This here is the new Google Nest Mini, which is basically the second-generation Google
Home Mini but with updated branding as well as upgraded insides. It looks and feels pretty
much the same as this, the original Google Home Mini but one of the key differences Google
is pushing is the improved sound quality from the bigger, better speaker inside which they
claim produces twice the bass and sounds “bigger and better than ever”. So in this video,
we’ll be doing a side-by-side comparison using a professional, high quality microphone
in a controlled studio environment, to listen to the difference in sound!
Hi! Welcome back to another Switched on Network video, I’m @paulfp and this channel covers
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So for this test I’ll be placing both Minis side by side with acoustic foam panels surrounding
them. I’m recording audio with a RODE NTG-1 shotgun microphone boomed overhead, at an
equal distance from both speakers. This is a fantastic high quality microphone by the
way and I can’t recommend it enough; there’s an affiliate link in the video description,
so if you’re in the market for a good shotgun microphone for your productions, using that
link will help support this channel.
The RODE microphone is recording straight into my camera, which is a Sony HXR-NX80 and
the audio levels will be set to manual - NOT auto! - and, of course, set at the same level
for each test. I’m not doing any audio processing at all on the audio for that part of the video,
and the export from Premiere Pro won’t do any Loudness normalisation. Obviously YouTube
will do its own thing too, so I’ve uploaded the original, untouched WAV files to Patreon
so if you’re a Patron, you can download these and have a listen - the link’s in
the video description.
I’m going to play the same track from Google Play Music on each speaker, without telling
you which one you’re listening to - I’ll call them A and B. Grab your headphones and
have a listen, then write in the comments section which you preferred the sound of,
if you could tell the difference, that is, and why. Don’t prejudice yourself by reading
any other comments first, just listen and then type in what you think!
For the first test I’ve chosen “Losing Sleep” by Venus Demilo - it starts with
gentle guitar, then vocals come in and then at about the 50 second mark, the whole band
joins in and we hear more bass and drums, so we’ll want to be able to pick out the
clear, deep bass notes and the individual thuds from
the drummer’s bass drum.
Next up, one of my favourite pieces of music, the 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky! It’s 16
and a half minutes long so I’m obviously not going to play the whole thing twice. Let’s
listen to the very start where we it opens with the strings….
To my ears, stood here in the studio creating this video… I have to say my favourite was……
the new one! I think the sound had much more clarity and richness to it, and the lower
bass tones were clean and powerful - it made the old one sound tinny in comparison.
Let me know if you agree with me and what your thoughts are! If you’ve enjoyed this
video please give it a thumbs up, subscribe to the channel and take a look at some of
the other videos on screen now.
Plus, if you enjoy the videos on this channel and you’d like to help support me so I can
continue making more videos like this one, there’s a link on screen now to Patreon,
so please do take a look!
That’s all for now, thanks for watching and I’ll see you in the next one!