Question about speakers

[Hank]

I understand that a speaker is needed for the high speed warning, etc.

 

But for use with bluetooth for music - is that actually something people use?  Do you play music while riding?

 

I can see other people not being too thrilled about having someone riding an EUC blasting music.  It is reminiscent of the big boom boxes rude people used to walk around with in the 80's...  not very considerate.

 

Am I missing something? Couldn't the space and weight used for multiple speakers be saved or utilized for extra battery capacity?

 

Edited November 2, 2015 by Hank

[dmethvin]

In my area (Maryland USA) it isn't legal for cars or bicycles to wear headphones while driving. I guess a speaker on the EUC is one way to play music and get around that. I agree with you though that music from your EUC that is loud enough for you to hear is probably a bit rude to the people around you. I don't think the required electronics or speaker size is an issue, it doesn't drain battery or add that much weight. I can't imagine the sound quality is that good anyway.

[Tilmann]

@Hank:  Well, yes and no. As far as I'm concerned, a built in BT boom box is about as essential to an EUC as air conditioning . 

I'm not sure, whether some of the wheels with BT speakers use them for the speed alarm beeping. My GotWays, ninebot and most generics use piezo buzzers. AFAIK those are limited to one frequency, One exception seem to be Firewheels with their voice announcements. In my opinion not a great use of speakers either.

I could think of a couple of applications to make better use of speakers in an EUC:

• Customizable speed alarm tones. When I ride in a group, I find it very hard to tell, who's wheel is beeping. Customizable tones would give me a chance to tell the alarm from my wheel from all the others. 
• Acoustic emergency braking feedback. With cars, motorbikes and even bicycles we are used to react to the proverbial squeaking tires. We learned pretty quickly: once the tires start screaming, braking even harder leads to an even longer stopping distance and we loose directional control on top of that - so we don't do it. When trying to brake as hard as reasonable, our EUCs don't help us with any easy to understand sounds. In fact, they don't help us with any feedback or assistance (like ABS). With intelligent use of speakers, they could.  

On an EUC with loud enough BT speakers, all the parts are there: the control board can calculate available braking power and measures power used at any moment and we have an amplifier and speakers on bord. The firmware controls, what to do with that very valuable information (today: nothing). I am just afraid, there may not be the right internal connections between those parts that allow turning data into sound. 

That's what is frustrating me with the EUC industry. Instead of giving us meaningful innovations, they "improve" the wheels with gadgets and spare the investment in quality software.

Riding an EUC, we are essentially trusting our health to hardware and very especially: software! One should think, thats a pretty good reason for manufacturers to do all they can to earn our trust in their professional software development and quality assurance. Instead, we're just witnessing the software apocalypse domino day: ninebots randomly throw their riders in the dust, high speed GotWays tilt back at the pace of the cheapest generic, KingSongs don't let users change settings and even the self proclaimed safety leader, Solowheel, finds nothing wrong with the fact, that their smartphone app is being developed by a customer in his coffee brakes. How dumb is all that?

[dpong]

Lighten up, Tilmann.  There is only risk of death on the line here.  

Edited November 3, 2015 by dpong

[Cloud]

Speaker function is great,  doesnt take much weight or room and there is no reason why this capability shouldnt be provided. Try riding with music on - people will look at you like you aRe some kind of god. Vanity? Maybe, but it sure is a nice feeling...you adjust the volume as to what you believe is appropriate......besides, when you are riding with music people / cars can hear you coming in and are better alerted to your presence. It actually acts as a safety feature, believe it or not.

the speed beeps in my kingsong are through a separate beeper, not thru speakers.

i have to say though,  that before i first tried the speaker function, i also thought they are useless and not needed, but now they are as essential as a remote control for the tv

Edited November 3, 2015 by Cloud

[edwin_rm]

I don't have a wheel with speakers, so I usually ride around blasting music on my smarthphone thru its tiny speaker. But a speaker on the wheel would be awesome! Props to King Song for doing it.

[Cloud]

20 minutes ago, edwin_rm said:

I don't have a wheel with speakers, so I usually ride around blasting music on my smarthphone thru its tiny speaker. But a speaker on the wheel would be awesome! Props to King Song for doing it.

Awesome is putting it mildly. The hour i ride from work to home every night, cruising to fiona apple music is my sanity time. It allows me to be transported into a different world where I can forget all my trials and tribulations after the stressfull day at work.

the fact that, in this world, i also seem to be revered by the pedestrians as a magical creature who came from the future, doesnt hurt either...

 

Edited November 3, 2015 by Cloud

[MarkoMarjamaa]

I have speakers in my Airwheel. Basically I play Ride of Valkyries. Next level is playing thought police sirens from Fahrenheit 451

No, actually I don't use the speakers.

 

[TomK]

I attached an inexpensive water proof Bluetooth speaker to my Ninebot One. It is mounted simply with a rubber and a hook to the trolley handling attachment. Nice to cruise with relaxing music through the countryside 

[Seasonedracer]

Motorcyclist have a saying "loud pipes save lives" i like playing music thru bt speaker on my KS16X. It lets others in front of me know im coming. I know it can be seen as rude, but im gone out of people sights and ear shot in seconds. With ear buds in i cant hear anything around me to well, so i prefer the bt speakers on my wheel.

[Scottie888]

22 minutes ago, Seasonedracer said:

Motorcyclist have a saying "loud pipes save lives"

Yup that's exactly what the Harley boyz on their 200db's straight pipes say as they cruise along. So long as we accept that proposition as well, I have no comment. I was a sportsbike enthusiast & loved my aftrmkt race exhausts too. However besides the extra db's, I do get significant hp increase & weight decrease so thats my added reasoning. Far's the public goes, I'm here & gone like the Flash😋 so they may not even hear me fly.

Hey I was young & stupid so that'll be my excuse til my death bed.

Far's EUC riding goes, I prefer to use BT earbuds &or in-helmet BT speakers. I'm generally not into sharing my private moments with motown plus I get the bonus of making/answering calls. Yes it does require more focused sitware on the wheels speed & battery state. Fortunately I mainly cruise the bike paths so there's not much chance of getting run over by multi ton death machines.

[YourAubsome]

I have a EX.N with speakers and they are loud but I prefer to listen to music with a JBL Clip speaker that is attached to the strap on my backpack by my chest. The JBL Clip is so close to my face that I can hear it clearly even when going fast and I don't have to play it as loud to hear it since its less than a foot from my ears vs 5 feet from my ears (in the bottom of the wheel). The JBL clip also has physical buttons let me play, pause, skip track, and adjust volume all without requiring me to look at anything. 

 

[mrelwood]

The thread was started in 2015, and the hardware’s capabilities and options have changed quite a bit since... Feel free to start a new topic if you wish to discuss the current state of things.