Sydney & International Fashion and Style Blog with photography by Kent Johnson. Travel, Art and Events, Fashion from the Streets and into the Clubs. The lifestyle blog you love to share, Thank you Sydney XX to the world.
Well it may be 2018 but I'm still not done with 2017 yet! Not when I still have super cool shots from all around the world and pictures of performances like this one from two young dance stars, King Imprint & Kandi Reign; performing live at Bracé New York Fashion Week. Unlike here in Australia, the independent Fashion shows like to keep you entertained between runway shows but putting on a show... As a NYFW nube this was a pleasant surprise to me and when it's two acts like these young YouTube entertainers coming together it's absolutely top shelf. While I'm pretty sure I captured the energy and excitement of the performance, sadly there is no sound. So if you want to see and hear them perform, just click through to their respective YouTube video channels below after the pictures. Thanks for a great show guys, Cheers; I LOVED IT! Special thanks to SFS's NYFW sponsor White Caviar Life for getting us there.
#PartyUp indeed. Street Fashion Sydney had the privilege of attending the Ultimate Ears, BOOM 2 2016 launch at Carriageworks in Sydney. And it certainly was a cracker of a party. First shot as you scroll down you just can see the countdown to the launch projected on the left; the curtains opening to a massive industrial space, illuminated 'robots' drawing back the curtain on a colour and sound filled spectacle, in we all go... And I am wondering, how will they showcase, 'illuminate' a small 18 cm personal speaker?
So we had a great light show, including projections some light and flame performances, cool DJs spinning tunes; then about 30 or 40 minuets into the night, the head of UE/Ultimate Ears made the totally bold announcement that they were going to switch from the great sounding music PA.. and go to the 100 linked, BOOM 2 and Mega BOOM speaker cross boom above our heads; cue - light up the boom - and as you can see from the size of that space it was a huge call for tiny speakers! How did it go? Well a LOT better than I expected. The music filled the room, loud - distortion free, it did BOOM that's for sure, it was pretty damn impressive. Now it was not as clear as the 'real' PA - but it was quite amazing, and these small speakers are not really meant to power such a ginormous party space but they did. At the end of the night I was gifted a BOOM 2 and have been testing/using it for a few days now - so keep scrolling down for my REVIEW below towards the end of the pictures. Do I know what I am writing about when it comes to audio? Well for a few years I ran an online-retail called Vintage Audio .Com .Au (now disbanded) and we did pretty well & were pretty well known and respected, so I will be giving it my VA equipment review best. The old site is down but if you are interested the old VA blog is still online, here, http://vintageaudioaustralia.com.au/2006/my-cd-player-or-my-amp.html
The 100 Mega Boom & Boom 2 - Cross Boom - It worked!
Party wigs and Glasses - Best after a few drinks.. -
Me and my BOOM 2 - Review below - Pic by vivalaViv.
So what is a BOOM 2, what does it do and do you need one? Lets start with what it is.
The BOOM 2 is a small 18 cm tall 6.7 cm diameter portable, waterproof (for 30 min to 1 meter) wireless/Bluetooth active/self-powered speaker. What that means is it's a speaker with a built in amplifier so all you need to do is supply the source-music via your phone or tablet or device-with-Bluetooth connection. Being waterproof it is basically a take anywhere sound source, a 'boom box' without the size. Power is supplied via Li-Ion battery, up to 15 hours per charge is claimed; this would no doubt depend on how hard you run your sound.
I have been testing my Boom 2 in a small but not tiny studio apartment; first music was early 80s classics on YouTube - Psychedelic Furs, Blondie, Talk Talk, Thomas Dolby, which all sounded somewhat better than I remember hearing them when they first came out.. well TV's didn't have very good sound back then anyway. So even though YouTube is a compressed sound format, the Boom 2 had the music sounding pretty good. I then went for Diana Krall Live in Paris which was my key 'test CD' for most Vintage Audio systems I reviewed. The great thing about this album is I know were systems excel or fall down. Now there is no way a small single speaker is going to reproduce a full stereo sound stage; and I certainly don't expect it too. What I would like if I can get it is rich sound, a feeling for the base, clarity, sibilance on cymbals and high percussive notes, no distortion, fast dynamic response. The BOOM 2 delivers, it delivers surprisingly good sound regardless of it's size.
As I sit here typing this review, I have gone over to full uncompressed music files, Roy Hargrove Crisol Habana, all Cuban brass, percussion and piano and the best thing I can possibly say about the sound is that I am forgetting what it is coming out of, where it is coming from; I am just enjoying the music. For some more contemporary bass heavy tunes I went with Angie Stone's Mahogany Soul, which sounded, great, with full rich sound.
But wait there's more! There's an App for the BOOM 2 too.. of course there is and it's pretty useful as well. There is a 5 Band EQ (I knocked the treble back one notch) and if you have more than one Boom speaker you can set the system up for true stereo sound - now that would be interesting to try; OR if you and your friends have more Booms you can hook them up together to spread the sound, increase, the output, which is essentially what was shown to us at the lunch event with 100 hooked up playing together and that was a LOT of sound.
So should you buy one? Well I think I will be taking mine along on small studio shoots in the future, at least I can be sure of the sound quality and how it works. In fact great for taking on any jobs where you want some music & if you use the phone/App it can double up as a speaker phone too, which caught me by surprise yesterday. I have even seen someone working on their motorbike out in the street (before the launch) and thought that's better than boom boxes used to be! So if you like portable sound, I can recommend the BOOM 2. Would I choose to go BOOM 2 over my stereo, no it's a completely different scenario each with benefits of their own, but it's turning into a great second sound source, to enjoy listening too, with pleasure.
While I was not so certain upon receiving the invitation, I think the Kings Cross boxing gym, right near the famous Coke sign was a great venue for the Australian launch of the new Jaybird Freedom F5 Cordless/Wireless/Bluetooth ear bud headphones. We got to see some sparing action from guys and gals wearing the F5 Jaybirds, which was nice and lets face it, a lot more interesting than say watching a group of people doing a spin class or yoga or something similar - all of which are great things to do - but not exactly launch event exciting! So the boxing angle really brought home the idea for me that the Jaybird headphones are dedicated sweat-proof, live your life unplugged, wireless SPORTS headphones, and I believe they are a/the leading market brand. And on top of all that founder and CEO Judd Armstrong is a Queenslander (Aussie) and a Griffith Uni (thats QLD) business graduate, nice; and was on-hand to talk about the new model and the future of Jaybird in Australia. Judd has a good slice of the Jaybird team working here in Oz though it is the first time the brand has sold directly here. So here's the pictures, the website link is below. Thanks for a great launch Jaybird & thanks for my set of F5's!
And speaking of the Coke sign in Kings Cross.. The old sign is being auctioned on Ebay so you can buy a bit of history for yourself and support a great cause; the Wayside Chapel who do great work in the area. And weddings, I photographed a friend being married there last year, but that's another story! So here's the picture, and here's a link to the EBay auction, it stars in about 5 days.. http://stores.ebay.com.au/bidsforgood/cocacola
Although I did not post anything about this on Street Fashion Sydney, and I probably should have.. I did put up the shot below on my Instagram and Facebook pages. A couple of weeks ago walking through the Devonshire Street (Sydney Rail Pedestrain (Train)) tunnel at Central which normally has a few buskers doing their thing; I found these notices instead!
Begging, Busking; Blah Blah Blah.. Not permitted.. By order Sydney Trains...
Well that was a real WTF moment for me. Like them or not they certainly add something to your walk down this long pedestrian tunnel and I for one think it's something good; even if I don't like the songs or pieces they are playing; I am glad they are there.
However a Good News Story I promised and a Good News Story you shall have. Tonight on my way to a show at X88 gallery by train and a short walk through the 'tunnel' while seeing no buskers I saw none of the (no) Begging Busking signs, they were ALL gone! I did however see this post-it note which I don't think I would have seen if I was not looking for the nasty no-no signs. #CHOOSEHOPESYDNEY
And then after seeing POSTAL by Stuart Silcox at X88. On my way back through the 'Tunnel' I saw this dude, Marc White playing guitar in the tunnel! All I can say is I was very pleased. And after a small contribution I was able to get this shot. Closer to Devonshire Street exit there was a flautist playing classical pieces. Perfect!
