Dock of sheer delight

A wireless dock compatible with iOS devices, LG Electronics’ ND2530 Docking Speaker comes with a Lightning connector and is primarily designed as a dock for an iPhone 5 or a new iPad.

But the ND2530 also provides support to the iPhone 4 and earlier iPad versions that use the old, larger 30-pin connector, coming with a USB port that enables the user to connect using the data/USB charger cable.

The USB port also charges your iPhone 4 while allowing you to stream music from your iPhone to the docking system. Once connected through the USB cable, the control of music player function shifts from the iPhone to the remote control of ND2530, allowing you to play/stop or skip to the next track or replay the previous track. Volume control is also shifted.

An iPhone 5 wasn’t available for the test so I tried the ND2530 with an iPhone 3, iPhone 4 and the first iPad version as well as a Bluetooth connection from an Android smart phone.

The music files played from iPhone 3, iPhone 4 and iPad smoothly through the USB connection and the phones and tablet were charged during the music playback as well.

For the Bluetooth connection with my Android smart phone, I was able to use the native Bluetooth connection of the Android OS and the music player that comes with the phone to stream music files to the docking station without any problem.

To add to the fun, I downloaded and installed the LG Bluetooth Remote App. This allowed me to connect to the ND2530 within the app and provided me  with several options to control the docking station.

For example, I could select the functions of docking station to have it to play from USB-connected iPhone, or Lighting-connector device, a Bluetooth streaming from the phone or from an analogue stereo 3.5mm jack from a portable MP3 player, which is called a Portable In.

The remote app also allowed me to choose whether to use the bass-enhancing sound effect of the docking station, which is called Bass Blast, or bypass the EQ setting.

Volume levels can be controlled and music files selected to play within the remote app.

The ND2530 has a compact and sleek body with a shiny white finish and an impressively big sound. It measures a mere 331 x 168 x 221 mm but could fill my large living room with its sound and booming bass.

The docking station has two speakers each with 8 ohm impedance. Its amplifier section has 5 watts RMS of output power.

The music quality was clear and the bass was solid. I enjoyed playing rock numbers on Android phone using LG Bluetooth Remote app for hours on end.

Tracks from AC/DC’s “Black Ice” album were loud and solid with a good bass sound while the quality sax from the “Sax for Sex – Beautiful Night” album was also very enjoyable. It should be noted that LG Thailand does not distribute LG Docking Speaker ND2530. Instead, it sells LG Docking Speaker ND2531 with the same specifications, except that ND2531 comes with a micro USB port to support Android-based smart phones, not the iPhone 5. The ND2531 retails for Bt3,990.

 

 

      Key specs

_ Amplifier channels: 2CH

_ Power Output (RMS 10% THD): 10W

_ Speakers: Front L/R 8 ohm impedance

_ Inputs: 3.5mm stereo jack, USB 1.1, Lightning connector

_ Bluetooth connection: Bluetooth 3.0

_ Music EQ: Bass Blast

_ Dimension (W x H x D): 331 x 168 x 221 mm  

_ Weight: 2.4 kg