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Shure SRH240 & SRH440

Ray Aguilera — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:27:23 -0600

Shure’s been building pro audio equipment for forever. Chances are, if you’ve seen a band perform in the last 75 years, you’ve seen some Shure gear at work. While the company is well known for its microphones, it has recently begun expanding into the headphone market. Shure has brought its considerable audio know-how to bear on the SRH240 (not shown) and the SRH440 (pictured) headphones, both of which offer studio-level sound at prices that make them attractive for home use as well.

Both the 240s and 440s are over-the-ear headphones, meaning that the ear cups surround your entire ear. This offers increased noise isolation, both for the listener who wants to mute outside noise and for everyone around you who isn’t interested in your Ace of Base dance remixes. The headphones feature stereo miniplugs, which will work with your iPod, as well as screw-on adapters for full-size headphone jacks like those on home stereos.

Shure's new headphones deliver for a wide range of listeners.

The sound quality on both models is excellent. The lower-priced 240s have a slightly narrower frequency range (20Hz to 20kHz) than the 440’s (10Hz to 22kHz), but both feature a fairly flat audio profile--meaning you hear the music as it was recorded, with natural reproduction across the audio spectrum. Bass response is good, and highs are crisp without being fatiguing. Both headphones are comfortable for extended wear.

The 440s feature a fuller sound, largely due to increased padding around the earcup and better outside noise isolation overall. Unlike the 240s, they also fold up for travel and can be stashed in the included drawstring bag. The 440s are also 5.7 ounces heavier than the 9-ounce 240s, making the latter better for use on the go. The earcups on the 440 have a wider swivel range, making them more comfortable, and we appreciate the heavier replaceable coiled cable, which ultimately makes the 440s more durable in the long run.

iLuv iSP100

Susie Ochs — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:06:09 -0500

An iPod speaker is a great investment if you want to rock out with friends--unless you and your friends prefer to dance around with headphones on, like those silhouetted party people in Apple’s print ads. iLuv’s iSP100 is portable, compact, and takes regular AAA batteries, so there’s no need to tote along an AC adapter or charger. But the anemic sound it produces might have you reconsidering that “let’s all just put our headphones on and dance around” idea.

It's nice and small, but unfortunately, so is its sound output.

To be fair, sometimes you might not want a lot of sound. Say you’re sunbathing, and you don’t want to risk “earbud tan.” Place the iSP100 at the head of your towel, turn it about halfway up, and its cone of sound will be barely noticeable by fellow beachgoers mere yards away. Other than that, or the occasional phone booth dance party, we can’t think of many killer scenarios for a speaker this wimpy. While we had it playing on the counter of a small kitchen, for example, it was hard to hear the music clearly even across the room, and when the fridge motor clicked on and vegetables were being chopped, our songs were pretty much drowned out unless we turned both the iPod and the speaker all the way up.

The oval-shaped, éclair-size iSP100 houses two speakers that iLuv claims provide surround sound via the company’s jAura acoustic speaker technology. The music, although quiet, sounded all right—not enough bass, somewhat flat-sounding highs, but respectable for the speaker’s size, and we didn’t hear bothersome distortion until it was cranked to the max. As for surround sound, we didn’t notice it. Another problem is the buttons: The on/off button protrudes from the speaker a bit and kept getting pressed accidentally by other items in our laptop bag, turning the speaker back on and wasting battery life. The only other buttons are volume up and volume down, but there’s no indicator to show if you’ve got it up (or down) all the way. There’s no battery indicator either, but battery life was impressive--we got 12 hours of full-blast music out of one set of generic alkalines.

Pioneer VSX-819H

Roberto Baldwin — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:25:00 -0500

Giant TV. Check. Super-rad universal remote. Check. Speakers strategically placed around the room so that when stuff blows up onscreen you actually feel it in your belly. Check. A/V receiver that supports up to 7.1 surround sound and the iPhone. Surprise--check!

While the iPhone has taken over your pocket and possibly your car, home theater rigs have been noticeably late to the iPhone party. Fortunately, the folks at Pioneer have taken notice of the iPhone and its league of faithful users with the release of the VSX-819H home receiver. Instead of relying on 1/8-inch cables, the system includes a USB port with a USB-to-dock cable.

Once you have your iPod or iPhone attached to the receiver, you have a very important decision to make. What do you do with the tiny front panel on the front of the receiver that hides the USB port? The panel comes off, instead of being on hinges. This is fine if you’re a bit anal-retentive, but it’s not so great if you tend to lose things or have a kid at home. Once you find a safe place for the panel, the magic happens. Thanks to the dock connector, you can control your iPod or iPhone with the receiver’s remote and have the audio blasting out of your expensive speakers. The device also supports video playback from capable iPods, although at press time, Apple’s 3.0 software update broke video output on the iPod touch and iPhone when using third-party cables.

Great sound on a budget.

Beyond the nice iPod/iPhone integration, the VSX-819H pumps out some impressive sound for a sub-$300 receiver. The highs felt crisp and lows were tight without sounding muddy. Pioneer’s Advanced Sound Retriever added a bit of warmth to our compressed audio files without compromising the high end. The receiver features the ability to tune your setup via an included microphone. After placing the mic in the center of a room, the system sends out a series of tones that it uses to tweak your audio settings based on your speaker placement and room acoustics. Golden-eared perfectionists can also manually adjust the phase and volume of their speaker setups by hand. An impressive number of surround sound formats are supported, including Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio for Blu-ray players.

If you’re the type of person who’s more interested in what’s on the back of a receiver than what it looks like, the VSX-819H’s inputs are adequate for all but the hard-core home theater geeks. The unit features three HDMI, three composite, two component, one coaxial, and two digital optical inputs. For output, the Pioneer sports single HDMI, composite and component ports. Pioneer is quick to point out that this device is not a digital converter. It doesn’t support upscaling signals from composite or component inputs to HDMI output.

Out of the box you’re ready for a 5.1 setup. A pre-out is available for 6.1 and 7.1 setups as well. The automatic setup mentioned above makes getting more complex systems up and running a breeze: You won’t eat up an entire Sunday twiddling knobs. Just connect the speakers, run the automated setup, and sit back to enjoy the special extended director’s cut of Watchmen. Nice!

The front of the device has all the knobs and buttons you’ll need when you lose the remote in the couch, and it doesn’t look tacky. The display is easy to read and bright enough for daytime viewing, but won’t blind you at night. Navigating the menus within the system was a breeze and we found ourselves bravely treading into the menu system without consulting the owner’s menu first.

iHome iP1

Ray Aguilera — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 03:42:00 -0500

Bongiovi DPS technology brings some serious rock cred to your iPhone or iPod.

We’re amazed how many iPod speaker docks these days still won’t play nicely with the iPhone--it’s been two-and-a-half years, people! Which is one of the reasons we’re so excited about iHome’s iP1. Besides being iPhone-friendly, it also looks great, a piece we wouldn’t mind having in our living room. The sound is a step up as well, which is fitting since the iP1 is the first in iHome’s new Studio Series line. And here’s the kicker--the iP1 features some high-tech circuitry that makes it rock even harder at the touch of a button: the Bongiovi button (more on that in a bit).

The iP1 features a pair of 4-inch woofers and 1-inch dome tweeters mounted on a smoky acrylic face. Besides the dock connector, which sports Power, Volume Up/Down, and the aforementioned Bongiovi button, the unit is free of any extra bells or whistles, giving it a clean, elegant look. At about 16.25 inches wide and 7 inches high, the iP1 can fit just about anywhere. In addition to the dock connector, there’s a line-in jack on the back, for use with practically any audio source. And if you’ve got video stored on your iPod, the iP1 will let you output it to your television, courtesy of the component video outs.

More than just a pretty face.

Sound quality of the iP1 was surprisingly good given its small size. iHome has incorporated Bongiovi Acoustics’ Digital Power Station audio processing, which widens the soundstage in addition to boosting bass response. Audiophiles might cringe at the idea of after-the-fact processing, but to our ears, activating the Bongiovi DPS button improved pretty much every kind of audio, from podcasts to rock tracks and Run DMC jams. Bongiovi Acoustics is helmed by Tony Bongiovi, who built NYC’s Power Station Studios in the 1970s and is cousin to Jon Bon Jovi, whose tracks also benefited from the Bongiovi button during our testing of the iP1.

We do wish the unit were a bit louder overall, for use in bigger spaces. But for desks, spare bedrooms, and other smaller areas, the iP1 has plenty of power. The included remote is thoughtfully laid out, although we had occasional problems with it skipping lines as we scrolled through large lists of artists or tracks on our iPods. You can adjust bass and treble from the remote, although since there’s no display on the iP1, there’s no way to tell what your current settings are.

Aluratek AIREC01F

Susie Ochs — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:41:53 -0500

Bring Internet radio from around the globe to a stereo near you.

Back in the day, people listened to the radio all the time, and families would gather ’round it in the evenings, and it was all a very big deal--um, so we’re told. Today it’s easy to look at radio as a last resort, the old standby when you forget your iPod or there’s no computer around for firing up Pandora. Fans of radio will appreciate the Aluratek WiFi Internet Radio, Home Theater Edition, aka the AIREC01F (another tech product whose name just rolls off the tongue).

The Aluratek connects to your stereo or powered speakers with RCA cables, then connects to your network over Wi-Fi or Ethernet. Entering our wireless network’s case-sensitive password with the remote’s numeric keypad was frustratingly slow and error-prone. But once you’re connected, you can scroll through the stations by location, genre, and so on, in pages of 100, and add them to your favorites list. We were blown away by the huge selection: every kind of music, TV audio (in case you feel like listening to some C-SPAN), news, sports, even scanner channels. You can listen in on NASA’s Mission Control, for example.

Video may have killed the radio star, but Internet radio is helping resurrect it.

For search capabilities, not to mention easier browsing, you can log in to aluratek.vtuner.com with your device’s vTuner ID and interact with the stations list--even add new stations that aren’t listed already. You can manage your favorites list from here too.

To play music from a USB drive, connect it to the port in back and select Media Player mode. Browsing with the remote is simple, but iTunes-standard AAC files (ending in .m4a or .m4p) aren’t supported, only MP3, WAV, or Mac-unfriendly WMA files.

The Aluratek is a UPnP-compatible device, so it should be able to read music stored on a Universal Plug-n-Play server. But the manual recommends PC-only software for hosting the server. To run a UPnP server on our Mac, we installed Elgato’s EyeConnect ($49.95, www.elgato.com) after not having luck getting the Aluratek to work with Playback ($15, yazsoft.com) or Connect360 ($20, www.nullriver.com). EyeConnect lives in your System Preferences, lets you share music from iTunes or anywhere else on your Mac, and works with the Aluratek. Browsing our iTunes playlists with the Aluratek’s remote, however, was a less than satisfying experience, with big lags between screens.

Ultimate Ears 700

Ray Aguilera — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 17:15:19 -0500

Ultimate Ears has been making in-ear monitors for professional musicians for nearly 15 years. The company was founded by Alex Van Halen and Jerry Harvey, a sound engineer for the band--a couple of dudes who know what they’re talking about when it comes to audio. Musicians rely on UE’s monitors during performances, and now you can bring that pro-level tech home in the form of earbuds. Even if you’re just listening to “Panama” while you’re walking the dog, rather than pounding it out on the skins in a packed arena, Ultimate Ears can make your iPod rock that much harder.

Rock out with your Ultimate Ears out.

UE’s 700 earbuds are exceptionally light. Tipping the scales at a barely noticeable 11.6 grams, these ’buds are comfortable for extended wear by commuters and dedicated music fans alike. Inside the box, Ultimate Ears includes a plastic hard case (though we were hoping for the crush-proof metal case included with some other UE models), silicone eartips in three sizes, and two sizes of foam eartips. While the foam models offered a more complete seal of our ear canals (and consequently better noise isolation and acoustics), for ease of use we ended up favoring the silicone version.

The earbuds feature a dual armature design. Essentially, each channel contains two tiny speakers for more accurate sound reproduction. We listened to everything from podcasts to classic house tracks with the 700s and were impressed with their range. Acoustic music was smooth and clear, while straight-ahead rock tunes (“Panama” included) provided a pleasing punch. Sound quality was clean at different volume levels--without muddiness when cranked up or loss of bass response when playing quietly--and we like the included attenuator, an optional dongle that can lower volume spikes in your audio. Overall, we were pleased with the sound quality of the 700s, but we did feel that the sound was a bit on the bright side--a little too much treble that can fatigue your ears with extended use.

iPhone and late-model iPod users should note that the 700s do not include button controls or a mic, although they work fine for listening to music. You’ll just have to navigate your tunes the old-fashioned way.

Fifth-Generation iPod nano

Susie Ochs — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:51:45 -0500

We loved the last iPod nano (5 out of 5 stars, Nov/08, p68) with its brightly colored, sleekly tapered aluminum case, accelorometer-assisted Cover Flow and Shake-to-Shuffle, and Genius playlists. The fifth-generation nano brings back all that goodness and shovels on even more "OMG WANT" features, including an FM radio, pedometer, and video camera.

The video camera is obviously the marquee addition, no pun intended. A tiny lens on the back of the nano captures 640x480 H.264 video, and an even tinier microphone records AAC audio. We needed to experiment to find the best ways to hold the nano while keeping the screen visible and our fingers out of the shot. Whichever way the nano is held, the preview appears right-side-up on the screen, so we initially thought we could hold it upside-down in portrait mode--and we wound up with a bunch of upside-down video. If you start shooting with the nano upside-down, your video will be OK. But if you start shooting right-side-up and then turn the nano upside-down, your footage will flip too, even though the preview image on the screen is always upright.

Video quality is not up to the Flip cameras' standard, with more washed-out colors and less detail. Still, it's fun to shoot with, provided you have enough light. Holding the center button brings up 15 special effects that can be added to your footage in real time--Sepia, Black & White, X-Ray, Motion Blur, Cyborg, and more.

When you dock the nano, the videos (in MP4 format) are uploaded to iPhoto, but you can't use iPhoto's Facebook or Flickr uploaders to get them online. Your best bet is to export the clip to your Desktop (File > Export, and choose Original as the format). Then you can open the exported MP4 file in QuickTime to perform some trims or add a quick soundtrack. You can import the clip into iMovie for more extensive editing, although we had to choose File > Import > Movies from iMovie, as dragging the MP4 file onto the iMovie icon didn't work.

The camera's tiny mic also lets you record voice notes using the built-in Voice Memos app. Your memos are saved as AAC files and synced to iTunes with date stamps. You can also label a memo as a podcast, interview, lecture, idea, meeting, or memo, to make it easier to tell them apart later.

The radio feature is new too, but it only works with headphones plugged in, since the wire acts as an antenna. This means you can't listen to the radio with the iPod in a speaker dock, since the dock connector and headphone jack are next to each other on the nano's bottom. The radio won't play through the nano's tiny built-in speaker, either, even though any other audio can. You tune the dial (87.5 to 107.9) with the clickwheel, and save stations as favorites. Pressing pause will buffer the radio for up to 15 minutes, letting you resume playback where you left off. If the station supports iTunes Tagging, you'll see the current artist and song name displayed on the nano's screen, and you can hold the center button and choose Tag from the contextual menu. The nano remembers everything you tagged, and when you sync with your Mac, you'll see a playlist of Tagged Songs in your sidebar, with links to buy those songs on iTunes.

The built-in pedometer can be always on, or turned on manually, and it counts your steps as you bop around with your iPod in your pocket. When you dock the nano, the data is uploaded to nikeplusactive.com, tracking your progress toward various goals (walking to the top of a virtual 100-story skyscraper, burning off the calories in a hot dog, and so on). You can also tell the nano your weight, and have it calculate the calories burned by your steps. This Nike+ Active system isn't the same as the more robust Nike+ running system (nikerunning.nike.com), which still requires the Nike+ iPod Sport Kit ($29, www.apple.com) with its wireless sensor for your shoes and wireless receiver that plugs into the nano's dock port.

Besides the new bells and whistles, the fifth-gen nano is pretty close to its predecessor. It's the same shape and size, but the new nano's 2.2-inch, 240x376 display is bigger than the fourth-gen's 2-inch, 240x320 screen. The fonts are a little bigger, the menus a little more spaced out. For watching videos or using Cover Flow, just tilt the nano on its side and the accelerometer reorients the display.

The nano supports VoiceOver, letting you hear what song is playing and navigate between tracks and playlists with buttons on your headphones. But bizarrely, the included headphones don't have the buttons--you have to upgrade to the $29 Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic, or the pricier $79 Apple In-Ear Headphones with Remote and Mic, or use a compatible third-party set. (Our Griffin TuneBuds Mobile worked fine.) Visually impaired users can opt for the Spoken Menus feature instead, which works with any headphones or speakers.

Battery life is impressive. Apple estimates 24 hours of music playback, but in our tests (with the pedometer off, Energy Saver on, and volume set to 50 percent), a brand-new nano pumped out a little more than 29 hours of music before needing to be recharged. Apple estimates 5 hours of video playback, and using the pedometer or video camera does ding those numbers a little.

Ion Audio Tailgater

Ray Aguilera — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 04:33:00 -0500

iPods are great, and we’re rarely without one. But sometimes a pair of earbuds just isn’t enough--especially when you want some tunes for a backyard BBQ or basement dance party, or perhaps your favorite Lemonheads record just doesn’t sound right unless you crank it up. Either way, Ion Audio’s Tailgater can help you rock with friends, indoors or out.

Weighing in at 20 pounds, the Tailgater is best described as “luggable” rather than portable. It’s about the size of a small guitar amp--12.5 by 9.5 by 14 inches--and, in fact, features XLR and 1/4-inch stereo inputs for hooking up a guitar or the included microphone. The internal battery will keep the party going for about 8 hours. Standard RCA inputs also let you connect any source, provided you have the right patch cable. There’s even a line out, so that you can connect multiple Tailgaters for even bigger sound. A full recharge takes about 12 hours via the included AC adapter, and there’s a handy LED power gauge on the top panel, so you can keep track of how much juice is left.

Take your karaoke revue on the road.

Soundwise, we were pretty happy with the Tailgater. It’s plenty loud for use outdoors, and the inputs all feature individual gain knobs so that you can tweak the levels until they’re perfect. The master volume knob lets you project sound near or far, and the Tailgater’s sound is consistent at both high and low volume levels. Our only beef with the sound quality is that Tailgater favors the midrange. Both the highs and lows were a bit washed out, but given the Tailgater’s likely uses, we weren’t expecting audiophile-quality sound anyway.

The Tailgater can also optionally charge a compatible iPod (any newer iPod that supports USB charging) connected via the 30-pin dock connector. There’s a switch next to the dock to turn the charging feature on or off. Unfortunately, the Tailgater is not certified to work with the iPhone. Plugging in our 3G triggers the familiar “this device is not made to work with iPhone” message, which you can dismiss. It will work for playback, but charging isn’t supported.

The build quality of the Tailgater is impressively solid. Though it’s not as road-ready as the pro amps that clearly influenced its design, you’ll have no problem throwing it in your trunk and taking it out for a day at the park. We also appreciated the rubber feet on the bottom that kept the case from scratching our wood floors. Our only concern about durability stems from the master volume, which felt flimsier than the other knobs, although we didn’t experience any problems with it during our test period.