Support Our Site
Get Better Gear!
- Kensington Windshield/Vent Car Mount with Sound Amplified Cradle for iPhone from Kensington, $39.99
- SigFx Energy iPhone Case Contains Smart Battery from SigFx Energy, US$69.95
- NAVIGON AG - True GPS Software for the iPhone from NAVIGON Inc., 89.99
- Tweetie 2 from atebits, $2.99
- Snood: Flawed Casual Play from Electronic Arts, US$3.99
Premier Sponsors
Top 5 Free Apps
iTunes New Music Releases
Top 5 Paid Apps
Discover New Music
- Billy Miles
- Take the voice of a young Billie Holiday and stuff it into a svelte, petite body with the face of an angel, and you have some idea of what it's like to experience the music of Billy Miles in her self-
- Asylum Street Spankers
The Asylum Street Spankers are...well...The Spankers. Hailing from Austin, where I saw them live dozens of times, the band played entirely acousti
- Belle & Sebastian
The Life Pursuit is a sort of Reeses Peanut Butter Cup. You get Belle & Sebastian's peanut butter (its wistful, often irresistible pop) dipped in a 'Have A Nice Day!' and glam 70s chocol
- Jeff Wayne
- With the new movie adaptation of H.G Wells' classic Sci Fi invasion tale, War of the Worlds, currently on theater screens everywhere, there's new interest in Jeff Wayne's rock opera version, and it is
- Miles Davis
- The jazz album to end all jazz albums. Miles Davis and John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderly and the list goes on. The who's who of who's who in jazz have assembled for this monumental record. Get this
Reader Specials
Visit Deals On The Web for the best deals on all consumer electronics, iPods, and more!
In-Depth Review
iSphere
Monday, March 12th, 2007 at 1:00 AM - by Bob LeVitus
iSphere is a small, reasonably-priced, spherical (d'oh) iPod speaker system. It has a sleek, minimalist look, which is to be expected -- it was created by Sharper Image Design. What I didn't expect was that such a small (7-inches in diameter and 2.5 pounds) three-speaker system would sound so good.
iSphere has three speakers: left and right full-frequency drivers plus a rear-facing subwoofer. And a small port on the bottom of the unit seems to enhance the system's low-frequency response. But the secret sauce that makes iSphere sound better than most small, inexpensive iPod speaker systems is the built-in SRS WOW audio enhancement.
SRS WOW is patented technology from SRS Labs. According to Sharper Image, it "retrieves the original audio data lost during the recording and compression process and delivers an incredibly detailed, immersive, and natural 3-D audio experience. SRS WOW also improves the dynamic audio performance of compressed and uncompressed audio by expanding the size of the audio image and creating a deep, rich bass response." The combination of the hardware design and SRS WOW technology translates into a fine-sounding speaker system with a deep, clean bottom end, tight mids, and crisp highs.
Note: iSphere doesn't allow you to turn SRS WOW on and off--it's always on. But SRS Labs offers a $20 SRS WOW iTunes plug-in that you can turn on and off at will. A free trial version is available at http://www.srs-store.com/store-plugins/mall/iwow-plugin.asp. I love what it does for my music and keep it turned on whenever I listen to music with iTunes. I recommend you give it a try.
Moving right along, the iSphere sounds darn good but lacks several features I'd like to have seen included. First and foremost, its only control is for volume--there's no way to change bass, treble, or EQ with the iSphere. Furthermore, while it does have a dock connector and recharges your iPod while you listen, that's all it does. There's no remote control, so to change any setting--songs, playlists, EQ, next song, previous song, shuffle, and such--you have to use your iPod, which I find somewhat inconvenient. Finally, iSphere's small size and light weight make it easy to tote around, there's no option to run it on batteries. AC is good but a choice of AC or batteries would have been even better.
The Bottom Line
iSphere is a good looking, fine-sounding, reasonably-priced iPod speaker system. If you don't mind foregoing frills like a remote control and battery power, iSphere is an excellent little desktop speaker system with a big, clean sound.
Just The Facts
Pros:Excellent sound given the size and price, attractive space-saving design.
Cons:No tone controls, no iPod controls, no remote control, no batteries.
Recent Headlines
- Apple TV 3.0.1 Update Fixes Missing Content Bug
- Taiwan Leak Shows Verizon UTMS/CDMA iPhone for Q3 2010
- iPhone Moves Into RadioShack
- Dictionary, Dictionary, Dictionary, And More
- The Latest App Store Games: Gravity Sling, RocketBird, Ground Effect, Checkers!
- iPhone Game Developer Sued for Collecting User’s Cell Numbers
- Apple May Be Bringing RFID to the iPhone
Post Your Comments