Product Description
Need better sound from your laptop? The stylish new B-Flex 2 is a compact stereo speaker on a USB flex cable for laptops and desktops. Plug and play for PC and Mac with no batteries or wires! Simple to use, fantastic for travel, mp3′s, DVD’s, presentations, and gaming! Features dual 1 watt digital amps and 2 full range paper cone micro drivers for crystal clear sound. The B-Flex 2 digital circuitry even works on computers without sound cards. The patented flex design allows you to position the speaker for optimum listening enjoyment. The only product of its kind, the B-Flex has been featured in the New York Times, on ABC News, on Gizmodo, and many others. WIRED magazine says the B-Flex 2 “Puts laptop speakers to shame.” Makes a fantastic gift! Available in Black, White, Pink, Red, and Silver.
This incredible gadget was featured in the NY Times, on ABC News, in WIRED magazine, and on virtually every gadget site in the world…. More >>
- Plug and play for PC* and Mac. Uses only USB power, no wires or batteries!
- Simple to use. Incredibly compact and portable. Fantastic for travel!
- Produces crystal clear sound with dual 1-watt digital amps and 2 high output, full range micro drivers.
- Patented flexible design allows you to really customize your listening experience by flexing the speaker into virtually any position.
- This incredible gadget was featured in the NY Times, on ABC News, in WIRED magazine, and on virtually every gadget site in the world.
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I don’t feel I’ve been ripped off. Until I worked on integrating these speakers into my system, I’ve been in like with ubuntu Linux. But now, my enthusiasm is less because this task shouldn’t have been so hard. I found it extremely hard but bottom line, I do have them working. The volume is fantastic, a million percent better than my pc speakers. Yes, the base could be improved but for the price, I find it better than acceptable.
I’ll document here in case it helps someone else:
Note: not sure this is the right order but the end result of this for my system was successful – may be some reboots necessary between steps..
1. confirm that Pulseaudio volume control and Pulseaudio meter control is installed – (go to pull down menu for Applications, then add/remove, then search for pavumeter and pavucontrol – if not installed, then install)
2. double click on “master applet” (mine looks like a microphone in upper right corner- single click will get you only volume increase or decrease- need to double click)
3. select “c-media usb audio device (alsa mixer) from the list in the pull down at the top of the box
FYI – I know that my speaker was “C-Media” by entering following command from a terminal session:
$ cat /proc/asound/cards
returned info below:
—————————————————-
0 [Intel ]: HDA-Intel – HDA Intel
HDA Intel at 0xf4600000 irq 22
1 [default ]: USB-Audio – C-Media USB Audio Device
C-Media USB Audio Device at usb-0000:00:1d.0-1, full speed
—————————————————-
4. start pulse audio device chooser in pulldown under Applications/sound
5. select preferences in chooser and then check box for “start applet on session login”
6. (this is most vital step to do!) modify /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base by commenting out “options usb snd audio index=-2 i.e. insert “#” at beginning of line (this line was preventing the usb speaker from becoming the default)
7. click on system pull down menu, then preferences/sound and click on devices tab, then set or confirm that:
a. “Sound events – sound playback – says “c-media…”
b. “Music and movies – sound playback – says “c-media…”
c. confirm both fields under Audio Conferencing say “pulseaudio server”
d. confirm that “Default Mixer Tracks” says “c-media…”
8. Note: need to reboot (now is excellent time if not rebooted yet) at some point after the file in modprobe.d directory changed and before you can increase volume on usb speakers in next steps
9. click on pulseaudio applet (mine is in a tray at the top of my screen)
10. select volume control
11. select playback
12. then adjust volume by sliding bar – this was point that my speaker(s) started working properly
I have Toshiba laptop, each time I plug these speakers they disable the mouse and don’t produce sound?!? Tried it with desk top, worked fine – excellent quality sound.
I bought this item to improve the sound of the notebook (Acer) as it was not excellent enough for skype or messenger chats. Once plugged into a USB port it certainly enhances the sound but the build in microphone of the notebook no longer functions. It goes into a mute and we cannot use this speaker during skype or messenger chatting. I am surprised that this issue was not mentioned in previous reviews but this is what happened to us. I have tried different settings for audio but none of them solved the problem.
I first found this speaker didn’t work with my Toshiba. Tried it in several models at the local Best Buy with salesman permission. Many worked just fine and others just did not. Sony Vaio worked the best. The speaker is much better than I expected. Am purchasing another one for my brother! Just be sure it works with your system before buy.
I bought this plug-in speaker for my Gateway laptop in order to listen to ancient time radio shows on internet [...] and it works fine. Sometimes is so loud I have to turn down computer volume.