Now let’s talk about that for a second.

At $1,000, these speakers cost more than the vast majority of desktop PCs on the market today.

Honestly, the speakers sound fantastic. You probably can’t buy something off the shelf that’s going to sound as good as the BeoLab 4.

Each speaker is powered and amplified (and as such, each speaker requires its own electrical outlet) and these pyramid-shaped speakers really crank. There are some small speakers that claim to reproduce full loudspeaker sound, and there are few that do. These do.

One issue I have with these speakers is that the BeoLab 4 is just a speaker. It’s designed to be plugged into stereos and amps and all kinds of cool products, but not necessarily computers. The BeoLab 4 PC is the same thing, but it’s designed with the right connectors to plug it into a computer sound card’s headphone jack. That does the job for the most part, but there’s no on and off switch, and there’s no volume control, so you’re relying totally on the computer’s volume control.

Each speaker is built on a 4-inch driver with a 3/4-inch fabric dome tweeter with 35 watts provided by the amp. Requiring two power outlets is a pain, but it’s mostly just an inconvenience because they only consume 7 watts of power. Don’t worry about the electrical bill. Frequency range is 50-20,000Hz.

There’s a lot of technical things I can say about these speakers, or you can read them here. The bottom line is, do you need these speakers?

Do you own a stock Dell? Yes? Then no, you don’t.

Are you an iTunes whore who’s always listening to your downloaded music? Yes? Then no, you don’t.

Watch the occasional DVD on your computer? Nah, still don’t need these.

Are you a music producer using expensive software and high end hardware? Yes? Oh. Well then yeah, these would be good.

Do you edit high definition video with multi-channel audio tracks? Yeah, these would do nicely.

Are you getting the picture?

These are awesome monitors. They sound great. They look good. They’re powered. You can even customize the colors.

The fact is, unless you need high-end speakers (and are equipped for them) you’re not going to notice the difference between these for $1,000 and a $100 set from Best Buy.

The BeoLab 4 is much more practical as a home theater speaker than it is as a desktop computer solution. They’re expensive toys for people who have a G-note to spare in this economy.

Spot news photographers are famous for their scanners. I once rode along with a photog who had five scanners going in his car at once. Personally, whether I’m on the road or in the office, the scanner is usually clacking and beeping away with potential news from around Boston or the surrounding towns.

The antennas that come with scanners aren’t exactly professional grade, but they get the job done … mostly.

But there exists a whole, eager, dedicated group of hobbyists in the field of scanning. Some of them build their own antennas, and others buy any of a variety of commercially available ones.

Lately, there’s been buzz about a so-called “Snoop” antenna, which is essentially wire inside a PVC pipe. It’s popular on eBay and some other online retailers especially.

So I bought one.

Here is some technical jargon:

The antenna claims to be tuned to 30 – 1200 MHz, but the lower bands, 30-200 MHz come in very poorly compared to the higher end of the spectrum, 450-900 MHz.

The majority of police and fire departments around Boston use 450-490ish MHz, but many still operate on the lower band, 150-162 MHz, and some towns even operate on the 25-50 MHz band.

Technical jargon over.

The Snoop antenna picks up the 400 MHz frequencies very well in my tests, pulling transmissions from Brighton to as far north as Andover, as far west as Framingham, and all the way south to Plymouth. Plymouth and Andover are well more than 20 miles away, but Framingham is much closer, and I believe the reason I’m not picking up many more is because more departments in MetroWest use the lower frequencies that the Snoop isn’t picking up.

I’m not an expert, and I don’t have sophisticated, expensive equipment to compare it to, but if you want one guy’s advice: The Snoop picks up frequencies from farther away and works well on higher frequencies. Overall, it does work better than a stock antenna, but don’t expect miracles.

That’s where an entire audio sub-industry has sprung up, catering entirely to iPod owners who want to “dock” their music box somewhere and jam to a room-filling sound that’s not mashed into their ears.

Blast and The Boston Globe recently tested five of these docks: the Altec Lansing inMotion Max at $199, the Logitech Pure-Fi Express Plus for $78, the compact iHome iH4B for $39.99, the Cambridge SoundWorks i765 for $299, and Wayland-based Sprout Creation’s all-wood Vers 2X at $199.

As a bonus, Blast also tested the Boston Acoustics Duo-I at $199 and the iHome iH51BR at $149.

For professional advice, we turned to Dariusz Dobrolinski, is co-owner of the tiny yet historic Q Audio store on Vassar Street in Cambridge, which claims to be the worlds smallest hi-fi store and one of the original distributors of CD players in the US in the early 80s. Dobrolinski said the Altec Lansing inMotion Max was the best item on the list, and we agreed.

“It sounded the richest,” Dobrolinski said. He warned us not to jump at the deepest bass or the highest treble, which some inexpensive systems tend to crank up to make up for their lower quality components.

“If you want to buy a docking system, don’t look for something that has bass and sizzles, it may impress you, but later on you will notice you don’t get the midrange and that’s where all the instruments and all the voices are,” Dobrolinski said. “Bass is not critical unless you want to fill a huge room, but none of those systems are designed for huge rooms.”

The Altec Lansing and Cambridge SoundWorks models were all very similar, though. They sounded great, look great, and come from brand names that are known for generally building their products to high quality specifications.

The iHome name has gained a lot of ground in the last three years. You often see these functional alarm clock iPod docks in both luxury hotels and college dorms. They generally sound good and have useful wakeup features like dual alarm clock times and, of course, the ability to wake up to your favorite songs blasting from your nightstand. The iH4b’s compact size and low price makes it a great value for dorm rooms and bedrooms. It has a good sound on a small footprint.

The Vers 2X is a great choice people who want something different. It doesn’t have a radio or really any other features except an iPod dock, but it’s an attractive, well-built speaker system.

Dobrolinski said that you should also focus on how the product looks. Style is important. He also said that you’ll want your dock to have a remote control so you’re not getting up all the time to tune it.

Individual products on Page 2

It is portable and can run off batteries or AC power, but that doesn’t mean you should drag it to the beach. The cloth grille and rotating knob don’t feel like they’d stack up too well against millions of miniature sand particles infiltrating their pores. (check this out for something different)

But for indoor or clean-outdoor use, you do get a compact sound machine with clear audio, decent if not great highs and the same thumping bass we’ve come to expect from every small form factor audio product on the market from a decent manufacturer.

The fact is, Logitech is turning into a strong player in the personal audio realm, putting out a variety of solutions. The Express Plus is remarkably similar in size, shape and sound as the Squeezebox Boom, which I just loved and has caused me to bookmark BBC Radio 1.

Older (by now, ancient) iPod models don’t fit as well in Pure-Fi Express Plus. At first, the remote control had no effect on my third generation iPod — it didn’t change the songs or play or pause, but I learned that was because the iPod wasn’t fully plugged in. Once I pushed down a bit, the remote worked, but that’s still a problem. The device doesn’t hold larger iPods in place very well. The Nano had no such problem, though.

The remote is a neat feature, though it doesn’t add a ton of value to the product. I tend to lose the mini-motes anyway.

I’m seeing these products for about $50 now. It’s worth it. You need something to dock your iPod, unless you just you to play your songs off iTunes. God help you.

This is one of a series of iPod-docking devices Blast is reviewing in April

That’s what Blast got to do for the last few months as we tested out the Paradigm Studio Esprit reference speakers.

The front of the system is essentially the three same speakers: the Esprit L/R and C for center. We paired the front speakers the Paradigm’s Studio ADP-590 surrounds bringing up the rear.

We also tested their Seismic 10 subwoofer.

Total price: $6,652.

The speakers have incredible range and sound great in all applications — including CD music, television, video games and DTS audio.

Installation is a worry. Unless you want to dish out $500 more for the left/right stands, you have to mount the speakers to the wall, which ends up being quite a construction feat.

Robert Stanton, co-owner of Connecticut’s Smarthome & Theater Systems and its “head geek” who’s helped me out on several Boston Globe stories, said all three of our systems were good for the mid-level audio market. The most important thing about an audio setup, Stanton said, is that all the speakers are the same brand.

“That’s very important,” he said. “When sound travels across the surround field, you want whatever is whipping by you to sound the same through every speaker.”

We were both most impressed by the Paradigm set.

Pros: It’s the best-sounding system on the list. The front, center, and rear speakers combine to create a realistic surround sound experience, and the subwoofer not only shakes a room but adds deep definition to the package.

Cons: Price is a worry. If you don’t want to drill a half dozen holes in your wall, the stands for the front speaker cost $500 more.

Overall: The Esprit sounds amazing and gets the job done, no matter what you’re using it for.

Specs on page 2.

They’re being called “nano-chromatic,” and they come in nine different colors, including silver, black, purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red and pink. When you buy the red Nano, a portion of your money will go to the (Product)Red campaign, which works to fight AIDS.

Flashy colors aside, the new Nano has made some nice design changes. Though it is the same size as the second generation, it has more appealing lines. It narrows toward the sides, giving it a more elegant shape than the blunt third generation. More importantly, the new screen is two inches diagonally, compared to old one and a half inch screen.

They are flashy -- no doubt.

With this new screen, it is finally reasonable to watch a movie on the Nano. When you play a video, it automatically turns to fit the wide screen. Technically speaking, the screen is a liquid crystal display with blue-white LED backlight and 320-by-240-px. resolution at 204px. per inch. Plainly speaking, the picture is really pretty.

Another significant improvement the fourth generation has over its predecessors is its storage capacity. Apple has doubled the capacity to 8GB or 16GB. This means 2,000 or 4,000 songs, eight hours or 16 hours of video, and 7,000 to 14,000 iPod-viewable photos. With all of this entertainment to store, battery life is always important. Fully charged, the new Nano can play 24 hours of music or four hours of video.

The new Nano functions mostly like any other iPod. You can use the touch wheel to scroll through your music, movies, pictures and such. They’re organized the same way too, but now you can tilt it sideways to view a cover flow like the one on iTunes.

Apple went to great lengths to eliminate all the scrolling and backtracking it takes to move through menus. There is a search feature, just in case you’re simply at a loss to find something manually. You can also hold down the center button while listening to a song to browse the album or other songs by the artist. As usual, you can also do this to add the song to the On-The-Go playlist. The most quirky new shortcut lets you shuffle songs without moving all the way back to the main menu. Instead, you just shake the iPod. At first, this feature is fun — one flick and you can go into shuffle mode. You quickly realize that it is an awfully violent shake though. This is probably to prevent you from inadvertently shuffling you music, but superficially, it makes you look a little crazy.

This sensitivity to motion adds a new element to playing games on the Nano. For instance, you can play an electronic version of the old maze game — tilting the “box” around to navigate the ball around a hole-filled maze. Much like using the shuffle feature though, you might look a little odd playing on the train.

The coolest feature of the new Nano is called Genius — also a feature on the latest versions of iTunes. Genius creates playlists based on a single song. It chooses at least 10 similar songs and if you like what it’s created, you can save it. The manual, iTunes and the iPod itself explain this, but if you overlooked the manual, you might not realize that the Genius feature needs to be set up on your iTunes, then synced to you iPod for it to work.

Overall, the fourth generation iPod Nano is a lot of fun. It is yet another improvement in a long line of iPods. It’s always good to have a greater capacity and a bigger screen, but the Genius is definitely a blessing to music lovers. Not to mention it looks pretty hot too.

Blast got to, well, blast, some tiny little Orb Mod2 and Mod4 setups, done by combining two or four of these baseball-sized speakers and pairing them with their Super 8 subwoofer.

We were quite satisfied with the setup of two speakers each for front left, front right and center and a single Orb for the rear left and right.

The system is completely modular, which is both a pro and a con. The good thing is that you can tear the system apart, pulling speakers to where you want them like a delicious 4-speaker center channel option. The bad thing is that it’s an utter pain in the ass to assemble the setup, and even harder to MacGyver the wiring, as you have to series-wire each speaker into the next.

There would have been a simple solution to this. The speakers use a simple, small binding post for plugging in speaker wire. Orb should have added a banana plug port at the top of the binding post or made the binding post longer with two holes so that you can completely fit the wires in the speaker. Wires popping out during use remained a concern for us, though it didn’t happen in our tests.

When you’re done pulling your hair out, the system sounds great. You really need to have the subwoofer for the whole experience, however. There is good bass definition with just the satellites, but there’s a clear improvement with the Super 8.

Under the hood, the Mod speaker has rare earth magnets paired with Santoprene, Nomex and CCAD voice coils that enable a good audio response.

The speakers also look great. They come in black gloss, pearl white gloss, polished steel, copper, and antique bronze. The subwoofer doesn’t match, however. It only comes in matte black with a gray grille.

You do get a big sound with these little speakers, and that’s always a positive. We’re seeing a ton of little speakers making a splash in home audio, but don’t confuse these with cheap bargain store specials. The setup we tested starts at about $1,000.

The speakers are only rated for about 110 watts, which is confusing and disappointing for such an expensive system.

If you’re really curious, you can get a starter package of two Mod speakers for $239, that are ready to plug into your home theater.

Technical specs on page 2.

The music coming out of your iPod doesn’t sound as good as it would coming from a CD. Period.

That doesn’t mean you have to spend $1,000 to squeeze the best possible audio out of your songs, does it?

Hence, we learn the plight of the audiophile. How good can music sound? How high can the quality get? How much should you spend?

The Marantz SA8003 was a treat. It puts out clear, rich bass notes, great midrange sound, and surprisingly clean treble with just a hint of imperfection at the highest tones. But we asked the company why anyone should pay $1,000 or more (the SA8003 is one of their midprice models) for a CD player.

After all, it’s a laser hitting a disc. What makes their lasers any better than Sony’s or even Coby for the matter.

Here’s the complete, unedited response from Kevin Zarow, vice president of marketing for Marantz — you decide:

“There is a noticeable difference between a $200 CD player and an “audiophile quality” $1,000 Super Audio CD (SACD) player like the Marantz SA8003 – and it’s something that even casual listeners will be able to hear immediately. The much higher fidelity SACD player actually enables you to hear subtle things in your favorite music that you’ve probably never heard before, like more realistic vocals, deeper, richer bass notes, as well as a wider, more three dimensional sound stage. Beyond that, the build quality between players is significant. A player such as the Marantz will weigh a lot more, due to a more robust chassis, designed to reduce vibration which by the way, improves sound. The power supplies, DACs and CD drive mechanism will all be much higher grade and great attention will be paid to the signal path to insure that you hear the music in its purest form and not the electronics.”

The SA8003 also has a USB port if you really get lonely for MP3s and music files. The optical output also

Pros: The SA8003 is an audiophile-quality CD player with crisp, clear sound, and rich bass. It also has a USB port for playing MP3s.

Cons: You really have to want it to spend $1,000 on a CD player, since your DVD player, video game console, and computer can all play CDs.

The final word: Speaking strictly from a quality perspective, the SA8003 is great. Remember though, this is just a CD player and it’s only going to sound as good as the speakers and amplifier you already have.

Don’t miss John Guilfoil’s “Five ways to listen to music without an iPod” story, in The Boston Globe.

The Logitech Squeezebox really tickled our fancy. This product will forever change the way we listen to music. We like it, in part, because the Internet provides tons of free choices from radio stations all over the world.

It would be fair to go into the ring not expecting much of a fight out of the plucky $300 Logitech — it’s based on fairly lossy streaming Internet audio after all and built on good if not basically mediocre drivers. But no. It sounds good. Not audiophile, but you’re not paying for audiophile either, are you?

One of the funnest things about the Logitech Squeezebox Boom is listening to Radio One London from an apartment in Boston.

That’s why Blast loves the Squeezebox: expanded horizons.

One of the funnest things about the Logitech Squeezebox Boom is listening to Radio One London from an apartment in Boston.

Tuning via a knob is much easier than tediously and repeatedly pressing buttons over and over, so that’s a big plus as well.

Download an audio design white paper on the Squeezebox Boom.

Pros: Internet radio provides a number of free choices from radio stations all over the world, giving you not only a wide range of music, but a little culture. A ton of the content is free, and you can also stream your existing music collection from your computer to the Squeezebox. It plugs into your network or downloads via Wi-Fi.

Cons: You have to download special software to send your MP3s and music files to the device. It doesn’t automatically find them on your network.

The final word: This is really more of a lifestyle choice than an impulse buy, meaning it will change your music listening life. We loved it.

Don’t miss John Guilfoil’s “Five ways to listen to music without an iPod” story, in The Boston Globe.

The Meridian F80 was pitched to us as a solution for a flashy executive as a great “secondary audio system” for bedrooms, kitchens, etc.

Of course, this British audio product partially designed by Ferrari costs $3,000.

The Boothroyd Stuart Meridian F80

It may not be cheap, but what the F80 is is a full on 2.1 (two speakers and a subwoofer) stereo system with two programmable antennae, input/output options and an excellent CD player built in/

You can also buy an iPod dock for the F80, but if you buy a $3,000 stereo, don’t sully it with your compressed musical crap, ok?

The rear mounted subwoofer adds amazing depth to the system, but the real surprise is that the two front speakers don’t sound like they’re inches apart. You get a spacial experience that feels like a room full of sound in a compact little red box.

Pros: The F80 sounds amazing. It is a complete 2.1 (two speakers and a subwoofer) setup inside one compact box. It plays CDs, AM/FM radio, and you can even plug it into your television/home theater to play DVDs. If you really miss your iPod, you can buy an external dock to plug it in.

Cons: Why doesn’t it have HD radio? We understand that not everyone is all about HD radio, but why not throw it in for three grand?

The final word: The F80 is basically a portable home theater with 80 watts of power. It doesn’t feel like the speakers are right next to each other. If you absolutely have to have the best stereo/radio/alarm clock, drop your chips here.

Don’t miss John Guilfoil’s “Five ways to listen to music without an iPod” story, in The Boston Globe.

Promotional:
Get the best home theater speakers for optimum home theater experience at The Speaker Company.

A few years ago, you were looking at $400+ for any decent Cambridge SoundWorks product at their mall-front audio boutiques.

You got a good product, but they sort of fell into the Sharper Image category of “oh, this is nice, but I’d never spend that much money on it.”

The big difference, however, is that Cambridge actually has useful products that normal people can benefit from instead of hundreds of different back massagers.

Cambridge SoundWorks, now owned by Creative Labs, decided to close all of its retail outlets and focus on direct marketing — reducing their and our costs.

Thus, the SW820 HD Radio, which would run you hundreds more in the store days, is only $129.99, and it still sounds like $400.

Not everyone is a believer in HD Radio, and we’re not necessarily sold on the concept either. But look at it this way: Radio is here to stay. Why not give HD a shot if it really does offer more programming options for free?

There’s just one flaw in that otherwise impeccable logic. The HD signals are often spotty at best, especially getting 15-20 miles into the suburbs, away from a metro radio signal.

Here in Boston, you’ll have a hard time getting a good HD signal — or the stations-between-the-stations — on the South or North Shore or beyond Framingham. (West Coasters — think of that as deep into Orange County from Downtown Los Angeles.)

The other big flaw with the SW820 is that the antenna is a bitch to screw on, requiring a special wrench that comes with the radio. Don’t lose it, or you can forget about HD programming no matter where you are.

The radio does sound very good, and tuning via the knob instead of repeatedly mashing buttons is a relief. When you do get an HD signal, you clearly notice the difference.

Like it or not, HD Radio sounds good, and for the $100 you’ll spend on Amazon for this baby, Cambridge SoundWorks makes their case.

Don’t miss John Guilfoil’s “Five ways to listen to music without an iPod” story, in The Boston Globe.

I’m an audio guy. I like the wires and plugs and cones and crossovers. I’m not a pro, but I know what I like.

When you get something like the Altec Lansing Orbit Mp3 and a crisp, clean sound with great bass and highs (read the back of the box, they quoted me) it’s easy to realize why name is still the first thing audiophiles look at when they buy a toy.

The best thing about this little speaker is that you can plug anything into it and share your tunes. Don’t underestimate it either; it’s loud!

You get a solid day out of 3 AAA batteries, so have the rechargeables ready to go.

5 out of 5 stars

USB speaker technology is almost as old as USB, itself.

They were the cool guy at the party. Suddenly you had digital sound without a big, expensive sound card.

Then it quieted down for a while. People calmed down their PC audio — PC gaming started faltering — and speakers on your computer were less important.

The Logitech Z-5’s are a new arrival to the genre, and they do it justice.

Plug them in, and they play. We liked the ease in installation, even in laptops, where the driver disables the onboard speakers, and then they turn back on after you unplug the Z-5’s.

We were most surprised by the sound, though we’re finding it easier to believe that good things can come in  small packages when it comes to speakers.

The speakers are omnidirectional and are great desk toys that you can hear all around the room. Maybe that doesn’t make it great for offices, but definitely in dorms and parties. They’re also durable, though admittedly they feel a little fragile with all that cloth grilling around it. It’s not the kind of thing you want to spill a beer on, that’s for sure.

The remote control works, though I never use remotes for desktop speakers. Try and synch it to a universal remote maybe.

My ears are ringing after this month’s audio issue. These ones pass the test.

They add weight, width and bulk to your devices, but they are one of the best solutions out there for active gadget geeks. The few and the proud.

Blast took a gander at three OtterBoxes: two “Armor” class boxes that waterproof iPod touch and Nano, and a “Defender” series case for the iPhone.

OtterBox Armor Case for 3G iPod nano (Clear)

OtterBox Armor Case for 3G iPod nano
$30 4 out of 5 stars

• Waterproof to 3 feet
• Dust, dirt, drop and scratch protection
• Click wheel still works
• Adds a ton of girth to the product

OtterBox Armor Series for iPod touch

OtterBox Armor Case for iPod touch
$40 4 out of 5 stars

• Completely changes look and feel of iPod
• Waterproof to 3 feet
• Dust, dirt, drop and scratch protection
• Interface still works thanks to thin protective membrane
• Makes the iPod look tough

OtterBox iPhone Defender

OtterBox Apple iPhone Defender Case
$65 3.5 out of 5 stars

• Bump, scratch and drop protection
• Not waterproof
• Less obtrusive than other boxes
• Very expensive for a cell phone case.
• Has a holster

It’s a taller, narrower iHome clock/radio/iPod dock. Only this time, it has Bluetooth on board. This allows you you to make wireless speakerphone calls from your iPhone, cell phone, PDA, etc., right from your alarm clock. It also lets you beam your music from any Bluetooth-compatible product (like your laptop) and play it up to 30 feet away on the iP47.

We finally got the chance to play with the iP47, and we’re impressed. The Bluetooth works as advertised, and phone and music playback sound great.

The calls were surprisingly clear over the unit, and you can even make calls using the remote control, leaving your iPhone or whatever plugged in and charging. A tray also pulls out of the unit with a full alphanumeric keypad. You can also plug in anything that’s not wireless via the line-in jack.

At $150, it’s an investment, but weigh the features and decide for yourself.

There are two truly great and ridiculously fun pieces of software that have been out there forever in the music studio/audio editing/looping world: Fruity Loops and Acid.

They’re fun because even though most people don’t have a damn clue how to really use the software, anyone can pick either title up and start making noise right away.

Acid Pro first came out in 1998 and was the first true loop-based Desktop Audio Workstation. It’s been popular with bands, DJ’s and producers ever since.

Acid Pro 6 remains the bulked up commercial product at $200+, but a slightly lighter Acid Music Studio 7, which you can scoop up for $50 has most of the features of its predecessor and just about everything a student or individual user could ask for.

What I liked about Acid Studio were the tutorials. Sony’s “Show Me How” system lets you ease into working with the software, and I highly recommend spending a few hours practicing on them if you want to get serious with the software. 

There are also 3,000 build in music loops, 1,000 MIDI files and the capability for importing your own audio to mix up. You can also record live from your own instruments via your sound card. 

Finally, when you’re done you can export your audio artwork to CD’s, flash drives, MP3 players or package them for easy web streaming. 

I have always prefered Acid over the years to Adobe’s Audition, and being a PC guy I don’t have much experience with Garage Band. I can tell you that if you want to really ease into audio editing and mixing, there’s a free, open source title out there called Audacity. While it’s not as polished or powerful as the boxed products, it is a great, free resource for audio editing.

There are a bunch of other DAW’s out there, but I’ve found Acid Pro and now Acid Music Studio balance power and learning curve better than the competitors. There’s also a free trial available. 

Overall, Music Studio won’t do everything that Acid Pro 6 does — particularly with sample rates. Music Studio maxes out as 16/48kHz while Pro can do 24/192kHz. Pro also can process 5.1 surround sound recordings. But if you’re just looking to break into music creation and mixing, I love Music Studio.

Oh. Ohhhh… Interesting.

It’s heavy and shiny and costs as much as a high-end home audio center channel, but the Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin will do things to your iPod audio that you weren’t sure she was capable of.

Sure, at $600, it’s more expensive than any iPod, but if you want a $20 speaker system, there’s plenty of those out there that sound like amplified earbuds.

The Zeppelin sounds phenomenal. It weighs in at almost 17 pounds and packs five drivers.

It’s built around a central 5″ bass driver, two 3.5″ midranges and two 1″ metal dome tweeters for those high notes and puts out 100 total watts of power, which is as powerful as any standard home theater setup.

Why the constant comparison to home theater components? Because the Zeppelin acts more like a piece of equipment than a device. It feels more like an antique wood coffee table than a plastic folding card table. The majority of audio components sound “good.” A bunch of them sound “bad.” And then there’s a breed that sounds like what your “always-has-to-have-the-best” neighbor has. The audio quality on the Zeppelin is amazing, and it’s even more amazing that this device was specifically built for iPods.

And if there is to be any complaint about the Zeppelin, it’s that it is 99 percent iPod-centric. Obviously there’s no CD player. There’s no radio. You can plug a Zune or any other audio device in, but then you’re left with this arm in the middle where the iPod is supposed to go.

Maybe that’s not a complaint, because this seems to work just fine. We’re a music consuming world that’s now 99 percent iPod (or iPhone now) centric, so why not plop your pod into something like the Zeppelin?

The remote control doesn’t work that well. There, I issued a complaint. It’s good up till about 10 feet and then it’s hit or miss.

With a product like this, all we’re missing out on here is the fact that we’re still largely using compressed MP3 files that don’t sound as good as pure, unadulterated audio. Do yourself a favor sometime, plug a CD player into a device like this. I did.

Digression over.

The Zeppelin works with iPod Touch, Classic, 4th and 5th generation, Nano and Mini. There’s also an auxiliary input port so that you can plug in just about any device. You can also use composite or S-Video to output video to a television or display.

This is a peach of a product that you should definitely check out.

High-end component maker Rotel recently let us test out their RDV-1093 DVD player to some fantastic results.

While we’re at the point where we’re thinking of Blu-ray, professionals and philes will appreciate the 1093 for its rich audio output and 1080p upconverting display.

The player supports a variety of formats including: DVD-Video for movies, DVD-Audio for high-resolution audio, DVD-R and DVD-RW. SVCD and JPEG photo discs, conventional music CDs or CD-R/RW discs and full MP3/WMA support on recorded discs.

There are also plenty of plugs including optical and coaxial audio, component and HDMI, 5.1 channel output and old-school composite video/stereo audio.

Another aspect not overlooked by Rotel is power management. “A switching power supply with an advanced pulse circuit and individually regulated supply stages generate optimal voltages,” Rotel says about the product. “Critical audio and video D/A converters are all wideband designs.”

It’s an amazing audio/video device that really blew us away. It’s an expensive toy at over $1,000, but it’s really solid.

So, I’ve toed the company line. That’s what the iH12 and every other iHome product does. It’s what they do, and they’re very good at it.

The iH12 is a compact cube with a backlit display, dual alarms and gradually progressing volume for waking and sleeping. It has a remote, AM/FM radio with 12 presets and an auxilary input to plug in your non-iPod devices.

The device has iHome’s usual Reson8 speaker with passive subwoofer for bass. It’s not going to shake a room, but the iH12 projects a clear sound that’s as good as any of the docks on the market.

It is not compatible with 3rd generation or earlier iPods, so make sure you have something fairly new to throw at it.

At $80, it’s priced right in the meaty curve of the iPod-audio-docking-alarm-clocking products. Give it a shot.

4 out of 5 stars

Essentially Tinbot cases are custom pre-designed solid tin cases, with cut-outs for the iPod’s ports. Tinbot offers 11 great designs, starting at $19.99 for a plain white design and $29.99 for other design cases. Orders must be placed online at http://thetinbot.com and the company is working on expanding their product line to allow custom designs.

In person, it’s amazing how the design just “pops” out. The colors are vibrant and the contrast excellent; however, I was not so impressed at the overall case itself. The form factor of my Tinbot wasn’t good at all, and the case didn’t feel right in my hands.

The overall shape is very “boxy,” and it was a real pain prying the lid off the case when changing songs. The case feels extremely cheap and after a week of use the hinge is ready to fall off any day now. These issues cheapen features like the nice padding inside and excellent design.

Dare I say, the product is kind of tinny.

Tinbot leaves much more to be desired and I would not recommend purchasing, mainly because as of now, the unit is so cheap that I wouldn’t even trust my iPod in it. Overall, it’s low quality for a high price.

Overall: 2 out of 5 stars

We have seen some excellent smaller, two-piece computer speakers (Bose has a great one for $400). There are also some excellent one-piece systems, like a Polk Audio product for $1,000.

There are several choices in subwooferless computer speakers. There always have been. Most of them suck or are too expensive or both. The challenge has always been to somehow capture the sound that comes with today’s 2.1, 4.1 and 5.1 (even 6.1 and 7.1 that we’ve seen…) computer speaker systems. Let’s face it, a lot of users just don’t feel like mounting a complete surround system around their desktop.

The Altec Lansing SoundBar tries to pick up the slack and give users a compact solution that won’t sound like two tin cans and a string.

At $80, it is not going to compete with the Polk SurroundBar, but it’s a long shot better than the $10 Dell Sound Bar that is made to retrofit their Ultrasharp monitors.

The Altec Lansing SoundBar sits comfortably below any flat monitor and lets you connect your computer and any other headphone-jack device, like an iPod, simultaneously.

Here’s what you should know about the SoundBar: it does its job. He’s a blue-collar, clock-punching factory worker who’s happy with his lot in life. The product has good bass, excellent highs and projects a pretty clear sound. But it’s not going to shake a room.

The SoundBar is still a one-piece speaker system without a subwoofer, and nobody is trying to sell it as anything different. So don’t expect it. It also doesn’t deliver (or claim to deliver) a three-dimensional surround sound experience. This isn’t a home theater unit. It’s not going to make you jerk your head around to see where that sound came from. The SoundBar is essentially a center channel that does a decent job of separating left and right effects.

The SoundBar is powered by three 2″ divers; two of them are active, full-range speakers, while the third is passive and handles the bass. The device is controlled by a single knob that handles power, volume and muting. The line-in and headphone jacks are also useful, and they give you audio ports right at your fingertips.

It’s certainly priced right, and if you’re looking for a clear, compact speaker that won’t need its own room and require multiple wall and ceiling mountings, this is a great choice.

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars

And you were dead ass wrong.

Don’t fret if you’re stuck with 30 HD DVD discs as you rush to be a good consumer and begin to consume Blu-ray discs. There are still a few options out there that will let you play with both.

The LG BH200 is one of those options, and if you’re looking for DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray playback, it’s one of the best.

The BH200 puts out an amazing picture over HDMI and Component Video, and it upconverts DVD’s — and yes, they do look better.

The problem is that looks aren’t everything, and the BH200 is bad at optical audio output, failing to send a proper DTS signal for Blu-ray and failing to send either a DTS or Dolby Digital signal over optical audio out for some DVD’s that I tested.

The unit also has Ethernet built in, but you can’t upgrade the firmware over the Internet. Doh.

Lastly, the product takes as much time to power up as a desktop PC. When I press the eject button on my video player, I want it to spit out the disc, not turn on, boot up, load, load, load and then eject the disc over a minute later.

Basically, it’s like this — if you use HDMI for video AND audio and you need to play every format available, the new low price of the BH200 is attractive.

But HD DVD is dead, and this player might have come on the market a tad too late.

With cassette tapes, we had boomboxes. They came in all shapes and sizes, and depending on the age, they were very, very analog. And the boombox hasn’t gone away entirely. Some will say the large-form boxes are enjoying a comeback of sorts.

Of course, now we have iPods, satellite radio, HD Radio, Zunes (well one or two) and every song we could possibly want at the tip of our fingers for 99 cents.

There’s just something about a July day on the beach with a cooler and a boombox, though. And that’s why I like Altec Lansing’s inMotion iM9 iPod system and all the lower-case i’s that go with it. It just screams retro, and I think that’s why consumers are really taking to this one.

First of all, it runs on either AC power or four C batteries. Some people might not like constantly changing the batteries, but it’s still a far cry better than the current technology of rechargeable batteries that never reach 100 percent again. Fresh batteries = peak sound. You get 24 hours of battery life from the C’s.

The second retro piece comes in how you plug an iPod into the iM9. You press the button at the top and, just like a cassette deck, a door opens letting you drop your pod in.

Third on the retro block, the iM9 comes with a BACKPACK. I’d never use it. It’s tacky. But damn, it’s a backpack!

Finally, this mother is LOUD. And it’s not just loud; it’s clear, crisp and deep. The iM9 may not be the size of a boombox, but it sure sounds like one. The system is built on 2.75″ drivers, but the bass rivals many larger systems. The highs are also crystal clear. The iM9 does have a slight hiss, even when music isn’t playing. It gets annoying, especially if you want to leave the device in your bedroom or something.

The iM9 has a rugged case, and I think it’s a versatile option for outdoor listening. It’s not weather/water proof, but you can put it next to the grill, poolside or bring it to the beach.

There are several indoor applications, including audio and video outputs to hook your iPod up to your television.

The product works with iPod, iPod video, Nano, and Mini. The iM9 does work with new generation Nanos. There have been several complaints that it doesn’t work with the 2/3G iPod Nano, but it does. The device just didn’t come with the proper adapter. It was a huge F-up, but Altec Lansing offers the adapter for free for new Nano users.

Overall, the iM9 is impressive, compact and loud. It debuted with a $200 price tag, but you can scoop one up online for about $70. I say you should do just that.

Quick hits:

Developer: Altec Lansing
Genre: iPod audio system
Launch Date: May 12, 2006

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars Editor’s choice

Download the manual.

As you read this article, you may not think much of the 20 and 40 watts tat the ACS48 runs on. After all, basic home theater systems today run on 100+ watts. But on a computer system, you just didn’t see much in the way of power.

This review was originally produced by The Review Center in 1998.

This kind of thing is always a joy to review. Not only was it easy to set up, but it was especially fun to turn up the sub-woofer as loud as possible and blast some music!

The award-winning ACS48 system was much more than we bargained for with an under $100 system. A few quick facts about this well deserving 5-star system include:

• Volume Controls Adjust All Three Speakers Simultaneously: just 1 volume control
• High quality, high performance three-piece system
• Powered speaker satellites are electronically controlled and magnetically shielded
• Powered subwoofer extends the low frequency response to add realism and bass

Electric power is a must have on a computer speaker system. We were all happy to see this included in the unit. Overall, this is a great system, boasting a 40 watt subwoofer, 20 watt satellite speakers.

The wood subwoofer is an ingenious add-in. It really brings out the true quality of the sound. Plastic is not as high quality as a genuine wood base. The wood really makes the sound rich and vibrant. The subwoofer is just perfect — it’s not something that you hear in a car that sounds like a nuclear device going off, but instead, its adequate 40 watts make it a perfect music and gaming speaker system. It might not be the best choice for an office, though.

If you really want to get crazy, Altec Lansing also makes the ACS251, a standalone powered subwoofer that you can wire up to any other speaker system.

Overall, the PowerCube Plus ACS48 is one of the best computer speaker sets we’ve seen.

Technical specifications:

Drivers (per satellite): One 3″ shielded full range driver and one 3/4″ high frequency tweeter
Drivers (subwoofer): One 6 inch long throw woofer
Satellite Power: 20 Watts per channel RMS at 0.8% THD
Subwoofer Power: 40 Watts at 0.8% THD
System Response: 35 Hz – 20 kHz
Input Impedance: >10k ohms
S/N Ratio: >65dB

Quick hits:

Company Name: Altec Lansing
Price: $99.99

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars

The purpose of the product is to let you plug your iPod into both a stereo/home theater system and a computer in one fell swoop.

Now, it adds a decent amount of wires to your system, and I felt it would have been much more useful as a wireless product — letting you plug your iPod into the dock near your computer and beam music to the receiver end plugged into your stereo.

There are three situations where the iPort FS-2 is extremely useful. First, if you don’t have front A/V inputs on your home theater receiver, you can plug the iPort in the back and know it’s always there when you need it. Second, if you have a home theater PC used to sync songs on your iPod. Finally, it’s also useful if your household has more than one iPod — you can swap them back and forth and listen to your tunes on your home system.

I had preconceived reservations at first, but the iPort is one of the best A/V iPod docking solutions out there. It basically lets you plug all the audio and video wires into your receiver one time and forget it. Now all you have to do is drop any iPod in and you’re ready to go.

iPort created the product to allow users to plug into computers and receivers at the same time, but unless you have a computer a few feet from your stereo/receiver (or a laptop) I don’t see how that’s possible.

If you do have a computer or home theater PC nearby (and aren’t just playing music off that…) then it’s great.

The system supports A/V wires of up to 25 feet though, so you can definitely navigate across the room. The iPort company offers a bunch of in-wall solutions that go longer (up to 500 feet of audio in some cases), but this is their desktop variant, and it’s definitely a handy gadget.

Music and video are both crisp and clear. Give this one a shot.

Quick hits:

Developer: iPort
Platform: iPod
Launch Date: June 6, 2006

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars

Battery-powered and at under 3″, the iM207 Orbit doesn’t look like much. I mean, how much power can you pull out of 3 AAA batteries?

I gotta say I was surprised. The Orbit’s got a good little “thump” to it. The sound was really impressive for a speaker with no AC power. It’s also LOUD. The Orbit’s volume is controlled by the iPod, and it cranks when turned all the way up.

The Orbit does lose some clarity at full volume, but at 50-80 percent, you get a crisp, clean sound with great bass and highs that are surprisingly clear.

The big test — the theme from “House” played perfectly. The song starts with a crackling record player effect and beams out highs and lows that will test anything. This “House” fan approves.

You get about a full day of battery life out of the unit. Invest in some rechargeables. You might get less per charge, but you won’t have to buy them over, and over, and over again. Orbit is also shock-resistant so you can use it in any iPod application.

The Orbit works with any audio source that accepts a 3.5mm or 2.5mm headphone jack, and there are dozens of cheap adapters that will let you use it for other devices. It’s small with a big sound, cheap price tag and excellent sound.

Check out Altec’s FAQ for technical support.

Speaker features:

• Sound clarity with depth — powered by acoustic tayloring
• Fusion360 technology — Integrates a cone design with a custom-built Altec Lansing speaker to project a 360-degree sound field
• Personal configuration — place the Orbit on its edge for directed, more personal listening

Quick hits:

Developer: Altec Lansing
Launch Date: November 15, 2007
Price: MSRP $39.95 ($29.95 in most stores)

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars

They come in a wide variety of packages and configurations.

In a nutshell, there are three main Bluetooth devices, the TX, the RX and the F1.

The TX sends audio, the RX receives audio, or you can go with the F1 — stereo Bluetooth headphones.

The Cerulean F1 wireless stereo headphones reach 33 feet, and they allow you to to plug-in to any auxiliary audio source or iPod-compatible audio system and listen to it.

They are designed to with with traditional iPod docking platforms, and the TX and RX don’t require any batteries because they’re charged by the iPod and Dock-compatible audio device. You can use them with non iPod products, but you’ll need an external power source and audio wires.

These are great but expensive toys. A set of TX + RX or F1 + TX will run you upwards of $150. They sound great, however and are sleek and stylish on top it it all.

Overall, if you’re willing to put up the extra dollars, iSkin’s Cerulean line is one of the best, most compact Bluetooth devices I’ve used. It removes the wires, but it’s versatile enough to be used away from the traditional iPod application.

Take a look on the iSkin website.

Quick hits:

Distributor: iSkin
Developer: iSkin
Genre: Bluetooth audio
Launch Date: August 8, 2007

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars

Though there are some considerations to make — this isn’t a good idea for an iPod or another portable MP3 device. The way the Audio Transport works is that it lets you plug a set of earbuds/headphones into a Bluetooth receiver. So there are still wires to worry about, and there isn’t really a point to using this for an already portable device, unless you plan on leaving your iPod on a desk or table or somewhere stationary while you walk around the room. Just not sure why you’d do that…

Anyway, the Audio Transport does give you the ability to listen to any audio source from up to 33′ (feet) away, and the sound quality is pretty good, with SRS “Wow” surround sound technology.

If you’re looking for a Bluetooth device, $50 is the average for cell phone solutions. The IOGEAR Audio transport, at the same price, gives you that and the expanded capabilities.

Features:

• Enjoy music wirelessly from Bluetooth-enabled computers, PDA, MP3/CD players, and more
• Maximum wireless range up to 33 ft.(10 meters)
• SRS WOW surround sound technology delivers optimal music listening experience
• Supports MP3-quality stereo sound (frequency response 20Hz – 20 KHz)
• Works with Bluetooth cell phones and allows you to pick up incoming calls even during music playback
• Integrated 5-way headphone control buttons give you quick access to play/pause, track selection*, and volume control
• Comfortable to wear behind-the-neck style
• Convenient built-in rechargeable battery for up to 6 hours play time
• Connect the Bluetooth Audio Transport to your stereo system to wirelessly listen to music stored in your Bluetooth audio devices
• Avoids interference with other wireless devices and does not requires direct line-of-sight
• Class 2 device compliant with Bluetooth 1.2 specifications Headphones Audio

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars

With all the bad press plastic bottles are getting lately, the iH85B, designed with a bike mounting bracket is a great replacement.

It takes four AA batteries or an AC adapter for home listening. It’s also water and impact-resistant with a speaker cap to protect itself. It docks with all docking iPods.

The iH85B also charges your iPod when plugged in by AC power.

The product also uses Reson8 audio technology, giving the iH85B some rich sounding vibes–and it does sound really good for a device its size.

If you’re into cycling, and into iPods, check this one out.

Features:

• Listen to your iPod at home or while biking anywhere
• Charges your iPod when connected to AC adaptor(included)
• Works with docking iPod models
• Reson8™ technology with passive speaker for full, rich sound
• Mounted wireless RF remote control for safer control while biking
• Comes with mounting bracket and all hardware
• Bike mounted remote control for safe riding
• Tough water and impact-resistant polycarbonate case
• NOT compatible with iPod Shuffle.

Then I heard Apple would release an iPhone without the phone. The 16gb iPod Touch is now in my hands.

The Touch’s design is astonishing, with its gorgeous three 3.5” widescreen display, multi touch user interface and its supermodel thinness at only .31 inches. It’s for any commuter looking to carry around their music, video collections, photos and the internet.

The unit comes in two versions, 8gb and 16gb, respectively priced at $300-$400.

I would strongly advise getting the larger capacity model because it’s still not a ton of space – considering older iPod’s gave you 20gb for just music — if you own a lot of music, videos or pictures, the device will fill up quickly. The operating system alone takes up over a gigabyte.

After using the iPod touch for a few months, my thoughts haven’t changed. The product packs a lot of functionality, which I adapted to very quickly.

One of the key features is the Safari browser. I find it extremely useful to be able to log in to social networking sites and surf the web. I can also read current events, stream media, and do regular tasks I would perform if I were on my computer.

It’s very rare that you find an ultra portable device like the iPod Touch that can stream both audio and video podcasts directly to the unit. It’s $400 spent wisely just in that feature alone.

The revolutionary touch screen interface built on Mac OS X is a head turner. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been complimented on the easy to use interface, which offers the user an optimal experience in every task.

It’s so nice flipping music with a swipe of a finger being able to quickly select a song. If you rotate the iPod Touch into landscape position, the built in accelerometer detects the position and displays you music in Cover Flow mode, similar to an iPhone feature.

Cover Flow is a technology which lets you see all the album art in you music collection. Gently tap on the cover art, and it spins around and lets you select a song within the album.

Sound quality is also impressive, with no skips because of reliable internal flash memory. The touch also offers the built-in iTunes WiFI Music store. I’ve bought a few tracks off WiFi store and was surprised on how seamlessly the store integrates with my music library.

You can browse the top one hundred songs of each genre or the top 100 songs on the iTunes store or search by name, artist, etc. for the song you want. The song will immediately download and appear in the users’ music library.

You can’t download movies, podcasts, games or music videos, but it’s a great start.

The rest of the features like video playback, the photo viewer, clock, calendar, calculator and YouTube application all work the same way as they do on the iPhone.

One suggestion that I have is if you plan to download podcasts, download the file with the Large QuickTime encoding. If you download the small QuickTime version, the video will be fuzzier and pixelated.

When watching videos, I was amazed at the quality of the picture. I sometimes forgot I was watching on a three and one half inch screen because the picture quality is so detailed.

The iPod Touch has minor drawbacks like its battery life, which in normal life only gets three hours when connected to WiFi and less than 20 hours of straight music playback if you enjoy flipping through cover flow and using some of its power hungry features.

Some other drawbacks are that Apple has blocked third party developers from creating native applications. You also can’t add calendar events on the go or download audio files other than the iTunes WiFi store.

There’s also no mail support and no flash support for viewing flash enabled sites, although hackers recently found ways to break through Apple’s encryption to add thirty party applications and features.

Overall, Apple really did a great job creating a device that provides so many useful features. I’m glad to see that Apple has taken the features from its popular iPhone and has added them into a device without the ongoing financial commitments.

The A’Diva Ti satellite speaker system isn’t nearly as mammoth. It’s another in a series of trendily tiny speakers with big sound — the concept Bose lives off of.

Bigger isn’t always better, and there’s a slew of cheap, worthless speakers that sound tinny and flat, flying under the banner of “micro” and “mini” with terrible frequency response.

The Gallo A’Diva Ti’s are not one of these sets.

First of all, they’re not cheap, starting at $330 each. With 22kHz response and 120 watts of power handling, these tiny, spherical wonders actually sound like a reference set. Available in a variety of configurations, including 5.1 (five speakers and a subwoofer) the A’Diva Ti satellite speakers are a perfect solution for a variety of rooms. They work great in a home theater room, but serve just as well in a oddly-shaped living room that just doesn’t have enough room for traditional floor-standing models. The important thing is that they sound just as good!

The A’Diva Ti’s use a titanium-paper combination that produces clear highs and deep lows. They’re not perfect, and the bass does leave something to be desired. Your stereo or home theater system will still need a good subwoofer. Cue the Anthony Gallo TR-2, 250-watt, 10″ subwoofer that’s paired witht he A’Diva Ti’s.

“The best subwoofer in its price range, the TR-2 has an integral bass equalizer that goes up to 6dB of low bass boost, and a total output of 250 watts,” according to the Anthony Gallo website. “The TR-2 provides room-shaking, tooth-rattling performance that will make your living room feel like the local movie theater (minus the gum on the floor and the $6.00 sodas).”

That’s not just a marketing line. The TR-2 is one of the best 10″ subwoofers I’ve ever used. It’s cylindrical, with a long-throw woofer and produces rich, clear bass that adds definition to your system. For smaller rooms and apartments, there’s also the TR-1, which is the same thing with a 100-watt amp instead of 250.

The A’Diva Ti also features a 1″ voice coil and an oversized Neodymium magnet. The speakers are shielded, so don’t worry about where you put them.

As a word of caution, give the speakers 40-50 hours of runtime to sound their best. The A’Diva Ti’s have a long break in period. “The titanium drivers extend frequencies beyond 22kHz, which makes the highs beautiful,” said Micah Warren, publicist for Anthony Gallo speakers. The highs just won’t be perfect until they’ve run through the honeymoon period, Warren said.

These are great speakers that pump when paired with the TR-2 for a full range of audio.

Frequency Response: 76Hz to 22Khz (on wall) 90Hz to 22kHz (on stand)
Sensitivity: 87 dB
Nominal Impedance: 8 Ohms
Power Handling (full range): >60 Watts
Power Handling (crossover): >120 Watts
Driver: 3″ pure titanium full range
Cone Material: Paper-damped titanium
Dimensions: 5″ sphere
Weight: 1.8 lbs
Enclosure Materials: Steel/Stainless Steel
Finishes: Matte Black, Matte White, Silver-Grey, Stainless Steel
Warranty: 1 year parts and labor (expanded to 5 years if product is registered within 60 days of purchase)

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars

However, much like the movies, video games are a multi-sensory medium. Take games like last year’s Condemned: Criminal Origins for example. Half of the game’s effect–half of its ambiance–is the sound. Enemies come from all around, but before you see them, you hear their footsteps.

In some cases, it seems that a game’s audio effects are even more important that the visual.

Enter Otto’s brand new Surround Sound Stereo Headset. Retailing for roughly $40, the oversized headphones are meant to give your ears a complete audio experience by amplifying what you want to hear and blocking out what you don’t.

For the most part, it succeeds at this, but in some areas, it oddly falters, leaving us wanting more.

First–the specifics. The headset runs on one AAA battery, which allows roughly 50 hours of use. The right speaker has a simple switch to turn the surround sound on or off, while the left has a convenient volume control dial. The 40 mm neodymium speakers are padded nicely and cushion your ears well enough for extended use, and they run on a 20Hz-20 kHz frequency response.

Right away, I fired up some Doom 3. Standard stereo sound was decent, but the real magic came when I flipped the switch and turned on the surround sound. Suddenly, everything seemed to have more life.

It was truly impressive, but I did notice a little bit of distortion when the action on the screen got hectic. This also happened when I tried out the headphones watching DVD movies. Slower scenes had amazing sound quality, while louder action scenes tended to be a bit muffled and distorted.

The distortion wasn’t much, but it was definitely noticeable.

Oddly enough, where the headset struggled most was when it was connected to an iPod. Even without the surround sound turned on, the music and videos sounded incredibly distorted and uneven. What’s odder is the fact that when I played the exact same songs on a different MP3 player and on a laptop, not only was there no distortion, but the sound actually got better.

For $40, Otto’s Surround Sound Stereo Headset is a good bet for casual gamers and movie watchers. The unit’s long life on only one battery is a major selling point, and you will be impressed with its performance.

Just be careful with an iPod.

Compatible with all versions of the iPod, except for the new versions of the iPod Shuffle, the iH7R makes waking up and falling asleep smoother than ever.

The volume of the alarm and sleep settings increase and decrease smoothly with gradual wake and sleep features to avoid startling the user. These features allow the user to be slowly awakened or lulled to sleep with either tunes from their iPod or the AM/FM radio.

A buzzer alarm option is also available for those who need a quick wake up call in the morning. There is also a dual alarm feature for those who like to sleep through their alarms or in cases where two people need to wake up at different times.

The iH7R sounds impressive with its Reson8 speaker chambers, known for the their clarity, depth and power. A bedside satellite speaker allows for a surround sound effect, but it doesn’t reach much past the width of your bed, though-this is due mostly to its short length. The speakers live up to their reputation by producing high-quality sound from such a compact unit.

The radio and iPod can be controlled from any part of your room using an included remote, as long as it’s a straight shot to the iHome base, despite claims otherwise by the manufacturer.

The only major downside here is that the menus of the iPod can not be accessed through the remote. This makes it tough to get picky from the other side of your bedroom.

A patch cord is included to play your CD’s and other audio devices as well.

Overall, the iH7R packs an impressive sound and user friendly features.

For $149.99, it’s a great investment for those who always want to have their iPod around.

The iH4 displays the time and can be used as a speaker system when connected to any iPod. It differs from the previous model because it is much smaller, taking up less than a quarter of the desk space its predecessor did. It is much more convenient to store on a nightstand, but the size difference trade off some features like an AM/FM radio.

The iHome iH4 is an extremely simple device to use. The buttons are all clearly labeled, and an instruction manual seems almost pointless. The on and off buttons are both located at the top of the system while the four settings buttons are located along th”oo high volume, it muffles any vocals in the music.

The iHome iH4, though not reasonable for the sole purpose of playing music, is convenient, affordable and reliable for the function of an alarm clock. It has an appealing, retro to look to it, unlike most alarm clocks.

So, if you want to charge your iPod while you sleep and wake up hours later to the sound of one of your favorite songs, perhaps the iHome iH4 is appropriate for you.

$49.99, now available.