Everything's a Speaker

The tiny Tunebug Vibe turns any flat surface into a speaker.

No, really.

And it works much better than you'd expect.

Within seconds of opening the Vibe's box, you can get music from your iPod sans headphones. A mini-to-mini stereo cable is included, and plugs into the Vibe via its only I/O. I admit being surprised when my desk (literally, my desk) started emanating music.

The Vibe uses NXT's SurfaceSound Technology. The tiny transducer vibrates much like a regular speaker. In fact, if you just hold the Vibe in your hand, you can hear it. When you couple it to a surface, though, the volume increases exponentially.

It's almost disconcerting, as the sound is very hard to localize. It is loudest, slightly, around the Vibe. The whole surface it touches, though, is vibrating in concert with the transducer, so there's a sort of wall of sound (desk of sound) aspect to it.

Because whatever surface you're using becomes part of the "speaker" the sound quality changes slightly depending where you put the Vibe. On my veneered particle board desk it had a detailed and surprisingly clean and accurate sound, though lacking in bass. It's a far improvement over, say, the built in speakers in a touch and most portable speakers I've heard (though perhaps not quite the hi-fi of the foxL). Included in the box is... a box. It's a glossy cardboard container for the Vibe, but it doubles as a pedestal. On top of this the Vibe was much louder, but the overall timbre became more shouty, like when you cup your hands in front of your mouth while speaking.

I decided to have some fun and experiment with other flat surfaces, like, my head. This resulted in probably the most bizarre audio experience I've ever had. The sound was in my head. Instead of the sound coming in through my ears, it was being conducted through the bones in my skull. Even as I'm writing this it seems like I'm setting up for a joke, but I'm not. I actually sat at my desk with this thing on my head listening to music being sent though my skull. Beethoven would be proud. The soundstage was roughly center skull, about the level of my eyebrows. Yours will vary depending on your head shape. Ok, that last part was a joke. Ironically, they have a product for this.

I moved on to countertops, tables, and pretty much anything else I could find. Really, the only consideration was it had to be ridged and horizontal enough so the Vibe and iPod wouldn't slide off. Other than that, it works pretty much anywhere.

After a little experimenting, it becomes rather intuitive where the Vibe will work well, and where it won't. Volume wise, the best is empty cardboard boxes (which, admittedly, is what's recommended in the manual). Big ones, like for the A/C I just bought, didn't have the timbre issues of the small box that came with the unit. Thin tables work pretty well. Things like stone countertops, sofas, anything too dense or too absorptive, didn't work well at all and offered little to no volume boost. Even the best surfaces still don't get you much in the way of mid-bass or bass, but so it goes.

How loud is it? Well, it may make boxes boom but it's no boom box. Using the ubiquitous Radio Shack SPL meter I measured about 66 dB at 1m when the Vibe was on my desk, and 74 dB when placed on top of its little box. On my A/C box I got upwards of 78 dB. Really, a rather impressive level given its diminutive size. Obviously if you're sitting closer it's louder. This was by no means an anechoic test mind you, just rough estimates. So if you're just hanging out with some friends and want some tunes, this will be perfect. If you're looking to supply music to a party outside, it's not quite loud enough for that (though car hoods work great).

The Vibe easily fits in the palm of your hand at a little over 2 inches wide and 1-inch tall. What's surprising is its heft; 5.3 oz may not seem like much, but it's heaver than an iPod and half as small (though taller). The shiny exterior is zinc, and all told the build quality is excellent. To recharge it, a mini-to-USB cable is included.

So it looks cool, works well, and is easily the most portable speaker in the world. It even has the "wow" factor to impress your friends anytime you want to listen to music. At $70 it may be a little expensive, but considering all of the above and just how cool it is, it's a pretty good deal.

PRICE:
Tunebug: $70

CONTACT: Tunebug.com