Wed 28 Feb 2007
Santa (Ashley, my wife) delivered a curious package under the tree that I wasn’t expecting this year. It was the JBL On Stage, a 4-speaker dock for my 4th gen 20GB iPod. The device is small enough to fit on a tiny nightstand or in the corner of my desk without taking up hoards of surface area. It offers rich sound for the size and charges my iPod all at the same time. If you like, you can connect the dock to your iPod firewire or USB cable for transfering songs. It also has a 1/4″ jack for other non-iPod audio players or incompatible types such as the iPod Shuffle sans the charging ability. Good thinking JBL.
I am impressed with the overall quality of sound and equalization that are built in. I really like the small, circular waveguide in the inner edge of the “ring” which allows some marginal bass frequencies to be produced. I was unsure how much this guide contributed to the frequencies of the system, so I covered the port hole (about the size of a dime) and could instantly hear a loss in the low frequencies. I’m not sure what frequency this guide is tuned to, but it makes a big difference. It also makes a difference if you have the On Stage sitting on a box-like structure that can vibrate. You will notice a big difference in frequency bandwidth.
The only things I dislike about the On Stage are the value for the price-point and the “touch” volume buttons. The MSRP is right at $160, steep for what you actually get. I’m sure a big chunk of that is Apple’s, so I do understand that licensing “iPod” brings the price up. The device is very well engineered which helps with the sticker shock. The “touch” volume buttons allow you to change the volume (or mute) without actually depressing a button. Simply putting your finger on (or pretty much near) the button pad changes the volume. The problem is your iPod is pretty close to these buttons, so often I find after selecting a new song or CD that the volume has been cranked way up from using my hand to stablize it while pressing the click wheel. The dock is simply not substancial enough to mess with the iPod without bracing it with your hand. The touch technology is cool, but a bad spot for it. I also have never minded actually depressing a button. I kind of like the idea of knowing how many clicks up or down I’ve taken the volume.
Overall, I give this device 5 out of 5 stars for quality engineering.
