Thursday, January 19, 2006
Kensington Stereo Dock for iPod mini review
While the iPod has been the way to enjoy music in recent years, how you actually use it is a mixed bag for many. With the ability to carry a huge amount of music in such a portable device, the iPod has become the player of choice for many people choosing to not only use it when out and about but also as a source of music in their car or at home. It certainly makes sense to hook it up to your home stereo and blast out those classics and a simple phono cable will do the trick but you know there has to be a more convenient solution. Kensington offer you just that with their Stereo Dock. Not only does it allow you to connect the iPod to your hi-fi, it allows you to control it remotely and also keep the battery fully charged – all wrapped up in a very stylish cradle.
The dock itself is well constructed of a high quality white plastic, well weighted to ensure it stays in place and finished in a chrome piping frame to support the iPod. Connections on the rear support power in and a standard 3.5mm audio out jack. This audio out uses the line out portion of the iPod’s data connector and therefore should allow a cleaner signal than would be obtained from the headphone jack. Routing this audio out to your stereo’s phono in connection is done via the included gold plated phono lead; finished in white of course! Power is routed to the dock by the supplied white power adapter. There is no led on the dock although the orange glow of the Kensington logo is a sure sign that the power is turned on.
When playing back your music, the excellent infrared remote control allows you to change volume, skip tracks and also play/pause. The interface looks similar to the iPod’s click wheel although this is strictly a push button affair, you don’t have the option of navigating menus. This all makes sense given that you would not be able to see the iPod’s screen from distance and know what you were changing. It is a handy tool all the same for skipping through songs in your playlist or pausing a track and offers the best level of control you can reasonably expect from distance without a remote screen. Using the remote in the dark is made easy due to the back lit controls that are lit up in an orange glow every time you press a button and remain illuminated for about four seconds. When not in use, the remote sits comfortably on the top rear section of the dock so you should never lose it!
Sound quality through the dock is excellent however the line out volume is surprisingly low. I’m unsure if this is a product of the data connector line out or the dock itself. Using the exact same volume levels on the iPod and hi-fi, the audio was noticeably louder routed through the phono cable from the headphone jack as opposed to the dock. This doesn’t cause an issue as such as all you need do raise the volume on the stereo to compensate however I did want to highlight this.
All in, this is a great product and priced very sensibly given that all connections and the remote control are included. The Stereo Dock works with all iPods that sport the standard data connector on the bottom including the nano although this model sits a little offset to one side and does not get supported by the chrome piping; a moot point given the negligible weight of the nano. If you plan on using your iPod at home on a regular basis with your hi-fi then you can’t go wrong with the Stereo Dock, just start up your favourite playlist, drop it in the dock and interact with the remote control! I highly recommend this to all home iPod users out there.
For more details, please visit the Kensington website.
The dock itself is well constructed of a high quality white plastic, well weighted to ensure it stays in place and finished in a chrome piping frame to support the iPod. Connections on the rear support power in and a standard 3.5mm audio out jack. This audio out uses the line out portion of the iPod’s data connector and therefore should allow a cleaner signal than would be obtained from the headphone jack. Routing this audio out to your stereo’s phono in connection is done via the included gold plated phono lead; finished in white of course! Power is routed to the dock by the supplied white power adapter. There is no led on the dock although the orange glow of the Kensington logo is a sure sign that the power is turned on.
When playing back your music, the excellent infrared remote control allows you to change volume, skip tracks and also play/pause. The interface looks similar to the iPod’s click wheel although this is strictly a push button affair, you don’t have the option of navigating menus. This all makes sense given that you would not be able to see the iPod’s screen from distance and know what you were changing. It is a handy tool all the same for skipping through songs in your playlist or pausing a track and offers the best level of control you can reasonably expect from distance without a remote screen. Using the remote in the dark is made easy due to the back lit controls that are lit up in an orange glow every time you press a button and remain illuminated for about four seconds. When not in use, the remote sits comfortably on the top rear section of the dock so you should never lose it!
Sound quality through the dock is excellent however the line out volume is surprisingly low. I’m unsure if this is a product of the data connector line out or the dock itself. Using the exact same volume levels on the iPod and hi-fi, the audio was noticeably louder routed through the phono cable from the headphone jack as opposed to the dock. This doesn’t cause an issue as such as all you need do raise the volume on the stereo to compensate however I did want to highlight this.
All in, this is a great product and priced very sensibly given that all connections and the remote control are included. The Stereo Dock works with all iPods that sport the standard data connector on the bottom including the nano although this model sits a little offset to one side and does not get supported by the chrome piping; a moot point given the negligible weight of the nano. If you plan on using your iPod at home on a regular basis with your hi-fi then you can’t go wrong with the Stereo Dock, just start up your favourite playlist, drop it in the dock and interact with the remote control! I highly recommend this to all home iPod users out there.
For more details, please visit the Kensington website.
