Soundmatters foxL Pocket-Sized Audiophile Loudspeaker System (Black)
by Soundmatters International, Inc.
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: Soundmatters International, Inc.Brand: SoundMatters
Edition: Electronics
Model: Soundmatters foxL
Color: Black
Publisher: Soundmatters International, Inc.
Studio: Soundmatters International, Inc.
Music Label: Soundmatters International, Inc.
Product features:
- Pocket-sized portable stereo speaker
- Lithium battery also doubles as woofer; 5 hours of use on a charge
- Hi-fi alternative to earphones
- Connects via standard 3.5-millimeter headphone jack
- Includes multi-language instructions, AC adapter, USB cable, 3.5-millimeter audio cable, travel pouch, and wrist strap
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Soundmatters foxL Pocket-Sized Audiophile Loudspeaker System (Black)
Customer Review: State of the art but still no miracle
Summary: 3 Stars
The laws of physics have not been repealed. To get powerful bass you need a subwoofer, or at least a woofer that can put a lot of pressure against the surrounding air with a sufficient amount of surface area. The Foxl uses every technical trick known to minimize the lack of apparent bass but still comes up short of its over-hyped performance. Nonetheless, you might still enjoy owning it because it is ultra portable, self powered and to my ear still provides listenable though flawed sound except in certain situations.
Since it's nearly impossible these days to find someplace where you can try before you buy, I'll do my best to describe the sound of this impressive but still inadequate little device. First the sound quality, then the sound quantity.
Accurate sound reproduction requires proportional representation of all frequencies. The tiny drivers of the Foxl can put out adequate sound levels at high frequencies by pushing a small amount of air many thousands of times per second as when playing the high notes of a violin. But for lower frequency sounds these drivers would have to push proportional additional air to make up for reduced frequency. So a high note on a violin at 5000 cycles per second (equivalent to the highest notes on a keyboard) doesn't need to push much air on each cycle so the driver diaphragms need not travel very far. Play a lower note on the violin--say 500 cycles per second (equivalent to a note in the middle of a keyboard), and now these little diaphragms must move ten times further to keep the response proportional. An electric guitar low bass note might be only 50 Hz (cycles per second) meaning the diaphragms must now move 100 times as far. So a high note might require Foxl's driver to move only 1/100th of an inch. Pretty easy. But to keep up in the bass they'd have to move an entire inch--not possible. Most speakers use a woofer with 100 times the surface area to handle the bass. But the Foxl does not have such a woofer which would need to be about 10 inches in diameter. It does use it's battery to radiate as a passive radiator out the back of the speaker, but this only doubles the tweeters' radiating area--still way inadequate.
So instead of trying to reproduce low bass at full force, the Foxl is designed to gradually reduce its response as frequencies become lower in the hope that your ear will perceive more deep bass because this so called "roll-off" is so gradual. This is very different from typical speakers where response suddenly disappears below a certain frequency. Surprisingly deep bass is still there--it's just very weak. This technique does provide a more satisfying tonal balance than Foxl's competition. And if you place Foxl against a wall, or better yet, in a 2-way corner, or even better yet, in a 3-way corner you can funnel the bass towards you and magnify the existing low bass to very impressive levels. So there is at least some basis for Foxl's claim for bass performance. However, Soundmatters does mislead by publishing a specification (using some unknown measurement standard) saying Foxl's response extends down to 80Hz. Technically it does, but only at way less than full proportion.
I used a software tone generator and a Radio Shack Sound Pressure Level meter to measure Foxl's frequency response and described the results reported above. Surprisingly there was clearly audible response as low as 60Hz. My very non-rigorous experimentation suggested that Foxl's response begins to roll off slowly and steadily, at about 6db per octave, as high as 500Hz. Below 60Hz response disappears altogether. Considering it's size this is truly amazing. The gradual roll off sounds quite natural.
All this results in Foxl sounding "small" until and unless you back it into a corner when it does sound pretty awesome.
There is one other way to make the Foxl sound amazing. Sit in a reclined recliner and rest the Foxl against the back of your head with the front pointed toward your ears. You'll hear wonderful stereo separation and imaging normally impossible from channels radiated so close together. And you'll hear and feel plenty of deep bass as well. Of course this reduces the Foxl to a personal listening device such as headphones, but is far more comfortable than having something clamped onto or stuck into your ears.
Using Foxl to share sound as you might in making a tabletop presentation with a laptop, keep in mind Foxl sounds better the closer you are to it. In such a case it way exceeds the performance of any built in laptop speakers. All from a self powered device the size of a bar of soap.
Foxl's output levels for music are only adequate from a fairly close listening position. As you push it the sound starts to get fuzzier. A portable disco it is not. But it is certainly good enough to amaze many.
The wireless stereo bluetooth version works well with most laptop computers and finally, thanks to the release of software version 3.0, with Apple's ubiquitous iPhone 3G or 3Gs.
Description of Soundmatters foxL Pocket-Sized Audiophile Loudspeaker System (Black)
The Soundmatters foxL(tm) is the world's first pocket-sized portable stereo speaker system that good enough for an audio purist, defying conventional wisdom about sound. Sound+Vision Magazine says when measured up-close (as one for listening), foxL's response "... looks like that of a well-engineered, $2,000-per-pair bookshelf speaker." Powered by its built-in lithium ion battery, a included wall-charger, or USB connection, fox provides shockingly good fidelity (and bass) for it's size. It battery actually doubles as a bass woofer (patent-pending) and it's patented "Twoofer" drivers are built much like an audiophle tweeter with the twist that they can also woof. foxL was designed by physicist, former NASA engineer and audio design legend Dr Godehard Guenther. Accepts stereo 3.5mm audio input. Battery life up to 5 hours. Dimensions: 5.6" x 2.2" x 1.4". Weighs 9.5 oz.Digital Cameras & Photo Categories