iHome – AirPlay Speaker Review

The iHome iW1 was one of the first AirPlay speaker systems to be announced, but suffered a long delay before it actually hit the shelves. Some people feel iHome jumped the gun in excitement of such a product, whilst iHome maintain Apple’s changes to the AirPlay protocol were partially to blame. Either way, it shipped finally late last year and is an all-in-one portable AirPlay speaker with a built in rechargeable battery.

If you are unfamiliar with AirPlay it is essentially Apple’s method of wirelessly shifting media from iPhone, Mac and iPad to larger screens or better speakers. If you are watching a video on your iPhone or iPad, AirPlay allows you to send it over your wi-fi network to your TV in a couple of taps. This of course requires an Apple TV box, and whilst that can seem relatively expensive at the checkout, a few days of use is all it takes before it seems a small price for the convenience. It ends up being another “I can’t believe this used to not be possible!” moment, and the practical use goes well beyond the wow/cool factor.

AirPlay also works for audio only, and whilst this can be done via an Apple TV box and connected speakers, it seems that AirPlay enabled speakers were inevitable in order to take the kerfuffle out of quality wireless music (no bluetooth does not count!). And that’s just what the iW1 does, in theory it receives audio via the AirPlay protocol over a wifi network. So how well does it actually do this? Click ‘read more’ to find out.

Where I’m coming from

My previous way of listening to music from my iPhone/iPod was to use the admirable Yamaha PDX-50. This is a wireless iPod dock that used their own AirWired system. This is essentially the same as AirPlay but you have to sit the iPod into a cradle that creates an ad-hoc wifi network to the speaker. It was amazing at the time, as it offered uncompressed full quality sound that trounced bluetooth. The problem was that it was pointless without the cradle, and when Apple announced AirPlay protocol, Yamaha’s AirWired was essentially dead in the water.

The sound quality of the Yamaha however, was absolutely fantastic! Extremely good for the little money it cost, and I eagerly await the day they build a similar model with AirPlay integrated. Currently Yamaha don’t offer self contained AirPlay speakers, just AV receivers, so I’ve decided on the iW1 to fill the gap on my shelf.

Design

As far as looks go the iHome iW1 is fairly slick. Minimal in design, it’s black wrap around speaker cloth essentially is the unit. Only a chrome strip at the bottom baring the iHome logo interferes with the curved appearance. On top is a touch interface that fades away into the design, yet functionally leaves a lot to be desired (more on that later).

Around the back at the business end we find a physical on/off switch that will completely shut the unit down to help save battery when off the mains. There is a USB port for connecting iOS devices when AirPlay is not available or desired (this will also charge a connected iPhone or iPod), a most welcome aux socket for non Apple devices, a wifi status light and buttons to setup network and check the battery. In addition there is a recessed lip cut into the back of the unit that acts as a handle to carry it around, however this is a little unbalanced as it tips over in your hand – you need to grip it tight to avoid it slipping out of your finger tips.

Overall it is an unobtrusive design that is physically small and I can imagine it fitting nicely into most homes.

Finally there is a small but solid base station that the speaker itself sits upon for charging/powered use and a somewhat confusing remote control that functions as if it were an after thought, yet it is essential to turn some features on and off.

In Use

Setting up the iW1 is very straightforward. You simply plug an iOS device into the USB port using the supplied cable and with the iConnect app (from the app store – free) the whole thing gets setup and running in just a few minutes. So far so good. You can name the speaker whatever you choose. I decided on “living room speaker” as that’s where it will spend the bulk of its time.

From there on the experience is just like using AirPlay with Apple TV. When AirPlay devices are on your home network an additional button will appear next to the transport controls of playing media. Tap it and select which AirPlay enabled destination you want to send the content to.

The results of this are mostly positive. I have generally found Apple TV and AirPlay to be rock solid; very fast, with dropouts a rare thing. The IW1 fares well in comparison and rarely drops connection unless I start really stretching it’s distance from our router to other rooms far off in the house.

We have a few dead wifi spots around our house and I use a Netgear repeater to combat them. This is effective

for all my networked devices, and so far the IW1 seems to play nicely with my iOS devices both on the main network and piggy-backed repeater network.

Now on to some negatives. Whilst the signal strength is good and dropouts rare, the responsiveness of the iW1 can be very sketchy when trying to control the playing content via the touch panel or the supplied remote control. Trying to skip tracks or pause and resume with either way results in miscommunication between the unit and the iOS device, and a loss of the source content. This makes the top-side touch panel and remote control only useful for powering on/off, muting the speaker and adjusting the volume/EQ.

The good news however is that you can control everything from the iOS device where things are much more responsive and reliable. Pausing, skipping and resuming from the iOS side performs as well as AirPlaying to Apple TV. If you have used this before you’ll know it is not instantaneous, but I find it an acceptable trade off for how solid and useful AirPlay generally is. You can even alter the volume via the volume rocker on the iPhone or iPad. The only thing you can’t do from the iOS device or Mac side of things is adjust the speakers own hardware EQ, but that is probably best left off anyway for reasons ill come to shortly.

So whilst the touch panel looks cool, and the supplied remote a nice gesture, they are both somewhat as pointless as they are useless.

Sound Quality

I spend a lot of time mixing audio projects on fairly neutral monitor speakers and so I’m always surprised at how hyped up consumer audio speakers are. As a result I naturally find myself enjoying consumer speakers that are a little flat.

The iW1 by default engages a ‘Bongiovi DPS Acoustics Processor’ (BDSP) which essentially bumps the volume (a lot!) and hypes the bass. This results in a very pointed, bass heavy sound that is way too much for the physically small speaker enclosure. The close proximity of the stereo speakers with the DSP engaged can make things sound very muddy and unnatural. It may have sounded better if the unit were physically larger and the speakers further apart, but as it is, the BDSP option is only useful for certain types of music, mixed and mastered in a certain way. It’s hit and miss and probably best left turned off, however you can’t, as it defaults to “on” every time you power the unit on. Very annoying.

The Yamaha PDX-50 also had a rather hyped low end, but somehow Yamaha managed to get great separation and definition between the speakers and the individual instruments across the spectrum. The result was a sound that was infinitely larger and wider than its appearance, whilst never sounding unnatural of processed. And if a particular album/track was too bass heavy, you could reduce the bass with the iPod EQ.

Ultimately The iW1 never sounds as good as the Yamaha, but with the BDSP turned on things start to get a lot better. Turning it off drastically improves the sound quality and the unit is then pleasantly quite flat to my ears. As I said earlier, to me this is a good thing, but I can imagine most users preferring the BDSP turned on.

The treble and bass have to be controlled from the remote, but to be honest it doesn’t seem to do much, and when things are cranked it sounds quite bad. On the plus side, you can select a software EQ setting from the iPhone, iPod, iPad or iTunes and that transfers over to the IW1 after a couple of seconds. Whilst I’ve never liked the Apple EQ presets, they are much much better than using the hardware EQ of the iW1.

Overall I think that the iW1’s speakers are voiced pleasantly enough to enjoy most styles of music without the need for drastic EQ or turning on the BDSP. Sound is enormously subjective and not everyone will agree with me on this, but the IW1 can deliver more than acceptable sound quality. It is not as good as the Yamaha PDX-50’s sound quality, not even close really, but it is by no means bad and the flexibility of AirPlay makes the trade off worth it.

Conclusion

The iW1 is a well built, good looking, reliable device that gives decent sound quality. Unfortunately it is quite pricey and because of taking so long to hit the market, it is now competing with a growing market. Philips now have a much cheaper Fidelio AirPlay speaker, and whilst I haven’t heard it myself, the Fidelio range as a whole is raved about by many audio enthusiasts I know.

If you pay £200+ for the iW1 then it really can’t compete on a sonic level with any other standard docking speaker in that range. You are ultimately paying a premium for the AirPlay connectivity. If you can find it sub £200, and especially if you can grab it for £150 then it’s more than worth the money.

Even when taking the price and low end competition into account, it still remains one of the the cheapest and easiest ways into high quality wifi audio in the home.

Pro’s

• Extremely convenient way of listening to music in this iPhone/iPad wireless age
• Good build quality
• Very easy to setup
• Reliable signal, very few dropouts
• Truly portable, battery lasts upwards of 10 hours
• Great ‘flat’ sound quality when DSP turned off. (Can be a con depending on your taste)

Cons

• Frustrating to control and unresponsive from the unit and remote
• Pricey, especially when compared to Philips new Fidelio range
• Unnatural and over hyped sound when the “Bongiovi” DSP in turned on. Works for some mixes, not for others.
• Great ‘flat’ sound quality when DSP turned off (Can be a pro depending on your taste)

The Honeybirds in the studio

Following our work on backing tracks for our friends ‘The Honeybirds’ they asked us to preside over their first outing into the studio! We were glad to take them up on the offer.

It was a pleasure to sit at the mixing desk and hear the incredibly well-pollished vocal stylings of Tessa Smith, Jenny Smith and Daisy Thurkettle. If you haven’t already checked out these ladies via any of our previous posts then you really should go here and see what they are about. They pull off a very professional sounding tribute to the music of the Andrews Sisters, the distinctive close vocal harmonies that became famous in the 1940s, and they go the whole way with the image including flowery dresses, army uniforms and red lipstick!

Daisy, Jenny & Tessa

We have to finalise the mixes before they are released to the world but as soon as we’re done they’ll be on the web for you to listen to. It’s amazing what can be achieved with nothing more than three microphones and three talented ladies 🙂

(The Music Pie is an on-line library of production music. We also do other things. Find out more at www.themusicpie.com)

Alex Clare Live at Lido Berlin, 11/7/12

Having only just set foot in Berlin the day before, I was lucky enough to receive a call from a good friend Chris Hargreaves, who happened to be playing that evening with UK singer Alex Clare at Lido in Kreuzberg. Chris kindly invited me to join him at the gig and I was more than happy to accept – it was the ideal start to my summer trip to the German capital city. I arrived to an empty room, but slowly and surely it started to fill up and shortly after Chris appeared to greet me. After a quick chat and briefly meeting the guys from the band backstage, it was time for the gig to start.

Jon M with Chris backstage

The set was real heavy from start to finish with a great variety of songs; particular highlights for me included Treading Water, Damn Your Eyes, Hands Are Clever and When Doves Cry. The encore was the well known song Too Close and was a great choice to finish off a superb gig. Thanks to Chris for the invite, would be good to check out the band again further down the line. Afterwards it was fun hanging out with the guys as we wandered from Kreuzberg across Warshauer Brücke and into Friedrichshain. A couple of beers later and it was time for bed!

With Alex Clare on Warshauer Brücke

For more info on Alex Clare including videos, sounds and tour dates visit www.alexclare.com.

(www.themusicpie.com – for all your Production Music needs)

An Evening of James Taylor music

I enjoyed a superb gig at the Bay Horse in Hutton Rudby, North Yorkshire. ‘An Evening of James Taylor music’ was performed by Sweet Baby James, comprised of singer / guitarist, and long-time Taylor fan, Brian Dales, supported by Jon Chamberlain on keyboards.

James Taylor’s original and melodic style is deceptively simplistic and provides a significant challenge to anyone trying to tackle the music, but this group performed the material with exceptional musicality and flair. From the biggest hits ‘Fire & Rain’ and ‘You Got A Friend’, to lesser-known treats for the hardcore fans (!) ‘Secret O’ Life’ and ‘Mean Old Man’, the duo impressed on all fronts, executing the well-balanced programme with an air of confidence and sensitivity. Dales comes across as a very likable and witty performer.

Sweet Baby James are currently booking more gigs for later in 2012 and for the Spring of 2013, and I certainly hope to catch them again soon. They have a website where you can keep track of their gigs and hear some samples of the songs – www.sweetbabyjames.co.uk

(The Music Pie is an on-line library of quality production music available for licensing – www.themusicpie.com)

An example of our virtual orchestral programming in front of 30,000 people!

Following on from a couple of previous posts on this topic, we have just finished a video showcasing the orchestral programming that we contributed to The Queen Experience. The show took place in the Netherlands at The Gelredome Stadium on November 18th 2011 and was performed to a crowd of over 30,000 people!

Our task was to programme, record and produce orchestral and synth tracks for several of the songs in order to augment the band and cover the instruments that weren’t available to be performed live. The songs included in the video are One Vision, Innuendo and Who Wants To Live Forever. We hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed working on the show!

We hope the video gives an idea of the scale of the concert and shows more clearly our involvement in the project.

If you require orchestral support/backing for a project you are working on, please get in touch with us. You can read more about our LPA services here and browse our library of production music here.

Thanks for watching!

Live Performance Augmentation. Don’t you mean glorified backing tracks?

Since the age of beating bones upon taut animal skins, people have been searching for ways to get more sound on stage for less money.

Often for either financial or logistical reasons, producers and musical directors need more happening than they can squeeze out of living, breathing performers, and so at some point the words “backing tracks” sheepishly slink into conversation.

Traditionally these have been dirty words amongst musicians, performers, producers and the like. And for  people not up to date with the latest in music tech, backing tracks can certainly conjure audible images of horrific things best forgotten;  mid 90’s synth modules, low-end karaoke compilations etc. But time and technology marches on ignorant of steadfast taboos. And so much like in the field of our counterpart, the visual arts, technology is at a place where we can conjure virtual orchestras with very powerful software instruments. The results of this can be indistinguishable to even seasoned instrumentalists of the real thing.

The reality of this makes the convenience and cost of “backing tracks” far more appealing, but it’s still a tricky subject, needing delicate handling when selling it to skeptical musical professionals and producers.

At Music Pie HQ we have had a real robust discussion about how to best position our “backing track” services. And so with our tongues ever so slightly in our cheeks we are terming it ‘Live Performance Augmentation’.

To see just how well our work blends on a live stage, check out these live videos of The Queen Experience where The Music Pie provides all the orchestral parts you will hear.

In the near future I intend to dig deeper with a tutorial or two, explaining the process of creating realistic virtual orchestral tracks.

The Richard Devine appeal at The Wardrobe, Leeds

Last night the musician community of Leeds came together to raise funds for a really important cause, the Richard Devine appeal. Richard Devine is a hugely talented and committed athlete who competed for Great Britain in the martial art of Wushu at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 – during his martial arts career he won various gold medals and awards. On March 17th, 2012, whilst in training, Richard tragically had a terrible trampolining accident and broke his neck, rendering him paralyzed from the chest and elbows down. Last nights event at the Wardrobe in Leeds was a fundraiser for Richard, with all donations going to his future rehabilitation. The event was organized by Richard’s family and in particular his brother Scott, Scott’s wife Lisa and also trumpet player Simon Beddoe (all of whom are close friends of us at The Music Pie). The musicians played entirely for free in support of this massively important cause.

Jon & Jon with Scott Devine

There were three bands on the bill throughout the evening: CTI Project featuring Dennis Rollins; East Park Reggae Collective (featuring Richard’s brother Scott on bass) and Submotion Orchestra. CTI Project (www.myspace.com/ctiproject) kicked off the evening with a funk induced set, putting everyone in the mood for what was to be a great night. The band featured Mark Ellis on sax, Taz Modi on keys, Manolo Polidario on guitar, Chris ‘Fatty’ Hargreaves on bass and Chris Sykes on drums, plus special guest Dennis Rollins on trombone. CTI were followed with a face melting set from East Park Reggae collective (www.myspace.com/eastparkreggaecollective) featuring Anna Stott on vocals and Richard’s brother Scott on bass (who’s bass sound incidentally was so massive that the whole of The Wardrobe was shaking!). East Park played a superb set which they rounded of with a fantastic up-beat rendition of Gotye’s Somebody That I Used To Know. East Park Reggae Collective will be performing during a 10-day residency this summer at Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy, between July 5th-16th 2012.

Ruby Wood of Submotion Orchestra dances to her band’s incredible dubstep grooves

The evening was rounded off with a sublime set from Submotion Orchestra (submotion.co.uk), a band which was formed in Leeds and is starting to make big waves in the music scene. The band features the stunning vocals of Ruby Wood, supported by Taz Modi on keys, Chris Hargreaves on bass, Tommy Evans on drums, Danny Templeman on percussion, Simon Beddoe on flugelhorn and Dom Ruckspin behind the mixing desk.

The evening was a massive success and hopefully the funds raised will go some way towards helping Richard in the long road to recovery that he faces. If you’d like to read more about Richard Devine or to donate to this important cause, please visit www.thericharddevineappeal.com or www.facebook.com/TheDevineJourney.

How to collaborate on To-Do lists using your Google Apps domain and GoTasks for the iPhone

Introduction

Here at The Music Pie we all tend to collaborate on the different aspects of the business, so we needed a way to share To-Do lists. If one person completed a particular task how would the others know, without phoning or emailing everyone to say: “I’ve bought that software now, so don’t you all buy it as well!”

As we already used Google Apps for much of our workflow, we really wanted to find a method which would fit into the Google Apps system. Using the GMail Tasks feature was the obvious choice – it’s easy to use, has a great mobile web app, but you can’t easily share task lists. One employee can’t have access to another’s Tasks list, even using email delgation.

The solution: using the Google Apps admin account.

1. Log into your Google Apps ‘admin’ account, and in your mail, select ‘Tasks’ from the ‘Gmail’ drop-down menu at the top-left of the screen. You will see your Tasks list open at the bottom-right of your Gmail window. Here you can add new tasks, create new lists of tasks, and check tasks off when you’ve done them. If you run a small business then several of your employees may have access to this admin account, so you can share the tasks lists, however you’ll have to keep logging in and out of your personal areas and into the admin area to do this. Not ideal.
2. Download ‘GoTasks‘ for the iPhone. When you open the app simply enter the login details for the Google Apps admin account and you’ll be able to view and manage all the Tasks lists you saw in your browser. Several people can do this to the same Apps account and whenever a change is made, everyone will be kept perfectly in sync!
3. You can add the details for several Google accounts in GoTasks, as well as using the ‘Local Account’ feature, which is a totally independent set of tasks and lists not linked to a Google account.

TIPS:

• I recommend you set the ‘Manual Sync’ slider in settings to Off – this way the app will sync upon opening and on each subsequent edit to any list.
• There’s a handy button to ‘Clear Completed Tasks’ – choose to view All Tasks at once and select that for the quick clearing of finished To-Dos.
• We have a list for each colleague, this way you can add tasks to each others task lists, and see when they have completed their delegated tasks.

At The Music Pie we don’t even use the Gmail web interface for the task lists anymore – the app is a much quicker and more portable solution. Enjoy!

JC

New tracks uploaded!

Three new pieces were added to The Music Pie library this week. Two of them (One Blue Bottle and Glass Storm) make use of unusual instruments and textures – more about this in a future blog post.

The third piece, Harping On, is a first for The Music Pie, in that it is a joint collaboration between two of the partners of the company. The piece is a crossover between classical and jazz composition and was written, recorded and produced by Jon Melville and Jon Chamberlain. Harping On features (not surprisingly!) a harp, along with soprano saxophone and later in the piece a tenor saxophone.

Please go to our Browse Music page to check the new pieces out!

The Music Pie work on The Queen Experience

Here at The Music Pie we’re delighted to have been working on an enormous live project which was recently performed for the first time on Friday 18th November in the Netherlands at the Gelredome, Arnhem. The Queen Experience is one of the world’s finest Freddie Mercury Tribute shows and didn’t disappoint this time around.

The Music Pie provided high quality orchestral arrangements and recordings to support the live band and singers.
The show is presented by EJB Entertainment, producers of the European tour of “Hair – The Musical”, and if anyone has managed to see that show they will know the quality and scale of production this company is capable of. It has been a pleasure to work under the musical supervision of Dave Keech.

You can watch a couple of clips from the concert on our website HERE. Keep an eye out for further performances, which there undoubtedly will be!

– JC