Sony Neck Speaker SRS-NS7 - a weight on my shoulders

The idea of having a personal home theatre has merit but the Sony NS7 misses the mark.
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[@dwinterx]

Holy crap, £259! Not cheap considering all the limitations! Great video's as usual.

[@resneptacle]

To be fair, that's in line with their over-ear headphones

[@pqrstzxerty1296]

In this case, it be cheaper and better to go for a BOSE pair of headphones.

[@acespades8747]

This could explain why PS is in full misery... for consumers o' course.😁

[@-opus]

Sony tends to be overpriced for what it is, people love brands.

[@-opus]

@@PotatoeSnow There is a middle ground, a product can be decent without being marketed towards posers.

[@ngdeez]

Sony never disappoints with the name/model numbers of their products

[@ilhuikar]

Serious NonSense 7?

[@redkf]

They always roll off the tongue with their catchy names

[@Schmidtelpunkt]

Stubborn names for stubborn products.

[@MildMisanthropeMaybeMassive]

@@redkfThe Playstation division is the only group responsible for names run by humans it appears. They have their naming system down by just putting subsequent numbers, and naming their handhelds pronounceable real words.

[@nimoy007]

I like their naming system. NS7? Neck Speaker 7. Perfect. PS5? PlayStation 5. WH? Wireless Headphones. It all makes sense to me. Way better than the stupid crap other companies pull with skipping huge gaps of model numbers (Apple, Samsung), adding Pro, X, etc randomly (Microsoft, Apple).

[@tombyrnerocks]

Some serious levels of investigation right here! Love how far into products Mat gets and how he presents the warts and all review of his experiences ❤

[@franzspirk6064]

agree! I like this kind of investigation a lot

[@sparqqling]

Mat is a mad lad

[@gfgoalie28]

a true stud

[@markxxx21]

I love how he spends 20 minutes trying to find something good to stay about them. Just say "don't waste your money" LOL

[@llMarvelous]

That’s how investigate, when f…ing thing just don’t work I’m surprised Sony made this, it’s like aliexpress version of themselves

[@sholtodepuma]

Digital audio compatibility is an absolute nightmare sometimes

[@brendanneilson3928]

I feel like it never used too.

[@SPINNINGMYWHEELS777]

I remember when they said the 'digital' age was user friendly.

[@acespades8747]

Worthless companies never have nightmares thanks to enthusiastics fools who have money to burn easily. Your explanaition is NOT an excuse for them to sell trash totally uncaring.

[@benharv]

Not sometimes.. Everytime.

[@3DJapan]

10:03 You brought back a bad memory. I was sitting on the train back in college listening to Techno with wired earbuds. After a while the woman next to me taps me and says "you know we can all hear that right?". I looked down and saw the wire had come out of my phone. I was SO embarrassed and apologized profusely.

[@Longplay_Games]

You addressed one of the things that's really gotten me to drop out of modern audio devices - they "closed the analog hole" and now I spend my money mostly on older devices on ebay. Much happier with missing out on stuff like atmos if it means I can listen to whatever I like with no fuss.

[@Longplay_Games]

​@@Jack-Shat Neat. Sounds like a lot of extra steps just so you don't have a simple headphone cable. I'm glad you're happy with that.

[@johnmiller0000]

@@Longplay_Games Amen.

[@albinklein7680]

​@@Jack-Shatthat feels and sounds like a bitter satire from a comedian....

[@MarianoLu]

@@Shibathedogagree that is why I have 2 setups one for movies and then a class D amp with a Volumio Streamer for my music in just Stereo and I haven’t been happier

[@jonessii]

​@@Jack-Shat appropriate name for the kind of gibberish you're spouting

[@tenow]

Your suspicion is correct. Bluetooth protocol only supports 2 channels. So the puck either accepts stereo or smushes Atmos into stereo. Optical cable is also just for a show, could've been audio jack.

[@justjanne-de]

Sony actually has their own extensions to the supported codecs which allows them to transmit more channels. But that only works between two Sony devices, which is why you need to use it with the transmitter, a Bravia XR TV or a Bravia XR compatible phone. Tbh, it's the same issue Apple has with their ecosystem only working well together.

[@justjanne-de]

And it's possible to actually use HRTFs to generate audio that actually sounds spatially out of stereo headphones. You do only have two ears after all, and can still hear surround sound. A proper HRTF can simulate that perfectly, and Sony uses a scan of your ear to generate that customized HRTF.

[@tatianaes3354]

@@justjanne-deIndeed, Apple had to invent its own wireless systems because Bluetooth is useless for their purposes. Same as Sony. This means the product the chap is reviewing only makes sense when used with select Sony TVs. The chap does not have them (he has LG or something).

[@justjanne-de]

@@tatianaes3354 with the sony transmitter he's got, it should work, but that again requires the source device to send a Dolby Digital+ Atmos bitstream directly to the Toslink S/PDIF port, which nowadays only AV receivers support. Tbh, with Bluetooth 5.2 LE Audio this all will finally be fixed, allowing not only for spatial audio but also for use as high quality headphones and microphone at the same time, but that standard is still WIP.

[@IsoMacintosh]

optical means the audio stays digital instead of being converted to analog and then back to digital, it`s pretty reasonable connector choice

[@pseudonym3690]

I think the reason why this thing doesn't do Atmos except for with Bravia TVs is most likely that the neck speaker lacks any sound processing capabilities that would be necessary for this. The TV will take care of that and therefore they settled on an optical audio lead, because more isn't necessary to enable the otherwise meager functionality.

[@zybch]

A non-sony TV or audio source just outputs 2-channel PCM through the optical cable. Thats the ONLY standard spdif/optical supports even though optical has simply massive bandwidth potentially hundreds of times that of the HDMI interface. The puck just sends EXACTLY what it got through the optical port to the neck speakers. As you supposed, when a Bravia is used though, the TV does all the processing and sends an already spacialized stereo signal to the puck. Its classic sony, basically lie about what the product can do, even though to achieve that an extremely narrow set of conditions, that 99% of the potential audience can't deliver, must be met.

[@Lishtenbird]

​@@zybchSPDIF can carry 5.1 DTS/Dolby because it's compressed.

[@pseudonym3690]

@@zybch I agree with basically everything, but I'm rather surprised about your claim that a toslink connection would have hundreds of times the bandwidth of HDMI. Got any source for that? The official specs show that HDMI has heaps more bandwidth than toslink.

[@lambertax]

Are you working for Sony? 😮

[@cnsmooth]

Not quite true, my fairly cheap Hisense TV will out Dolby surround through optical out@@zybch

[@sayeager5559]

I laughed out loud at "people with floppy necks" the last minute or so of this video is gold.

[@Okand2]

Psychoacoustics is a cool field of tech, we only have two ears so we only need two isolated sources of audio and then software trickery with the timing and volume differences between the two ears can make things sound like they're from points around you. Probably works best when the audio from the wrong side can not leak through though. It's surprisingly good on my apple tv with airpods late at night for example.

[@John_Ridley]

Phase has a lot to do with how we perceive sound direction as well.

[@minipolenet]

The stupid thing about this is that it requires a Sony Bravia TV and a dedicated SPDIF-connected Bluetooth transmitter (SBC codec only), the WLA-NS7, for Dolby Atmos as advertised. This costs $60 when purchased separately. Therefore, it is very reasonable not to think that the Dolby Atmos feature will work well. Good job Sony.

[@rolfs2165]

Wait, you not only need a specific line of their tvs, but also need to buy another puck that they don't mention? That's quite shady.

[@straightpipediesel]

It shows how fragmented the company is. If you buy AirPods and have a Mac, iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV, you get Atmos (Spatial Audio) and even get head tracking. Sony could have put it in the PlayStation and their phones, but they didn't.

[@minipolenet]

@@rolfs2165 If you read the Amazon reviews, those who bought the transmitter separately don't mention anything about Dolby Atmos. This may be because the transmitter does not have sound processing capabilities.

[@bartbatenburg]

@@rolfs2165 the puck mentioned is the one supplied in the box

[@alext3811]

@@rolfs2165 Sony has been doing that for as long as I've been alive. Forcing you to use another of their products (Memory Stick, PS Vita memory cards, etc.). The shady part is not telling you when you need more.

[@errordtp]

If you pay for Dolby Labs, even your toaster is get a "Dolby Atmos" certification.

[@AJ_UK_LIVE]

Imagine the low-end rumble as the toast pops out!

[@hughs591]

Very interesting video. It’s sad that sales hype has detracted so much from reality in the audio world and I’m a little surprised that Dolby doesn’t police the matter more robustly. The company used to be very hot on the use of its logo . . .

[@rolfs2165]

"As long as we're getting money out of it …"

[@hughs591]

@@rolfs2165 absolutely!

[@Criticasparareflexio]

I was surprised to see the Atmos badge on the front of the box since every Bluetooth audio codec is designed for just 2 audio channels. Even Sony's own LDAC codec only transmits 2 channels, so it wouldn't be crazy to think that even with the right TV the "surround" effect will be very disappointing.

[@paulhaynes8045]

Good point. Surely any setup that uses Bluetooth, it's Bluetooth that is the weak link?

[@philippkemptner4604]

They slap the atmos sticker on anything that uses some kind of dolby licensed stuff. I have two or three android tablets that feature 'dolby atmos modes' (with the correspnding sticker on the box). Those don't even do basic hrtf stuff to make some 3d impression. all they do is some multiband compression (thats just eq depending on the sound). Thats quite a shame, as It waters down the dolby brand to some shovel ware level. I can understand that there are devices pretending to 'project sound' to some cieling (something that can't work) - at last this pretends to have sound from above. An android tablet with two built in speakers is not even dolby pro logic 1 level.

[@DinosawrsAreAwesome]

I'm not surprised, this is exactly what Atmos is about, marketing audio products as new and different, when very little has changed.

[@ryballs4569]

Sony TV is likely just downmixing Atmos to stereo then trying to recreate it using sound virtualisation

[@DobuDobuDobuDot]

@@ryballs4569 Maybe they're also using the USB for doing nifty sound tricks?

[@defaultdriftco00]

Something to bring joy on Saturday morning!

[@mrfrog8502]

Finally an honest review not a sponsored review. Thank you

[@Cre80s]

Finally?

[@static-san]

An optical link technically has bandwidth for multiple channels, but the TOSlink standard is only 2. ADAT "Lightpipe" can do eight but that's only used by professional audio production equipment. So Sony might send their own protocol down it.

[@pypes84]

All the original Dolby surround / Pro-logic etc systems worked by encoding the surround channels in the stereo audio. The best surround sound headphones I ever had in terms of actually sounding like a home theatre system were for the xbox 360 and ran off a toslink cable.

[@static-san]

@@pypes84 Yes, Dolby Pro Logic did surround sound from two channels. But it was still only two channels prior to decoding, and thus easily travelled down a TOSlink cable.

[@joshualeblanc3833]

Dolby Digital and DTS can pass 5.1 discrete audio channels via optical.

[@gigaherz_]

​@@joshualeblanc3833... by sending compressed audio. It's important to keep that in mind. spdif can do 4 channels at 20bit per channel, anything more requires compression. That's what DTS and Dolby Digital did, and I guess Atmos does now.

[@simonrussell4986]

Sony using their own proprietary protocol? Doesn't sound like them at all. /sarcasm

[@boardsort]

I must admit I did not see the smack down at the end coming. I don't even own a set and I am ready buy one, just so I can return it! Brutally yet respectfully honest. Matt is the best!

[@2010GRABOWSKI]

I have 2 of these because I was so impressed. You get all the surrounding sound if you connect it to a TV via Bluetooth or to a BRAVIA Television I also get the surrounding sound via Bluetooth with my MacBook too!

[@reidster87]

I will say that the current generation of HRTF/psychoacoustic surround sound processing is very impressive. I gave the 'Dolby Atmos for Headphones' XBox plugin a trial a little while ago and it kind of boggled my mind. I had my Sennheiser HD595 open ear monitors driven by a headphone amp supplied with PCM stereo over optical. I didn't try any games, but I watched some streaming films, demos, and a couple UHD Blu-rays all with Atmos audio tracks and was stunned by the spatial effects. While it didn't pack the same punch as a proper $1000+ Atmos home theatre system, it was miles ahead of any HRTF surround effect I've ever tried before. The perception of directionality and distance was clear. I could perceive effects above, below, in front, and behind me without the muddiness I'd associated with previous simulations.

[@bland9876]

Every time I see these videos I'm always like why not just use a regular pair of headphones? They even make some specifically designed for TV use. I have a pair that I use on my PC and they are really cool. They charge from the base so I never even have to think about charging them.

[@smellylettuce]

Have to say the state of home theatre audio has gotten pretty depressing over the last few years. Stuff like this just adds to the whole snake oil perception that the once mighty home electronics giants have perpetuated.

[@doalwa]

Amen…I’m just constantly shaking my head in disgust whenever some new Sony HiFi kit gets tested…oh how the mighty have fallen.

[@thiscorrosion900]

This is why I"m so glad I live alone right now in a small house, wherein I set up a small home theater room in a spare small bedroom. I don't at all have to even worry about sound levels at night or daytime!! It's fantastic. I never crank the HT that loud, honestly, but sometimes a bit loud. Nobody hears it, or my guitar stuff, which is a blessing! I'd rather just use really good headphones via the HT or a head amp for home theater at night, anyway. Not expecting surround sound.

[@fonkbadonk5370]

I'm still rocking some odd Panasonic audio receiver with HDMI pass-through to my projector, with my good old passive 5.1 speakers delivering clear and pleasant sound. (Well, the sub is active.) All wired up with ye olde copper cables. Never fails, good quality. All that Atmos stuff might be nice and all, but 5.1 with a good center comes close enough to a cinematic experience for me. If only movies were released with a more "home friendly" dynamic range on media meant for home use! Especially in action titles, I have to crank up my volume to 100 to be able to understand some dialogue, and the next second some action scene happens and my upstairs neighbours are thrown off their couch. Not cool.

[@thiscorrosion900]

@@fonkbadonk5370 A lot of new movies aren't mixed too well I find, that's another problem. I saw the new DUNE in IMAX two years ago and not only didn't I like the movie in total, the sound mix was dreadful!!! I mean, even in IMAX. Mixed so you could barely understand most of the dialogue. It'll probably fare even worse on the blu ray or streaming.

[@Andystuff800]

@@fonkbadonk5370 "If only movies were released with a more "home friendly" dynamic range on media meant for home use!" Thankfully they are not, as it would ruin the experience for those who don't need to worry about neighbours. Modern receivers have a setting to reduce dynamic range, maybe yours does too?

[@vincentliew9763]

360 sound, i recalled listening to music CD samples at Tower Record (1997), they had this round upside-down clear bowl on top of your head, it's in mono, it sounds really rounded like 360 but the magic is, if you walk away little bit away from the speaker above you, you won't hear anything!

[@theavnut8568]

One thing to mention is that another device that has the ability to send the sound over optical is the ps3. The reason I mention this is that you can play your Blu-rays like you did in the video but you can still access some streaming services on it. It is pretty out of date but that is one way to get an optical source if you want to watch more than just Blu-rays.

[@r0kus]

I like neck speakers a lot. My current one is a Monster Boomerang. I use it for general music, including KZbin. I don't use it for television. I don't like things in my ears or the pressure of headphones, so the neck speaker design is ideal for me. I don't have any of the connectivity problems because my only use for it is via Bluetooth.⬅ As far as comfort goes, the Boomerang is probably a better choice than the Sony. It has a soft, comfortable rubber feel all the way around, including at the back of my neck. It is hard to imagine why Sony made that part hard plastic.

[@philipellis7039]

I’ve never heard of neck speakers until this video. I don’t like any kind of ear bud and struggle with headphones. I also need to hear the outside world to some extent. Yet like the idea of causing less disturbance for family members when I’m listening to something. I’ll go look at the Boomerang. Thank you😊

[@r0kus]

@@philipellis7039 Good luck, you will probably like them. You should know their max volume is limited, so if you like really loud music, these won't provide it. For my tastes, they get plenty loud, though.

[@igorszamaszow171]

​@@philipellis7039 you should probably try some of them bone conducting headphones

[@professorpenne9962]

I will look into these. jaw pain and tmj makes wearing things over the head downright uncomfortable after extended periods. have been looking around for over the neck headphones to avoid headaches.

[@luobomu9747]

​@@philipellis7039If you choose open-back headphones you will still be able to hear your surroundings.

[@banpeinet]

This is a true Techmoan video: I just watched 20 minutes video of a grumpy old man moaning about some tech. This is why I love your videos Pat: the honesty in them! ❤

[@geraldhenrickson7472]

This level of complexity is too much for me. I would not want "to shoulder" the kind of grief he Sony NS7 seems to offer. Thanks once again for taking one for the team. Great content.

[@bakatoroi]

Yeah, I thought the exact same thing. This kind of complexity ruins the experience for me. I just want to sit down and watch a movie, man.

[@strehlow]

Around 1983 I had a Bone Fone. It just did FM radio, so I opened it up and put a line in jack so I could feed my Aiwa cassette recorder (Walkman size) to it. That was great. With the radio, I'd wear it at school under a sweatshirt and I could get the volume set so I could hear it, but (for the most part) others around me wouldn't. And if they did a bit, they wouldn't know where the music was coming from.

[@SpaceCop]

One thing I've recently discovered myself is that more often than not.. multi channel audio is just a .. giant pain in the neck. I would have liked to see these plugged into a PC/laptop with Optical.. but i bet it wouldnt have changed much. Thanks for the sacrifice!

[@leopoldbluesky]

I always press Like before I actually watch a Techmoan video, because I know I'm going to like it!

[@3DJapan]

I remember when 360 MP3s first came out and could play 360 sound over normal headphones. It sounded amazing to me. So disappointing that it never really went anywhere with albums.

[@Dj-Jon-E-C]

I don't think you would notice much difference between 360 and 320. Try comparing 320kbps to uncompressed and it be very hard to notice any difference. Mind you when mp3 first came out the encoding was not as good as it is now.

[@barilochebarracuda846]

I like your ending thoughts: "it's a load of crap, but you can get one if you wish" 😂

[@allenellisdewitt]

I use the same puck with noise-canceling headphones (lots of ambient noise where I live), and it sends out some low-latency levels that are so low that I am not able to notice. Honestly made a HUGE difference for me.

[@BonnibelLecter]

I'm sorry these didn't work out but I'm glad we can count on your to be so honest in your annoyance

[@chrisw443]

HiFi is just being torn apart by the industry now, and not being treated as better. It's become a sticker, and they are ruining brands and interest.

[@MrRaul355]

My homies and I all have them floppy necks. Love the product.

[@CavalierLiberty]

I have this speaker and use it everyday. I use it with a Roku TCL tv. I have an LG soundbar running HDMI, and the Sony from optical. I'm able to use them congruently. The Sony allows me to walk into other rooms while still listening to streaming classes and fun content as well and still get some dishes done without missing anything. It's definitely not ATMOS, but I do get a nice wrap around sound in the back, but there is a lack of front soundstaging like I'd like. Someday I'd like to try it with a Sony tv just see how it does, but for the price I paid ($75) it does what I need and the sound quality good enough for my use case. Cheers

[@cnsmooth]

excuse me but where did you get it for cheap?

[@arof7605]

​@@cnsmoothAmazon had them dirt cheap during Prime Day a couple years ago. I used one for a long while using an optical jack on my PC and rather enjoyed it even if the "surround" effect wasn't perfect until I picked up one of Sony's gaming wireless headsets (for half price thanks to a Target sale).

[@CavalierLiberty]

@@cnsmooth I got it from either EBAY or Mercari. I setup some saved searches and one popped up that still had the original packaging and goodies. Jumped on it.

[@MrOzFalcon]

Surely the default connect is via Bluetooth direct to your TV and the puck is only for TV's without bluetooth. (Just like connecting to your phone).

[@StruggleBoxing]

These would be perfect when Rollerblading,biking , or skating

Thank you for your great channel. This headphone would need 3 full months of my salary in Patagonia Argentina. I was born before the transistor and as a former engineer I love this. Cheers.

[@thumbsucker29]

By this point, I’d like to think companies like Sony will have someone on the payroll responsible for watching Techmoan videos and funneling that feedback to the development teams.

[@ronpat13]

I apprecaite the detail you engaged in to explore and understand the benefits (?) of this speaker. Have to agree, though, send it back.

[@MarcelWhy]

what a treat, was just looking for something to watch! thanks, Mat ❤❤

[@upayemoony1157]

Your tenacity at trying to get it to work is laudable. I would have sent it back 2 days earlier!

[@richtucker2194]

Great review! I have had the NS7 for over a year and absolutely love it. You do need a Bravia TV to get the most out of it (which I have). The puck receives a PCM signal from the TV, and with a bit of trickery using both the optical and the usb connection off the TV, the metadata from Atmos is preserved. The best Dolby Atmos experience comes from the 'lossy' Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 or 7.1 with Atmos encoding (EAC3), the resulting surround effects including height channels are very good and immersive. You can hear planes overhead and door knocks from anywhere in the room! Latency over the puck is also very low, I run a sub out from the TV as well and everything is in sync, I can wear the device for hours and forget it's there!

[@SkiBumMSP]

Sounds like if you have the right setup and they fit you properly, they can be a really nice piece of gear. I don't have a Bravia TV (I have an LG OLED C9 TV), so I would not be able to take full advantage of these. I have a full atmos setup anyway, with sounds incredible with the right material, but then again, my rig also costs many times what those Sony neck speakers cost, so I would expect to get far superior sound that way.

[@urself25]

I have the Monster Boomerang neck speaker. They are bluetooth speaker. Very comfortable. Good sound. Only drawback for me is the battery life. Good for 2-3hrs but have to recharge after. So don't forget to plug them in each night.

[@SumeaBizarro]

I can tell that in my experience whatever the 3D tuning ear pictures etc. system sony pushes, is usually meant for headphones instead of this type of speakers and closest thing to speakers able to replicate any of that is ones in Oculus devices, which also have the physical speakers in front instead of back for better frontal immersion.

[@Balthazare69]

Its nice to see u and the younger u (as a model) working together 😄😄😄

[@Jiec6shi]

There's one misconception here: You can indeed have a full Atmos setup with 16+ pin-pointable speakers with only headphones with two drivers. The trick is to apply the individual HRTF (head related transfer function) for each of the speakers, so that the headphones for each ear play back exactly the sound as it would have arrived at your ears from a speaker from that specific direction. If you're lucky, that may even work with a generic HRTF (look up Binaural Recording / Kunstkopf), but for me personally that always ends up with sounds appearing to come from somewhere just behind me. In theory, the ear shape recognition function should improve on that, but I've never tested any of those. What's actually working is measuring your indivual HRFT with in-ear microphones. A product that does that and that includes Atmos, DTS:X and Auro3D support is the pretty expensive Smyth Realiser A16, and it has worked essentially flawlessly for me when I tried it, providing clearly locatable virtual speakers that are difficult to distinguish from the real ones and that stay stuck at their position in the room while rotating one's head.

[@jwhite5008]

Exactly! Went here to say exact same thing. I wonder why the TV doesn't just have a control "forward-backward" to adjust it without sending your photo to a random website that doesn't really work.

[@Jiec6shi]

A generic "forward-backward" control cannot work, because the way a sound source changes moving forward or back depends on the shape of your individual ears. You need the HRTF or at least a close approximation to be able to simulate that.

[@chrishuston4445]

Thank you very much for your experimentation and toughing it out.

[@woodyTM]

I do understand and see the appeal of these sorts of listening systems. My opinion lies in the fact that one would be wise to never really "half-arse" anything. To apply this to the context: I personally don't choose to listen to music or watch movies if I have to compromise a certain aspect of the content media in question. If I'm going to listen to music, I feel I should apply my full attention to it within a listening space, similar with a movie: I would want the large format, bright and colorful, display accompanied with a massive wall of sound. I'm not a audio/video-phile so I'm not a purist in that regard, but I don't really like these products because I feel it stagnates the experience (in a mostly negative connotation) rather than improves anything. Most if not all content media is designed to be listened to in a very specific way, engineers being paid large sums of money to design and orchestra the proper listening experience. With these sorts of devices: it seems that a computer system makes general approximations and simply "wings it", so to speak, to create this, imaginary, auditory illusion. It appears that most of the time it's the excessively agreeable types of people that will enjoy these products because they simply don't care enough to notice, to them the device works as intended and they are happy. To me it's mostly surreal that we have product reviews of devices such as this one, and the bare minimum of quality control and design decisions are being made to yet push out this sort of product as if it's gold.

[@Lishtenbird]

Both music and movies have been increasingly becoming "background" activities. I'm regularly shocked when I notice people consuming some critically acclaimed piece of media... on their phone, with loudspeaker, dubbed, on a food break. It's just the new norm - there's so much content shoved at people that you can fill any hole of your life with it, and that's the only way of interaction that they learned, and the only one they honestly need.

[@randomnickify]

Music? What music? Podcasts exist 😅 I can't wear headphones anymore(doctors orders) and I don't want to force entire household to listen to my stuff. Right now I walk around the house with my Bluetooth headphones on my neck working like a neck speakers.

[@peterlarkin762]

In the same respect, it's a shame one has to buy into the latest audio hardware in order to enjoy a movie (only those made in the last 7 years own?) the way it was intended. Movie audio engineers did not invent Atmos, the industry did. Its not consumer driven. And outside of movies, everything is mixed for stereo first. Additionally, there are some god awful Dolby mixes that only work in the cinema. And some like interstellar... Mixed by the director who is partially deaf and made an absolute mess of the audio.

[@aaronk534]

It reminds me of the 80s n 90s, we've come full circle, an adapter for an adapter for the adapter so the adapter can fit the adapter to your system.

[@brendonburgin5250]

Thanks Mat for yet again an informative video, you have great content on your channel. Also you explain things very well, cover everything about an item which is appreciated by your viewers. I'm not a big fan on these neck speakers, I think I'll stick to a good bluetooth headphone. I like watching your reviews on the items from the 80''s and beyond, not to say the more recent stuff isn't interesting. So keep those videos coming you do such awesome work mate, thank you again.

[@lambertax]

Ok, Sony for Sony only TV (we are used to this questionable behavior today) ... They ask for a subscription? Come on! Thank you for making a disastrous description that will (maybe) change the behavior of manufacturers! Thank a lot for the work.

[@p00ky76]

It could well be using binaural audio to try and do surround sound. I have a pair of headphones that technically do Atmos but the difference between my headphones and my real Atmos system is night and day. With the headphones, it always feels like you have to beleive your getting Atmos for it to be even partially convincing.

[@Zuiyo1974]

You're a treasure of sincere, independent review. Keep up the magnificent work. Thanks for all the effort you put in.

[@Sir_Uncle_Ned]

I think there is something in the compatible bravia TV models firmware that can send out extra audio data over USB to the puck to bring the combined bandwidth up to atmos levels, as the diagram shows the USB power supply also being plugged into the TV. USC type C can support every USB 3.X standard and combined with the optical cable can provide more than enough bandwidth. The trick is synchronising the two streams at the puck to make sure they combine smoothly

[@3d1e00]

Not needed, goes through 2 channels. All TV side for hrtf which is why it needs Sony TV.

[@skywind007]

Don't feel bad Matt. I recently bought a computer and didn't realize it had a VGA port. For those that don't know already, the standard port for video monitors for the past decade has been HDMI. VGA only works correctly on cathode ray tube monitors. I haven't seen one of those since 2008. Even with a VGA to HDMI adapter, it won't work correctly on a flat screen monitor. To make a long story short, they did the same thing that Sony did with this optical port.

[@zuke-ci4vd]

Not for a second do I believe there is any Techmoan fan out there that would think "Oh, Techmoan just doesn't have his Audio set up right, is all..." Come on, really? Great video, as always.

[@CARLiCON]

props to T-moan for all the hoops he jumped thru trying to make it work, Sony should more clearly be marketing this as a Bravia TV accessory & not a generic Atmos device. Is it possible that when added to the Bravia TV, as suggested, it incorporates the sound from the TV speakers in addition to the shoulder unit to complete the 360 effect?

[@USAMP926C]

I own a pair of these. I use them with stereo only via bluetooth. They're very comfortable to me. I don't have the issue you were talking about. I will say though, the power button rubber fell off and I had to send them back to Sony for repair. I got a different pair back but so far the rubber button hasn't fallen off again.

[@EdGreenTO]

Great show as always. If you wanted to complete the kludgey solution you could have tried an HDMI splitter before the optical adapter (or maybe even a splitter with optical out as well to eliminate one box). Good 'ol Sony with their proprietary stuff.

[@professorpenne9962]

been using headphones less these days because of tmj discomfort right next to my ear, over the neck speakers seem like a great alternative for having something outside of tinny speakers from my tablet or cellphone

[@my3dviews]

I've never tried a neck speaker. Didn't even know it was a thing. 🤔

[@DynamicRockers]

a "shoulderset";

[@kultphrase]

So good to see you still smashing it with over a million subs!!! I remembered you from the old SJ CAM 4000 reviews. Amazing stuff!

[@NicMediaDesign]

Even with on-ear headphones you can get binaural audio. And that is what Sony is trying to emulate. So no - having a stereo set of headphones does not make it impossible to experience sound from above/below.

[@peterlarkin762]

Chesky records has a free hires binaural album. Try that on a decent pair of open backed sennheisers!

[@mangobrainify]

Similar technologies have been around for ages (I remember a demo from a company called Aureal in the 90s, standing in a low poly garden while a bee buzzed around your head). On one level it makes sense, because you only have two ears, so obviously it must be possible to emulate sound coming from all directions with only two channels. On another level, not everyone's ears are the same shape and size, and trying to replicate the kind of phase and frequency shifts that occur when sound is coming from specific directions will always be subject to the response of the headphones themselves, plus whatever distance offset there is between the drivers and your eardrums. These neck speakers, being even further away and lower down, would be at a serious disadvantage trying to make audio sound like it's coming from anywhere but slightly below you. With decent in-ears or properly calibrated for on-ears with a balanced frequency response, the effect can be pretty convincing. But there's a reason why as soon as you transition to loudspeakers instead of headphones, it's both easier and significantly more convincing to create this effect by, simply, having a bunch of speakers dotted around in known locations.

[@NicMediaDesign]

@@mangobrainify That is why Sony scans your specific ear shape.

[@caddelworth]

@@peterlarkin762 Or a pair of closed-back AKG K271s. (Sennheiser cans are built for physically larger heads than mine, and just fall off! Also, I prefer the sound of AKGs: YMMV …)

[@mangobrainify]

@@NicMediaDesign I can see that working for headphones. But I question how much difference it can possibly make for these neck speakers given the distance to your ears, and the fact that they'll have to fight against the natural, unavoidable frequency response implications of being below your ears. Regardless, it's all nonsense if the source material itself is starts off as plain stereo: unless Tidal is streaming multi-channel surround recordings, there's no positional information with which to apply an HRTF, so this "360 spatial audio" can only be some manner of stereo widening trick.

[@fotoflex]

I've stopped using 'sound enhancing' years ago. Right when my minidiscplayer stopped working. It was able to put lots more music on a disc in mono and generate stereo, surprisingly well. But looking at your video's, it seems there are more and more complex options, more possibilities that exclude each other and of course, you have to pay for all, overlapping options. They're just trying to keep you busy and make you forget why you spenr your money. And who's gonna tell their friends they've spent loads of money on something they can't get to work? Better tell everybody how great it is! Well, that's my rant, time to wind my gramophone.

[@simonlb24]

I would never have thought there were a market for devices such as these. I wonder globally how many of these Sony (or any other manufacturer) actually sell on an annual basis.

[@cnsmooth]

Not many Im guessing. I had a colleague at a previous job that had a pair of Bose equivalents. It meant he could watch a film or listen to a podcast and still "be in the room" and talk to people. They were a lot quieter than what was shown in this video. He could be sat next to you, and all you would hear is some vague white noise, but when you wore them you would get a rich sound that blocked out the outside noise fairly well. Was almost magical.

[@uncled39]

I'd say about 125 units a month.

[@CarrotConsumer]

126 units a month.

[@hydorah]

Sony became great. Witnessing products like this, the rise to greatness seems inconceivable

[@NicMediaDesign]

If you don't have a Sony XR TV, just directly pair it via bluetooth to the TV. You also get the benefit of being able to play/pause the playback via the button between the volume rockers.

[@HoratioChinn]

You may get smaller latency using the box which you'd want if you're watching the tv

[@NicMediaDesign]

@@HoratioChinn No, as the box also uses Bluetooth. So if anything it would add latency.

[@terencehill2320]

"late night explosive tv viewing" is quite the way to say that lol ;)

[@mistie710]

To be honest, I have found that Sony has a habit of making various products that deliberately lock in with their own brand. I bought a dictation device a number of years back which was a fantastic bit of hardware but as soon as I linked it up I found that it used a proprietary format that I had to find something to allow me to play files back with or, at least, convert the files to something a little more normal - in the end I had to buy a program that transferred the file part way then use an obscure program to complete the transfer to MP3! Suffice to say that it only got one go out in the field before I switched back, first to dictaphone tapes and later to Olympus MP3 recorders. I think I still have that device hanging around somewhere but I never use it now. It's a shame really as some of Sony's stuff is fantastic but I'm always a little cautious when buying anything Sony based (or Samsung based for that matter).

[@TassieLorenzo]

"I have found that Sony has a habit of making various products that deliberately lock in with their own brand" The company behind MemoryStick Duo loves proprietary products? Well knock me over with a feather! 😂

[@nogravitas7585]

Samsung's exclusion of any bluetooth codec but their own is why I bought [random chinese brand with almost stock android] since my Aptx TWS+ bluetooth adapters cost more than the phone now and it supports them flawlessly because the hardware supports it, the way they disable existing hardware support for other codecs in software should be criminal since it only exists to funnel sales exclusively to their accessories.

[@michaeldeloatch7461]

Matt thanks for your broad shoulders bearing the load for us all testing that device.

[@j0hnf_uk]

I thought to myself, straight away, how on earth can they claim it to be atmos when there's effectively only 2 speakers in a stereo configuration? All the other systems I've seen have separate speakers for the different sound channels to do with where the sound is coming from. You can kind of emulate that, a little, with stereo, but not to the degree with different sounds are coming from different places around the room.

[@johnsmith-i5j7i]

Virtual Atmos. 😂

[@vinylrulesok8470]

I admire your tenacity at trying to make this work. I'd have had a meltdown!!!

[@webinatic216]

I got these bone vibrate inducing headphone and I like them. They are quite expensive but it feels nice to not have anything over my ears. Edit: after seeing the price of these NS7, my bone conducting headphones are really cheap.

[@meandmyEV]

Mat has reviewed several sets of bone conducting headphones over the years but I think he was trying to get sound that is more like a surround sound system. I also use my Shokz for watching TV while everyone is sleeping too but the sound quality is not anything like you would get from your surround sound system.

[@johnsmith-i5j7i]

I would recommend a transducer mounted directly to your spine. So when the bass hits it breaks your neck from the amount of transducer movement.

[@alihorda]

​@@johnsmith-i5j7iso basically toaster in the tub method with extra steps

[@SkiBumMSP]

@@meandmyEV That is why I only use mine for running. They are great for that, but no way could they match the audio I could get out of my full-blown atmos setup.

[@MrOP66]

I have had this set up with my monitor for about 2 years. I get the PS5 audio to this headset for gaming. It is genuinely excellent because the audio is audible only for the user, not others. These should be understood as headphones.

[@mikamo]

Last time I came this early, my wife left me 😢

[@rayceeya8659]

I have a couple of these so I can listen to music while I'm biking. If you're a bicyclist who wears earbuds I hope you checked the organ donor box at the DMV. Keeping your ears open in traffic is critical to your safety. Situational awareness will keep you alive. Neck speaker I use the most is some really cheap brand-x that sounds tinny and has no bass for this very reason. I want some music when I'm biking but I can't allow it to distract me.

[@kushith]

“Incompatible with my neck” is the best return reason 😅

[@HappyMinds1]

There is a good reason this channel is not called TecEnthusiasm :) Personally I gave up surround after experiencing 5:1, why do i want sounds behind me, let alone above me ? A good stereo speaker set up can give the impression of a wide sound stage. If i hear sounds behind me i want to turn round and look. Two ears, two eyes facing forward entranced by the experience.

[@danielkerryann]

Brilliant video Matt! I can imagine for the city dweller in a flat, this kind of thing would be ace... but for the rest of us, I'll use my full setup I think!

[@dallen521]

What a fantastic review. Exactly the useful type of information a person might need. Thank you.

[@angusmclaren6257]

A good honest review. I think Sony have a load of parts lying around so rather than waste the money disposing of them, they're making money disposing of them.

[@nankinink]

In regards to the ear analysis, it's not a complete bs! Your ears can analyzed and based on its size and shape, give a function of how the sound should be balanced to provide a more "3D" experience. This is called HRTF and is used in VR and games with binaural audio. Since each individual is different, most of the applications just uses the "most average ear" as basis for the HRTF. The difference in audio from a generic HRTF to a custom is not that big tbh, the generic already does a pretty good job, so you can hear the difference using headphones, but since this is a speaker, well, not sure if has any difference at all...

[@lenimbery7038]

No one will get real Atmos of course with this thing. I love mine and use them the same way as you do. I’ve got it connected to my Apple TV via Bluetooth. I’ve been surprised at how great its pseudo surround sound works while watching a well mixed movie or tv show. I’ve even had to check at times to see that my room surround speakers are actually off at times. I have a dedicated theatre room with Atmos channels. I don’t use the little puck that came with it. One thing that’s nice is that you don’t have the heat and weight of over-ear headphones. I actually find these very comfortable sitting in my recliners especially for long periods of time

[@abedakhgar]

Thanks for reviewing this speaker. There's not enough videos of this.

[@simonbramwell4632]

Love the convoluted way of saying they are just Bluetooth speakers in a wearable form factor

[@KetansaCreatesArt]

10:13 is the only part he actually plays it for us for few seconds. The reason why, is at the end..... He returns back the product 😀

[@gavincurtis]

I remember Q-Sound recordings. They had an amazing 3-D soundstage.

[@padawanmage71]

“It’s incompatible with my neck, as well!” I’ll remember that next time i do an amazon return. :D

[@DedicatedAngler]

Thirty one thousand views in five hours?! I love to see this channel propsering, congratulations on your success.

[@davidchamberlain2162]

You are a bl@@dy hero seeing this to the end and saving us the bother. Love your channel.

[@RD-wg7kx]

Matt: thanks for jumping through SO MANY hoops, to try it all out. Gad, sometime tech requires so many steps...and then finally we only get basic stereo. Sigh.... Commiserations. The K.I.S.S. Rule is sometimes better: 'Keep It Short & Simple'.

[@GaryKeepItSimple]

That sounds like a good idea

[@gregjhill]

This is the first time I've ever seen a neck speaker!

[@dlaw8155]

I have the Sony ns7 and to me it sounds very good and good spatial sound but I also used the Sony x94j XR and that TV has USB and optical which is designed for the neck band, sounds great when doing games or watching movies...

[@ole9421]

I want to say it was around 2009 or '10 that I said, "Goodbye to over hyped digital media, other than cd's and dvd's." Got rid of the surround system, back to two channel stereo with a nice '70's Sansui Integrated Amp, a Sony disc player and a pair Bose 601 series iii speakers.

[@MC_AU]

16:48 the perceived 3D space is all achieved with phase manipulation, both in-channel, and between channels. These devices aren’t meant to be audiophile references, but immersive entertainment as far as they can be with two transducers.

[@NwoRun]

intro reminds me of The IT Crowd.Great Video btw

[@saxpert]

According to english Wikipedia TOSLINk should work for DD 7.1 regarding bandwidth. Maybe with a Sony TV the internal TV speakers do additional sound with the neckband. The neck bone thing is something that smartphone users gets more and more over time.