House of Marley No Bounds XL Review - Review 2022

The $149.99 House of Marley No Bounds Xl is an eco-friendly Bluetooth speaker that delivers sound from a waterproof, dust-tight frame. It's capable of rich depression-mids, and so that deep voices audio even deeper, just it lacks the bass depth to deliver true sub-bass that would beefiness up the overall sound signature. Information technology also lays on the digital signal processing (DSP) pretty thick nigh of the time, which can result in tracks sounding a fiddling squashed in the dynamics section. If audio is your top concern, you lot tin can do better for the cost. Only if having an eco-friendly pattern that is also fully waterproof and dustproof matters more, few speakers can match the No Bounds Twoscore.

Design

House of Marley is an FSC-certified brand, and so almost of the materials the company uses are eco-conscious. Thus, the 4.0-past-iii.5-by-10.0-inch (HWD), three.8-pound No Bounds Xl, available in black or grayness, is fabricated from a mix of recyclable aluminum, recycled silicone, cloth comprised of recycled plastic, reclaimed hemp, organic cotton, and sustainably harvested cork. The bottom of the speaker has condom anxiety to keep it from dancing around flat surfaces due to bass vibrations.

Beyond being eco-friendly, the speaker is outdoor-friendly, with an IP67 rating. This is only near the highest IP rating you can get in a consumer production, and means the speaker is dust-tight and fully waterproof. It can exist submerged in h2o upward to a meter, making it an ideal candidate for the puddle or beach.

Backside the canvass-like front-facing grille, the speaker utilizes dual 2.5-inch 10-watt drivers and two 0.75-inch ten-watt tweeters for a frequency range of 80Hz-20kHz. The drivers aided by a single passive radiator that is situated behind the cork backing on the rear panel. They're besides waterproof.

The crush of the speaker is a mottled matte rubbery surface, with 3 buttons upward height. A central play/intermission button likewise handles voice aid (when held down) and telephone call management, while plus/minus buttons command volume (when pressed) and track navigation (when held in).

On the correct side, there's a leather strap for the included carabiner, too every bit the ability button and a Bluetooth button. The back of the speaker has a handsome cork roofing, and a snap-shut comprehend protecting the 3.5mm aux input (no cable is included) and the clothbound micro USB charging cable. The compartment houses both a micro port (for charging the speaker) as well as a USB port for charging your mobile devices using the No Premises Xl's battery.

The speakerphone mic offers poor intelligibility. Using the Voice Memos app on an iPhone 6s, I could empathize every discussion, but just barely. The signal was exceptionally weak, even though I spoke loudly and from a distance of less than 18 inches from the speaker. I wouldn't describe this as a deal breaker unless you plan to comport business using the speakerphone, simply the mic makes it hard to hold normal phone conversations.

Business firm of Marley estimates the No Premises 40's battery life to be roughly xvi hours, but your results will vary with your volume levels and your mix or wired and wireless playback, and whether you use the speaker to accuse external devices.

Performance

On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife'southward "Silent Shout," the No Bounds XL delivers respectable bass thump, but there's no real sub-bass presence hither. The depth of the drum hits on this track is reduced to a tap through the speaker'southward powerful DSP. Powerful DSP may sound like a good thing, simply the drivers accept their dynamic range squashed dramatically. This is all in the name of the speaker not distorting—and the No Premises XL doesn't misconstrue, fifty-fifty at top book levels—but it also doesn't sound natural, almost equally if key parts of the bass response take simply been removed from the equation.

Bill Callahan'due south "Drover," a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a ameliorate sense of the No Premises Xl's general sound signature. Here, the speaker sounds like information technology has powerful bass depth, but not in the sub-bass or lower bass realms. The drums here sound like tapping instead of thumping, as well, at least until you lot push the volume levels—at high volumes the drums gain some torso that disappears at medium volume levels. It's Callahan's baritone vocals that sound thunderous through the No Bounds XL—the low-mids go some serious boosting, with the result of the vocals existence pushed dramatically forward in the mix. The college frequencies are well represented, thankfully, then there's a decent sense of balance, but the DSP is heavily involved here, likewise. The dynamics of the track are again squashed, creating the sense of the book level rising and lowering whenever it is triggered by a powerful element in the mix.

On Jay-Z and Kanye Westward's "No Church in the Wild," the kicking pulsate loop receives the ideal corporeality of loftier-mid presence to remain well-baked and punchy, and the loop also receives some added thump in the low-mids. The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the trounce are delivered with reasonable depth, only once again, aught that conjures the power of a subwoofer or even a powerful woofer. Not that we should look that from this price range or a speaker this size—but when the bass is dialed back in the deepest realms and the DSP is dialed upwardly no matter what, y'all can end up with a pretty sculpted sound signature.

Orchestral tracks, similar the opening scene from John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, receive some added body and depth in the depression-mids. The higher register brass, strings, and vocals, still, nevertheless receive plenty of bright, well-baked high-mid and high-frequency presence. This track arguably suffered the to the lowest degree at the hands of the DSP, but once more, the consequence is not actually a natural sound signature, it'south a highly sculpted one.

Conclusions

The No Bounds Xl pumps out serviceable audio, and if your main priority is being able to have information technology on the go and not worry about dirt, grit, or water damaging it, it'southward worth because. Add in the eco-witting, attractive pattern, and there's more than to like about it—just not if audio itself is your top priority. If that's the case, consider the Ultimate Ears UE Smash, or if y'all accept room in your budget, the JBL Xtreme two. For less coin, the smaller Sony SRS-XB10 delivers solid audio in a water-resistant blueprint, and if you lot're interested in other rugged options, the EcoXGear EcoSlate is also a winner.

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Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/migrated-8305-speakers/30051/house-of-marley-no-bounds-xl-review

Posted by: starkficiones99.blogspot.com

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