Griffin RadioSHARK Exceeds Expectations 191
reifman writes "Picked up a Griffin RadioSHARK (think TiVo for radio) at the Apple store this evening: It exceeds all expectations. The user experience is simple. The iPod synchronization is seamless. The RadioSHARK is a counter-attack on the recording industry and its draconian file sharing lawsuits. I'm glad to see Griffin had the balls to release this product. ."
Nice but... (Score:5, Interesting)
Nice gadget anyway!
Re:Nice but... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Nice but... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Nice but... (Score:4, Interesting)
This works well for AM (Score:3, Interesting)
In the alternative, you could hook the radio output of your cable outlet directly into the audio input of your computer and write scripting software to capture it. For tuning, you'd have to hack something like a cable mouse (an IR emitter that you'd have to write software to drive with the appropriate signals to command the cable to change radio channels). A lot of work, but it
External antenna (Score:5, Informative)
DAB Version! Digital, Baby! (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:DAB Version! Digital, Baby! (Score:5, Interesting)
Note: In other countries they do use proper bitrates per channel but in the UK we've got 50 of exactly the same sort of garbage pop radio station vying to get into each multiplex. Quality in programming seems to have taken a back seat.
My kingdom for BBC 6 Music in 256kbps...
Re:DAB Version! Digital, Baby! (Score:2)
Crackdown, T-Minus ? days (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually, I just went to RIAA's website [riaa.com] for the first time... all of the "latest news" articles on the main page are about lawsuits they've filed. Nice!
Don't they realize that something is wrong with their business when their news is about lawyers, and not musicians?!
Re:Crackdown, T-Minus ? days (Score:5, Insightful)
However that doesn't mean that the recording industry won't try to ban this product . . .
Re:Crackdown, T-Minus ? days (Score:2)
However, I certainly hope you're right!
Re:Crackdown, T-Minus ? days (Score:3, Funny)
incredible (Score:2, Interesting)
This is very funny:
The principle that the work that one has created belongs to the creator and should be controlled by you is as timeless as it is global.
The copyright in the sound recording, i.e. the recording of the performer singing or playing a given song. This is usually owned by the record company.
Re:Crackdown, T-Minus ? days (Score:3, Interesting)
The main thrust was that McDonalds held their coffee about 20F above most other restaraunts and numerous complaints had already been filed. It wasn't the frivolous lawsuit that many believe it to be. It actually had merit.
Re:Crackdown, T-Minus ? days (Score:2, Informative)
Now, I'm all for personal responsibility, but the lady who sued suffered real physical damage from an item that was meant to be consumed in a moving vehicle (
Re:Crackdown, T-Minus ? days (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm not saying McDonalds was in the right, any coffee hot enough to cause 2nd or 3rd degree burns is just too hot to begin with. But people, please, use som
Re:Crackdown, T-Minus ? days (Score:2)
I think a large element of that lawsuit was of the form "serving people scalding coffee is stupid and dangerous - we've asked you nicely not to do it, now we're telling you."
imho, of course.
Re:Crackdown, T-Minus ? days (Score:3, Informative)
Minor problem: She wasn't driving [centerjd.org]. Not only wasn't she the driver, the car wasn't even moving.
Re:Crackdown, T-Minus ? days (Score:3, Insightful)
boombox != computer (Score:2)
You forget... (Score:2)
Now, you and I understand that at *some* point the signal has to be turned into analog so that it can drive the coils in the speakers, but the average Joe is not going to take apart their speakers and hook up leads to the wires so that he can record into his sou
Re:You forget... (Score:2, Insightful)
No. But the business of RIAA is not about musicians. It is about making money. Both are different. There are two ways of making money in US ("making" money, not earning them):
1. make something useful and sell lots of them.
2. Litigate, leverage, collect fees from others...
RIAA belongs to second, since the first step is known to produce crappy songs like Evanescence...
Uhh.. (Score:5, Funny)
What's a "radio"?
Re:Uhh.. (Score:5, Funny)
Tomorrow, we'll investigate how you can get over 80 channels of television-quality video in real-time streaming for about $50 a month.
Re:Uhh.. (Score:2)
A "radio" is a device capable of wirelessly receiving audio broadcasts synchronously across dozens of channels. Assuming a modest 64 kilobits per second on one "radio" station, well-served markets such as New York City enjoy a total streaming throughput of well over two mibobites per second. This service is made available to the consumer free of charge thanks to the United States Free Communications Commission (FCC).
Not thanks to the FCC, but thanks to the people who've spent good money to build radio
Re:Uhh.. (Score:4, Funny)
What's a "radio"?
A device designed to receive the broadcast of The Howard Stern Radio Show, between 6 and 10 AM on weekdays. At least, that's all my radio is for.
Should that title not be (Score:3, Insightful)
He never actually mentioned what his expectation were in the first place though so its hard to tell what was actually exceeded.
Peosonally I think more than one person needs to be impressed before you can write headlines like this, some guy scribbling on his blog is not a sufficient indicator for me.
SightLight (Score:5, Interesting)
The SightLight is one of the most poorly-conceived products on the market. It's a light for the iSight webcam; it's a ring of white LEDs which mounts around the iSight lens to illuminate you so that people can see you when you're using the webcam in an otherwise dark room. Sounds clever, right?
Except that using the SightLight is like trying to talk to an automobile headlight two feet in front of your face. And you'd think that in return for being blinded, you could at least be seen better by the person on the other end of the conversation - but no, that's not true; for as retina-piercingly bright as the SightLight is, it does a terrible job of actually lighting you up. A face lit by the SightLight will look ghostly pale and near-dark to the person on the other end, and the user has to be very close to the light to be seen at all.
And all this for $39.95!
I returned mine the very next day, and I now approach Griffin products with skepticism.
Re:SightLight (Score:2)
Re:SightLight (Score:2)
The iMic is great. For $40 you get sound input on a Mac that doesn't have a mic port. The iTrip is marginal. The FM signal is so weak that if your radio isn't excellent, the sound quality is much worse than a cassette adapter.
The iFire is just silly. If you want to hook up speakers to a Mac that doesn't have the amplifier for the Apple Pro Speakers, get other speakers. The pro speakers are not very good speakers
Re:SightLight (Score:5, Informative)
I've done a lot of lighting for both video and stage, and you're missing the point. The SightLight isn't supposed to be the primary light source for the iSight. If you use it that way, (depening on ambient light) you'll get an image with a lot of contrast and noise.
The way to use the SightLight is as a secondary fill source. Especially with overhead lighting, a lot if people get horrible shadows under their eyes and cheeks, well-defined forehead wrinkles, and the like. That's why a lot of people look like Hermann Munster on a web cam.
Using the SightLight mitigates a lot of this, particularly the eye shadows. For 40 bucks, it does a good job at the job it's supposed to do. (It's certainly cheaper than a real lighting kit!)
BTW, there's a switch on the SightLight to reduce brightness, making the "headlight in your face" effect a little easier to take.
The SightLight is a nifty gadget that does its job pretty darn well. It sucks as a primary light, but using it as such is simply pilot error...
Re:SightLight (Score:4, Funny)
Re:SightLight (Score:2)
Neat, but old hat... (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't see how releasing this required any balls. FM broadcasts are horrible when compared to the AAC streams from XM.
The RIAA have written off FM copyright lawsuits because any kid with a boombox can swipe a low quality song.
I've been doing this for two years using a TV/FM tuner that costs about the same as the Radioshark - and the bonus is I can record cable TV so now I can have low quality video too!
Re:Neat, but old hat... (Score:2)
This may be true, but they are also the next best thing to legal. They don't have any DRM and they are easily listenable in portable MP3 players and on phones with music capability.
This product could totally kill the RIAA by flooding the net with legally (or almost) recorded music that the average listener will be happy with.
The thing that worries me is that DAB will have a DRM broadcast flag in it and that the RIAA will (economically)
Re:Neat, but old hat... (Score:2)
This product could totally kill the RIAA by flooding the net with legally (or almost) recorded music that the average listener will be happy with.
It may be "legally recorded", but the RIAA would still consider it actionable. It doesn't matter where the song came from-- CD, radio, tape, vinyl, whatever-- you're still sharing a copyrighted work.
I wouldn't be surprised if this product flew under the RIAA's radar, though. It's the perfect product for a very small group of people who want it but it's not
Re:Neat, but old hat... (Score:2)
Me neither. Though I know Logitech had some problems with getting enough balls for their new line of mice....
An iPod accessory really should work seamlessly (Score:3, Insightful)
Then again, the RadioSHARK probably would have only met--not exceeded--my expectations, as given Griffin Tech's batting record with Cool New Things(tm) like the PowerMate [http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/powerm
Re:An iPod accessory really should work seamlessly (Score:2)
Cool idea, but... (Score:5, Informative)
The application (at least on OS X) leaves a lot to be desired. It does not behave like a typical OS X application in many ways, have no way to edit a preset- if you want to go back and put in the radio station's call sign or a genre descriptor you have to re-add the station as a preset and then delete the first instance of the preset, there are no menu options (and thus no keyboard shortcuts) for many of the really important GUI elements.
The time shift feature is a good idea, but is poorly implemented. You can set a number of seconds to move forwards or backwards (defaults to 10 seconds) by pressing the left and right arrow or you can drag the slider around forwards and backwards in the time shift buffer but these 2 methods are either too granular or too coarse to help you pinpoint a precise location.
It would be so cool if Griffin Technologies opened up the API... since the GUI and user interface are just so lame.
Re:Cool idea, but... (Score:2)
Simply hook the audio-in on your computer to an FM receiver. If you have a good quality FM receiver and antenna, you can get very good recordings.
I used to use Audiocorder [blackcatsystems.com] with OSX. This is a great program, and affordable. As for time-shifting, you should be able to start playing an AIFF or WAV before you're done recording.
Now that I'm on Linux, though, I just use a cro
XM (Score:2, Insightful)
Huh? (Score:5, Interesting)
When was AIFF ever more compact than AAC? Isn't it, in fact, the least compact format possible?
Re:Huh? (Score:2)
Nice but... (Score:5, Interesting)
The only problem I see with this though, is that your average geek will simply not need one of these. I have a CD changer in my car. I have my iPod hooked up to my car stereo. I'm literally surrounded by computers at work. I have a stereo at home, that my iPod and one of my computers is hooked up to.
With regard to my "music needs", I guess I'm pretty much covered. I guess this is really useful if you're into talk radio. But to me, the radio is something I use when I'm on the road and want to listen to a ballgame or when I'm working on something outside and don't really feel like listening to my iPod but want some background music. The radio just isn't something I pay a lot of attention to.
The reason TiVo is such a huge hit is that it fundamentally changes the way we watch TV. When I'm watching TV I usually do pay attention to what's on - it's not just some random background noise. I find it hard to see how this could work for radio. Except, of course, skipping commercials. That would indeed be nice (but not all that useful, since most commercial stations already do 30-minutes-without-commercial stuff).
The problem is this: I, and I can only speak for myself here, don't really care what's on the radio. To me, it's random stuff. Turn it on, listen to some music while doing something else, turn it off when you're done. TV's different: I care what's on. That's why I'm watching in the first place.
Here's Why (Score:5, Interesting)
First, not everything on the radio is music. There are a number of NPR shows that are on while I'm at work that would enjoy listening to.
And as is usually menitoned whenever someone reviews this thing, some people enjoy listening to Howard Stern, but can't for various reasons. Now they can, at least for a year or so.
And there is plenty more talk of varying quality radio out there.
And where I live there is a space music show called Echoes. Runs between 10 pm and midnight. More often then not I'm doing something else. Now I can record it, load my iPod, and listen at work.
SteveM
NPR? The archives are on the web! (Score:2)
Re:NPR? The archives are on the web! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:NPR? The archives are on the web! (Score:2)
Re:Nice but... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Nice but...College Radio (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Nice but... (Score:3, Interesting)
It's ideal for talk radio fanatics (Score:2)
I got a Radio Your Way [pogoproducts.com] and use it to record talk shows. I later convert them to MP3 and I coded a WMP-based player that allows me to skip ahead/back by 1-minute or 5-second intervals, which lets me bypass commercials and news. It's great. Sounds like this device would eliminate the convert-to
Does it support MP3 or Vorbis? (Score:2)
Can it record to MP3 or Vorbis?
Actually, I'd like to be able to supply my own encoder and parameters (ie. LAME MP3).
Re:Does it support MP3 or Vorbis? (Score:5, Informative)
RTFA.
Answer: No.
It can, however, record to unprotected AAC (compressed) or AIFF (lossless - I'm pretty sure). AIFF has been used for years, predominantly on the mac, and many utilities are available to easily convert AIFF into whatever format your heart desires.
Great! (Score:3, Funny)
Mt short review (Score:5, Informative)
- 64kps AAC sounds great for npr shows, and the files aren't too big.
- After recording, it automatically puts the file into an iTunes playlist, so you just need to dock your iPod each time to get the updated recordings.
- You can set the time-shift buffer to any length you want. So at any time you can go back to listen to any broadcast in the last day on a station.
- The hardware is solid high quality.
- It records even when the application isn't open. It appears to have a daemon process running at all times, still recording to the buffer.
- You can preset stations with names, and then switch between them using a dropdown.
- The interface is really slick.
Here's what could be improved:
- The filenames for repeat recordings should have the date in them to make it easier to pick from multiple recordings of the same show on the iPod. ID3 tags would be nice, too.
- There should be an option to record shows only on the weekdays. To record a weekday-only show, you need to set up five identical recordings, one for each day.
- The blue/red light on the unit glows like three night lights. Having it in my bedroom lights up the whole room. Where's the dimmer?
- It would be a cool feature to be able to schedule recordings remotely without using VNC.
Now if someone would only come up with a good time-shifting TV tuner of this quality for the Mac.
Re:Mt short review (Score:4, Informative)
Formac Studio (Score:2)
Someone else mentioned the El Gato solution for this, but I would highly recommend the Formac Studio [formac.com]. It costs more, but it is also much more capable--it can take Composite and S-Video inputs as well as the regular coax for tv. Beyond that, I personally think it has much better quality (I tried both before buying the Formac). As well, there is a 3rd party app (Vidi [mitzpettel.com]) for the Formac Studio that I think is bet
Re:Mt short review (Score:2)
I have the eye TV tuner for my mac, and I can't complain.
Here's my basic asessment.
1) $200 cost. Cheaper than a decent TV (I think), and certainly takes up less space than a TV.
2) Time shifting, recording, the works. Makes your computer into a TiVo, really slick. It's nice to have the recorded shows on the computer where something useful can be done with them too (burn to DVD?).
3) Turning your computer into a TV/TIVO/DVD player helps to save space and gadget costs, really cool.
4) Unit is powered by USB
Covering Super-Bright LEDs (Score:2)
I have equipment with absurdly overkill Super-Bright LEDs in it too. The two solutions I have used are to put multiple layers of masking tape over the LED colored with a dark felt marker, or to put black electrical tape over the LED and put a pinhole in it. Either one will let you still monitor the LED without blinding yourself. Sigh.
I don't see the big deal (Score:2)
what about using internet radio stations? (Score:2)
But, if you want to record broadcasted music into a mp3 file, wouldn't it make more sense to rig your computer to record music being broadcast over the internet?
In fact, aren't there services that will broadcast songs at your request? I suppose you could record whatever songs you wanted with a service like that.
Re:what about using internet radio stations? (Score:3, Informative)
Too bad radio sux (Score:3, Insightful)
Even the so-called 'aternative' stations just keep repeating the same stuff... after 3 days you have heard it all..
Re:Too bad radio sux (Score:3, Interesting)
MY area (Score:2)
The fact YOU have radio to listen to doesnt negate the fact I have none..
( talk radio doesnt count, i was discussing music radio )
Needs optical line in (Score:2)
RIAA website (Score:2)
Man.. Good way to scare away business..
Mossberg disagrees (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm curious (assuming the original writer is reading this) about how that writer would respond to Mossberg's criticism.
Re:Mossberg disagrees (Score:2)
Instead of griping about it on
Are you kidding? (Score:2)
Ah please... (Score:3, Insightful)
No it's not. Its a radio receiver not a p2p app. Settle down. It is less of a threat to the evil RIAA than Audio Hijack Pro [rogueamoeba.com].
Of Little Actual Utility (Score:2, Insightful)
Most good radio programming is streamed on the Internet. A lot of shows, particularly those on public radio, are even archived. And music services like Rhapsody allow one to pull up almost any tune imaginable.
A lot of this stuff is (pathetically) protected, so it can't be copied directly to a portable device: however, we all know that it's utterly trivial to use an audio-capture app (e.g., GoldWave for Win
two major points... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:two major points... (Score:2)
Re:two major points... (Score:2)
Too bad it's from Griffin. They're abysmal (Score:3, Informative)
The Windows drivers suck, to put it mildly. They don't use DirectInput, so there is no games support, regardless of what the marketing brochures and manual say, and the USB integration is so piss poor that every time you plug the PowerMate in it installs another copy of the drivers, regardless of how many previous copies might already be on the system. At first I though it was just mildly stupid and wanted a new driver for each USB port. Nope, it will reinstall/add drivers ad infinitum if you just keep plugging it into the same USB port.
Griffin acknowledged the problem to me in email about 2 years ago. Not after a long story from their engineer about how driver writing is "hard" and I should just be happy it works at all and shut up. They said 6 months out there would be better drivers. The version number hasn't changed from 1.5.2 in over 24 months.
It's a piece of junk and I suspect, based on other reviews I've read, that other Griffin products are of the same poor quality.
Re:Too bad it's from Griffin. They're abysmal (Score:3, Informative)
I bring up MAME because the PowerMate for Windows manual specifically mentions MAME and Tempest as something that can be controlled via PowerMate. It's a lie, pure and simple. As I said, I was told that by a rep from Griffin.
If they can't get a simple driver coded correctly and rely in
Tuner quality and sensitivity? (Score:2)
Now I wouldn't expect the RadioSHARK to have the sound quality of a high-end dedicated tuner, but where does it stand? Is it great for convenience only or does it
Re:Tuner quality and sensitivity? (Score:2)
FM is a tremendously degraded medium for audio. Saying you have a 'high-end dedicated tuner' is akin to bragging about how you filled your Geo Metro with super unleaded.
Re:Tuner quality and sensitivity? (Score:2)
a couple thoughts (Score:4, Informative)
I don't know if I could justify $69+s/h for a hardware device with no way to boost signal reception. If you already have a radio that has stereo out, you can cross connect it to your PC and use this software: Total Recorder [highcriteria.com]. This enables you to schedule and encode the broadcast directly to any number of formats (mp3, aiff, wav, etc). It's only $12. This is from a Windows perspective, but I'm sure there is some Mac software out there that can do this.....but then again, if you listen to certain regularly syndicated radio show, you can snag eps of it from suprnova.org, I do this for Howard Stern.
But the BBC is already streaming H2G2... (Score:3, Funny)
A question for radioShark users (Score:2)
Does this thing have Mac OS 9 software?
I can't upgrade my current PowerMac to OS X due to memory constraints, and I certainly can't afford even a used Mac capable of running OS X decently.
Thanks in advance!
I'm sure I'm not the only one (Score:4, Interesting)
What the hell would you want to record off of radio today?
On a two hour long trip yesterday I heard one song that I might want to hear again. If I had been in my own car with a CD player available, I wouldn't have even thought about listening to radio.
AM talk radio is the only remotely listenable radio left and you really don't miss anything by skipping a day.
Re:I'm sure I'm not the only one (Score:2, Informative)
Re:I'm sure I'm not the only one (Score:3, Interesting)
NPR Web Site [npr.org]
As far as music, hell no. I'd never use this for music. But I'd *definitely* use it to TiVo programs like "Car Talk" and "Prairie Home Companion."
p
Headline. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Headline. (Score:2)
Still I am cosidering the radioshark just for ease of integration.
recording talk shows, etc (Score:2, Insightful)
This effectively time-shifts the show for me, which in the case of Kevin & Bean show, I think it worth it. They usually have entertaining or interesting discussions about all sorts of stuff from the w
Overrated (Score:2)
Re:Overrated (Score:2)
There were VCRs for years before TiVo appeared. How can TiVo be considered newsworthy? The reason is because the interface to the user no longer acts like the data is being stored on a tape. For example the ability to record and play back from a live stream flexibly is enabled by recording to a hard drive but not always made availab
Re:Overrated (Score:2)
Re:Overrated (Score:2)
Re:Overrated (Score:2)
Hell, even Linux has had Radio timeshifting solutions for some time now. You can use any of the popular PCI TV Tuner cards, which almost always have radio tuning in addition to TV tuning. Then you can use this howto to setup radio timeshifting:
http://osl.iu.edu/~tveldhui/radio/ [iu.edu]
Yes its harder to setup this kind of thing on Linux, but I am trying to drive home the p
Re:Overrated (Score:3, Interesting)
Have you ever owned and used a Hauppauge product? I've had a couple and to compare that crap with almost anything on the Mac (or the PC for that matter) shows ignorance or chutzpah of the first order. Then there is the odd comparison with a Linux product that can involve installing a few binaries and setting up some cron tasks. Right, that is a real valid comparison.
Wh
Pretty limited expectations (Score:4, Interesting)
1) Does it support an external antenna?
2) How free is it from spurious responses in the presence of strong signals?
3) How sensitive is it?
4) How is the adjacent and alternate channel selectivity?
5) What's the signal to noise ratio for strong and weak signals?
6) How's the A.M. rejection?
7) How's the stereo separation?
8) How's the distortion at various modulation levels? (including a bit above 100%, some stations overmodulate)
9) Can it receive S.C.A. subcarriers?
10) Is there software support to decode E.A.S. (Emergency Alert System) messages?
11) How's the frequency response?
12) Can it tune signals at other than the usual
Granted I don't expect a low-priced receiver to use a balanced mixer, but I'd at least like to see some clue that designers put some thought into performance.
Idea for Griffin's next big product (Score:2)
Anyways, I "bumped" that post for three reasons: to get the idea more attention, to relate that I discovered a steganography program [petitcolas.net] that could be useful for this project and also to plea for help in finding a program that can generate modem audio. Unfortunately googl