User manual
1. Must read this
No standart long safety bla bla for you so in short:
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The speaker is heavy about 50kg, so if fall due to kids play or else it can injure !
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The speaker doesn't like water ! So no rain or flowers watering on top if you want good look for many years !
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Don't open the speaker if it is not broken !
Speaker doesn't need anything from you except first turn on. In return it will bring you joy and pleasure. It knows when to turn on and off automatically. All other time it is in sleep mode.
2. First turn on and WiFi setup
This speaker is kind of bluetooth portable speaker just on steroids. A lot of steroids :) And for a better quality you want a WiFi not a Bluetooth. So the speaker has to connect to your local network.
Two ways of using the speaker:
With Ethernet cable. This is most reliable method, but nobody likes cables. So just use WiFi method. Just in case you need cable method you have to plug the internet cable before switching the power on switch. Switch on and after ~2min the speaker should be discoverable and ready with Baffless name.
With WiFi. Follow steps below:
a) Just plug the power cord and switch to ON position. First startup time is ~2min. Green LED will blink on the back panel with 1s interval while starting up. After start up 2minutes Green LED will be off.
b) Then go to WiFi setting on your phone or PC (phone is preferred way). You will see Baffless-connect in available wifi devices. If you are on the smartphone. Connect to it, wait a few seconds and the captive portal will open automatically. Choose your home WiFi network which you are using and enter password for you home network. The Baffless speaker will automatically connect to your home network, the page will close automatically and you are done. Now you can stream music.
If something wrong or you are on PC read step c)
c) After connecting to Baffless-connect if captive portal doesn't open automatically for some reason or you are on PC.
Just go to your web browser and enter address baffless.local and you will see the page where you can enter the credentials for your WiFi network.
3. Speaker controls
The speaker has some controls. Controls are accessible by entering baffless.local in your web browser. On some devices baffless.local address can not be resolved. So the solution is to go to your router settings and find IP address of the speaker. And then enter that IP address in web browser. Pic.1 shows how settings page suppose to look like. All settings are stored in memory and will not change in any circumstances (e.g. reboot) unless user changes them intentionaly.
Speaker has three main modes of operation:
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Normal mode
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Enhanced mode
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Ambience mode
Normal mode
It creates nice 3D effect and works well for all type of records. In this mode beam steering effect is enhanced by MID/SIDE coding technique. Where SIDE signal is increased. This makes sense as SIDE signal has to go from the side of the speaker, bounce back from the side wall and go to the listeners ear. So it is heavily attenuated by increased travel distance and wall absorption compared to MID signal. Increase in SIDE signal is done for certain frequencies not all band in order to preserve better vocals for listener.
Enhanced mode
This is default mode. It is basically the same as normal mode, just with little more SIDE signal at some frequencies. This creates very nice effect especially in front of the speaker. Adds more 3D effect and is very enjoyable. It is usually used the most so it is the default mode.
Ambience mode
This mode is quite different. It fills the room very differently. This mode is different because it doesn't do any MID/SIDE coding and relies only on beam steering method. Normal beam steering method has limited 3D effect, so in order to maximise 3D effect one channel is inverted. So reflected sound dominates versus direct sound if sitting in front of the speaker. And also this mode has some dipole speakers properties. Very nice for jazz or such music.
Pic. 1 Speaker controls view on a smartphone
Speaker has three low frequency settings:
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Low boost 0dB
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Low cut -3dB
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Low boost +3dB
Low boost 0dB is the default one, but anything can be good and should be tried in your room. Listening spaces are very different and especially lowest frequencies can sound very different. These settings apply low shelf filter at 100Hz from -3dB to +3dB.
Restore defaults:
Restore defaults button will do two things:
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Restore settings to default values
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Delete stored WiFi passwords
After connecting to home WiFi network passwords are stored in memory. So they can be accessed by someone who has physical access to your speaker. So if you give speaker to someone else you should do Restore defaults and passwords will be deleted. On the next power on you have to setup WiFi access once again. So this Restore defaults could be used if you want to connect to different WiFi network. Just click Restore defaults, reboot and setup new WiFi access.
Speaker symmetry setting :
Speaker has two switches on the back side. Pic.2 Both of them should be switched on by default. If the Right side switch is switched off the level on the Right side is lowered by 6dB. The same is with the Left side. This can be used in case of very asymmetrical placement situation. In example wall on one side is close to the speaker and on the other side is far from the speaker. Or the walls with completely different absorption coefficient. Best is to avoid such situations, but if unavoidable use the switches to compensate for this to sound better.
Pic.2 Back side of the speaker
3. Protections and LED indicators
Speaker has two LED's for indication.
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Green (this is OK )
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Red (this is not OK )
They are located on the back panel. Close to power inlet.
Green LED:
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Green LED is off when the speaker is in sleep mode or is switched off.
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Green LED is blinking while it is starting after switching power on.
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Green LED is on if the speaker is ready to play music and is in active state. Power amplifier is on.
Red LED:
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Red LED is blinking when clipping protection is activated and power amplifier is switched off.
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Red LED is on when temperature protection is activated and power amplifier is switched off.
When red LED is on or blinking it will reset only on power off/on. It is safety feature. User has to know that something is not right. Clipping or to high temperature in amplifier. Clipping is not much of the safety feature but quality assurance. Clipping should never occur in amplifier.
If red LED is on and not blinking it means over temperature is in amplifier. Most likely it is something broken and repair needed.