techminute

A lot of iPod and iPhone accessories are out there.  In fact, manufacturers produce accessories faster than Apple prefers.  Although Bose’s SoundDock is a heavy hitter in this market because of their superior audio quality and attention to detail and engineering, there are a few of others out there who come very close and offer some bonus features.  Audyssey’s South of Market dock for iPhone/iPod is one of those others.  It features a very unique design of which tends to turn heads.  One feature I personally was excited about, was the ability to customize the EQ via an app on the App Store.  Unfortunately the app hasn’t been updated in awhile and is a bit clunky to use.  While examining the unit I noticed some odd things on the back, such as what appears to be a rear microphone and another Infrared reciever.  I am told the rear microphone is constantly monitoring sound levels, so it adjusts the output accordingly.  I assume the rear Infrared receiver is to double the range of the remote control. There is a mic on the front, so the dock can be used as a speakerphone when a call comes in.  The remote control has an Accept and a Hangup button for this feature, so the user doesn’t have to tap the display of the phone during a call.

Although the speaker does offer great sound and well represented highs and deep lows, it is a bit buggy with the Bluetooth feature.  The Bluetooth built in does not have too good a range, and when paired with a computer, the sound quality is terrible.  The USB port on the back allows the dock to be used to sync your i-device with your computer.  Just drop it into the dock.  There is an auxillary input so you can plug in other devices as well, such as a CD player.

While I didn’t initally read the manual, I had to in order to figure out where the volume controls were.  They are cleverly hidden on the lower half of the front of the unit, where the 30 pin connector is for your iPhone or iPod.    There is a lot of innovation and technology built into this product.  One of them is Audyssey’s BassXT, which pumps out a surprisingly rich amount of lows from a device about the size of a stapler.  Audyssey says BassXT maximizes driver output in order to generate greater bass.  I notice while testing this product that some of the lows still remain audible even at lower levels, which is not very common.  Only the Bose SoundDock was able to do this as well.  The device contains two 3/4 inch tweeters and two four inch drivers, totaling 200 watts.

Oh and by the way, there is a funky tilt mechanism which supposedly allows you to tilt it in order to adjust the sound.  It doesn’t really work.  You have to enable the tilt in the App and when doing so, you lose the ability to adjust the sound manually via the screen of your i-Device.  Being that the dock is a bit heavy, it’s not really meant to be picked up.  That said, I just recommend leaving the tilt feature off.

All in all, this is one really amazing product, and even though the price is a bit high, it definitely won’t disappoint.

http://www.audyssey.com/products/southofmarket  -  $399.99  Available at Apple Retail Stores