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Harman Kardon Aura Studio 3 vs Aura Studio 2 - Sound Quality Comparison
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX7jxOE2Onc
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Harman Kardon Aura Studio 3 Bluetooth Speaker
$101
$300
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Top Comments
My goal was a small, unobtrusive speaker that wasn't highly directional. It's not *that* small, but it blends into the decor pretty well, and isn't nearly as sensitive to placement as most traditional-style speakers. The sound is pretty good, especially for the size and even more so for the price—I was impressed with its low end in particular.
But, being a person who overthinks things, and having a decent DSP on my AirPlay device, I also took frequency response measurements of it in my space to see if I could make it any better. I could: a moderate amount of parametric EQ smoothed out a few peaks and troughs and opened up the sound to make it a bit more natural, particularly in the midrange. Not every active speaker takes EQ well—some are already tweaked to their limit—so I was pleased to hear (and measure) the improvement.
At $100, if it weren't for the space limitations that led me to pick this in the first place, I'd be awfully tempted to grab another for a DIY stereo pair.
Pretty close, but not Apple TV (though I had a setup much like that ten years ago).
I have a Raspberry Pi with a HifiBerry DSP+ DAC accessory. It's running HifiBerryOS, which supports AirPlay 2 streams. I had a cheap Fiio DAC lying around that sounded better and had less noise than the HifiBerry DAC, so I have the Raspberry Pi connected to the Fiio via TOSLink (optical cable) and the Fiio connected to the Aura by an RCA to 1/8" adapter cable.
HifiBerry OS recommends a Raspberry Pi 3 or better. I've run it on a 2, but it's not quite stable and way more effort than it's worth if you need wifi (it would require a custom kernel with every OS update). If you just want to add AirPlay 2 connectivity to the Aura and don't care about room correction, you can skip the DSP. There are plenty of cheap USB DACs and sound cards with way better audio quality than the Pi, so I'd grab that, too.
Not that HifiBerry is the only way to get AirPlay support. I'm sure there are lots of projects that do similar things, I just haven't researched them. Lots of receivers have offered it for years, but probably won't make space / cost sense to drive something like this (unless someone gives you a unit with a busted amplifier or something).
Great question. I don't do that, so I don't know.. I wanted a small, non-directional speaker like Aura because I'm using it in a space that doesn't have a good location for a speaker, so it's kind of crammed in a corner--definitely no other speakers nearby. My only other AirPlay devices are out of earshot and I never target all of them simultaneously in any case. Maybe someday for a party, but so far it's not something I've wanted to do.
I know you aren't asking me, but, I seriously considered a HomePod and acknowledge that it would be a better choice for many people. My solution is a little more expensive than a HomePod and would require more time and energy to set up from scratch.
However, it was cheaper for me because I already had the HifiBerry lying around unused and ready to go from an old project, and setting it up / reconfiguring it for the Aura was quick and easy. And while I concede that the HomePod is a technical marvel and sounds pretty dang good for its size, the sound signature isn't exactly my taste, and it isn't customizable at all.
Aura isn't my taste out of the box, either, but I'm really enjoying the way it sounds with my custom room correction. I'm not sure which I'd prefer with no adjustment--I'd have to hear both side by side. I would guess the Aura, but it would be close, and would probably vary depending on room and placement.
Finally, I really didn't want a smart speaker. Speaker-based voice assistants rub me the wrong way. Siri is the least objectionable example in my book, but I'd still rather keep her off my speakers if I have the choice. An output-only HomePod would be much more tempting to me. I'm guessing that's not a common preference, but it's mine.
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My goal was a small, unobtrusive speaker that wasn't highly directional. It's not *that* small, but it blends into the decor pretty well, and isn't nearly as sensitive to placement as most traditional-style speakers. The sound is pretty good, especially for the size and even more so for the price—I was impressed with its low end in particular.
But, being a person who overthinks things, and having a decent DSP on my AirPlay device, I also took frequency response measurements of it in my space to see if I could make it any better. I could: a moderate amount of parametric EQ smoothed out a few peaks and troughs and opened up the sound to make it a bit more natural, particularly in the midrange. Not every active speaker takes EQ well—some are already tweaked to their limit—so I was pleased to hear (and measure) the improvement.
At $100, if it weren't for the space limitations that led me to pick this in the first place, I'd be awfully tempted to grab another for a DIY stereo pair.
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My goal was a small, unobtrusive speaker that wasn't highly directional. It's not *that* small, but it blends into the decor pretty well, and isn't nearly as sensitive to placement as most traditional-style speakers. The sound is pretty good, especially for the size and even more so for the price—I was impressed with its low end in particular.
But, being a person who overthinks things, and having a decent DSP on my AirPlay device, I also took frequency response measurements of it in my space to see if I could make it any better. I could: a moderate amount of parametric EQ smoothed out a few peaks and troughs and opened up the sound to make it a bit more natural, particularly in the midrange. Not every active speaker takes EQ well—some are already tweaked to their limit—so I was pleased to hear (and measure) the improvement.
At $100, if it weren't for the space limitations that led me to pick this in the first place, I'd be awfully tempted to grab another for a DIY stereo pair.
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Join The Conversation
Share your experience with the Slickdeals community
Share information with the community. Please follow our Community Guidelines and be kind!