#VIBE SOUND USB TURNTABLE MAC ANDROID#
Sony's XG300 supports Bluetooth 5.2 and Google fast-pair, so if you own an Android device the setup is quick and easy.
#VIBE SOUND USB TURNTABLE MAC FULL#
Given its price tag, it's nice to know that this portable speaker should at least work to its full capacity for a long time thanks to features such as this. You know how folk always tell you not to leave your phone or desktop plugged in for long periods of time because it damages the battery? This is all to do with that – it stops the speaker charging beyond 90% and thus helps prolong the life of the product. This particularly nice addition can be pressed once to get a quick vocal announcement on battery percentage remaining in your XG300, or long-pressed to initiate battery care mode. You also get two buttons here – one to turn off the ambient lights (more on this later) and a battery button. On the back of the speaker, a rubber cap protects your electrical ports: a USB-C charging port, a 5V USB-A out which you can use to charge other devices and a 3.5mm in for wired listening. That said, toting it around using its nifty retractable rubber handle helps ease the load, and beneath it you'll find tastefully small and nicely tactile buttons on either side for power, pairing and Mega Bass on the left, and playback, volume and call-handling on the right. The Sony XG300 comes in at just over 6lb or around 3kg, which feels quite heavy compared to other designs of similar size – on this, it's about the length of a bottle of wine but thicker the circular enclosures which house the passive bass radiators and light show at either end are almost exactly the same size as CDs.
So, let's get into the whys and hows, shall we? It's tempting to think that what you're really paying for is the household name slapped across the rubberized top plate (which actually morphs into a handle) here, but that would be wrong. But it's not better – it's cheaper and represents excellent value at the level, but the Sony is superior sound-wise. And while we wish there was something we could say or do to soften this and make it better, what we can tell you is that if you're ready to lay down such an amount of cash, Sony's proposition is emphatically worth it.įor reference, the recently reviewed and five-star Tribit Stormbox Blast is bigger and only $199 (around £163, U$290). So, it's not the flippant "Yeah, add it to the cart why don't you?" purchase you may have come here looking for. The Sony XG300 was released in July 2022 and it is available in black and a light gray colorway, both of which will set you back two dollars short of $350 in the US or nine pounds over over £250 if you reside in the UK. Sony SRS-XG300 review: price and release date
How does all of this translate into sound-per-pound performance? It translates very well indeed actually. To put those figures into perspective, SBC (the standard 'vanilla' Bluetooth codec) achieves a maximum data rate of just 328kbps, while Qualcomm's aptX HD can only stream at 576kbps.
According to Sony, it also permits around three times the amount of data to be streamed over Bluetooth thanks to the use of more efficient coding and “optimised packetization” of the data. Why so? LDAC allows you to stream better-than-CD high-resolution audio up to 32-bit/96kHz over Bluetooth at up to 990kbps. The top-draw name on the spec-sheet is undoubtedly LDAC support, Sony's proprietary 'hi-res' codec.