A few years ago phones removing their 3.5 mm jack was a hot button issue. Many consumers lamented the idea of having to use Bluetooth, or opt for a dongle. Seeing a gap in the market, several companies came up with solutions to address this newfound need. One of the most notable being Helm Audio, with Synido deciding to give it a go. With a solid background in sound, they created a jack of all trades device to address several different needs. Given they have several pathways to success, is this a hit, or does it fall short?
At first glance Synido Live Dock Live 10 makes a strong impression. The packaging features their usual purple and orange colors, giving it a bold look. On the front is the product, name, and some secondary elements with a glossy finish. Turning it over reveals a couple highlighted features, such as HD sound quality.
Inside is a small orange box topped with an orange plastic cover. Under that is another box containing accessories, and below that is Synido Live Dock Live 10 securely placed in a foam holder. It really feels like a premium product, something that says a lot given the modest pricing.
Included with Synido Live Dock Live 10 is a 3.4 mm to 1/4″ adapter, a 3′ 3.5 mm to 3.5 mm cable, plus a couple inch long orange hook-and-loop fastener.
This is a rather unusual set of items to include, since they all seem to address specific niches. There might be a time when something needs to be affixed down, or adapter needed, but for the average person I imagine most will go unused.
I have mixed feelings about Synido Live Dock Live 10’s design. On a basic level I was sad to see it does not integrate with MagSafe. My hope was the circular part could utilize this to keep it from moving, or holding it when not in use. Even if a MagSafe sticker was affixed to it, the connected cable is not long enough to reach it when connected.
That aside, I don’t think Synido Live Dock Live 10 is well designed. Due to the circular shape inputs are cumbersome to use. In addition to that, a lot of inputs are not exactly intuitive to use.
For instance, the bottom has two 3.5 mm ports. Left is for a sound card, with right being the monitor. Both inputs are clearly communicated with icons, but I could see someone questioning it for a second. On both sides are a volume rocker, which again follows the previous set. Left controls input, with right controlling monitor. I just find myself having to spend too much time thinking about Synido Live Dock Live 10 before using.
Other inputs have rather specific functions. Personally, I’d expect the center button as a way to easily play/pause music. Instead, it enables/disables Bluetooth. Another set on the top have loopback (left), and headphone monitor (right). The only visual indicator Synido Live Dock Live 10 gives is a single green, or red flash around the middle button. This isn’t a problem for monitor, I’ll immediately know if I can hear my voice, it would just be nice to see a more universal indicator.
To be blunt, I don’t like how Synido Live Dock Live 10 is mixed. I tried about 20 different songs, with several headsets, and in no instance did I prefer how it sounded when connected to this device.
I consistently found Synido Live Dock Live 10 brought the instrumentals forward, especially bass tones, which caused vocals to be lost in the background. Better quality, and newer songs handled it better, though listening to some things on YouTube was rough.
Another downside was fairly noticeable interference. I could hear a low buzz when connected, something that did not occur when I used HELM Audio’s Bolt. Thankfully, it shouldn’t be noticeable when anything is playing.
One upside is the amount of power Synido Live Dock Live 10 offers. With only six volume levels, it was able to output enough power to easily enjoy my music at even the lowest volume setting on my phone. I did not test it at the other extreme, as I could legitimately see that doing some damage.
One of the main benefits to Synido Live Dock Live 10 is the compact size. It’s designed to easily fit in a bag, and allow people to stream without bringing a more complicated set up. In this sense I was surprised by its solid performance. However, it seems to be a very narrow niche.
I could see musicians finding value in the compact recording device, though gaming is a harder sell. Unless you plan on streaming on the go, a wide variety of other options exist for home. Many of these will also deliver a better finished product.
Arguably the biggest benefit to Synido Live Dock Live 10 is the ability to charge, and play. This is especially useful on the gaming side where a more demanding titles can burn through a full battery in roughly 5 hours. While it sounds great on paper, in reality I was kind of underwhelmed.
With a 30w charger I was able to go from zero to 10 in about 10 minutes while connected to Synido Live Dock Live 10. When connected directly I was able to go from zero to 22 in the same amount of time. That is about a 120 percent difference in speed.
Despite the difference in charging, it was enough to stream my favorite gacha game without worrying about battery life. I saw no change in battery life after 30 minutes when charging through Synido Live Dock Live 10. Without the dock I gained 4 percent battery life. So in either situation I should have more than enough power after a day of playing.
I also tried filming with Synido Live Dock Live 10 connected, and can confirm it was able to charger faster than I was losing power. The rate was extremely slow, about 1 percent over 8 minutes, though any increase is better than a decrease.
I don’t think Synido Live Dock Live 10 is a bad device per se, I just think it’s a very specific product that caters to a relatively small niche. Unfortunately, due to weak music performance, along with an unintuitive design, it’s hard to recommend this over a number of other products. It might be great for a musician, but for things like gaming it’s hard to beat something like Maonocaster G1 NEO. For these reasons I’d suggest examining use cases to see if this is actually the ideal product for your situation.
Editor’s Note: Synido Live Dock Live 10 was given to us for review purposes. This review is based the revised version that released in Sept. 2024. Those interested in giving it a go can save another 5 percent on it with promo code 0505Live10. This will run until Oct. 9, 2024.
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