Howdy folks,
I just got my NCP-302 yesterday and thought I'd try to give everyone an idea of how it sounds. My first impression is that it sounds "good." It is a decent size speaker in competition with other wireless speakers at the mid-to-high end range (at least, that is my impression). I compare it to offerings like the JBL Extreme or the Marshall Stanmore (among many others).
I don't feel like ANY wireless single-unit speaker is going to live up to audiophile standards. You can't compare it to your Sennheiser HD-650 (or rather the Massdrop x Sennheiser HD-6XX) or your favorite pair of Noble IEMs. It does sound really good, though.
The overall sound quality is pretty impressive when you lower your standards to "$300 Bluetooth speaker." The Wi-Fi input method is noticeably better than Bluetooth. The mids and highs are clean and pleasant. High bass is present and clean, but as you get down into mid and sub bass you notice a drop in power and the types of distortion you expect from a ported speaker enclosure that targets a frequency range that covers "most popular music." Unfortunately this seems to either blank out or distort the bass frequencies in some of my favorite music genres (Drum&Bass, Dubstep, Jungle, for instance).
As a workaround, I have been able to get good response using my phone (LG V10, with its built-in high-end DAC and heaphone amp circuits) headphone jack or through my Soundblaster E5 DAC/amp, an equalizer app, and the AUX input on the speaker.
It is impressively loud in a relatively quiet environment, but I don't have any way of testing in a noisy (like house party?) setting. I get the feeling it would be loud enough to fill one small to mid sized room (think master bedroom or a small living room, but not a large room like a finished half-house basement den or an open-concept living room + kitchen in a large house).
It doesn't have the bass of the JBL Extreme, but it has better overall sound quality (this is based on a fairly old memory of the sound of the Extreme, so I'd suggest trying to get a side-by-side comparison if these two are part of your top picks). I think the Marshall Stanmore is a better choice if you are going to use the AUX or Bluetooth inputs, but the Wi-Fi input method gives a noticeably better sound quality if you are alright with the slightly anemic bass response (take your music selection into consideration here!), it is definitely the best choice in my opinion.
The build quality of this speaker is amazing. It is heavy and solid, and feels like it is made of quality parts. The sturdy enclosure no doubt contributes to the precise sound reproduction. It has the feel of a high quality bookshelf speaker.
The Onkyo Controller app is pretty clunky, though. You need it to set the Wi-Fi SSID and password for any wireless network to which you want to connect the speaker. Using the AUX cable to set the wireless up is a novel idea, but it doesn't offer bi-directional communication, so there is no way for the app to know if setting these values was successful. I ended up having to use my iPod Touch to set up the wireless network because the headphone jack on my phone will randomly trigger the "OK Google" functionality if the cord is jiggled even slightly. Sadly, the app doesn't have any way of knowing it was unable to set the Wi-Fi variables. There are alternate methods to fall back on (ethernet cable or a special Wi-Fi AP to which your phone can connect). Once you get the speaker connected to your wireless network, you never have to deal with that app again (unless you change network or password).
Overall, I'd give it an 8 out of 10, and I'd recommend it to someone looking for a small wireless speaker with the caveat that nothing this small is gonna thump and rock your house. :)
I don't feel like ANY wireless single-unit speaker is going to live up to audiophile standards. You can't compare it to your Sennheiser HD-650 (or rather the Massdrop x Sennheiser HD-6XX) or your favorite pair of Noble IEMs. It does sound really good, though.
The overall sound quality is pretty impressive when you lower your standards to "$300 Bluetooth speaker." The Wi-Fi input method is noticeably better than Bluetooth. The mids and highs are clean and pleasant. High bass is present and clean, but as you get down into mid and sub bass you notice a drop in power and the types of distortion you expect from a ported speaker enclosure that targets a frequency range that covers "most popular music." Unfortunately this seems to either blank out or distort the bass frequencies in some of my favorite music genres (Drum&Bass, Dubstep, Jungle, for instance).
As a workaround, I have been able to get good response using my phone (LG V10, with its built-in high-end DAC and heaphone amp circuits) headphone jack or through my Soundblaster E5 DAC/amp, an equalizer app, and the AUX input on the speaker.
It is impressively loud in a relatively quiet environment, but I don't have any way of testing in a noisy (like house party?) setting. I get the feeling it would be loud enough to fill one small to mid sized room (think master bedroom or a small living room, but not a large room like a finished half-house basement den or an open-concept living room + kitchen in a large house).
It doesn't have the bass of the JBL Extreme, but it has better overall sound quality (this is based on a fairly old memory of the sound of the Extreme, so I'd suggest trying to get a side-by-side comparison if these two are part of your top picks). I think the Marshall Stanmore is a better choice if you are going to use the AUX or Bluetooth inputs, but the Wi-Fi input method gives a noticeably better sound quality if you are alright with the slightly anemic bass response (take your music selection into consideration here!), it is definitely the best choice in my opinion.
The build quality of this speaker is amazing. It is heavy and solid, and feels like it is made of quality parts. The sturdy enclosure no doubt contributes to the precise sound reproduction. It has the feel of a high quality bookshelf speaker.
The Onkyo Controller app is pretty clunky, though. You need it to set the Wi-Fi SSID and password for any wireless network to which you want to connect the speaker. Using the AUX cable to set the wireless up is a novel idea, but it doesn't offer bi-directional communication, so there is no way for the app to know if setting these values was successful. I ended up having to use my iPod Touch to set up the wireless network because the headphone jack on my phone will randomly trigger the "OK Google" functionality if the cord is jiggled even slightly. Sadly, the app doesn't have any way of knowing it was unable to set the Wi-Fi variables. There are alternate methods to fall back on (ethernet cable or a special Wi-Fi AP to which your phone can connect). Once you get the speaker connected to your wireless network, you never have to deal with that app again (unless you change network or password).
Overall, I'd give it an 8 out of 10, and I'd recommend it to someone looking for a small wireless speaker with the caveat that nothing this small is gonna thump and rock your house. :)