- One touch iTunes Tagging
- Displays information such as station & song name, brand, frequency, and more if available
- Crystal clear, digital stereo for AM/FM HD radio and multicast stations
- PLL tuning digital tuning technology
- 30 radio presets
Product Description
The iHD171 provides crystal clear, digital stereo for AM/FM HD Radio and multicast stations. Receive HD radios signals to increase the clarity of your FM radio stations to CD-quality sound. Displays info such as station and song name, brand, frequency and more if avilable from the station. One touch iTunes Taggin, PLL tuning digital tuning technology and programmable presets for 30 radio stations. Enjoy rich sound from your iPhone & iPod, plays and charges both. Out… More >>
iLuv iHD171 HD Radio with iTunes Tagging for iPod, iPhone, and iPhone 3G/3G S
#1 by Alan D. Morgan on February 1st, 2010
I was looking for a replacement for my 90s Sony clock radio.
I consider myself an audiophile and love electronics as much
as the next person. My quest for a clock radio with decent sound
and features led me to consider the Cambridge Soundworks, Sangean,
Teac and a few other radios ranging from $125 to $300. I settled
on this item because I felt for just under $100 it hit the sweet spot
for what I was looking for.
Overall I am happy with the ILUV Clock Radio. I wanted some semblance of build quality
and for a clock radio this item has a nice feel and meets my expectations in this regard.
The sound is quite good. Especially when used as a clock radio next to your bed.
I woud not want to fill a room full of music with it, but as a bedside radio it meets
my expectations. There is no tone, bass or treble control. It does have several (5 I think)
sound modes and I think most will be happy with the variances provided.
Connectivity:
I like that I had the capability to connect a Terk antenna to the radio as I live in
the Washington suburbs far enough out to make FM problematic. My aluminum siding does
not help matters either. You can listen to your MP3 or us older folks your diskman
through the Auxillary jack. Keep in mind you cannot Wake to music from the device
in your Aux jack. You can listen to your headphones. I have not tried this but I am
certain you could hook up a nice pair of amplified speakers from the radios headphone jack.
Then you could fill a room up with sound. You can output sound and video from your IPOD.
The connectivity features provide you with several alternatives for expanding your sound
source or improving the sound if you choose to do so.
Clock Radio:
In my opinion the LCD display is too bright if the radio sits at eye level no matter
the brightness setting. Also the LCD panel is gained for maximum contrast at 45 degrees above.
If looking straight on at the panel it is viewable but washed out significantly. I have come to
beleive after reading reviews LCD panels are not the best technology for bedside clocks.
I can live with this and have no problem sleeping but still I would like something less bright.
OK here is a good laugh. I am considering a cheap LED clock to set next or on top of
the clock radio for night time and morning clock viewing. You can set the LCD panel off and
that might be my fix.
The clock dissapears to show the FM frequency when the radio starts up in the morning.
Unacceptable for me. I always steal another 20 minutes looking for the clock time every
7 minutes or so. This does not happen when waking with the IPOD or buzzer.
HD Radio:
The HD Radio is nice when it works. It expands your choice in stations and sounds pretty good
on this radio. It seems no matter the radio you choose, HD radio is prone to drop outs
and when this occurrs the radio switches to regular FM. I have seen drop out from 5 bars
to nothing then back up again to 1, 2 maybe 3 bars. You can hear the difference in sound
when this occurrs. All radios appear to do this from the reviews I have read. As I said this
does not happen all the time but often enough to lead me to not consider HD radio if I were
to choose a clock radio tomorrow.
I am happy with the clock radio’s build quality, features, sound and connection options.
I am having to make the embarrasing compromise of substituting a cheap LED
clock to compensate for the lack of time display in the morning when waking to
radio. But if that is all I need to do then that is not so bad as long as my wife
doesn’t mention it to our friends at the next dinner party.
Rating: 4 / 5
#2 by R36 #9346 on February 1st, 2010
I was a bit hesitant to purchase this item, having read the critical reviews both here and at the web site of the store where I purchased it, but almost two weeks later, I am pleased with it, despite its little quirks.
HD Radio. One of the reasons I got this is the HD Radio. Now, I live about 3.7 miles from the transmitter of most of the FM radio stations in the area. These FM radio stations come in loud and clear, with all the subchannels. Contrary to what another reviewer says, you CAN use the tuning knob to switch subchannels when listening to the radio (assuming the station has HD subchannels). You can even use it to change songs when listening to an iPod. More on that later. As far as the AM radio is concerned, the stations sound good, but since the AM radio transmitters are all over the place, many AM radio stations are received in analog. Of course, when talking about any type of radio, your reception may vary.
iTunes Tagging. Another awesome feature is iTunes Tagging. This kinda depends on the radio station you choose to listen to, but it works most of the time. I’ve had one occasion where a track’s title and artist, as it appears on the radio’s display was completely different from the way it’s listed in iTunes. I guess the radio station and/or iTunes is to blame for that, and not the radio.
iPod Dock. No big complaints here. It’s a universal dock, and actually comes with adapters for various iPod models. However, I prefer to keep my iPods in their cases, even when docked. For my fifth generation iPod, I would have to remove it from its case and use the included adapter, but the maker of my iPhone case included a custom dock adapter, so I use that as well. The only other little quirk is that if you have an iPhone in the dock, and the phone is not set to silent, any sound that is played (like a push notification that includes a sound) causes the unit to switch into iPod mode and play a song. Like I said earlier, the tuning knob can be used to change tracks. Another quirk is that the audio from the iPod is quieter than the audio from the radio. For example, where volume level 5 is acceptable as a wake-up alarm setting on the radio, volume level 7 or 8 would be needed for iPod audio. I guess the radio stations play their music loud. Not the device’s problem.
Clock/Alarm/Display: I only use the time sync option when needed. It’s not like I need to be constantly resetting the time. My advice: on first use, time sync is on by default. Dock your iPod, have the radio sync the time, then turn time sync off. I think that some reviewers are over-exaggerating the brightness of the display. Its dimmest setting is no more obtrusive than a night light. That is, bright enough that you can see the light and read what’s on the display, but not so bright that you can read a book using it. I’ve actually grown accustomed to using its brightest setting, turn off my bedroom light, do what I need to do before going to sleep, use the radio’s light to find the bed, then get on the bed, set the dimmer to off, and go to sleep.
Bottom line: Despite its quirks, this radio is a keeper.
Rating: 4 / 5
#3 by Karizma Dickson on February 1st, 2010
This was worth the money the only problems i had was when the clock turned military and was hours off and now the power button- i have to press it hard for it to work but i absolutely looove the sound quality and tagging! its amazing!
Rating: 5 / 5
#4 by funny person on February 1st, 2010
to me this is an awesome gift, i love it and yes it does increase you spending on music, because now all the music i have on my iphone is easily accessible to me to listen to quite easily. I had no trouble setting it up sounds great and i pick up a ton of stations.
Rating: 5 / 5
#5 by S. Kaufman on February 1st, 2010
An HD “clock radio” with a tubby sound and some good features very poorly executed. Don’t count on using this to help you get to sleep and wake up on time. Sleepy? Try pressing Sleep: the volume jumps up to 16, BLASTING YOU AWAKE. Jump up, grab the knob and turn it down. The instructions claim falsely that it will remember the volume you set for Sleep mode. JWIN confirms that it does not do what these instructions claim. The sleep time is selectable from 2 hours down in 15 minute intervals (good). You can press Snooze to cycle display brightness, including Off (good). At the end of the sleep time, the sound fades away gently (nice touch, but nothing new). Then the display BLASTS YOU WITH LIGHT this time, waking you up once more. In the morning the alarm and snooze features work, but once you get up, to prevent the snooze alarm from running all day you have to turn the radio on, then off. On one occasion the time jumped forward 2 1/2 hours: this has not repeated, so maybe it was my error.
I have a slow fuse for these little inconveniences, so by the time I reacted, Amazon’s refund period had expired. JWIN’s warranty lasts longer, but they refused to give me a refund since their warranty only covers replacement of the unit. You’d think they could correct or update the firmware to reflect what’s in the instructions, but they didn’t offer to do that either.
I decided to go back to my original clock radio and use this as a boat anchor, or maybe I need a radio in the bathroom. It at least can charge my iphone (but only when the radio is off) and will play music and podcasts through stereos and TV. Just don’t buy it if you want a clock radio.
Rating: 1 / 5