Zebronics Igloo 2.0 usb speakers review

As usual the listening was done in the equilateral triange listening position  ; 2 foot away from each speaker.

The price - Rs.300

The quoted frequency response - 250Hz to 20Khz

One reason why I decided to try these was because of the frequency response (FR). Considering the miniscule size , the quoted FR seemed to be honest , that is,  'not trying to add more bass than it can handle'. 

USB powered with a 3.5 mm jack to be connected to your laptops headphone jack.

TESTING AND IMPRESSIONS:

This is one of the better speakers in the price range and size. Having a single driver suggests at good imaging capabilities and it does image in a fun way though not accurate or pin point. The imaging is  surprisingly wide with some sources.
One thing that should not be expected from such small speakers is loudness. Cranking the volume up can damage these things very quickly.  And at this price point , accurate reproduction of tonality is not to be expected.

With certain music with strong bass and low mid content , the igloo distorts and struggles with the tonality.

They don't seem to do much to tame the high frequency harshness if the song has it ,  which to me was a particularly good thing because I bought them for cross referencing mixes on. 

That said , the sound is relatively clear and well worth the price.

Build Quality? - I've used them sparingly for about a year now and they still work as good. Which is surprising , after reading about some feedbacks from the internet stating these units died in a week or so. Not the case with mine! But these are definitely not made to be tough. They are small and fragile so use with care.

To sum up :

Pros:

Clear sound, very cheap. 

Cons:

 weak in bass , best at low volumes.

4/5

Audeze LCD-2

If there is one word to describe the Audeze sound it would be 'intimate'. Lot of respect goes to the Audeze as it stands unique in the world of headphones with its signature sound. Perhaps the most raved about headphone within 1000$ is the planar magnetic LCD-2 . A few goods and bads of this headphone :
Negatives:
-Uncomfortably heavy. Weighing over half a kilo , the LCD series headphones are probably the heaviest in the market. This is why I listen to it only when lying down which eases the weight . As long as you sit or stand , you'll be constantly reminded of how heavy they are on your head.
-Not portable. Yes . They are too big and heavy.
- In the soundstage category the LCD2 is hugely outclassed by some others in the price range. Especially dwarfed by the legendary HD800.

Positive:  (Here is where the LCD2 is hard to beat even for the hd800)
-  Liquid Midrange . Nothing in this price range can present the midrange like the LCD2 does. Liquid is the word. Swim in it. Midrange is where the human voice is mostly defined and therefore the voices through the LCD2 sound very intimate
- Bass . Without doubt the LCD2 is the mother of all headphones at any price when it comes to bass. Bam Bam! This it not pretentious overblown bass like the Dr Dre. This is tight controlled detailed bass hitting you with real muscle while staying warm and pleasant. There is absolutely no bass bleed into the midrange which is amazing .
- Easy to drive . Being low impedence , (50ohms) , Audeze can be pretty much driven through a decent headphone amp . A higher quality converter/amp will further improve the sound.
- LCD 2 presents the song without any sibilance or harshnses unlike some competitors like the HD800.
- The sound is very smooth on the ears .
- Very natural sounding . The timbre of instruments and voices and presented without any touch of artificiality. This is where many other headphones start struggling.
- The last good thing about the LCD2 is its unique warm sound . Even with its nasty weight , the LCD2 remains favourite to many because of its very unique closer-to-life sound .

Never use the cheapest soundcards

Nowadays the built in soundcards in laptops are of surprisingly good quality . Unfortunately mine fell sideways on the bed and the sound port broke. What next? Either repair it for Rs.2000 or get a USB soundcard.
So I decided to try a cheap Rs.300 soundcard... Back home , I tested it with 2 headphones . Only to regret.
Will I ever plug it in again ? Id be hard pressed to ..  After 15 mins of listening to it on the headphones , I felt nauseaous.. Unclean, distorted audio , unpleasant to the ears ... The laptops built in card sounds a lot better !
I will never use headphones with these again nor would I recommend it to anyone .. I could still use it with small speakers. . Speakers are OK since the audio is not being fired directly into your ear canal. But the sound is still terrible.

If anyone reads this, never buy the cheap ones. Give your ears something more pleasing  and get a good one. Thinking of getting the Asus Xonar U3 once I get some cash.

The tiny HAVIT-SK430 usb powered speakers

I actually bought this speaker in order to cross reference my mixes on .

The first thing that struck me was that I could sense the depth of the songs to a certain extend. More so than a normal low budget 2.1 speaker.

The sound is likeable. Much more than the android model usb speaker for which I had written a review earlier.

The specs show a frequency range of 120 hz - 20hz . I can hear the basslines well as if it is a bigger speaker played at low volume  . It can play only at low-moderate volume or you risk damaging it easily and is best kept at about 3 ft away from you. 

The 400  hz ish is slight exaggerated but there is no muddiness.They roll off the highest frequencies and this gives a pleasing effect. 

I have no complaints  about their sound.

And the price? Rs.340 !

Buy even if you have a bigger speaker.

Rating 4/5

Zebronics ZEB-S320 review

Bought this for Rs. 750 from ebay. This is the worst pair of speakers I have ever tried. Not because of its size or the restricted frequency range.. It just sounds terrible. I have cheaper ones sounding better !

The best sounding songs sound bad on this. Waste of money. Don't buy this folks. End of story.

Rating:2/5

The tiny android model speaker

Convenience and usability with a not so bad sound quality is what makes this a decent portable speaker.

This tiny thing costs approximately Rs.450 on ebay. 

Sound: This is the first time I got myself a speaker of this kind I was quite surprised at its volume . Its loud enough for a small room or in a car.  The sound disorts at high volume.  There is a frequency bump in the low mids in an effort to get a thicker sound. A bit muddy though.  You can crank it up quite a bit without much harshness. 

Sound quality is not as good as some other similar prized ones

Other features: Radio. Can play mp3 from your usb. max 8gb usb . 16gb might not be supported.

Both these features are very handy indeed

Convenience:  Good !

Usb chargeable .. The battery life is quite long, atleast 2 to 3 hours of listening.

The cable to connect to the laptop is quite which is a negative.

You will have to keep it close to the laptop. 

Its recommended not to put the speakers straight up on the table. It wil affect the sound in a bad way. Lay it down horizontally on the table or bed and you will get better sound.

Rating: 3/5

How to get the best out of your iBall Tarang speakers

Are the songs sounding dull? You might be feeling the effects of improper satellite positioning. This is a little tweak which can noticeably improve the sound from your iBall tarang 2.1 speakers(or possibly other budget 2.1 sets)

By Design their satellite speakers sit flat on the surface and there is no tilt. The problem with this is that as you usually sit at your computer desk, your head will be positioned above the satallites and hence it will not be facing you. This results in a not-so-good listening field in a common room increasing the effects of phase cancellation. Also iball is best listened closeup with the satellites between 2 to 2.5 feet away from you 

The key is to tilt the speakers upwards facing your ears like this with something.

Keep the speakers spaced apart on the desk so that your head is at an equal distance of 2 to 2.5 feet  away from both the satellites. This doesnt have to be very accurate.

You will immediately feel a difference in the stereo image and the overall clarity because the effects of phase cancellation are less now. You may try this with other 2.1 sets also if they are not tilted up by design. 

I have felt that whenever you move away from this sweet spot the sound from iball substantially changes in a bad way. Yes its there for all speakers but Ive felt more so with iBall.

Also keep the highs and bass knob just a little to the right, highs more to the centre than bass.

In this position the sound is pretty good :) Also use lossless audio formats like flac or wav

Im listening to it right now. Tycho's album Awake sounds pretty sweet :)

Hope this has helped you.