Dork Adore » Speakers

Dork Adore Gift Guide: The Music Fan

Emma Cossey — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 10:30:24 +0000

Depending on your own taste in music, buying for a music fan is either a bit of a self-indulgent shopping dream, or hell on earth. Music fans have very high standards (some people may say snobbish, but y’know…) so it’s a tough challenge.

If you fall into the “hell on earth” category, we’ve put together a few suggestions which might stave off a mid-Comet breakdown.

Top left to right: DIY Guitar Pick Punch, ThinkGeek $24.99, Monster Beats by Dr. Dre Headphones, Amazon £211.85, Red Angry Birds Speaker, Gear4 £49.99

Bottom left to right: Georgia Brown Plectrum Wallet, Firebox £31.99, CD Wall Tiles, Firebox £15.99, Bose SoundDock Portable digital music system, Amazon £199.95

(Ok, so I put the Bose SoundDock in there for me. Heads up family/rich friends)

What will you be getting for the music geek in your life?

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Four pretty iPod speakers

Emma Cossey — Fri, 21 May 2010 09:20:44 +0000

We’ve looked at speakers in the past for children, wireless speakers for those fed up of tripping over USB leads all the time, and the high tech BOSE SoundDock 10.

But what about those of us who like to combine our dorky love of gadgets with our preference for seriously pretty products?

Finding stylish yet functional speakers was a tougher challenge than I anticipated. Crawling through hundreds of Barbie, Hello Kitty and Hannah Montana speakers, I finally came across this IXOS Speaker Cube, Amazon, £4.25 which is definitely girly and budget friendly. Whilst you might not want to rely on it for a HD movie marathon, it’s perfectly suitable for a spot of outdoors musical entertainment.

Moving away from the barbie pinks, I came across this Branex Design iTam Tam Blue (Madeindesign, £359) a product that allows you to play your tunes whilst taking a seat! I’m not entirely sure why you’d want to do that, though I guess the bass vibrations might have something to do with it…

It also charges your iPod and works with a remote controller. It comes in an assortment of colours, so you can get one of these speaker stools to suit your bedroom decorating scheme.

Another cube shaped speaker comes from Tesco with this iHome iH15WE LED Colour-Changing Stereo System, £59.97. Like a modernised version of a lava lamp, the iHome stereo system scrolls through a variety of colours at the touch of a button whilst playing your favourite tunes through the iPod docking station.

It also comes through adaptors for other MP3 players and an auxiliary line.

Finally, the Limit IP-CR100 Alarm Clock Radio Speaker and iPod docking station, Play, £17.99 is a multi-purpose option for morning wake up calls and late night dance tunes.

Search for pretty radios and you’ll be inundated with Cath Kidston DAB radios, candy coloured PURE Digital radios and retro designs by Roberts. Speaker manufacturers, take note! We don’t necessarily want bright pinks, gimmicks and cartoons splattered across them, just a bit of a style.

Missed your favourite? Let us know!

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Stocking Fillers: Novelty Speakers for your iPod

Emma Cossey — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 09:00:35 +0000

Everyone and his gran seems to have an iPhone/iPod/MP3 player these days, which makes it a hell of a lot easier for you to find a suitable present.

A set of portable speakers are small enough to fit in most stockings, and cheap enough to fit most budgets.

The Rockstar from Urbanz (£17.99) (right) is a speaker I’ve recently been using with my iPod Nano. It’s small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, but it actually packs a pretty good punch when it comes to the sound. Plus the headphone lead splits off into a USB lead, so you don’t have to drag loads of connection cables around.

These Headphonies (£24.99 each from Firebox) aim to combine quirky art figurines with travel speakers.

Connect them with your MP3 player and you can play your ‘Best of Christmas’ album through the speaker in the back of their head.

Which is nice.

Still, I’m sure your emo niece will appreciate using ‘Skully’ the skeleton to share her favourite “no one understands me” playlist.

These speakers are aimed at any X Factor wannabes or anyone who fancies something a bit more rock n’ roll on the desk.

The MP3 Mini Amp Speaker (£19.99, IWOOT.com) features bass and treble volume control, a nice additional feature considering the price.

The speakers also have a USB port, allowing you to hook it up to a laptop or PC.

These Saturday night speakers will get the lucky recipient in the right frame of mind for a good boogie on the dance floor.

They also remind me somewhat of that afro blessed gentleman from X-Factor who got kicked out a few weeks ago. His name seems to have already escaped me.

You can grab them from Tesco for £9.97.

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Dork Review: BOSE SoundDock 10

Emma Cossey — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:05:28 +0000

BOSE is a brand I’ve always heard good things about, but never had the good fortune to actually try out. Until now.

I recently tested the BOSE SoundDock 10 digital music system (£699). The iPod docking station looks similar to a lot of the other docking stations on the market, but looks are where the similarities end.

The quality of sound from a BOSE speaker is superior to nearly every other version on the market, and the SoundDock 10 is no different.

Listening to my music through the docking station was an awesome experience, to the extent where I could hear bass notes I’ve never noticed before. I almost feel like I’m insulting it by using it to play Girls Aloud’s Greatest hits.

Turning the volume up loud (one of the benefits of living in the country, far from neighbours) I noticed that the increased volume didn’t lead to distorted sound like other speakers I’ve used.

The additional Bluetooth docking station means you can use the SoundDock to play music through another device, and you can connect it to your TV too.

Now to weigh up the pros and cons:

Wins points for:

Sound quality. Arguably one of the best on the market.
Attractive design. Simple, but effective.
Bluetooth docking accessory to increase options.

Loses points for:

Weight: It’s really quite heavy, something my courier felt the need to mention. Three times.
No radio: Seems a shame, particularly now digital radio makes transmission so much clearer
The price. All £699 of it.

Conclusion

A truly excellent speaker, but at £699 you might want to start buy a few lottery tickets. Or take up a sugar daddy.

You can buy the SoundDock here.

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Dork Adore » Speakers

Dork Adore Gift Guide: The Music Fan

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Four pretty iPod speakers

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Stocking Fillers: Novelty Speakers for your iPod

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Dork Review: BOSE SoundDock 10

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