Neck Speakers - neck to neck
In this video I'm trying out neck speakers. For reasons that escape me know - I've ended up buying all the models on the market. As I'm probably the only person who owns the lot - it made sense to do a comparison video.
If the thought of a long video about a niche product isn't the kind of thing you're looking to watch today, I understand, however you might want to spend four minutes watching the completely unrelated comedy outro - as it's one of my favourites.
If you want to skip the feature presentation and just watch the outro on its own - here's the link: https://youtu.be/B2bbB_7CFew
I'll be explaining more about the unusual found-footage I misused in this section in a future video.
Ultimate Neck Speaker Comparison : Bose vs JBL vs Sony vs LG (YouTube)
Comments (53)
Hi Mat, great product review and truly excellent outro.
I know you usually mark the separate videos with Muppet outros as unlisted (and put them into your public playlist specifically for those), but you marked the other video you linked as fully public. Out of curiosity, why is that?
It was longer than usual and I felt it was the best one I've done, so I wanted to see how well it was received by a wider audience.
The way YouTube thumbnails work with the video previews, the preview of this video is you walking and talking into a camera you're holding, and because it skips a few frames each second in the preview, it looks like you're Striding With Purpose and all I could think upon seeing that was "somebody's insulted the Tefifon and Mat's on his way to deck them"
I never get to see the video thumbnails. I've seen them once but I forget how I did it now - perhaps on a multimedia box plugged into the TV. I'll have to see if I can have a look.
Thanks for the interesting video. Personal stereo is quite a broad topic. I started thinking about it after I saw the video about the personal speaker you bought for your parents. Some people put their house full of Sonos or AirPlay 2.0 now. However, I don't like to have my house full of equipment. The neck speakers are also not my thing I guess. I think I keep carrying my Anker speaker with me when I go to another room. It might be a bit of a hassle, but also connects me to the audio in some weird kind of way. Like if you're carrying a book...
Reallly interesting video, I just knew the Bose would be expensive but beautifully made, and it’s nice they don’t appear (or didn’t have room) to have adopted any of their usual sound shaping tricks you get in some of their speakers. And the outro.... best yet. They need the “Asimov module”
I have a suggestion for a Patreon extra: put microphones in your ears, wear the neck speakers, and then record what your ears are hearing through the microphones. It would be great to see a binaural sound demo of all these speakers, so that those of us using headphones can hear a more accurate representation of what they actually sound like, rather than going off your word that "the Bose sounds thinner except when wearing it".
Fun idea - but you'd still just be reviewing my microphones and your speakers or headphones- you wouldn't be experiencing the sound from the Bose.
Kudos Mat. Super thorough and entertaining review, albeit for a product I have zero interest in, but that outtro was pure genius. Homicidal androids should always be developed in Japan on MSX computers and modeled after beautiful but wooden 80s British models.
Epic, interesting, and well worth the time. I had thought about getting something like that for my very hard of hearing father to use when he's watching television, but since the only decent set seems to be the Bose, and they're mainly for Bluetooth, I won't waste my money. Thanks for the info, Mat. (p.s. speaking of epic, that's the only way to describe this puppet sequence- The Lord Of The Rings of your work (that I have seen))
That prolonged typing bit in the outro is just genius.
That's one of my favourite little throaway bits I've come up with for those two. The timing worked well.
Another entertaining Techmoan video about a product category I have absolutely no need for :-) I was wondering how these four would compare with the Sennheiser Surrounder in terms of sound quality. I know, not a very relevant question, but I'm curious anyway :-)
The Surrounder is so out there on its own it’s hard to compare with these. I only really used it for a few hours and didn’t play any music through it.
Thank you for another high quality video. I recently upped my monthly contribution because of the quantity and quality of your work. It shows how much effort you put into these. Also, I know that with the support of Patreons, nobody would spend over a thousand dollars on things like neck speakers. Thank you.
Thank you - this was a bit of an extravagance and a rabbit hole. The Sony was my replacement for the speaker that I missed having in the house once I gave it to my parents. But then I felt a bit silly when I came to the realisation that JBL were doing the same thing but one that was available cheaper and over here and that also connected to bluetooth. However when that turned out to be a bit of a dud I thought I should try one more bluetooth neck speaker because the idea of listening to podcasts on it appealed to me, so I got the LG...however in the meantime at least a hundred people got in touch to 'tell me about' the Bose - a speaker I'd purposely been avoiding as it has already been well covered in online reviews. But then I thought that if I did a video where I pointed out all the speakers I tested had issues. almost all the comments would be about the Bose...so I got one to keep the whole video relevant and tie it all together. I really don't know how this video will do. Sometimes these comparisons of modern tech can be sleeper hits - continuing to get views long after another type of video would have died off. But then sometimes they just get overlooked and never gather any momentum. We'll see how it does on Tuesday when I plan to make it live. You're right though - however well it does - youtube revenue was never going pay for the cost of making this one - so again it's all down to the patrons that this video got made.
Great full feature video! If anyone is interested, Tyll at Innerfidelity did a "Bose SoundWear Companion Speaker Deconstruction" here <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV6VdrxDpdo" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV6VdrxDpdo</a> It's quite interesting to see how it looks inside.
I could be totally wrong here, but I reckon the lady Android in the outro sketch was the actress who played Fizz in the 1990s BBC flop Eldorado (yes I watched it in my youth!). Good to see she was just as wooden in the early days of her career!
The Fizz actress would have been six or seven when this video was shot, (the video was captured off something from 1982) so it's not her - but I can see why you'd think so.
Speaking of neck speakers, when are you doing a video on the Bone Fone?
I haven't got one- and I'm not sure whether I ever will. It's just an AM/FM radio in a cloth sack - but one that demands collectors prices. There are probably much better things to spend my money on. If I see one BNIB for a few £s I'll pick it up.
Interesting video- thanks! All of those products seem a lot more hassle though than just using open back headphones, which don’t isolate me from the world- they do have more sound leakage though than closed headphones so I don’t use them outside the home. I have the Sennheiser HD598 although the newer model is HD599.
I am constantly amazed by the 'Available in Japan Only' products you import for your vids seemingly universally having English text on them. (The view of the bottom of the Sony base station at 4:52 for example) I wonder if this is some kind of requirement from some obscure bureaucracy. Your utter distaste for putting the JBL model was almost hilarious. Suffering for your art writ large.
From my extremely limited outsiders knowledge of Japan - putting English language labels on things is the norm. You could always rely on Japanese games to have things like Start/Select, Lives, Game Over in English even when the rest of the game was in Japanese. I suppose its similar to how coffee shops in English language countries use French and Italian words. Perhaps originally it was seen as being sophisticated...but then over time it became odd to do things any other way. ....and yes that JBL is a neck speaker suitable only for sadists (and they can use that quote in their advertising).
Mat, that outtro is _BRILLIANT_ !!! It's the most brilliant thing you've ever done, surpassing the Mind Hunter cold open shot-for-shot. I urge you to release it as a standalone video. I'm certain the internet will eat it up (in a good way). Can I retweet it before you release it to non-Patreons? Congratulations and cheers!
I may release it publicly at the same time as the main video - but I'll keep it out of the subscriber notification feed. So yes feel free to link to it or repost it - just like any of the comedy playlist videos. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Wonderful tour de force video , Mat! Thank you for proving that I really don't want or need one of these neck speakers. As to the AHD video - brilliant. My wife wants to order one. I said ' But I already carry out your every wish' and she said 'Yes, but a robot won't snore!' Looking forward to learning the back story to the clips. Thanks, Mat!
The video the clips came from is one of my favourite I've found in recent years - a piece of tech history with some useful clips that I can use as b-roll to insert in other videos occasionally. I'm waiting to hear back from a couple of people in the US as there's something I need to tie it all together before I start shooting the video on the subject.
I'll take three of the AHD. Can you have them shipped directly to other people's houses? :P
These neck speakers always remind me of that Rutger Hauer movie, Wedlock.
Another great review Mat that has peaked my interest again in something that I wasn’t interested in. I absolutely get the benefit of not being disconnected from your surroundings but this does feel like the solution is worse than the problem. What podcasts do you listen to? Super and surreal outro..... lovely as they like to say in Essex.
I dip in and out of a few podcasts. Regulars include. Comedy Bang Bang, Macbreak Weekly, Newsquiz Extra.
I get that exact distorted thing when lost signal on my Bluetooth jbl headset too!
That's not good. It seems to drop out more than the others too and have a shorter range.
Do you have an eBay account where you sell your gear? Perhaps a Patreons-only shop?!
I don't. It would be a good idea - but I just don't have the time to manage it.
I am curious about how well these would do while running, time to hit the streets and give those trainers a pounding? :)
I think they would all be pretty hopeless -they'd bang up and down on your shoulders whilst annoying everyone you go near.
The trouble is your videos are so good that they arouse interest nearly everything you do. you are right though I thinking about this carefully.
Another high quality job. As I start to browse for another device I'm not sure I really need but I might, I'd like to thank you for the interesting range of products adorning my house....
This is one of those categories where unless you are thinking 'that's exactly what I've been looking for' - you can probably give it a miss and save your money.
Never imagined I'd watch a 40 minute video about a product category I didn't even know existed! Very interesting. I guess for a similar use case - for listening to podcasts around the house, I use a pair of bone-conducting headphones (Trekz Air) that let me hear when the kettle is done or whatever I'm up to. They also double for use out and about as well letting you hear the car that's about to run you down.
Yes, let's hope so... 🙄
Hi Mat, your main video had me in stitches; particularly the section about small necks. Also the part about taping/ stringing a Bluetooth speaker around your neck reminded me of Dr. Theopolis - truly futuristic 🤣
It's quite difficult to take them seriously, although I have become quite used to using the Bose for listening to my podcasts around the house. Perhaps it's good that they look dorky though - there's less chance of people getting on the bus wearing one.
I hope these neck speakers are not getting too popular with the youth of these days that seem to have no problem using their crappy smartphone speakers in public, on the streets and in public transport...
If there was a Beats branded one that footballers started to make fashionable...the end of civilisation would soon follow.
Why did I do away my MSX computer :-P
thanks for another great in-depth review. Not for me until they drop down in price to below £100. They kind of remind me of a collar bomb, i wonder when the first incident with an exploding battery will be in the news :)
I have seen a couple of cheap Chinese versions - that look to be copies of the agonising JBL model...so your thought might not be too far from coming true.
I admit I skipped to the puppet video (I'll watch the main video later). That is delightfully bizarre. Nothing like Japanese use of Western models in the 80s for a truly creepy experience.
The young lady who was in those clips will be well into her fifties now and I bet she never ended up seeing the video she shot back then.