JBL SoundGear - "Finding the right problem"

KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
This is the JBL SoundGear (Google image):



It is a horseshoe shaped set of wireless (very near-field) speakers that you place around your neck so it rests on your shoulders.

I first saw one of these about two years ago and the thoughts that came to mind were "Why?" followed by "There's a solution waiting for a problem!"

About the only idea I could come up with was a way for a bicyclist to let pedestrians know he was coming up from behind so he doesn't scare the bejesus out of them or end up in a wreck with a guy side-stepping a wasp at the last minute, but merely saying "on your left" usually suffices without much bother. But as a cyclist, it would give you music without as much isolation as you typically get from Earbuds or Headphones (although if you crank them, you will not hear sounds around you). The problem is threading the needle between being an annoyance (the guy playing the boombox) and being loud enough to adequately warn of you approach.

A couple of weeks ago, I realized these might be useful for a practicing musician like me. I am definitely an amateur and most of the people I play with are better than me, such that I need to practice so I can play on par with them. That is fine with me, once I get everything setup, practicing is fun! I play in a Big Band and can almost always find the music we plan to play at the next gig on-line. I have been making a CD for the upcoming concert and playing along with it over my main system. This works well, but I can only do it at home (not at my GF's house where I spend plenty of time) and after hours (like 1 AM),I worry about being a pest to the neighbors if I crank it to the level I would like. Headphones or earbuds do not work well because I do not feel I can properly hear myself to determine if I have the right tone to blend for a soli, if my dynamics are where they should be, etc. The SoundGear lets me hear myself in a normal open manner and does a pretty good job of putting the rest of the band around me! So I have found a suitable problem for the SoundGear solution.

Manufacturer's specs and info:
https://www.jbl.com/bluetooth-speakers/JBL+SOUNDGEAR+BTA.html

Price: There are two options: one adds BT for wireless use with a phone (both versions have wi-fi audio). Standard pricing is $199 or $249 (depending on if you get the BT feature). That just seems too expensive to me! However, I found new, but "open box/return" units on ebay for $125 (with BT) which made it a price I was willing to gamble on! World Wide Stereo was the seller.

Sound Quality: If you are hoping to get SQ close to a $200 pair of headphones, forget it! A good $20 pair of headphones sounds better than these! That said they are nice sounding through the midrange and I was surprised at how good the highs being sent from speakers almost directly under my ear holes sounded! These really do show off the "magic of (very) near-field" listening! The spec puts the low end of the FR at 100Hz, I didn't attempt to evaluate this clam, but bass is not horrible and I would be inclined to believe it was in that ballpark! Knowing before I bought them that the driver was 1-1/4" ea per channel (ported:D) the bass is much more than I expected! For my purpose, these are worthwhile, but if you just want to listen to music, look elsewhere!

Phone use: I have not done this and generally would not unless i happen to get an important call while practicing; however, I watched several reviews and they were consistently impressed with how well a phone conversation worked. In particular the two microphones (one in each end/tip of the horseshoe) sounded very clear to the person on the other end of the phone. These might be great for a business where you wanted your calls to be public for those that wanted to hear them (the volume you would use to hear them would not be so loud as a conference room speakerphone, since they are so close to your ears)!

TV use: The BT audio transmitter has both a 1/8" pin and TosLink input to afford connecting to TV audio (among others). I could see this being useful for someone hard of hearing not to have to have the TV blasting all of the time.
I am curious how it would work for assisting one person with hearing problems watching TV in a room with other people listening to the main system at normal levels. The BT is AptX (low-latency, so it may be reasonably in-synch with the main system).

Competition: Based on reviews I researched,
Bose makes the SoundCompanion which offers more bass - two drivers per channel and they may be slightly larger (1-1/2"?). At $300, without any discounted "open box", etc they did not stay on my radar for long! The JBL is reputed to have clearer midrange. The Bose are water resistant of that is a concern.
LG had one but it had worse SQ and is discontinued.
Sony more recently introduced one, but I did not find much info on it or such great deals on pricing, so I stuck with the JBL.

General thoughts: The design of this type of speaker system put it in an awkward place! Many headsets, if played loud, present a source of annoyance to those around you... these will assure that problem no matter what volume you listen to. So, unless they want to hear what you are listening to or it is playing along with the same sound in the room from a more fulfilling system, these will be annoyingly thin on sound from afar!
A couple of reviewers complained about the tips of the horseshoe rubbing against their neck when sliding them on/off. I never had this issue, but I deliberately just slid them on one-handed, and yes, the rubberized surface sliding against your skin was not at all pleasant! For me it was just a natural thing to grab both ends and splay them apart with my thumb and fingers being what touches my neck rather than the SoundGear. but if you are expecting to put these on and remove them one-handed, that will not be fun!
$250, $200, even $125 is a lot to pay for a device that delivers marginal (compared to headphones) SQ and tends to annoy people around you! Consequently my assertion is that these are not really made for simple listening pleasure. Rather they are a niche item depending on your finding that special circumstance that would suggest buying these. In other words, JBL is offering the SoundGear, and it is up to you to find the specifically appropriate "problem" to go with them!

Misc. Details:
Pros:
Not hot on ears like headphones, I found them comfortable for long periods when wearing a knitted shirt.
Not in the way for most activities - no cord noise or other audible intrusions.
BT connection straightforward (as it should be)

Cons:
Battery level is not presented at all! It will start flashing red when battery is low, but this could easily be missed depending on the orientation you laid them in. Once the battery gets so low, it will start making an alarm sound - maybe every 8 minutes (long enough that you don't want to stand around waiting on the sound to happen again so you can figure where it is coming from). I figured something was amiss with my Amazon Alexa and turned off the attached speakers before I started really looking around to see where else the sound might be coming from! 2 hour charge time and 6 hour playback using BT spec'ed.
Does not come with a case. The box is a nice form fit if you are not worried about compactness.
One of the video reviews I watched pointed out It is a dandruff magnet, but a lint roller or standard tape works well for cleaning it. I haven't had to clean mine yet, my dandruff isn't bad (if it exists),but I know when I was in my 20's this would have gotten pretty gross if I didn't keep it clean (and nice that something got better with age!).
 
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