You've painstakingly loaded all your music onto your iPod
& you want to enjoy it wherever you are. Headphones are not always
the answer
- but do you go for high-quality 'fixed' speakers
for home & and to be limited to when out, or do you sacrifice sound
quality indoors in exchange for portability?
Well
- now the answer is neither. Gear 4
have produced the ' Duo'
- the idea is that this one
product provides you with rich sound when home & still have
light-weight slim portable unit for when you're our & about. The
solution is a little Russian doll like
- heres how it works!
In this configuration you have your iPod
mounted on the front framed by a set of satelite speakers
(2x 6W & 2x 3W tweeters) generating 18W combined output giving you a
total output of 38W. The sound quality wasn't the best I've heard, which
is surprising given the configuration provided.
That's indoors
- or at least at home. For
those that like to take their music with them on holiday the idea of
packing a unit this size & weight isn't really appealing &
sacrificing a little bass in return for portability is a reasonable
trade-off & one to which the Duo plays. Simply lift
the front panel from the main unit & you have a portable speaker
set weighting a much more reasonable 0.6 Kg. The detachable front is
self contained including the four smaller speakers, a
Lithium-Ion & a sturdy metal st&. During transport the iPod
dock folds into the body minimising the chance of accidental damage.
In this 'portable' configuration the Duo
obviously lacks a good deal of bass
- which is more striking when you
'hot remove' the unit from the bass & hear the immediate drop. The
quality was however perfectly acceptable.
The standard battery should last you
around 5-6 hours on a full charge (it's being charged all the time it's
docked with the bass unit). This does of course depend on the volume
setting you choose. If you're regularly in need of more than this then Gear 4
have ceonveniently included a slot for a second battery effectively
doubling battery life. Note though that I've not found the battery
anywhere on the Duo site so I'm assuming they aren't
expecting to sell a large number of these.
A remote control provides access to the
standard iPod menus, which worked reasonably well.
The supplied mains adaptor can plug into
either the base or portable unit. Likewise both components include a
separate line-in connector allowing you to connect another audio source
such as a portable radio.
The Gear 4 Duo
is a great product for those that want both portability & a good
solid sound system for the home. You will find better sounding static
units & portable units but you'll have to then buy both.
Bass Unit charges Satellite Speaker,
Retractable iPod dock
Delivers true high-fidelity audio
quality, Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery
20W sub-woofer, Strong, metal
fold-out st&, Compartment for 2nd battery (doubles battery life)
38W total speaker output, Power or
charge Satellite Speaker via AC cable or Bass Unit
18W satellite speaker output, Unique
patented design