Why use a mini speaker at home
Looking for a mini home speaker with Bluetooth? If possible practical, simple and wireless? A small object that has style without overdoing it? At Quark we value DIY culture and good sound. I invite you to discover the world of our speaker for the home. An object that will easily find a place in your daily life.
Using a mini speaker for the home
A mini home speaker with Bluetooth is a small, portable speaker that connects wirelessly to a Bluetooth-enabled device, such as a smartphone or tablet. The mini speaker is used to play music or other sounds. Mini speakers can be small and portable, but they often deliver impressive sound quality for their size.
Quark's mini home speaker is a small cube with a side of 12 cm. The speaker is lightweight and weighs 890 grams. It moves very easily throughout the house. It connects to the sector to avoid all questions related to autonomy.
Why use a mini bluetooth speaker?
Mini speakers are popular for several reasons:
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Portability: They're small and easy to carry, making them ideal for travel, outdoor activities, and nights out with friends.
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Sound quality: Some mini speakers can produce high quality sound, despite their small size.
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Wireless connection: Most mini speakers have Bluetooth technology, which makes them simple to connect to a compatible device without any cables.
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Ease of use: Mini speakers are often very easy to use and set up,
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Affordable price: Mini speakers are often affordable and inexpensive, which makes them accessible to a wide audience.
Which rooms in the house should you use a mini speaker in?
The mini speakers can be used in multiple rooms of the house, depending on your music and sound needs. Here are some suggestions:
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Bedroom: To listen to music or radio broadcasts in the morning or before sleeping.
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Bathroom: To listen to music or podcasts while taking a shower or brushing your teeth.
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Kitchen: For listening to music while preparing meals or washing dishes.
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Living room: To listen to music or watch a movie with family or friends.
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Garden or terrace: To listen to music while you enjoy the good weather outside.
Don't forget that your usage also depends on the size of your home and the power of the speaker. Some mini speakers may be more suitable for use in small spaces while others may be used in larger spaces.
Can I throw a party with the Quark mini speaker?
The Quark mini speaker has a 20 W RMS amplifier with a 20 W Faital Pro speaker (it's the Faital Pro 3FE25 4 Ohm).
In general, a 20W speaker can be powerful enough to fill a small to medium sized room with clear and powerful sound. On the other hand, if the room is very large or there are a large number of people present, you will need a more powerful speaker or several speakers to fill the room with sufficiently loud sound. It is therefore important to consider the specific needs of your situation before choosing a speaker.
The Quark mini speaker will not have enough low frequencies to entertain a party of 6 people. So don't place false hopes in this place. It is perfectly suited for cocoon use, with the family, for an aperitif. But we don't recommend it to host a party :)
What does the Quark mini speaker offer
Quark's mini home speaker is an unusual item. The speaker is Open Source and we are going to tell you more about what it has in store!
The enclosure
Here is a small definition to start with. Open source refers to a model of software development and distribution where the source code is made available to the public so that it can be examined, modified and shared. This development model is based on sharing and collaboration, with the goal of creating better and more reliable software. Contributors can suggest improvements, report bugs, and work together to develop better software. Open source software is often distributed free of charge and can be used for commercial or personal use.
Let's start with the engine
The Quark speaker is based on an ESP32 microcontroller. We can compare this chip to the "brain" of our speaker
The ESP32 is a microcontroller chip integrating a dual-core processor and WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. It is developed by the Chinese company Espressif Systems. This chip is popular in Internet of Things (IoT) projects due to its features such as low power consumption, real-time processing capability, and wireless connectivity options. Many developers use it to create connected objects such as home automation systems, sensors, screens and portable electronic devices. The ESP32 is often chosen for its features, convenience, and affordability over other microcontroller options.
What did we put in the brain?
We added the Squeezelite-esp32 to our chip. This is its internal software, also called Firmware. Find the project on Github. The firmware community is simply fantastic! We thank her again here for this work and this passion! The speaker is Bluetooth 5 compatible but it can also act as a Squeezelite Receiver. Warning the eyes.
Small detail: Squeezelite is an open source project that allows you to run an audio streaming server on a computer or compatible device. It is designed to be lightweight and fast, with low system resource consumption. Squeezelite is compatible with the Logitech Media Server audio streaming protocol. Which means the speaker can be used to play music from a computer or network storage. The Squeezelite project is often used to build home networked music systems, where users can stream music from a centralized music library to multiple audio playback devices in their home.
So what exactly is a Squeezlite Receiver?
A Squeezelite Receiver is an audio playback device that uses Squeezelite software to receive and decode audio streams from an audio streaming server. It can be used to listen to music from computer or network storage. It is compatible with the Logitech Media Server audio streaming protocol. Squeezelite Receivers are often used to build home networked music systems, where users can stream music from a centralized music library to multiple audio playback devices in their home. Squeezelite Receivers can be used with wireless speakers, audio amplifiers and other audio playback devices to create a complete music streaming solution.
Multiroom with Squeezelite
It is possible to connect multiple speakers with Squeezelite. Using the Logitech Media Server audio streaming protocol, Squeezelite Server can be configured to send music to multiple speakers simultaneously (the Squeezelite receiver). This allows the user to stream music to different rooms in their home. However, the exact configuration will depend on the model and configuration of each loudspeaker. It therefore requires some technical knowledge to properly set up such a device.
And Apple Air Play in all this?
The team at Squeezelite-esp32, who developed the firmware for the speaker, added AirPlay to the engine. It is an audio streaming technology developed by Apple for Apple devices such as iPhone, iPad and Apple TV. It enables these devices to stream audio, video and photo content wirelessly to AirPlay-enabled speakers, TVs and receivers. This means that users can listen to music or watch videos on streaming devices without having to connect cables or transfer files. Too bad, Android devices are not compatible with AirPlay without the use of a third-party receiver.