I hadn’t heard of the Swedish client audio producer Nocs in any respect when it all started sending WIRED evaluation devices of its items a couple of years in the past. However I temporarily grew to admire Nocs, particularly after it produced a couple of pairs of very good earbuds, together with the NS400 and the NS600, and a killer pair of on-ear headphones, the NS900.
A few Christmases in the past, Nocs shipped over the NS2, its set of desktop AirPlay audio system. They are well-designed: 80 watts, Kevlar drivers, compact 6-inch-tall enclosures, and wearing both elementary black and white or vivid colours like orange and yellow. I appreciated the entirety about them apart from for the truth they ran AirPlay. Apple’s wi-fi media platform works completely for some other people, however it is nonetheless buggy and risky for many folks, and too unreliable for me to decide to, particularly in a suite of audio system costing a number of hundred bucks.
The NS2s are again now in a “model 2” fashion priced at $400, and they are much advanced. Nocs has added two further strategies past AirPlay to wirelessly play track: Bluetooth and Spotify Attach. The adoption of Bluetooth is what in point of fact completes the bundle, turning a couple of nice-sounding however incorrect desktop audio system right into a well-rounded audio setup I will simply counsel.
In my checking out of the brand new Nocs, AirPlay was once nonetheless problematic—it is prone to interference from different wi-fi networks and units, and suffers from widespread dropouts in high-traffic spaces. (It is going to give you the results you want, however you can know what awaits if you have already got a couple of AirPlay units in your house). Every time AirPlay acted up all over checking out, then again, I may just simply transfer to both the Spotify direct-connect mode (higher however now not best) or to Bluetooth (0 hiccups, close to flawless).
It is a disgrace about AirPlay that even years into the lifetime of the platform and huge adoption amongst producers, I am nonetheless seeing such a lot of merchandise that hardly paintings as streaming units. Bluetooth, alternatively, has finished not anything however get well over the previous couple of years. Audio high quality, sign steadiness, and the drain at the battery of no matter cellular gadget you are the usage of for playback have all advanced. To not point out that it is device-agnostic and super-easy to arrange. At this level, all of my favourite wi-fi audio system are both Bluetooth-only, or they’ve Bluetooth along with any other platform, like AirPlay or DLNA. And I virtually at all times simply use Bluetooth to keep away from all of the possible hassles of Wi-Fi-based audio.
However you did not display up right here for a dissertation on streaming platforms. How do those guys sound? They are nice—pleasant and loud when you wish to have them to be, nonetheless crisp and provide when they are enjoying at background stage, and able to kicking out a large, complete sound for bottom-heavy stuff like dance track. I fed them a gradual nutrition of Aphex Dual and Plastikman, and for me, that is the place they in point of fact shone. Techno-heads will love them.
Via title, they’re “displays”—within the audio international, that time period carries the expectancy that the audio system will provide an audio supply as transparently as imaginable. You should not be expecting a “bass spice up,” exaggerated mids, or any flavoring of the audio while you purchase anything else calling itself a track. The Nocs are trustworthy to what you’ll be expecting. They sound tidy.
The circumstances themselves are not clean, they’ve a rubbery coating. It is a pleasant function if you are the usage of them on a bookshelf or a crowded desktop, since you’ll be able to lean books in opposition to them and they are going to supply some grip. Something chances are you’ll realize is that the Nocs NS2s glance an entire lot like Audioengine’s A2+ desktop displays. The design could be very shut visually, and so they additionally sound very a lot alike (the Nocs are 80W and the Audioengines are 60W). However the Nocs have the wi-fi tech inbuilt. They usually are available all the ones lovely colours.
Supply Via https://www.stressed.com/2015/02/review-nocs-ns2-v2/
