Soundcast Outcast Junior

60W outdoor sound system – the ultimate in ASBO tech?

Configuring the Junior and and the iCast is very simple. With the iCast on, use the channel switcher on this transmitter to match the channel number on the Junior. Press play and a connection kicks in very swiftly. Also, if you are using an iPod, simple pause, play, track up/down choices are possible from the Junior’s control panel, so there is no need to return to the transmitter to adjust playback. As you would expect, this function is not available to devices plugged in using the 3.5mm jack sockets on either the Junior or the iCast. Control functions are also disabled on Macs connected to the UAT, although PCs do get some playback control.

The Outcast control panel is pretty much identical to the Junior

The first option we tried was an iPod via the iCast transmitter at a rather thin 128kps. With not too much to work with, the speaker’s 6.5in down firing subwoofer, four mutli-direction drivers and 60W digital amplifier, delivered a really impressive musical performance. Kylie’s I Can’t Get You Out of My Head, gave the speaker more than enough to think about, with its strong bass mixed with fluffy high vocal passages.

The unit delivered a sound that was more than just a bit of background, you could comfortably just sit and listen to it as a focus of entertainment. Going to the other extreme, we tried at few tracks from Slayer’s seminal thrash metal album Reign in Blood. The challenge here for the speakers is just to keep pace with the frenetic guitar and thunderous bass attack. It genuinely appeared to enjoy the task providing all the attack and menace intended for each song.

Upping the bit rate from the iPod 320kps and the Live at the Woolf Trap album by the Doobie Brothers revealed that the Junior is not just capable of decent sound reproduction in difficult environments, it is a good speaker system in its own right, regardless of its roaming capabilities.

You get the very best performance situated around six to eight feet away, where the sound is very thick and detailed for a single enclosure system. Plugging in through the speaker’s own line-in jack also provides a pleasing performance and, of course, utilising this option means it can go anywhere you go. We decided that, as the great British Summer was in full swing, the beach was the only logical place we could really put the Junior to the test.

Base response: the 6.5in bass driver projects downward through the bottom of the unit

Sure enough, you can annoy the hell out of any one sitting near you trying to read their trash holiday novel. And taking the Junior to its very loud extremes, playback definition remains detailed. Even in an open space like a beach, you can deliver sound across a wide area – a good thirty feet away, the output was still sufficient.