At the 2017 EXPO conference, Sony brought us a heavyweight colorful wireless speaker - SRS-XB40. From the perspective of naming, the SRS-XB40 is an advanced version of the SRS-XB30. It has a larger volume and larger speaker unit, but this is not the point. Its most special feature is the color changing with the melody. SRS-XB40 supports RGB color adjustment. You can adjust its color in real time through Sony's official Fiestable App. You can also add DJ sound effects, which is very interesting~

Appearance: compare with JBL Xtreme

The classic Sony logo is low-key printed on the bottom of the fuselage

In terms of appearance, the SRS-XB40 inherits the consistent style of SRS series speakers, with trapezoidal three-dimensional design, skin like materials, speaker openings located on the front of the body and covered by metal grids, and a layer of color LED lights on the outer ring. In terms of appearance, we can simply understand it as an enlarged version of SRS-XB30.

Although the volume of the SRS-XB40 is a small circle larger than that of the SRS-XB30, and its three dimensions are about 279mm × 100mm × 105mm, it is obviously smaller than the JBL Xtreme. In terms of weight, the bare metal of the SRS-XB30 weighs 1500g, while the JBL Xtreme is more than twice its weight, about 3100g.

In terms of keys, besides the regular volume, power and Bluetooth keys, the SRS-XB40 also has the ADD key, EXTRA BASS key and call speaker key. The ADD key is used to realize the tandem combination of dual speakers and dual channels when dual SRS-XB40 wireless speakers are used. The EXTRA BASS key is used to strengthen the bass of the SRS-XB40. When it is turned on, you can obviously feel the volume of the bass increases and the bass sinks deeper, which can bring a more powerful bass experience.

The keys of JBL Xtreme are all concentrated in the row of woven linen fabric, which are basic function keys. In addition, like the SRS-XB40, it also supports dual speakers in series and dual channels. It is worth mentioning that JBL Xtreme does not support NFC connection, while the NFC chip of SRS-XB40 is located below the ADD key.

The SRS-XB30 is equipped with a charging port, a 3.5mm audio source input port, and a USB power output port (for charging electronic devices). For waterproof design, both of them put the interface in the dark grid, and both support USB power output to charge electronic devices.

The interface of JBL Xtreme is inside the zipper of mesh linen fabric. When the zipper is opened, we can see Micro USB interface, 3.5mm interface, two USB power outlets and one power interface.

The biggest feature of the SRS-XB40 is that it supports the RGB slide effect. Unlike the SRS-XB30, it not only supports color adjustment, but also uses the slide LED on the speaker unit inside the metal grid, which will make it look more attractive.

Experience: Let the color jump

The biggest difference between SRS-XB40 and SRS-XB30 is that the former supports Sony's official Fiestable App. After users connect to SRS-XB40 through NFC/Bluetooth on their mobile phones, they can perform color control and mix DJ sound effects in the Fiestable App.

Illumination function interface in Fiestable App

DJ Control function interface in Fiestable App

Fiestable App mainly has two functions: DJ Control and Illumination. The former is used to mix DJ sound effects when playing songs, and the latter is used to control lights.

In the Illumination interface, the user taps the color on the RGB palette, and SRS-XB40 will display the corresponding color. The controllable slide LED is the biggest difference between the SRS-XB40 and other Bluetooth speakers.

In the DJ Control interface, Sony provides a variety of DJ sound effects that can be mixed in, including but not limited to Isolator, Notch, Noise, Voice, Phaser, Reggaehorn, Rhythm and other sound effects. Click to show the sound effects. It really feels like DJ playing~

Light! Light! Light!

When users do not use App control, the color of SRS-XB40 will change with the melody of music. Especially at night, the light effect of the SRS-XB40 is particularly eye-catching.

In contrast, JBL Xtreme has simple functions and is not equipped with LED lights, unlike the SRS-XB40. It is worth mentioning that both have reached the waterproof level of IPX5.

In terms of sound quality, SRS-XB40 gives the author the impression that it is a volume enhanced version of SRS-XB30, while JBL Xtreme is like an enhanced version of JBL Charge3 "Joyful Light Sony Bluetooth Speaker SRS-XB30, JBL Charge 3 pairs" The paper compares the sound quality of JBL Charge3 with that of SRS-XB30. The conclusion is that although JBL Charge3 looks very dynamic, its actual performance is below the XB30 with EXTRA BASS turned on. JBL Charge3 lacks both sense of volume and diving.

In fact, SRS-XB40 and JBL Xtreme give the author a similar feeling. In terms of sound quality, they both increase the box and speaker unit, and improve the sense of volume and space of sound. The contrast between the two is not as sharp as that of SRS-XB30 and JBL Charge3. This time, there is a winner and loser. The performance of JBL Xtreme in the low-frequency part is slightly stronger than that of SRS-XB40 with EXTRA BASS turned on. The main reason may be that the box and speaker unit of JBL Xtreme are larger, and the low-frequency sound is naturally more thick and spatial. The smaller SRS-XB40 continues the performance of SRS-XB30 in the middle and high frequencies, with rich charm, gorgeous timbre, dense middle frequency and smooth high-frequency attenuation. Especially when playing pop music, the voice of SRS-XB40 is more layered and emotional, and Although JBL Xtreme has a great sense of volume, its voice is relatively weak.

summary

The SRS-XB40 equipped with color LED is a highly playable wireless Bluetooth speaker. It can not only adjust colors as you want, but also mix various DJ sound effects. At the same time, it retains the characteristics of SRS-XB30 in sound. On this basis, it increases the speaker unit and box to obtain better sound. In fact, especially for speaker products, what we need is not only sound, but also portability, appearance and other aspects when using them, especially in specific scenes. Light and music are like a pair of born brothers. The combination of the two will give people a greater impression, And the flickering lights will also arouse your enthusiasm for music.