Sonys wearable speaker puts Dolby Atmos audio right up to your ears

Date:
Mon, 04 Oct 2021 21:30:28 +0000

Description:
Tired of super-sized floor speakers in your living room? Sony is making a wireless Dolby Atmos speaker you can wear.

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Sony is putting Dolby Atmos spatial audio in a new place around your neck. Its all thanks to the new Sony SRS-NS7 wireless neckband speaker that can stream Dolby Atmos tracks from a connected Bravia XR TV when you pair it with a wireless transmitter.

That sounds like a lot of work to get Dolby Atmos sound but its a nice alternative to filling your living room with floor-standing speakers for
folks who are short on space.

In addition to Dolby Atmos sound from the TV, the SRS-NS7 can stream Sony 360 Reality Audio tracks from Deezer and Tidal from a smartphone. To tune the sound for your ears, Sony is releasing a 360 Spatial Sound Personalizer app that you can use to take a photo of your ears to make the sound more immersive.

According to Sony, the wearable speaker has a 12-hour battery life at a regular volume level and around five hours when you crank it up to the max level. Its IPX4 water-resistant which is nice but probably not insulated enough to wear out in public. (Please, please dont wear this in public.)

The Sony SRS-NS7 wireless neckband speaker will be available to purchase soon for $299 (around 220, AU$400) while the accompanying WLA-NS7 wireless transmitter that connects the speaker to a Bravia TV can be picked up soon
for $59 (around 44, AU$80). Analysis: Whats the deal with wearable neckband speakers?

Neckband speakers have long existed as an alternative to traditional over-ear headphones . The latter are unmatched when it comes to critical listening,
but the former are certainly more comfortable to wear for long periods of time.

The tradeoff that neckband speakers have always made is that theyre usually lacking in the technology department because, after all, theyre limited by Bluetooths small bandwidth and that meant that they never really sounded as good as other types of speakers.

Sony is trying to change that with the SRS-NS7 but it will require the help of that wireless transmitter if you want to stream Dolby Atmos tracks. Thats an unfortunate caveat given that the wireless transmitter is sold separately and is only currently compatible with Bravia TVs, but it seems like its an elegant solution for an age-old problem. Looking for some new headphones? Check out our guide to the best headphones of 2021



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/sonys-wearable-speaker-puts-dolby-atmos-audio-r ight-up-to-your-ears/


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