Dreaming in Meta

If you’re an audiophile like me, the name Bowers & Wilkins alone sparks awe and adulation of their endless pursuit of sound perfection.  One small problem: I’m also an apartment dweller, so room-filling, crystal-clear sound has to come in a small package.  Coming from a company that uses diamonds (yes, diamonds) in their tweeters, I had high expectations. After a few days’ worth of critical listening, I can honestly say B&W has met and exceeded expectations with the Zeppelin Mini.

The first thing I noticed about the Zep Mini is its diminutive size in comparison to its big brother, the Zeppelin. Don’t let its small package fool you, though; it has more than enough power to compete with the big boys.

Yes, it’s an iPod/iPhone speaker dock, but it is a lot more than that: it has a USB connection for digital audio streaming, and a 2.5” auxiliary input for external devices, in my case an XM Radio unit. The beauty of the USB connection is that the digital decoding is off-loaded to the Zep’s onboard digital-to-analog converters, resulting in much higher sound quality.  The only downside is that the higher-quality equipment will reveal the flaws of MP3 files, so make sure you’re using high resolution formats, such as Apple Lossless and FLAC.

In my critical listening test, I put on Ativin’s Summing The Approach, a 4-song EP recorded by Steve Albini - my barometer by which I test audio equipment.  Full of crescendos and rich, natural reverb, the Zep handled it beautifully, even showcased the crisp, piercing crack of drummer Rory Leitch’s snare, a wonderful detail that is lost on quite a few speakers.

GSM phone users can rejoice that the Zep is GSM-shielded, so you won’t have to put your iPhone into Airplane Mode. The design of the dock allows for my tendency to want to grip my iPhone while using it, a nice subtle touch by B&W’s design team. Compared to its $200 more Bose counterpart, the SoundDock 10, the Zep has on board control keys - if you lose the Bose remote, you’re out of luck. (It’s no secret I’m not a fan of Bose - honestly, I think their gear is overpriced, overhyped and underwhelming.)

True to their culture of continuous improvement and innovation, B&W has released firmware updates, of which are installed via USB connection. I have noticed that since I applied the latest update, sound quality has improved even more.  I am curious to know what was fixed/updated in the latest update…

Is it pricey? Well, it’s $400 - but if you want good sound in a small package (that also looks great), you can’t go wrong here.  It can be purchased at Amazon and the Apple Store.