Marshall today introduced the London – an Android smartphone, designed with audio in mind.
Marshall London audio features include:
- dual headphone jacks, which can be used for queuing with DJ software;
- dual microphones, for recording in stereo;
- dual speakers, which Marshall says make the London ‘the loudest mobile phone on earth; and
- several music apps.
While the Marshall London boasts unique audio features and a premium phone price (about US $600), the phone’s other specifications have been described as ‘pretty low end’.
As for audio latency, which has been the primary show-stopper for Android music software, Marshall says that the London’s Android Lollipop OS provides ‘low latency audio input ensures that music and communication applications provide an amazing realtime experience.”
Since they only mention audio input, it’s unclear yet whether the London will offer the audio performance required for interactive music apps, where low-latency audio input, low-latency audio output, fast audio processing and low-latency touchscreen control are all required.
Marshall London features include:
- Twin Stereo Jacks – Two stereo jacks, allowing you and a friend to listen to music together. Each with an independent volume control.
- Dual Speakers – The loudest mobile phone on Earth? Possibly. Two front facing speakers make London the perfect tool for listening to music without headphones, too.
- Scroll Wheel – The scroll wheel gives you quick access to volume control, with tactile precision to find just the right spot.
- M-Button – At the heart of the London is the M-Button – a dedicated one-click access to your music, whatever the source of it may be. Thanks to this ingenious bit of engineering, you can control your music on top of whatever else you happen to have on your screen.
- The Sound – the Wolfson WM8281 Audio Hub soundcard gives the London a separate processor for music, allowing the phone to play higher resolution files, according to Marshall.
- Global Equalizer – UThe Global Equalizer will apply your selected profile to whichever music player you use. Accessing the equalizer is quick via the M-Button.
- Bluetooth aptX – Bluetooth aptX delivers real-time high quality stereo audio over a Bluetooth connection.
- MODE in ear headphones included – London comes with Marshall Mode in-ear headphones.
- Design – matte black surface is inspired by tolex covering of a Marshall amp & brass details are found on the scroll wheel, M-Button and both stereo jacks.
- LoopStack – Pre-installed on London is the Android app, LoopStack. LoopStack is a 4-channel recorder that allows you to record four tracks independently. LoopStack offers high quality 44KHz 16bit recording and processing.
- DJApp – London will come with a DJ app pre-installed. Connect your headphones and sound system into the two stereo jacks, launch the app and that’s it.
- Microphone – London comes equipped with dual microphones for recording in stereo. Noise reduction means you’ll be able to easily hear your tracks, even if you’re recording outside.
For details specs, see the Marshall Audio site.
reminds me of the verizon commercial “can you hear me?”
Its like a headline from The Onion.
Now we wait for Vox and the Dartford phone..
Hell, I’d buy a Vox Dartford
Let me guess, the only carrier that sells it is Orange.
strange days
If it only had a decent music app (id est Garageband), it would be a nice idea.
Excellent design, tough.
wow, i look forward to the apple iTube!
The dual audio jacks are a cool feature. Just too bad it’s saddled with mediocre specs, and Android, which Google has failed on the audio side.
Cool design! I hope the volume goes to 11.
Seems perfect for music playing, not for music creation.
Android devices have some important things going for them, both with hardware and the OS. You can install apps on it without going through the Play store. You can use SD card that you can access locally and attached via USB as a mass storage device from your computer– so you can move files easily between them. You can choose from an array of manufacturers who are truly competing for innovative features; as opposed to Apple devices which offer a shorter list with some awkward ratio of curb appeal, a dumbed-down UI, and often impractical monolithic form factors. E.g., my iPad 4 has one mono speaker ON THE BACK!! (face-palm).
Otherwise, android hardware does compete with iOS devices in many ways. The weakness with both platforms is the microphone and speakers. iOS mics sound ok, but not great, and you are unable to set input levels (!). The speakers are all pretty weak, but you can use earbuds and get good sound- so not a huge issue.
I carry around a Zoom H2n which has impressive sound quality for recording, and the difference between rehearsal recordings I make with the H2n vs. the iOS recordings that get sent around is obvious.
With the latency issue and Android, it is interesting that no matter how fast the device processor is, the latency seems the same. The question of whether this is a fatal flaw has been addressed in the past. I suspect that the Lollipop OS did little to fix this. Anyone with a Lollipop device, can open up Caustic, and tap the keyboard to get an instant confirmation of this.
Who really makes music with an iPad with the inbuilt mic/speaker?
I use either the imidi+4 to send and recieve audio digitally over the lightning cable, or I use a eighteen input + eight output sound card from focusrite..
The sound quality is fantastic
If your out and about the inbuilt mic is fine, or get an irig mic input. Use headphones.
So many options. I have a tascam dual mic for my iphone too, also sounds great
The loudest mobile phone on earth? I fear the worst.
No line input????
Awaiting the Fender “NEW YORK” to be released!
There is no VCA, VCF, OSC and it is digital!? shame! Lol 🙂
Why you haven’t added MyAudioStream to this list. It plays FLAC and all the popular formats, also stream music without conversion. All the UPnP/DLNA compatible devices like wireless speakers, AV receivers and just TVs are coonected. I use this app to listen to my daughter’s recordings in a FLAC format.