TDK Life on Record TREK Max A34 Wireless Weatherproof Speaker

Just got this TDK A34 within the last few days and I wanted to review it so everyone will know the differences between this and the TDK A33....here's what's clearly evident.First, and I think foremost, the biggest upgrade is the Reverse (Back) - Pause - Forward buttons on the top of this speaker. To skip to the next song or go backward to the previous song is quick and easy to use...It only goes back or forward one whole song not a partial song. It's a nice feature that was missing on the A33. The other upgrade might be battery life because I got a solid 8 hours off my battery charge when others with the A33 seemed to think they weren't getting that; HOWEVER....(there's ALWAYS a however...)...I was using it for the most part at 1/2 volume. I'll explain volume later.Now for my honest thoughts about this speaker. On the top there is a power button, a volume - button and a volume + button, a Bluetooth button, a speaker phone button and then the back button, pause button and forward button. Above the volume - and + buttons there are five (5) volume lights. Each light seems to have six (6) settings when you press the + or - volume button. Or, to be clearer, when you hit the volume the first light will shine and it will get brighter and louder six times then the second light lights up and can go up 6 increments and so forth. It can get loud....I seriously don't think head banging loud as with big accessory speakers but way loud enough for anything I can think of that you would need.As for room filling.....yes.......It can fill a room. The room I've mostly played it in is 25' x 25' with 11" peak ceiling and it fills it nicely and, personally, that's exactly what I wanted. My "comfortable" volume setting in this room is at 2-1/2 to 3 lights if that makes sense......1/2 volume maximum. This is where my good battery life might come into play giving me 8 hours maximum just as stated in the description because it is only at 1/2 volume....I would think the louder the volume the less battery life but there is no way I could listen to it full out in that room for any length of time to test that. I personally think 8 hours is good enough and if you're in the house you can always just plug it in and play from the AC power adapter. If you need louder...there's no way to connect additional speakers,Songs on your phone wrap.......so at the end of your list, they start over again. My corded player doesn't do that....all yours might......mine didn't........so I like that a lot.It comes with an AC power adapter for charging but there is a 1.0A power slot for charging off your computer. Nice to have both options...I prefer the AC power adapter because I have enough of things charging off my computer as it is... Poor thing needs a break......:) Plus if you take it somewhere a computer may not be available. Speaking of taking it somewhere, it is weighty but a good weighty, and solid. Maybe not backpacking long trips but it is small enough to put in a backpack; measures about 9-1/2" long x 4" tall x almost 2" wide. Nice to look at. Rubber feet help keep it sturdy on your surface.I'm not sure if you can do this with all wireless speakers but you can charge it and continue to play at the same time.The instructions/directions about charging are misleading....First.....I found it best to charge with the switch set to off (this switch is on the side of the speaker covered with a rubber "door" for splash purposes). A red light will light but the red light does not magically change to amber when done charging. The red light goes to black when charged. The light WILL turn yellow when it is turned back on however......If I remember correctly the instructions/directions say the red light will turn to amber (yellow) when charged and, technically, it will be yellow but not until you turn it back on. Seriously....A lot of people were making a big thing of this with the A33......not a big thing.......I followed instructions about syncing my phone and it worked like a charm......one thing though.....(I just couldn't say however again...:) a lot of this stuff isn't instantaneous so just give it a full blink of an eye to do it's stuff. I should work effortlessly.Outside listening is good. I didn't and won't try the splash test......but if things ever do get "out of control" and a splash happens I'll let you know...:)NOW......my only.....hmmm.....not complaint......more of a.....learning curve.....is the Power button. Almost everything I own I kind of hold the button down for a second until I hear/see/feel something.......not with this thing. The button is sensitive but not super sensitive. Here's what you have to do....press the power button gently for a second and then take your finger off it and wait......it will take a second for the volume lights to light up and then the Bluetooth to blink a few times and then beep when it finds your phone again. You only have to sync your phone manually the first time. It will then find it on it's own after that. I had a hard time mentally with this power button the first few times....So remember, gently press the power button, take you finger off and wait a second.....This is just different from ANYTHING I have....but that's my biggest issue with this thing and after a few Power Ups, I got used to it......As for distance, I think that is going to be a difficult thing to measure because everyone's space is different and will be just too variable, but I did go through the kitchen, down the hall and then downstairs before it started to get interrupted......Summary: So, after all that, I have to say this is a really nice speaker. Because I knew I wouldn't be buying another speaker again anytime in the near future I decided in the end I would buy what I wanted the first time so I did compare the TDK to Bose Mini, Jawbone JAMBOX and a Sony Portable Bluetooth with NFC. and maybe....maybe....other than volume, and since I didn't turn the TDK A34 full tilt for any length of time I can't be sure, but I didn't find any difference at all in this TDK A34 when I compared them. Bose is listening to its younger customers (a good thing) who want bass with some more bass and then just a little more bass but that's not what I need for my listening experience and with the TDK A34 being 1/2 the price I know I did the right thing. In my opinion, for overall performance, this a really good speaker. My initial test was on Iggy Azalea's "Fancy", then Pavarotti's "Nessun Dorma", REO Speedwagon's "Can't Fight This Feeling", to good ole Toby Keith's "I Love This Bar" and last but not least Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise"....and they all sound about as good as they can with a wireless speaker. If you have any questions that are stopping you from buying this remember Amazon will let you ask questions of people that have purchased these and I believe most people try to be honest and are just trying to be helpful. HAPPY LISTENING......to whatever your music choices are.

As a current owner of the TDK A73 boombox, which I love, I bought this as a gift for someone that favors portability over the sound output of the A73. Since it was being mailed, I unboxed it to make sure everything worked. The battery charged with no problem, bluetooth paired with both my android and iOS devices with zero drops and good range. I didn't bother testing the NFC pairing as manual bluetooth pairing was painless. The unit is heavier than you'd expect, so pick it up with a firm grip. This is likely attributable to having solid enclosure construction and a hefty magnet for the 2.5" woofer. Total system power is listed at 15W. There is a slight drop off in volume when running the unit on battery versus power adapter, but the unit gets plenty loud on just battery power. Since this was a gift, I didn't have time to test battery life, but it ran on battery alone for most of the 3+ hours of playback I was able to do. Again, since this was a gift, I didn't take it outdoors to see how splash/dust resistant it is.I strongly recommend giving this unit some time to break in before making final judgement on the sound quality. Initial impressions of the sound were not great, flat, harsh, poor bass, but speakers typically require some time to loosen up before they achieve their actual sound characteristics. After about an hour of playing music, the sound improved greatly. The highs smoothed out, the bass came alive, and overall everything sounded quite musical. Sound characteristics stabilized after about 3hrs of play. I played a variety of genres including pop, rap/hip-hop, and bass heavy EDM and was pleased with the sound from such a small package. You won't get audiophile quality sound from any unit this size, but the overall sound quality and output is among the best in this size category. Some may prefer the Bose Soundlink III, but I've never been a huge fan of Bose due to all the electronic wizardry they apply to the input signal in order to appease the ears of the masses. With a good source signal, the TDK will sound better, especially if you EQ to your taste. The source signal from my iPhone 5 and my HTC One (Beats processing turned off) provided excellent sound via bluetooth or wired connection without the need for an EQ app.Some helpful notes:- for iOS users, the volume on your device controls the volume on the A34. For android users, the volume on the device should be turned up to max and use the volume controls on the A34 to set final volume level.- There is a separate power button and battery power switch on this unit. Some people find this annoying, but since it's a portable device, it makes sense to have a separate battery power switch that will prevent the unit from accidentally powering on when being transported.- The battery will charge whether the batter power switch is on or off.- The unit can be played while the battery is charging.- The power adapter may seem bulky, but it provides 2A @ 12V. This means it's delivering more than 2x the power of a 2A USB port, which is only 5V. (24W vs 10W). Worthy tradeoff for fast charging and the ability to keep the tunes going while charging.- The battery on the unit is replaceable. If yours dies within the warranty period, TDK will ship you a new one. Batteries don't last forever, so it's nice that it can be replaced.Overall, this is one of the best units in it's size category. You'll be hard pressed to find a unit with better bass response and volume capabilities than this unit. The sound, while not audiophile grade, is great. Chasing audiophile grade quality in a unit that will be utilized in situations with less than perfect ambient conditions is kind of pointless. In practice, the Trek Max A34 will satisfy your ears without breaking your wallet. I highly recommend it.