So this is the Soundboks gen 4… its basically a refined version of the Soundboks gen 3 which was redesigned from the ground up, but the Gen 4 now has better sound quality, its a little more efficient, and the grill is a lot easier to swap out. So now, the Soundboks gen 4 is an even better option if you want to take big sound everywhere you go, and the last thing you want to worry about is your speaker having to keep up.
Regarding pricing, the Soundboks Gen 4 has a retail price of $1000 the same as the Gen 3 when it first came out. Now the Gen 3 is still going to be around, and then theres the Soudnboks Go which has a retail price of $700 and it has gotten some major improvements. Now in this video we’re going to be focusing on the Soundboks Gen 4, but you can always watch the versus videos. Nonetheless, if you want to pick this speaker up it’ll be linked down below.
Now first lets talk about the design of this speaker. Now the Gen 4 looks very similar to the Gen 3. We have a powder coated aluminum frame with silicon balls on each corners which obsorbe impact, its has a Water resistant poplar cabinet, and we have a steel grill on the front. So from a durability standpoint this speaker can literally take beating, and it isn’t afraid of water making it a great option for camping or for construction sites. You can throw it anywhere and you dont have to worry about it. And this speaker is fairly portable thanks to it relatively small size, relative to its sound out put, and it only weighs in at 35 and a half pounds. But for comparison sake, the Gen 3 is a little lighter weighing in at 34 pounds… but more importantly, with the Gen 4, is it now also easier to remove the grill on this speaker cause all you have to do now is pull it out… so this makes customizing your speaker a little easier, but more practically I think this is great for cleaning. But jus like before, there is a top hat mount on the bottom so you can always place this speakers on a stand.
But now lets talk about the battery on this speaker… not just like before the Gen 4 is using the same removable battery as the Gen 3 and Go… so if you have multiple batteries, you can always keep the party going by just swapping them out.
Now regarding actual performance, the Soundboks Gen 4 has the same advertised battery life as the Gen 3, of 40 hours while its playing at 50% volume and while it in its dance EQ. Which is your stock EQ or your power EQ on your Gen 3. And trust me, 50% volume on this speaker is already super loud. But if you were to use the Gen 4 at max volume while its in its stock EQ, then its going to have an advertised battery life of 6 hours… which is 2 hours more than the Gen 3 playing at max volume. But besides… I doubt that youre ever going to be able to use the Gen 4 at max volume for too long cause you’re going to get the cops calls on you unless you’re in the middle of nowhere.
However, if you were to use this speaker with a more bass heavy EQ Like XXX than you are going to have a shorter battery life cause of all of that bass. At max volume we’re looking at XXX or if you were to use this speaker with a less bass heavy EQ like lounge, you’re going to be able to extend your battery life. In this case XXX at max volume.
However, we do need to talk about actually chargning this speaker. Now with the Soundboks, if you’re battery is running low you can always charge it and you can still use your speaker while its chargning. However, you should always have your battery plugged into the speaker even if you’re using it while its plugged in… and you should keep your volume your volume below 50% while its chargning.
Now when it comes to Bluetooth connectivity, just like before, the Soundboks Gen 4 can only be connected to one device at a time… but latency isn’t an issue, you can use it to watch videos on your phone.
But more importantly, lets talk about the ports panel on the back. Now first off there is a 3.5 millimeter audio jack so you can use this speaker with a wired connection. But there’s also a 3.5 millimeter audio out jack so you can always daisy chain this speaker to any other speaker and get them to play in sync. But also there are two XLR / ¼ inch combo jacks so that you can either plug in a mixer and or up to 2 microphones for karaoke. And from Soundbok’s app you can adjust their sound to your liking. Overall, just like before the Soundboks Gen 4 has a very robust pro panel on the back.
BUt with all of that out of the way, lets talk about sound. Now the Soundboks Gen 4 has dual frontward firing woofers with exhaust ports that shoot out the sides. And just like before one woofer handles the lows and the other handles the mid lows. And off to the side we have a tweeter horn that handles the highs. Now the Soundboks Gen 4 features the same max volume of 126 decibels… but it has been tuned very differently from the Gen 3… and yes I can say that it does sound better. And the Gen 4 has 3 stock listing modes… there’s lounge, dance and stage. And if you want to get the most out of this speaker… you want to use it while its in its stage EQ. But so that you can hear for yourself we’re going to jump into the soundtest.
Soundtest
Now first off, if you want to get the most out of your Soundboks 4, you want to use it while its in its Stage EQ, while it sin is stage EQ this speaker is going to have more bass and its also going to sound the loudest. However, you are going to have to sacrifice some battery life. Where as with stage, you get a more balanced sound signature and you’re going to have better battery life than with stage. But finally there’s lounge. With lounge youre going to have the least amount of bass, you’re going to have the least amount of max volume preformance… but you will get a battery life boost. But if you want to, you can always just make your own EQ through Soundbox’s app and you can make it sound however you want.
But personally I just like to use this speaker while its in it Stage EQ. But from an overall performance stand point. The main take away that I can about the sound coming out of the Soundboks Gen 4 is that it sounds a lot fuller and a lot more balanced. With the Soundboks gen 3… I feel that this speaker always pulled towards a brighter sound signature cause the tweeter handling the majority of the vocals. But now… I feel that the vocals are a lot more defined… but without being over emphasized and the Soundboks Gen 4 doesn’t lean towards a brighter sound signature cause I feel that that tweeter is getting over used like before. But also there’s the bass on the speaker. The Gen 3 already have a lot of bass to it, but this one just has more to it. Now obviously you can hear and feel the bass on this speaker… but it isn’t as violent or wall shaking as lets say the JBL Partybox 710. Nonetheless, the Soundboks Gen 4 sounds a lot more balanced and a lot more open then the Gen 3. And even though the Gen 4 has the same advertised max volume of 126 DBS as the Gen 3… do it its more balanced sound signature… it seems louder. But finally there’s the max volume performance of this speaker… unless you’re using this speaker in an abandoned warehouse or if youre in an isolated area… there is no way you’re going to be able to use the max volume on this speaker for very long before the cops get called on you, even by your chillest neighbors cause this thing is very loud. Honestly, 80% volume is already more than enough to keep a party going.
But finally lets talk about pairing this speaker with other speakers… Now with the Soundboks Gen 4… you can wirelessly pair up it up to another Soudnboks Gen 4, a Soundboks Gen 3 or a Soundboks Go… and you’re can have up to 5 speaker paired together, which I feel is plenty.
Now you can either have these speakers playing in sync… or you can also go into their app you and you adjust what roll they play. In my case, since I have a go paired to a Gen 3 and Gen 4, I would have the Go playing as a center channel, and I would have the Gen 3 and Gen 4 playing the left and right channels.
Overall, its very cool that you can have multiple Soundboks Paired together, and I also appreciate that you can assign different channels to your speakers… but even if you dont have multiple Soundbok’s like I mentioned with the Gen 4… it has an audio out jack, so you can just daisy chain this speaker with anyother speaker and get them to play in sync.
So with all of that being said, the Soundboks Gen 4 is a refined upgrade from the Soundboks Gen 3 which was redesigned from the ground up. Most importantly, the Soundboks Gen 4 sounds better thanks to its fuller, and more balanced sound and there’s even a little more kick in the bass. But also, the Gen 4 is a little more battery efficient so you’re going to have slightly longer battery life at higher volume… and finally there’s the easier to remove front grill which is supposed to make life better for customization… but personally I like it cause it makes cleaning the inside of this speaker a lot easier. But just like before, the main selling point of this Soundboks is that its super durable, so you can take it anywhere and not have to worry about it… it going to to be able to keep up with you cause of its long battery life… and if you have multiple batteries, you can swap them out and just keep the party going, this speaker is extremely loud and its also going to turn heads when crank the volume up… and if you have multiple Soundboks’s you can wirelessly pair them up and really be a problem.