If you are a true music lover, then you want to enjoy music everywhere, even despite the inconvenience that you cause to other people. You can't live without music. Which means you simply need portable speakers. This gadget is capable of providing passable sound while being quite small in size. Of course, the market is now full of low-quality Chinese products of this type. But who said that only China produces such speakers? Among them there are samples from very well-known brands.
The variety of models of such speakers is incalculable. A wide variety of functions can be built into them. In general, such devices can be classified as universal. So, the best portable speakers - what do they look like and who makes them? Let's look at several popular models at an above-average level.
How to choose good speakers
How to choose the best portable speakers? The answer to this question is not as simple as it seems at first glance. Good portable speakers are made from quality materials, be it plastic, wood or metal. The build quality should also be good high level. No squeaks or backlashes. The sound of the speakers should be without any wheezing or crackling. Be sure to listen to the speakers before purchasing.
The best portable speakers are never sold under obscure brands. If you see some incomprehensible gobbledygook on a label, immediately pass it by. The presence of all kinds of functions is also an invariable attribute of a good portable acoustics. Don't forget about time either. battery life. The bigger it is, the better. So, let's look at the main parameters of a good speaker system.
Power
The more powerful the speaker, the louder it sounds. Power is measured in watts. You shouldn't expect that portable speakers will be very powerful. The maximum power of such acoustics ranges from 5 to 15 watts. But it is worth noting that European watts are not at all the same as Russian ones. In our watts the power will be even less. Therefore, it is better to spend money on a speaker with more power than to bite your elbows later.
However, you should not focus on power as the most important parameter of acoustics. Without a high-quality housing and high-quality speaker materials, the power of the speaker will turn into nothing, since at high volumes this entire unstable structure will wheeze, crackle and jump. In addition, get perfect sound with good power in such a small package is technically impossible.
Connection method
On this moment There are several ways to connect portable acoustics to a playing device: wired and wireless. Most convenient wireless way. The best portable ones have their own parameters. But in any case, it all depends on the “range” of Bluetooth and the number of simultaneously connected devices. If the speakers support two or more devices, then there will be no problems with instantly switching input devices. And if not, then each device will have to be configured separately each time. This is not very convenient.
Wired speakers are usually used to connect to laptops and other not particularly mobile devices. They can even consist of two speakers and are powered by a USB socket, and not just by a battery. The best portable ones are characterized by increased playback volume and deep bass. Without this, it is impossible to imagine laptop acoustics.
Functions
Can be equipped with a variety of functions. The range is quite wide: from an MP3 player and radio to the ability to charge smartphones. Of course, the more features, the more expensive the speakers. The best portable speakers with flash drive and radio should have their own characteristics. The first thing you should pay attention to is the formats of supported flash drives. The most advanced models support micro, mini-SD and USB flash drives - the larger the better. A portable radio must be able to confidently pick up FM waves and be able to store radio stations in memory.
Supported Format
Portable speaker players usually only support the MP3 file format. But if you look hard enough, you can find speakers that support higher-quality APE, ALAC, etc. This alone increases the value of portable speakers several times. The best portable speakers for music, photos and other media content should support as much as possible more formats. Since these devices are classified as universal. In principle, if you connect the speakers to a smartphone, tablet or laptop, then there is no particular point in being “omnivorous”. You can save a lot of money on this.
Weight
Portable speakers should be mobile. Therefore, the weight of the acoustics is one of the most important parameters. It shouldn't be heavy. However, very light speakers should also be avoided, since the lower the weight, the poorer the quality of the speaker components. The optimal weight for a mobile speaker system is 300-500 grams. This comes with the battery. Without it - even less.
However, some top manufacturers are so fixated on sound quality that they make two-kilogram “monsters”. Of course, the sound is excellent, but there is no strength to carry such speakers with you. It's better to do less high-quality sound. But it won't be so hard.
Battery life
A high-quality battery is an important component of a portable speaker system. It depends on him how long the speakers will last. The best portable speakers with a flash drive have a standard battery life of about 8-10 hours. The most expensive models can work for about 12 hours on a single charge.
Of course, it's not just the battery that affects battery life. Speaker power and facilities wireless communication also influence this. The higher the power, the shorter the column will live. And if she also uses bluetooth to connect a sound source, then there’s a problem here. Now let's look at the most popular models portable speakers.
Beats Pill 2.0
Who doesn't know Beats? They are well known for their headphones. Now the time has come for Pill 2.0, which is a logical continuation of the “pill” line. Among the features of this portable speaker system, it is worth noting the connection to the sound source via Bluetooth, the presence of NFC and two wideband speakers. A signature feature is the ability to charge a smartphone. The sound of this speaker is quite high quality.
JBL Pulse
Column with light and music. Despite the illumination, according to the manufacturer, it can work for 5 hours on a single charge. The cylindrical shape makes this speaker a very interesting interior decoration. The sound quality is excellent. Connection to the sound source is wireless. The speaker has a built-in card reader that supports micro-SD memory cards. It is also possible to charge a smartphone from the speaker. What's bad?
Philips Fidelio P9X
The strict and ascetic appearance of this portable acoustics seems to hint that the sound will be of very high quality. The way it is. main feature this column - wooden case. Connection to a smartphone or tablet is via Bluetooth. The rest is nothing new. The kit includes: MP3 player, radio, support for USB drives. Most the best option for those who love to travel.
USB Portable Speakers
For a computer user, a laptop is undoubtedly a convenient, compact and quite functional device. But, unfortunately, this device is not without flaws. Surely many users of laptops and netbooks have encountered the problem of quiet sound playback through the built-in speakers of these devices. If at home you can connect an external stereo system, then outside the home walls this may be impossible and you have to limit yourself to headphones. In this case, there is no talk of collective viewing of any film or series.
How to fix the situation?
Portable computer speakers powered by USB port. Now on store shelves huge selection of these devices, but their quality may vary significantly.
The price of portable computer speakers powered by a USB port is quite low and affordable to a wide segment of the population. Despite this purchase of this device may be unsuccessful, since the quality of sound reproduction by such a system will leave much to be desired. Oddly enough, among the cheap devices of this class there are devices of very good quality, both in design and in sound reproduction quality.
Let’s perform an “opening” of a portable speaker system powered by a USB port and examine the electronic components of this device. From the point of view of a radio amateur, it is interesting to know from what electronic components such devices are assembled. The knowledge gained can be useful when independently constructing portable audio speakers powered by USB or repairing them.
We will disassemble portable multimedia USB speakers of the brand Sven 315. Despite their cheapness, this model portable speakers showed good quality reproduction and sound power sufficient to sound a small room.
Disassembling computer USB speakers
Portable speakers are easy to disassemble. To open the case, you must carefully remove the front decorative panel.
In order to remove the amplifier circuit board, you need to unscrew the fixing nut, which is hidden under the plastic volume control knob. After this, the electronic board can be freely removed from the housing.
Electronic filling
Compound electronic filling The device turned out to be quite simple. An integrated circuit of a stereo amplifier based on a microcircuit is mounted on a small printed circuit board LM4863D. With a supply voltage of 5 volts, this microcircuit can produce 2.2 W of output power per channel with a speaker voice coil resistance of 4 ohms. Based on the description (datasheet) THD + noise ( THD+N) at maximum output power is 1%.
Amplifier board and speaker
Based on these data, we can conclude that based on the LM4863D chip, you can assemble a pretty good stereo amplifier with a low-voltage supply (5V) and an output power of 2 W per channel. Many who are not yet familiar with modern microcircuits believe that the TDA2822 will be suitable instead of the LM4863D. It's a delusion! The TDA2822 is very power hungry (compared to the LM4863) and produces severe signal distortion at maximum power. Also, the optimal power supply for the TDA2822 is about 12 volts, which is not good for portable equipment. The TDA2822 can be recommended as a readily available replacement if the LM4863 is not available. This can happen, for example, during repairs.
It is worth noting that the LM4863 chip was developed specifically for compact systems, so the chip requires a minimum external elements(the so-called strapping). The microcircuit is available in different packages, from the usual DIP to compact SOIC.
If you want to independently assemble an amplifier based on the LM4863 chip, you may encounter a problem. Finding this microcircuit on radio markets is not so easy (as it was at the time of writing this article). But on the network trading platforms Finding such a microcircuit was not difficult. For example, in the AliExpress.com online store, the LM4863 chip can be easily found in all kinds of packages and in any quantity. The price of 1 microcircuit is less than $1, if you buy 10 pieces at once.
I told you how to buy radio components on Aliexpress.
In addition to the amplifier chip itself, the printed circuit board contains a connector for connecting a passive audio speaker (without a built-in amplifier), a dual variable resistor for adjusting the input audio signal, and an electrolytic capacitor. On the side of the printed conductors of the circuit board, SMD wiring elements are installed, which are necessary for the operation of the integrated amplifier. The microcircuit is powered from USB connector, which connects to any free port of a laptop or desktop computer.
A typical connection diagram for the LM4863 microcircuit is taken from the description (datasheet) for this microcircuit and is shown in the figure.
Typical circuit diagram for connecting the LM4863 chip (taken from the description)
Based on the typical connection diagram for the LM4863 chip, it can be seen that it can also work with regular headphones ( Headphone), whose resistance is 32 Ohms. The chip provides a circuit for detecting the connection of headphones and pin 16 (HP-IN) is allocated to implement this function.
For those who understand electronics and datasheets on English language They are not afraid, they can easily find LM4863 chips on the Internet at alldatasheet.com.
Amplifier circuit for portable USB speakers
The circuit diagram of the amplifier is manually combined with printed circuit board computer USB speakers Sven-315. The diagram shows one capacitor C2 instead of two (C7, C9), which are actually present on the printed circuit board (see below). This was done because on the printed circuit board the capacitors are connected in parallel (C7 and C9), and in the summarized diagram, capacitor C2 indicates the total capacity of these two capacitors.
Schematic diagram of an amplifier based on LM4863D (manually assembled)
As you can see, the typical circuit from the description differs from the one drawn manually from the printed circuit board of a computer speaker amplifier. The diagram does not include elements that are installed if a headphone jack is added to the diagram. Otherwise, the circuit corresponds to the standard one given in the description for the LM4863 chip.
Placing elements on a printed circuit board
If you plan to use portable speakers without a laptop, for example, together with an MP3 player, then a 5-volt power adapter is quite suitable for powering the speakers. The main thing is that the power adapter can provide sufficient load current (as a rough guide: the standard load current for USB ports is no more than 500 mA). According to the description for the LM4863 chip, the maximum quiescent current (when the chip is not supplied sound signal) is 20 mA. Naturally, during playback the current consumption will be higher.
The photo shows an option for powering portable speakers SVEN-315 from a 5-volt adapter, which is used to charge an iPod. The maximum load current of the adapter is 1A, which is more than enough for the normal operation of portable speakers.
As it turned out, high-quality sound reproduction of SVEN-315 portable speakers lies in the rational design of the housing. As you know, the quality of sound acoustic systems is influenced not only by the loudspeakers used in them, but also by the housing. To verify this, just pull the speaker out of the case and turn on playback. The quality and sound power of playback will be much worse. This remark was not made by chance, since a comparison was made of the sound reproduction quality of portable speakers SVEN-315 and similar, but more expensive USB speakers SVEN PS-30.
Despite the fact that SVEN PS-30 sound speakers are mounted on the basis of an integrated USB audio chip CM6120-S, which includes a 16-bit DAC and class D audio amplifiers, the quality of their sound reproduction is subjectively (by ear) much worse due to the poor design of the speaker system housing.
The body of the SVEN-315 portable speakers is made of ABS plastic. Perhaps it is the design of the housing that allows you to “squeeze” all their modest capabilities out of small-sized speakers.