

Size: Small. Fits easily in your hand, and is about half the size of the Anker. We use two in stereo, and they are very small, light, packable.

Loudness: Again, we use two in stereo, and they get plenty loud. However, I have not tried these with the Trombone so I am not sure how they hold up. For general listening throughout the house they are great.

Reliable: Occasionally we have issues connecting a device. For instance, if we use my wife's iPad one day, and my phone the next, we need to re-pair the devices to the speakers.

Battery life: not so good on these, even if we don't have them on, they still need to be charged about once a week.


Based on these two, I recommend the Anker. I would only recommend the Sony's if size is your top priority. Hope that helps.

[Neo Bri]

Great recommendations all. And thank you for that!

I went ahead and ordered an Ultimate Ears Boom 2. Lots of great reviews, and one of our TCers (TromboneChatters) emailed me with this recommendation. We'll see how it does.

I hope this topic helps some folks in the future!

[Mv2541]

I tried to post something similar before but it didn't go through; maybe it will this time.
A few of my friends/colleagues use the UE boom 2 and my professor recommended it to me. It is waterproof and can take drops while being small enough to fit in my case. It's also loud enough to hear a backing track or metronome over a horn section. I would highly reccomend it to anyone especially considering they are not that expensive.

[LarryPrestonRoberson]

I figured I would just piggyback this topic in lieu of starting another on the same subject. Anyone have first hand experience with the JBL Flip 4 vs JBL Xtreme? On paper, they seem comparable. Or just the JBL Flip 4 for that matter? How about the JBL Flip 4 vs. the UE Boom 2?

Update: I'm definitely leaning towards JBL. My #1 contender is the JBL Charge 3.

[Neo Bri]

I can report back that my UE Boom 2 is remarkable. It's plenty loud, very compact, and sounds rather good. And it didn't break the bank.