Another video about Japanese drinks?! Yep! But this one isn’t really a drink review! Infact it’s just hard hitting edgy audiovisual journalism from your favourite talkative Brit (No, not Izzard, ME!)
Click to enjoy!
So yeah, I totally got scared and didn’t do fake interviews. Maybe I’ll do some around Sophia in the near future…*
*This is totally not a promise.
At the end of my second Hakone update I mentioned that I’d like to post some of the best photos I took of the artwork from 彫刻の森. (choukoku no mori – the forest of sculptures) Well I did some digging around and it looks like it’s OK to post them. I read a few legal things but they were very boring, but mostly I just found thousands of other blogs that have posted their photos. So I figure, hey, it’s free advertising for the park.
Still, I don’t want to go overboard. If you want to see how utterly mind blowing the place is (and it is pretty head exploding) you need to go. Ideally on a clear day after it’s snowed, but that’s pretty hard to predict since Japan’s weather is currently in ‘Mike’s trying to go outside! What do we have left? RAIN SOME SCORPIONS!‘ mode. Yeah, that’s a real phenomenon.
Anyway, click the photos to see the caption I spent over 15 seconds writing for your benefit! YOU INGRATES.
As you can see, it was pretty amazing. I hope this has convinced you to visit 彫刻の森 if you’re ever anywhere near Hakone! I hope this has also assured you that I do very rarely post things I promise to, even if it does take me nearly a month!
Hey guys. A few weeks ago I got an email asking me if I’d like to review some mini-speakers on my blog. My philosophy on this is that if it’s a product that I would realistically use, I’ll review it. (Thus explaining the lack of tampon reviews…) But don’t worry, I got permission from the company to write whatever I want. If it sucks, I’ll let you know. I hope this disclaimer will prevent any thoughts of ‘Mike is selling out. BURN HIM DOWN!‘ because I really don’t want to be on fire.
Mini speakers, the middlemen of headphones and full size speakers, have always been a bit, well, rubbish. Once you lose the size of the sub woofer, the bass either disappears or ends up really tinny, resulting in your finely-honed collection of tracks all end up sounding like they were produced by teenagers in their parent’s garage.
A company based in Singapore called Xmi Pte have released a series of small speaker solutions to solve this problem. They all revolve around the same sort of idea – part of the device when turned lifts to reveal a concertina section that traps air and uses it to create a bass sound. At least, that’s the science behind it. Now to see if it works!
Today I’m going to be looking at two products. The Capsule Speaker 2nd Generation, which is the little black and red speaker in the photos below, and the Max 2 Portable Series, which are the two white speakers. (Although they do turn into one large speaker in a very Transformers way).
All of them attach to your computer/mp3 player/games device/dog with a standard headphone 3.5 jack, so you shouldn’t have any trouble using them. One other great feature they have is the ‘Buddy Jack’ function. Despite sounding like a bizarre sexual term, it simply means you can plug X-Mini speakers into each other, and end up ending the world when 500 speakers all play the guitar solo from Dream Theater’s As I Am at the same time.
Charging is done via USB. The cables the speakers use all have a USB connector attached. It’s a shame they can’t be charged via a wall connection.
The Capsule Speaker offers up to 11 hours battery life – in my test it lasted 10 hours 18 minutes.
The Max II offers up to 12 hours battery life – in my testing it lasted 12 hours 2 minutes.
I mentioned the battery life, and I think you’ll agree the results are pretty impressive. Now it’s time to see how the speakers handle different tasks. I played The Gathering – Treasure as a ‘standard’ track, Muse – Supermassive Black Hole as a ‘bass heavy’ track, and Anathema – Temporary Peace (Acoustic) as the ‘light’ track.
The Capsule Speaker handled ‘Treasure’ very well, although the bass was a little too loud in comparison to the treble. It also did well on Muse until I turned the volume way up, at which point the speaker actually began to jump around. But it has to be obscenely loud for that to happen. Finally Anathema was OK – if you twist the speaker so the bass section is hidden this sounds much better.
The Max II did sound better overall, although the bass to treble ratio on ‘Treasure’ was worse. Again Anathema sounded better with the bass sections closed. Muse sounded fantastic, possibly because that song’s bass is totally awesome.
Update: As Mark points out in the comments, if your device handles EQ settings, it more or less solves the problem. I used the ‘rock’ setting on Muse and everything worked nicely.
I’m aware this review is pretty long, so here is a quick breakdown of what is so great and not so good about the speakers;
+ They’re tiny, and they come with carrying pouches.
+ The bass is amazing considering how small they are.
+ They are pretty damn loud.
+ They work with anything (Computers, Mp3 Players, Games Consoles…)
+ They’re pretty tough, with no parts that look easily broken.
+ The ‘buddy jack’ sharing system is great – it boosts the volume rather than splitting it.
- There are so many wires. I guess this can’t be avoided but it is a bit messy.
- If it’s too loud, the speakers will begin to jump around.
- They do make the bass too loud. Closing the bass part is a solution, except you then up with no bass at all.
- As we’re using a headphone jack, the Max II cannot function as a left and right speaker. They are simply two speakers instead of one.
Overall, they are a great solution. They’re really nice looking and, despite turning your desk or whatever into spaghetti junction, are super easy to use. If you’re obsessed with musical quality and only listen to music in a soundless bubble suspended in space, they may not be for you.
If you’re interested, check out the x-Mini website.
OK, photos from Kamakura will come tomorrow! Then I think I am caught up! Woo! It’s been a battle, but my mother leaves Japan tomorrow so I can go back to sleeping 21 hours a day!
Anyway, these are a collection of my favourite comments, questions and so on I heard from the kids at the junior school I volunteered at for the last two months.
Kid: Mike, because white people have big eyes, do you injure them a lot?
Me: Uhh…
Kid: Is it why Japanese people are better at blinking?
I can see the logic of the first question. I mean my eyes are huge, I’m always getting them caught on door frames, my desk, moving vehicles and so on. But before I was even ready to answer he hits me with another question. Damn, he got me there. I have to confess despite my infinite wisdom I had no idea who was better at blinking. Luckily I was saved by the school bell.
Kid: “Mike’s from England? But he doesn’t LOOK like a wizard?”
Yeah well thanks for rubbing it in you jerk.
Kid: Why do you have blue eyes?
Mike: Well you see…
Kid: It’s because of the sea!
Mike: What
Kid: Yep!
Again more powerful eye science from the little Einsteins. This girl was standing on my feet and staring straight up into my face for like 5 minutes, formulating this amazing series of questions. Still makes more sense than a Glenn Beck interview, to her credit.
Mike: Guys! Did you know England is actually floating above the world?
Kid A: Wow!!
Kid B: Oh No!
Mike: What is wrong Kid B?
Kid B: I wanted to go but I don’t think we can afford a plane that goes up and away from Japan!
This one just blows my mind with cuteness. The kid assumed when you get on a plane you choose either to go around the world or directly up. When I pointed out that directly up is a rocket, he realized his mistake, and then asked me how much rocket tickets to England cost.
Of course, things got odd when I met his parent;
Mike: Oh hello Mrs. Kid B. How are y…
Kid B: Mum! Mike is from England! England is floating in the sky!
Mum B: …
Actually she was a pretty good sport and didn’t blow my cover, allowing me to continue my series of lies and hilarious ‘facts’.
Mike: Did you know Hello Kitty used to be a dog, but she got sick and when she woke up she was a cat?
Kid: Does that mean she chases herself whenever she remembers she is a dog?
The kid saw a hole in my logic in like three seconds. I was not impressed.
Finally, here is a slightly longer conversation, involving a good deal of people. I like it because it ended with the single greatest comment of all time;
Kid A: Mike come play soccer with us.
Teacher A: You better be careful, Mike is English and they are great at football!
Me: Actually I am pretty bad but I will try my best!
Kid A: Wait wait, if you’re bad don’t play with us.
Teacher A: Oh no poor Mike.
Me: All I ever wanted to do was get good at football. But it’s so hard.
Kid A: It’s not that hard. Just kick everything.
Yes, Kid A there summing up not only the rules of soccer/football, but also leaving us with frankly a wonderful outlook on life – kick everything. What better way to end this post?
Hands up if you laughed at my use of the word ‘pretty’ there. Yeah, thought not.
This is just a quick note to say my latest (and greatest??) Youtube video is up! Click the image to watch!
Hope you enjoy it!