New Google/Nest Audio Speaker

[ahofer]

So I just got this:

https://store.google.com/US/product/nest_audio

I’ll be happy to send one to @amirm, but I think the auto-adapting functionality might pose nearly as many testing issues as the Magnepan LRS.

 

[napilopez]

I will be testing one, FYI. Curious to see how it does as they really talked up the audio chops during the presentation. Hopefully, it's not too much of a pain to measure!

 

[ahofer]

I will be testing one, FYI. Curious to see how it does as they really talked up the audio chops during the presentation. Hopefully, it's not too much of a pain to measure!

First, I think you have to cast the signal to it, then what do you do about the automatic placement-sensitive DSP? anything anechoic or quasi-anechoic wouldn’t correspond to real use?

 

[napilopez]

First, I think you have to cast the signal to it, then what do you do about the automatic placement-sensitive DSP? anything anechoic or quasi-anechoic wouldn’t correspond to real use?

There's no placement-sensitive DSP AFAIK. I initially thought there was but there's no mention of that on Google's site. That feature is called "Smart Sound" on the Google Home Max, but it's not mentioned for the Nest Audio. Instead, it apparently just changes EQ/volume depending on if you're listening to spoken content like podcasts or music.

Also no need to cast a signal. The speaker supports Bluetooth, which should (hopefully) be enough for basic FR and directivity tests. If that doesn't work, I can just cast some pink noise and do some more rudimentary measurements. While a full spin would be nice, I mainly want to know:

• Is it flattish on-axis?
• Is it relatively well-controlled off-axis?
• What are the SPL limits and how easily does it compress?

I should be able to puzzle out if it's applying any weird EQ by messing with different test signals and taking a few averages. We'll see!

 

[MSNWatch]

FYI:

https://thenextweb.com/plugged/2020...good-speaker-and-i-have-the-data-to-prove-it/

 

[Eetu]

Wow this is actually.. really good Great work @napilopez

https://thenextweb.com/plugged/2020...good-speaker-and-i-have-the-data-to-prove-it/

 

[napilopez]

Thank you! I'll go into a bit more detail here later, but I was truly very impressed.

 

[mathman]

Good thing that they're only $100 a piece!

Amir and Google are on their way to make "high-end manufacturers" run for their live.

I will get a pair once they are available here.
I'm curious how they react when I throw "Angel" at them XD

@ahofer Good post!

 

[Eetu]

Thank you! I'll go into a bit more detail here later, but I was truly very impressed.

Looking forward to it

 

[napilopez]

I should note I just moved; this is the first measurement I've made from my new place and I had to use a bit of an impromptu setup, so forgive me for the small chance something may be slightly off in places. I did spend a lot of time repeating the measurements to make sure, but there's always the chance something is off. I also measured from 2 feet instead of my usual meter. Shouldn't matter for a speaker this small, but worth noting.

I have a back yard now, which should theoretically help me get a wider gate for higher resolution data in the low mids and bass.

Unfortunately, my old measurement setup doesn't really work, so I need to build come up with a new 'rig'. In this case the speaker was light enough that I could just mount it on a tripod, but that won't really work in the future. And as nice as it is to have a back yard in NYC, it is much noisier than my old pin-drop quiet apartment. Plus it's going to be a pain to measure in the winter

But once I figure this out I should be able to get slightly better measurements, as I think I can reach an 8+ms gate in my back yard.

 

[richard12511]

Wow this is actually.. really good Great work @napilopez
View attachment 86211
https://thenextweb.com/plugged/2020...good-speaker-and-i-have-the-data-to-prove-it/

Damn! That's impressive. If they can do that good at a $100 price point, it makes me wonder what Google could actually at a $10,000 price point

 

[ahofer]

Dynamic loudness contour built in. Impressive!

 

[stunta]

Wow, didn't expect this, but what a nice surprise. These would make good computer speakers if bluetooth audio is good enough for the user. Would have been awesome if there was USB input.

 

[Webninja]

Looks much better than the HomePod spins that I’ve seen, too bad I left the Google ecosystem. Great article @napilopez, nice to see that quality in a mainstream publication.

 

[napilopez]

Looks much better than the HomePod spins that I’ve seen, too bad I left the Google ecosystem. Great article @napilopez, nice to see that quality in a mainstream publication.

Thanks! And which measurements do you mean? The ones I've seen of the HomePod seem quite good, though it can be hard to interpret, being an omni and all.

I think what I've really come to notice is that one shouldn't sleep on the tech giants.

 

[BDWoody]

I think what I've really come to notice is that one shouldn't sleep on the tech giants.

Indeed.
Effectively unlimited resources and lots of smart folks around can get together to make an impact wherever they choose to.

This is a really interesting product... Would love to know what the development cost was. Good luck to any 'normal' speaker or electronics manufacturer to try to compete with that at $100.

 

[badboygolf16v]

It's a shame they don't have analogue input, would have made great surrounds in my small room. Apart from that, they look amazing.

 

[richard12511]

I think what I've really come to notice is that one shouldn't sleep on the tech giants.

Indeed. In terms of resources, the true tech giants are on a different level than the giants we're used to(JBL, Revel, KEF, etc.)

 

[Ilkless]

Thanks! And which measurements do you mean? The ones I've seen of the HomePod seem quite good, though it can be hard to interpret, being an omni and all.

I think what I've really come to notice is that one shouldn't sleep on the tech giants.

Sausalito Audio Works released spins (quasi-anechoic), you should be able to find them in the forum, I think it's been posted before.

 

[Martin]

Interesting. Unfortunately the formatting of that web page makes finding specific information nearly impossible. Does anyone know if this thing supports streaming flac from a NAS? If so, how?

Thanks,
Martin