iHome iH5, an iPod Clock Dock Review - Well, how did it work?
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Well, I have to tell you that I was very pleasantly surprised by the sound quality. When SDI touts their Reason8 sound chamber, they do so with good reason. The sound was full and robust. Most clock radios come with a single, cheap speaker but this is not the case with the iHome. I have an ear for my music, and go out of my way to purchase above average audio equipment. I must say, that the iHome does NOT disappoint in this case.
On top of the unit are two optical adjustment wheels. These are used for adjusting the iHome settings, and for volume adjustments. They operate smoothly and naturally, and they give the iHome a really cool feel. All of the buttons on top of the iHome, feature an amber backlight, so if you push any button they all light up. So if you need to operate your iHome in the dark, these lights come in very handy.
The next thing I tried out is the remote control. From the remote control, you can perform these actions:
- Play or Pause iPod
- Tune and adjust Radio
- Access next and previous songs
- Scan current track backwards and forwards
- Snooze function in alarm mode
- Control volume level
- Enter sleep mode
- Adjust the dimmer on the iHome
The only thing missing here, is the ability to choose a playlist. Whatever playlist you have chosen on your iPod is what will play.
The iHome has an integrated sleep mode. You can set the iHome to play music while you drift off to dreamland. You can set it to play for 15, 30, 60, 90, or 120 minutes after which time it will shut off. Best of all, you can adjust the volume while in sleep mode, and it will not affect the volume you normally play the iPod at, or that you wake to. As the music plays in sleep mode, the volume will gradually decrease to gently help you off to sleep. One thing to be careful of, if you are going to use the sleep feature, is to be sure that there is enough music to last you throughout your defined sleep time, or there will be no music set to wake you in the morning. So either make sure there is ample music queued to play, or set your iPod to automatically loop the music.
Speaking of waking to your iHome, this also works in a couple ways. Be default, you can wake to the music from your iPod. You can just as easily choose to wake to the radio, as well. This music starts out at a lower volume, and then raises intensity. This is meant to wake you up a little more gently than the sudden startled wakening from your standard alarm clock. This works well, but the gradual increase of volume could be a little MORE gradual. It raises to full volume in only a matter of seconds, not really giving you the ability to wake up gradually, as it is intended.
If your iPod is not in your iHome, or you do not have it set to wake via iPod or radio, the iHome has a standard alarm beep that will wake you when its time to get up.
One of the things that I love and hate about the iHome, is the ability to operate the alarm functions from the remote control. See, I keep the remote by my bed so I can start sleep mode, adjust the volume, or even skip songs as Im dozing off. And having the remote in reach, allows you to snooze or even turn off the alarm without even having to touch the iHome. This is good and convenient for some. But for someone like me who has to put the alarm clock across the room, since it forces me to get out of bed to shut it off, the remote control is a little TOO convenient.
Next: Summing it all up >>
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