Wednesday, October 29, 2003
Music on the Road: The iRock 300W
Posted by Anthony Caruana in "HARDWARE" @ 10:30 AM
I like to use my iPAQ 2210 to listen to music most days. One of the times I wish I could use my iPAQ to listen to music is in the car. However, driving with headphones means that I am too isolated from the environment around me. The iRock is a great solution for this. It lets me easily play the audio output of my Pocket PC through my car radio. It does this reasonably well but is not quite perfect.
On the surface, the iRock 300W is a pretty simple device. It simply takes the output of any 3.5 mm audio output jack and transmits it through an FM transmitter on one of four user selectable frequencies (88.1, 88.3, 88.5 or 88.7). As the antenna is built into the cable that is used to connect the body of the device the iRock is pretty compact, even if does look a bit like a tadpole!
How Did I Test The iRock
I connected the iRock to my iPAQ 2210. The iPAQ was fully charged and I played a selection of music using Windows Media Player with songs stored on an SD card. The songs were ripped from original CDs using Windows Media Player's default settings.
I used my car's sound system for the testing and switched on all the devices in my car that I thought might interfere with the FM signal transmission (demisters, windscreen wipers, air-conditioning, etc). I powered the iRock with a new set of rechargeable alkaline batteries that were fully charged. The iRock was sitting in about the center of my car (a fairly large family sedan). I used each of the four available frequencies at different times.
Specs - The Tale of the Tape
This program will work on any device with a 3.5 mm audio output jack. It does not require any special software to be loaded on your Pocket PC.
Using the iRock
Once I got my iRock all I had to do to start using it was to choose a frequency using the switch on the side of the device, put in some batteries, plug it into my iPAQ and turn it on. When switched on, a red LED lights up on the front of the iRock.
Once I tuned the radio in I could hear the output pretty clearly. It was just about the easiest hardware add-on I have ever used with my iPAQ. As it just takes the output from the audio jack I didn't need to load any software.
Switching between frequencies is pretty simple. Just move the selector on the side of the iRock to a different position and re-tune your radio.
Figure 1: The iRock Frequency Selector
The iRock can be used with any device with a 3.5 mm audio jack output such as CD players and iPODs. As well as listening to music , you could use the iRock to play the sounds from your games while playing on your Pocket PC just to further immerse you in the gameplay (but not while you are driving :wink: )
But is it Any Good?
I was really looking forward to getting my iRock. With a 256 MB SD Card, I can store enough music to get me through plenty of driving. With the iRock I could listen to it safely while driving. The sound quality coming from the iRock varied depending on how well charged the batteries were. When fully charged, the sound quality was as good as listening to the radio. But as the batteries ran down, there was an increasing amount of hiss and crackle. My experience was that the sound was pretty good for about three hours but that after that the sound quality started to drop off slowly.
Should You Buy One?
As well as the iRock there are a couple of other ways you could connect your Pocket PC to your car sound system (if that's something you want/need to do). Firstly, you could buy a cassette tape adaptor. These are pretty inexpensive and are easy to use. Secondly, if your car sound system has an easily accessible auxiliary input, you could directly plug your Pocket PC into the sound system. As both of these mechanisms involve a direct connection to the sound system, they should deliver great sound quality. Also, neither of these solutions requires an additional power source.
However, in many cars, neither of these methods is an option so the iRock is a worthwhile tool. The iRock also offers the flexibility of being usable through any FM radio. In fact, according to the manual , "The 300w is not only compatible with every audio player, but it will broadcast to any radio or stereo."
Gotchas
The biggest issue for me was the loss of sound quality as the battery charge diminished. However, this is addressed in the newer model, the iRock 400W as it has a secondary power input through a cigarette lighter adapter.
Also, the power button is pretty easy to press accidentally. If you leave the iRock in your glove compartment or center console as I do, you may find that it gets accidentally switched on if it moves around.
Finally, the frequency selector on the side is a little difficult to use. I sometimes found it a little fiddly to choose a specific frequency.
Where To Buy
The iRock 300W can be purchased from here (affiliate link). The retail price is $29.99 USD. The iRock 400W can be purchased directly from iRock.
Conclusions
The iRock does a reasonable job. It does let you listen to your iPAQ through an FM radio and it is very easy to use. However, the quality of the signal getting to the radio is highly dependent on the strength of the batteries.
On the surface, the iRock 300W is a pretty simple device. It simply takes the output of any 3.5 mm audio output jack and transmits it through an FM transmitter on one of four user selectable frequencies (88.1, 88.3, 88.5 or 88.7). As the antenna is built into the cable that is used to connect the body of the device the iRock is pretty compact, even if does look a bit like a tadpole!
How Did I Test The iRock
I connected the iRock to my iPAQ 2210. The iPAQ was fully charged and I played a selection of music using Windows Media Player with songs stored on an SD card. The songs were ripped from original CDs using Windows Media Player's default settings.
I used my car's sound system for the testing and switched on all the devices in my car that I thought might interfere with the FM signal transmission (demisters, windscreen wipers, air-conditioning, etc). I powered the iRock with a new set of rechargeable alkaline batteries that were fully charged. The iRock was sitting in about the center of my car (a fairly large family sedan). I used each of the four available frequencies at different times.
Specs - The Tale of the Tape
This program will work on any device with a 3.5 mm audio output jack. It does not require any special software to be loaded on your Pocket PC.
- Compact size: 2.0" x 3.0" x 1.0"
- Flexible 7" antenna folds around unit for storage
- Audio input connector: 1/8" (3.5mm) stereo plug
- Power requirement: 2 AAA alkaline batteries
- Battery life: 13 hours typical
- Modulation: FM stereo
- Frequencies: 88.1, 88.3, 88.5, 88.7 MHz
- High stability crystal oscillator, phase-lock loop control (PLL)
- Signal distortion: less than 0.4%
- Frequency response: 50 Hz to 15 kHz
- Operating range: 10-30 feet, depending on the quality of the FM radio receiver (limited by FCC regulations)
- FCC part 15 compliant
Using the iRock
Once I got my iRock all I had to do to start using it was to choose a frequency using the switch on the side of the device, put in some batteries, plug it into my iPAQ and turn it on. When switched on, a red LED lights up on the front of the iRock.
Once I tuned the radio in I could hear the output pretty clearly. It was just about the easiest hardware add-on I have ever used with my iPAQ. As it just takes the output from the audio jack I didn't need to load any software.
Switching between frequencies is pretty simple. Just move the selector on the side of the iRock to a different position and re-tune your radio.
Figure 1: The iRock Frequency Selector
The iRock can be used with any device with a 3.5 mm audio jack output such as CD players and iPODs. As well as listening to music , you could use the iRock to play the sounds from your games while playing on your Pocket PC just to further immerse you in the gameplay (but not while you are driving :wink: )
But is it Any Good?
I was really looking forward to getting my iRock. With a 256 MB SD Card, I can store enough music to get me through plenty of driving. With the iRock I could listen to it safely while driving. The sound quality coming from the iRock varied depending on how well charged the batteries were. When fully charged, the sound quality was as good as listening to the radio. But as the batteries ran down, there was an increasing amount of hiss and crackle. My experience was that the sound was pretty good for about three hours but that after that the sound quality started to drop off slowly.
Should You Buy One?
As well as the iRock there are a couple of other ways you could connect your Pocket PC to your car sound system (if that's something you want/need to do). Firstly, you could buy a cassette tape adaptor. These are pretty inexpensive and are easy to use. Secondly, if your car sound system has an easily accessible auxiliary input, you could directly plug your Pocket PC into the sound system. As both of these mechanisms involve a direct connection to the sound system, they should deliver great sound quality. Also, neither of these solutions requires an additional power source.
However, in many cars, neither of these methods is an option so the iRock is a worthwhile tool. The iRock also offers the flexibility of being usable through any FM radio. In fact, according to the manual , "The 300w is not only compatible with every audio player, but it will broadcast to any radio or stereo."
Gotchas
The biggest issue for me was the loss of sound quality as the battery charge diminished. However, this is addressed in the newer model, the iRock 400W as it has a secondary power input through a cigarette lighter adapter.
Also, the power button is pretty easy to press accidentally. If you leave the iRock in your glove compartment or center console as I do, you may find that it gets accidentally switched on if it moves around.
Finally, the frequency selector on the side is a little difficult to use. I sometimes found it a little fiddly to choose a specific frequency.
Where To Buy
The iRock 300W can be purchased from here (affiliate link). The retail price is $29.99 USD. The iRock 400W can be purchased directly from iRock.
Conclusions
The iRock does a reasonable job. It does let you listen to your iPAQ through an FM radio and it is very easy to use. However, the quality of the signal getting to the radio is highly dependent on the strength of the batteries.
