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In
Use Frequency Response TDK,
or perhaps it's NXT, quote a frequency response of 230Hz to 15KHz though according
to my favourite Test
Tone Generator V3.62 this is a touch optimistic. In actual fact, the speakers
will attempt and succeed in playing tones well outside this range, they just do
a very poor job of them. In some ways it might be better if, like conventional
speakers, they simply failed to produce any sound at all because the kind of sound
they attempt to play when fed a 30Hz signal would probably be enough to spoil
anything else that was playing at the same time. Another difficulty
in testing these speakers is they do a much better job of playing a pure tone
than they do of combining different ones. I was quite impressed at the attempts
these speakers made of producing tweeter range tones above 8KHz yet when playing
general music those highs don't seem anywhere near as pure. Stereo
Separation No two stereo speaker placed as close together
as they are in the OutLoud CD Wallet can hope to offer any real levels of stereo
separation and indeed the OutLoud CD Wallet fails miserably. Made worse by the
sound's lack of directional properties what we have here may as well be two speakers
connected together as a mono setup, not that notebooks usually fair a whole lot
better when they're using their integrated speakers. Sound
Quality These speakers do a pretty good job with the mids
and highs considering these are flat panel speakers but unfortunately the whole
listening experience is dominated and to some extent spoiled by their obvious
inability to handle a dominating bass line. The result is that any music track
that features a substantial bass component sounds compressed and tends to distort
at even moderate volume levels. For other tasks like presentations which will
probably be less bass heavy things are a lot better with vocals in particular
being quite clear and crisp. Otherwise things just seem to lack that depth and
range that good conventional speakers offer so well. Like so
many things sound quality is a subjective thing and although the technology that
allows a product like this to exist is impressive the sound quality is probably
on a par with a good set of cheap plastic £15 jobs. Conclusion Flat
panel technology is improving all the time but the unfortunate truth is that they
don't yet come close to competing with even fairly modest piston type speakers.
In the case of the OutLoud CD Wallet, so much padding has been used to protect
the speaker panels that there's almost room for four or six conventional low profile
speakers. This aside I can understand why TDK wanted a product
like this on their books. The idea is certainly a cool one and if it doesn't start
a few conversations when Justin Timberlake starts warbling out of the side of
your CD wallet then you have some very difficult-to-please friends. If you carry
a CD wallet with you anyway this adds a pair of half decent speakers with very
little inconvenience and for places where transporting or powering conventional
speakers is a no-go this may be the answer. Let's face it, what are the chances
of you finding a mains power feed on that next picnic by the river? For
general multimedia and presentation work on your portable PC these are a great
idea and the quality is certainly superior to any notebook speakers I've heard
in action personally. Forget hooking up power to your regular speakers in the
boardroom, just flip open your CD wallet and hit them with your latest plans for
industry domination. All in all a great idea that limited by
the nature of the technology it uses. For pure convenience and portability though
it's sure to be a winner! 
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