Monster Boomerang is amazing

[shellac]

tldr; Where has this been all my life? It sounds better and is more convenient than any built in EUC speaker.

------------------

So I've been looking for a good speaker solution for my EUCs. The built in speakers are decent but there's a number of issues with them. When you're riding fast and its windy, you can't hear shit as the wind will drown out your music. You could crank it up really high and that will alleviate this issue somewhat, but it won't sound great and it can be rather obnoxious to the neighborhood. Not to mention newer wheels like the Veteran eschew a speaker altogether. As I know realize, seems Veteran made the right decision. I don't think I'll ever use built in speakers anymore.

So I was initially considering the Bose Soundwear which costs a pretty penny at $300, when I stumbled upon the Monster Boomerang. It only costs $80 on Amazon at the time of this writing. I noted when I purchased that it is a much more up to date device, released iless than a year ago, with USB-C rather than the dated and annoying micro USB the Bose has.

My expectations weren't that high tbh but I've been blown away.

Sound Quality

The thing sounds awesome. It sits around your neck with the speakers pointed up, so you can hear clearly even at low volumes, and others don't hear much at all. When you crank it up you can feel the bass on your neck, and its still not really disturbing to others. It sounds so clear that you could even listen to podcasts while riding in the wind at speed. (edit: I do have a follow up post, the audio quality is good, but more bass would be nice)

Now the obvious comparison is how does it sound compared to the Bose? I don't have a Bose to compare to but other reviewers on Amazon say it sounds the same. My personal opinion is that Bose is overrated and much of their price tag is from their branding alone, more so than real hardware difference. Bose headphones sound great, but at home I prefer my Sennheisers. But say for sake of argument the Bose do indeed sound better than the Monster. Does it sound $220 better? Is it something you will notice when you are riding outside in the real world with wind and road noise? Very extremely doubtful.

I don't have those cheap clip on bt speakers to compare to. But because it sits on your neck and points upwards at your ear, I would posit it probably sounds better than those.

Functionality

So it connects to your phone via BT and has an on/off button, an up and down button, and a multifunction button. They are all tactile buttons so you can press them while riding, without looking at anything. I think that's great and much safer than fiddling with your phone or smartwatch to control your tunes and phone calls.

You can change the volume with the up and down buttons, or if you hold them down, skip tracks.

The multifunction button pauses the music. You can hold it down to summon Siri. (edit: this is wrong, holding it down actually disconnects the Boomerang)

The Boomerang has a mic and you can answer and make calls with it while riding.

Stability

One of the concerns I had is stability while riding. Turns out this is a non-issue. The thing is pretty light but stays put. It is also somewhat flexible so you can tighten it a little bit around your neck.

I think it is stable enough to so that you won't have any issues with any normal riding on the road, even at high speeds. If you're doing chooch style crazy off-roading though, I think it might fall off. This can be easily remedied though. You can stick part of it under your shirt or you can simple tape it to your shirt before you ride out. Someone with mad 3d printer skills could probably print out a clasp for the front so it goes from a C shape to a full on necklace and therefore can't come off.

Build quality

The thing is solid and I feel the build quality is good. I haven't crashed with it or anything so I can't speak to its resilience, but it seems like it can take a beating.

Any complaints? If someone printed a clasp for the front as I mentioned that would be a nice thing to have in order to secure it for aggressive off roading. It has a couple gold highlights in the back which I find cheesy. That's about it.

Summary

I think this speaker has made my riding much more enjoyable and safe. I can listen to music or podcasts, use Siri, answer phone calls if I really have to, and hear my app based speed alarms easily. Really if EUCs stopped coming with speakers altogether I'd be totally cool with it now.

Edited April 20, 2021 by shellac
clarifications

[WI_Hedgehog]

If you're riding Chooch style you can knot your tie through it, and done. 

 

 

Edited February 28, 2021 by WI_Hedgehog

[Treatz]

It’s on lightening deal right now for $73 on Amazon right now for anyone who catches this in time.

[RetroThruster]

Very cool, this is perfect, ordered!!

[enaon]

I have an lg active plus that does not compare to sound quality, but I can agree that the idea of neck speakers is very nice for the euc. If only threre was a nice way of talking with riders around, it would be amazing. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/LG-Active-HBS-A100-Bluetooth-Headset/dp/B01NBFIYJF/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Edited March 1, 2021 by enaon

[shellac]

On 3/1/2021 at 10:04 AM, enaon said:

I have an lg active plus that does not compare to sound quality, but I can agree that the idea of neck speakers is very nice for the euc. If only threre was a nice way of talking with riders around, it would be amazing. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/LG-Active-HBS-A100-Bluetooth-Headset/dp/B01NBFIYJF/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

nice. there’s also a bunch of off brand $20-$30 neck speakers on amazon. can’t speak of how good they are, i figured it would be better to go for something from a known brand. 

[GothamMike]

On 2/27/2021 at 8:00 PM, shellac said:

tldr; Where has this been all my life? It sounds better and is more convenient than any built in EUC speaker.

------------------

So I've been looking for a good speaker solution for my EUCs. The built in speakers are decent but there's a number of issues with them. When you're riding fast and its windy, you can't hear shit as the wind will drown out your music. You could crank it up really high and that will alleviate this issue somewhat, but it won't sound great and it can be rather obnoxious to the neighborhood. Not to mention newer wheels like the Veteran eschew a speaker altogether. As I know realize, seems Veteran made the right decision. I don't think I'll ever use built in speakers anymore.

So I was initially considering the Bose Soundwear which costs a pretty penny at $300, when I stumbled upon the Monster Boomerang. It only costs $80 on Amazon at the time of this writing. I noted when I purchased that it is a much more up to date device, released iless than a year ago, with USB-C rather than the dated and annoying micro USB the Bose has.

My expectations weren't that high tbh but I've been blown away.

Sound Quality

The thing sounds awesome. It sits around your neck with the speakers pointed up, so you can hear clearly even at low volumes, and others don't hear much at all. When you crank it up you can feel the bass on your neck, and its still not really disturbing to others. It sounds so clear that you could even listen to podcasts while riding in the wind at speed.

Now the obvious comparison is how does it sound compared to the Bose? I don't have a Bose to compare to but other reviewers on Amazon say it sounds the same. My personal opinion is that Bose is overrated and much of their price tag is from their branding alone, more so than real hardware difference. Bose headphones sound great, but at home I prefer my Sennheisers. But say for sake of argument the Bose do indeed sound better than the Monster. Does it sound $220 better? Is it something you will notice when you are riding outside in the real world with wind and road noise? Very extremely doubtful.

I don't have those cheap clip on bt speakers to compare to. But because it sits on your neck and points upwards at your ear, I would posit it probably sounds better than those.

Functionality

So it connects to your phone via BT and has an on/off button, an up and down button, and a multifunction button. They are all tactile buttons so you can press them while riding, without looking at anything. I think that's great and much safer than fiddling with your phone or smartwatch to control your tunes and phone calls.

You can change the volume with the up and down buttons, or if you hold them down, skip tracks.

The multifunction button pauses the music. You can hold it down to summon Siri.

The Boomerang has a mic and you can answer and make calls with it while riding.

Stability

One of the concerns I had is stability while riding. Turns out this is a non-issue. The thing is pretty light but stays put. It is also somewhat flexible so you can tighten it a little bit around your neck.

I think it is stable enough to so that you won't have any issues with any normal riding on the road, even at high speeds. If you're doing chooch style crazy off-roading though, I think it might fall off. This can be easily remedied though. You can stick part of it under your shirt or you can simple tape it to your shirt before you ride out. Someone with mad 3d printer skills could probably print out a clasp for the front so it goes from a C shape to a full on necklace and therefore can't come off.

Build quality

The thing is solid and I feel the build quality is good. I haven't crashed with it or anything so I can't speak to its resilience, but it seems like it can take a beating.

Any complaints? If someone printed a clasp for the front as I mentioned that would be a nice thing to have in order to secure it for aggressive off roading. It has a couple gold highlights in the back which I find cheesy. That's about it.

Summary

I think this speaker has made my riding much more enjoyable and safe. I can listen to music or podcasts, use Siri, answer phone calls if I really have to, and hear my app based speed alarms easily. Really if EUCs stopped coming with speakers altogether I'd be totally cool with it now.

My 1storm MC helmet came with a free BT helmet intercom. (T-Com VB) Answering calls is easy! Music quality is acceptable. If I close the visor on my helmet, no outside noise.  I can still hear outside noises. You cannot push a button to use SIRI sadly, only answer the phone or turn up/down the volume.  It can be paired with other intercoms which is neat.

I've tried all kinds of ear buds under my helmet, they alway fall out when I remove the helmet. They block all outside noise.

The Boomerang looks cool, what will keep the wind from blowing it off? 

 

Edited March 2, 2021 by GothamMike

[5Cauac]

Although I do not own one I would definitely get one. The LED signal lights are a plus and the design is great for active riding.

Edited March 2, 2021 by 5Cauac

[shellac]

2 hours ago, GothamMike said:

 

The Boomerang looks cool, what will keep the wind from blowing it off? 

 

riding around at 30+ mph i haven’t had that issue. it does have a bit of weight and that helps it stay put. like i said it could fall off if you’re doing aggressive off-road stuff though.  

[GothamMike]

16 hours ago, 5Cauac said:

Although I do not own one I would definitely get one. The LED signal lights are a plus and the design is great for active riding.

If a Sherman sent out a Bluetooth signal that a turn is being initiated (Shermans have a built in automatic turn signal) That would be superb. 

[Dreygun]

Amazon . Ca has it for 84.99 during lightning sale right now for any cdns looking.

[scotchtape]

I tried it (not riding) at home.  I hate it.

The speakers don't get enough power so when bass notes hit, it sucks out the mids, like a weird side chain compressor.

Sound quality is average, mids are practically non existent.  

That being said, if you like that kind of sound then it might work out for you.

Blasting it at high volumes close to your ears seems like a recipe for hearing damage.

[shellac]

you can use them at home i suppose but at home i’d rather use high end headphones like my sennheisers.

i think the use case for them is specifically riding, where i doubt you’d be able to discern differences between this and the bose when you account for road and wind noise. 

hope i didn’t lead you astray. the nice thing about amazon is it’s easy to return them if you’re not into them. 

[scotchtape]

I'm not blaming anyone the idea sounded cool it's just not for me

[mike_bike_kite]

I don't have this neck speaker but have a cheaper version. Mine has it's own 8GB internal memory for tunes which I quite like as I don't always carry a phone. I love listening to music as I ride along or when doing stuff but I hate the idea of forcing my music on others. Often I totally forget it's there and folk ask what the strange hi tech necklace is. The monster ones sound pretty good.

[Darrell Wesh]

On 3/9/2021 at 3:04 PM, scotchtape said:

I tried it (not riding) at home.  I hate it.

The speakers don't get enough power so when bass notes hit, it sucks out the mids, like a weird side chain compressor.

Sound quality is average, mids are practically non existent.  

That being said, if you like that kind of sound then it might work out for you.

Blasting it at high volumes close to your ears seems like a recipe for hearing damage.

I thought I was the only one! Bought it because of this thread and I hated it. Returned it after one day. I thought mine was defective because like you said it was like a compressor any time you had any sort of bass. It sounded like one of the drivers was bad. A bass note hit and the treble got real low. Even besides the compressor issues the quality was garbage compared to my cheap JBL flip 2. Distortion galore from the highs despite ultra HD songs from amazon music. 

 

Honestly unless both of ours was defective I don’t see how this got raving reviews. 

[Dreygun]

I bought and returned next day as well. Great idea, but it didn't seem to want to sit very securely around my neck, in place, and I wouldn't trust to use it while riding, for me anyways.  

[AtlasP]

Stop with the goofy external speakers. Get a proper helmet bluetooth audio solution (I recommend the Cardo Freecom series). Better audio quality (Freecom units use JBL speakers) coupled with hands free access to Siri/Alexa and simple, physical buttons for play/pause/skip/volume/answer-call is an absolute must for anyone who takes safety seriously.

[mike_bike_kite]

2 hours ago, AtlasP said:

Stop with the goofy external speakers. Get a proper helmet bluetooth audio solution (I recommend the Cardo Freecom series). Better audio quality (Freecom units use JBL speakers) coupled with hands free access to Siri/Alexa and simple, physical buttons for play/pause/skip/volume/answer-call is an absolute must for anyone who takes safety seriously.

I've tried wearing my helmet around the house but I found my head just gets sweaty when listening to music. I do feel much safer coming down the stairs though. When walking in the park, the helmet works well to keep the wind off but other park goers do tend to look at me a little strange. I also find I get a bad crick in the neck when I wake up in the morning after going to sleep listening to podcasts. I'm still not sure whether I prefer the helmet speaker to the shoulder speaker. On the plus side my wife has now moved to another bedroom.

[Scottie888]

14 hours ago, Darrell Wesh said:

I thought I was the only one! Bought it because of this thread and I hated it. Returned it after one day. I thought mine was defective because like you said it was like a compressor any time you had any sort of bass. It sounded like one of the drivers was bad. A bass note hit and the treble got real low. Even besides the compressor issues the quality was garbage compared to my cheap JBL flip 2. Distortion galore from the highs despite ultra HD songs from amazon music. 

Honestly unless both of ours was defective I don’t see how this got raving reviews. 

Sounds like (pun intended🤪) you're expecting a whole lotta offa tiny 1" speaker firing into the air. Honestly how much thump do think you'd get? IEMs work bcos of the sealed enclosure in the ear canal. Helmet speakers works (somewhat) due to the larger drivers (generally) & very close proximity to the ears. 

IMO at most, this would work decent for podcasts & alarms. Also don't forget the outdoor at speeds enviroment its wasn't designed to do. FWIW I use on neck iems - I really like the Philips SHB5950 as the earbud/tips are smallish & with foamies, form a nice fit inside the FF). SQ isn't audiophile but it puts a smile on my face nonetheless.

PS: do a search for in helmet bt speakers & one of those will do a much better job. Bonus's some of 'em have option for intercom usage as well.

Edited March 11, 2021 by Scottie888

[Darrell Wesh]

9 hours ago, Scottie888 said:

Sounds like (pun intended🤪) you're expecting a whole lotta offa tiny 1" speaker firing into the air. Honestly how much thump do think you'd get? IEMs work bcos of the sealed enclosure in the ear canal. Helmet speakers works (somewhat) due to the larger drivers (generally) & very close proximity to the ears. 

IMO at most, this would work decent for podcasts & alarms. Also don't forget the outdoor at speeds enviroment its wasn't designed to do. FWIW I use on neck iems - I really like the Philips SHB5950 as the earbud/tips are smallish & with foamies, form a nice fit inside the FF). SQ isn't audiophile but it puts a smile on my face nonetheless.

PS: do a search for in helmet bt speakers & one of those will do a much better job. Bonus's some of 'em have option for intercom usage as well.

I consider myself an audiophile considering my many sound systems, dacs, room treatment etc. 

 

For a much lower price, the jbl clip 3 is louder with less distortion and better mid bass. You can simply clip it to your bookbag shoulder strap and have it right by your ear. 

[Scottie888]

9 hours ago, Darrell Wesh said:

For a much lower price, the jbl clip 3 is louder with less distortion and better mid bass. You can simply clip it to your bookbag shoulder strap and have it right by your ear. 

I hear ya but I'm betting the Clip has a larger &or multiple driver/s & likely driven with more wattage. Plus the rectangular enclosure makes for much better bass augmentation (likely sealed acoustic suspension for waterproofing). Its much harder to achieve similar in a flat type wearable. IMO the Boomerang (or similar) will likely work much better in a quiet static environment. 

Best option's still BT IEMs or in-helmet solutions as small external speakers will never be optimum as a dynamic outdoor wearable. Also while we all think our choice of tunes are cool, others may not appreciate we sharing it with them as we're whizzin by.

[Darrell Wesh]

1 hour ago, Scottie888 said:

I hear ya but I'm betting the Clip has a larger &or multiple driver/s & likely driven with more wattage. Plus the rectangular enclosure makes for much better bass augmentation (likely sealed acoustic suspension for waterproofing). Its much harder to achieve similar in a flat type wearable. IMO the Boomerang (or similar) will likely work much better in a quiet static environment. 

Best option's still BT IEMs or in-helmet solutions as small external speakers will never be optimum as a dynamic outdoor wearable. Also while we all think our choice of tunes are cool, others may not appreciate we sharing it with them as we're whizzin by.

I also found the Boomerang to be terrible for localizing external sounds compared to a regular Bluetooth speaker you’d strap on. This is because of their “3D sound” that’s all around you and causes great difficulty in bearing your environment you’re in. 
 

Which is ironic because the Boomerang is tauted as enabling you to have good auditory awareness compared to headphones but it’s just as bad. 
 

Every day that I think of this product the more I see how terrible it is to actually ride with. 
 

There’s a reason people shouldn’t use Bluetooth helmet speakers and stuff like the boomerang, and the unfortunate byproduct is having to crank the music so you can hear it while you’re riding. 

1. So pedestrians can hear them coming 

2. The speaker is mounted low or below the ears where no important auditory cues need to be picked up on. So if you hear a sound that’s behind you or to the left right then you know it’s not your music but an external factor. 

[Scottie888]

@Darrell WeshAgreed! I too do not think any type of external wearables is optimum for music pleasure on fast moving PEVs at least. I also can't dispute that for some, they shouldn't be using any type of BT whatever. That said, this thread has given me food for thought as I'm pondering getting one for when I watch late night vids on the lappie (or even the Shield TV) &or while cooking. Headphones & such can get hot & somewhat fatiquing after a bit.

Personally, coming from a motorcycle background, I'm used to external sound attenuation via ear plugs/IEMs or otherwise I'd likely be hearing impaired if I haven't been driven insane by wind noise. It has also trained me to be 100% sitware 110% of the time. Sides, on PEVs, I ride on bikepaths 99% so vehicular traffic's not much of an issue.

Far's the let pedestrians & other traffic hear me coming logic, that's what the Harley boyz with their straight pipes argue as well. For sure, everyone in the 'hood hears them coming. Personally I've never had an issue with slowing down & saying 'in commmming' &or 'on your lefffft' & when they do make way, I say thanks & shoot a hand wave too. 

IMO that's far better than blasting tunes & being obnoxious (I think) but that might be cos of my motorcycling experience encountering Hogs. As usual with this typa thang, its always a YMMV.

[WI_Hedgehog]

The single speakers are larger and can have better sound quality. The multiple driver setups like @shellac mention have surround-type sound. EUC speakers have convenience. Earbuds can have great sound and/but block outside sound. Helmet speakers sound great if in a matching helmet. It all depends on what a person is trying to accomplish.

Slingshot (vehicle) guys spent thousands on top-end equipment only to have it sound like a Walmart system. Expectations weren't realistic, it's not an enclosed vehicle. Even car audio is a huge challenge for audiophiles...open-air sound on EUCs is a secondary consideration that will never be both cheap and sound great while letting the rider hear the environment clearly. Riding the EUC is the primary challenge and proponent of enjoyment. 

Side note: I think any EUC sound system should recognize a crash. The rider being upside down in a pileup with the EUC having shed parts in a path of self destruction yet still bangin' out the Rocky theme song is a bit out of bounds. Arcing electronic circuit sounds, however, would be wholly appropriate. 

Edited March 13, 2021 by WI_Hedgehog