Although Sony Dafa has been ridiculed as "bankrupt" in recent years, Sony's position in the audio field is unquestionable. From X77, X88, X9 to the current X99, Sony has made great achievements in the desktop audio field, demonstrating its comprehensive audio manufacturing capability. Want to know what's outstanding about Sony's wireless Bluetooth speakers? Follow our experience evaluation.

Appearance and workmanship

When we opened the package, we were amazed by the appearance of the X99. It was designed with square and strong classic straight lines, just like Sony's mobile phones have never compromised on the appearance for many years. The machine adheres to Sony's consistent design language, and its simple shape reveals elegant and delicate beauty.

The speaker comes with a remote control, two AAA batteries, a power cord, a tool for removing the metal mesh cover, and several instructions.

Although the size of the machine body is only 430 × 133 × 125mm, it has a weight of 4.6KG, and the heavy hand feel also shows that the sound box is made of solid materials.

The top of the X99 is made of pure black glass, with two 19mm Hi Res tweeters on both sides. There are touch function keys on the top of the panel and NFC identification area on the bottom. The Bluetooth connection can be automatically completed by placing the mobile phone or MP3 on the NFC identification area.

A pair of magnetic tools for opening the metal mesh cover is included.

The front is covered by a removable stainless steel mesh cover. The interior is the main audio component of the X99. There are five speakers in the interior, one of which contains a bass unit, two mid-range units and two tweeters, plus two Hi Res extremely high audio units on the top. There are seven speakers in total, perfectly covering all the high, medium and low frequency bands, and the maximum output power is about 154W.

The bass part uses 94mm large-diameter units, supplemented by two passive diaphragms, to enhance the overtone performance at low frequencies, and the maximum diving depth can reach 45Hz. This unit is responsible for low frequency, medium and low frequency.

This passive diaphragm uses a hybrid diaphragm bonded by paper and glass fiber, which has higher material strength and stronger amplitude than traditional paper diaphragm.

The intermediate frequency is two 50mm magnetic fluid speaker units, and the function of the magnetic fluid is to replace the damper used in the original unit. There is a saying among music lovers that "if you win the IF, you win the world". The quality of the IF largely determines the hearing endurance of the voice, so the IF unit often determines the final evaluation of a speaker.

According to the magnetic fluid suspension structure, the magnetic force of the magnetic fluid is used to guide the vibration of the diaphragm, so that the unit volume can be reduced while achieving higher sensitivity and reducing the distortion caused by mechanical loss. Theoretically, the sound quality is better than that of traditional speakers, but the actual effect still needs our listening experience.

The high-frequency part is responsible for four 19mm high-frequency units, two of which are Hi Res extremely high audio units at the top, and two high-frequency units are hidden under the front metal mesh cover. These four high-frequency units can extend the high-frequency part to 40KHz, far exceeding the human hearing limit of 20KHz.

The data interface and WiFi antenna are hidden on the back of the speaker. The phone supports Bluetooth 3.0 (the maximum communication range is about 10m), WiFi, AUDIO IN 3.5mm audio access, WPS, LAN, USB-B, USB-A (external U disk, mobile hard disk) and multiple data connection modes. We can play music using MP3, mobile phone, LAN sharing and other methods.

Wired audio can be accessed through 3.5mm AUDIO IN audio access and USB-B interface input, while wireless audio supports Bluetooth and WiFi connection. Bluetooth connection can be quickly paired through NFC. Just touch the NFC position on the speaker with your phone or Walkman. You can play music with SongPal or other music applications in your phone. After using SongPal to set up the connection between the speaker and WiFi, you can control the speaker through WiFi. We can play music from computers, mobile phones, and Walkman, which is relatively simple and easy to use.

It is worth mentioning that the speaker supports LDAC technology. When connecting with LDAC supporting audio source devices through Bluetooth, its transmission bandwidth is three times that of ordinary Bluetooth, which can achieve high audio quality playback.

High resolution audio source supporting 192kHz/24bit format, including DSD, WAV, FLAC, ALAC, AIFF, MP3, AAC and WMA audio formats, is compatible with almost all formats of audio files, and can be used by users of all platforms.

The attached remote control has many functions, such as power switch, mode switch, volume increase/decrease, mute, song switch, etc. Most functions can be completed by the remote control, which can quickly control the speaker without taking out the phone. Sony also provided two AAA batteries, which can be used after being installed into the remote control. It has a conscience.

testing environment

After the phone is installed with SongPal and connected to the speaker, you can customize the sound settings, or use Sony's built-in ClearAudio+and DSEE HX preset sound modes.

In order to ensure the audition effect, the selected audition music is in Flac format. The music list is as follows:

Ferry - Cai Qin

Liunian, Legend -- Faye Wong

Bubble -- Deng Ziqi

Goodbye Happiness - Yuduotian Guang

Hotel California - The Eagles

Croatian Rhapsody Maksim

《21》——Adele

The test equipment selected according to the use scenario of SRS-X99 is Sony Walkman NW-ZX100, which supports LDAC technology. The Walkman supports music in FLAC format and can be connected to speakers through LDAC technology, so the sound quality loss is relatively low. The reason why professional audio source and audio input cable are not used is that the machine is positioned as a Bluetooth desktop speaker, and the application scenario is biased towards users who have certain pursuit of music quality and often use mobile multimedia devices (such as mobile phones or WalkMan) to play music, rather than enthusiasts who use professional audio source.

Audition experience

In our actual audition, the machine showed good sound level, sufficient volume, and good expressiveness. It is suitable for small rooms, such as your living room and bedroom, but for larger space environments, such as our office, the speaker is a little powerless. After all, the SRS-X99 is a small speaker, which is understandable. However, it is a pity that the sound field is somewhat confused, and the sense of space is not strong.

In the sound quality test, the performance of the speaker is relatively balanced, with strong low-frequency and high-frequency performance. In low frequency, due to the use of a large size bass unit and dual passive diaphragm, the low-frequency performance is more powerful and the depth of submergence is good. In music with strong stress such as Croatian Rhapsody, the low-frequency performance is full Pei is powerful.

Surprisingly, the high frequency performance of the speaker is very unexpected. Two high frequency units plus two Hi Res extremely high audio units are jointly responsible for the high frequency part. Both the penetration and the sense of space have unexpected performance. The sound is naturally transparent and has strong analytical power, whether it is a classic high frequency like Faye Wong's Liunian, Legends, or Bubble Popular female voices such as Goodbye Happiness can perform perfectly.

Those who win the midfrequency win the world, and the midfrequency directly determines the performance of the voice. Although the SRS-X99 performs well, its voice appears thin because of the small midfrequency unit. The voice is more obvious in the folk songs of the main body. Although it is not bad, the voice is not long enough, and the dental sound is not clear, which is a little insufficient for speakers at this price. It is indeed too compact to accommodate as many as 7 speakers and dual passive diaphragm in such a small cavity, which may be the reason why the size of the IF unit is sacrificed. Although the 50mm magnetic fluid speaker unit unique to Sony is used, it is still not enough.

summary

In general, SRS-X99 is a desktop audio product with excellent appearance and sound quality. The appearance continues the consistent design level of Sony. The shape is simple but elegant. The tough outline and exquisite materials make it durable. In terms of sound quality, Sony owners have many years of experience in audio equipment manufacturing. As one of the most high-end models of the SRS series, this speaker has impressive high-frequency performance and good low-frequency capability. The mid-frequency voice is also excellent, but there is still some gap between perfection. Considering the performance of speakers of the same level, the SRS-X99 is a product with relatively good sound quality. But at a price of 4999, how many people are willing to pay for their beliefs?