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Aug 18 2005
SoundFeeder Digital Wireless Stereo Music Adapter Review
PSP Hardware Review | Audio
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| Summary: Crystal Clear Quality!
100
The FM transmitter has always been one of the most mysterious audio accessories to me. I personally do a lot of work with audio components, both as my job and as my hobby, and I have never had the chance to check one of these contraptions out in person. However, my opinion of them has always been this: there is no way I would like one. Why? Well what kind of audio quality would you expect from a radio transmitter? Yeah, that's right, RADIO quality, which isn't that great.
The Arkon SF250 SoundFeeder is by far the biggest shock I have ever received while reviewing a product. My first impressions of this device were good. It's got a small, sleek design, that doesn't look lame like some transmitters do. The 8mm plug is built into the device, so that it wraps around and plugs into the device for protection and easy storage. Nice touch.
There's not much more to this product to review, except for the most important feature: audio quality. I was blown away by the stereo quality of this device! My friend has a brand new car, with a great stereo system, so we both got in to test this out. It was extremely easy to set up. Actually, "set up" isn't even a good word, since it connotates effort. All I had to do was put in 2 AAA batteries, plug it into the headphone jack on my PSP, and then switch it to one of its 8 possible frequencies. It took about 2 seconds for the radio to pick up the signal. The sound was crystal clear.
I have a wide range of music genres on my PSP, and I tried everything from rock, to hip hop, to classical, to techno. Everything came through loud and clear, as if we were playing it from a CD! In fact I even tested it against an actual CD... And I couldn't tell the difference. I had my friend play either a CD or the PSP at random, and I tried to differentiate the 2 without looking. I couldn't. I tested the range of the device, and was able to get almost 30 feet away from the radio with no distortion. I'm sure this could come in handy, if say, you want to keep your PSP protected in your house, but want to listen to music outside using a portable radio. I also turned up the stereo quite loud to see if any hidden distortion could be heard. Nope.
A nice plus with this device is its estimated battery life: a whopping 60 hours! You can read all the rest of the specific technical specs of the SF250 at its home site, so I won't go into that. This is by far a must-have for those who want to easily listen to MP3s in their car without the hassle of tape adapters, and having to burn MP3 CDs. The $30 price tag seems a bit steep, but for what you get, it's worth it. This is yet another product that I cannot find any flaws with! Perfect all the way!
REVIEW IT
PRODUCT INFO
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Comments
08/18/05
11 
0J0
| Indiana USA
That was a wonderful review!
+
08/18/05
6
BlackMajik
| Florida USA
I've been burned by every FM transmitter I've ever experienced, so I personally doubt the sound quality is as good as you make it out be. However, if what you say is true, then I would be extremely happy as it means that great advances have been made in this field of industry. Nice review. Hope it's as good as you say.
+
08/18/05
15
aroundfam
| Florida USA
I smell a marketing ploy... anything tranmistted via radio signals cannot be THAT clear and the reviewer doesn't even talk about distances and signal problems which is inherent in this type of hardware (There are radio signals in the air which can conlfict with the signals this thing sends out). Even manufaturers of dedicated FM tramsitters which cost in the $100s talk about the nature of power versus clarity...
A little too good of a review if you ask me.
+
08/18/05
16
mrsmiley
| California USA
aroundfam said: "I smell a marketing ploy... anything tranmistted via radio signals cannot be THAT clear and the reviewer doesn't even talk about distances and signal problems which is inherent in this type of hardware (There are radio signals in the air which can conlfict with the signals this thing sends out). Even manufaturers of dedicated FM tramsitters which cost in the $100s talk about the nature of power versus clarity...
A little too good of a review if you ask me."
Marketing ploy? Are you kidding me? I don't taylor to businesses just because I get products to review. You will find that very clear, if you read my Screen Protector review over at pgrevolution.com. (link). The truth about this product is this: if you have a good stereo/radio, it comes in prefectly. I tested this on a new car. If you have an older car with a crappy stereo, I don't know what kind of quality you would get. And yes, I did mention distance and distortion. I said it takes almost 30 feet to start getting fuzzy.
If you have a problem with other signals coming in, just change the frequency, there are 8 to choose from. I am very critical when it comes to my reviews. This is the only product other than the car mount that I have given a 100 on. If I can't find a fault, I'm not gonna rate it down simply because someone may think I'm being bribed. I'm just being honest.
+
08/18/05
DoubleDragon
| Ontario Canada
Like pretty much anything in life, quite often the best opinion is your own. What I mean is that anybody can tell you anything is good but the only way you'll know is if you try it for yourself. I'm willing to do so myself. Great review btw.
+
Hmm... sounds interesting. I was always pissed how FM feeders would cut the top treble off and muffle the audio when testing with Uberzone (love the music, and it uses the full frequency range), but this sounds interesting if indeed, it's indistinguishable from directly playing the CD.
-chef
+
08/19/05
J3
| Kentucky USA
But did you test it on the road? That is the major failing of FM transmitters. Especially those with limited presets. However, they are a heck of a lot better than being stuck listening to the radio!
+
08/19/05
16
mrsmiley
| California USA
J3 said: "But did you test it on the road? That is the major failing of FM transmitters. Especially those with limited presets. However, they are a heck of a lot better than being stuck listening to the radio!"
I did test it on the road. It sounds great! The CD test was done while parked, just so you know. But even if it doesn't sound exactly like a CD while on the road, that is fine. With 8 frequencies to choose from, you simply have to find the one with the least interference, which isn't too tough.
+
08/19/05
11
sheep
| South Africa
lol this is like when i downloaded movies of the psp in action and i was like this is nor reall sony is having a big laugh at us all who belive it is that good the i wient to sinapore and saw one with my own 2 eyes and played it (tryed to play it in to my pocket ...just kinding )had to buy it right away
+
08/19/05
19
tapon
| 
| New York USA | SOCOM: IronFist_2007
For anyone who is interested in this product... I found a website that has it for $24 (http://www.directdepot.net/category10_audio_acc.php)
BTW very good review... I hope it lives up to it, cause im getting one.
+
08/20/05
imutau
| Utah USA
Great review I tried one of these things out in LA (not the same brand mind you) and it had so much interferance that I figured all of them pretty much sucked. I'm currently using a tape adapter but it can be a pain to get it set up. Just a question. What city do you live in?
imutau
+
08/21/05
16
mrsmiley
| California USA
imutau said: "Great review I tried one of these things out in LA (not the same brand mind you) and it had so much interferance that I figured all of them pretty much sucked. I'm currently using a tape adapter but it can be a pain to get it set up. Just a question. What city do you live in?
imutau"
I live in Sacramento, CA. We may not be LA, but we're definitly not a small city. Unfortunately, it can't be controlled how many different radio stations you have down there. I would think with 8 different settings that it would be enough, but who knows. The frequencies that come with the transmitter are 88.1, 88.3, 88.5, 88.7, 107.1, 107.3, 107.5, and 107.7. if you know of any radio stations that occupy all 8 of these frequencies, i recommend sticking to your tape adapter!
+
08/30/05
philmcneal
| British Columbia Canada
hm i'm debating buying this or speakers for the psp! or just bringing in my comp speakers in the car ;O
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