Back in the late 80s, when every spare dime I had went into car stereo components, I bought my first KICKER product. It was a subwoofer speaker box which fit perfectly into the space behind the seats in my silver Alfa Romeo. Never mind that it took up valuable cargo space; I still had a trunk, and I got a free back-massage every time I turned on my stereo. When I sold that car, I was able to unplug a few wires and easily remove my rear speaker system; that box was eventually transferred into several more vehicles before I ultimately gave it away. By that time Sarah had been born, and having a thumpin’ car stereo just didn’t seem like a priority anymore; but I digress.

When I was offered the chance to review the new KICKER iKICK iK500, my first thought was one of happy nostalgia. But make no mistake about it, this KICKER box is not a car stereo component, it is for use inside the home. There are versions available for both the iPod and Zune, designated by either an “i” or a “z” before the 500. According to the KICKER site, the iKick model was “designed to be the loudest digital portable system available.”

Loud is good, but if the sound is muddy and the music sounds like crap, then the speaker system might as well be quiet. Read on to see how the iK500 fared…

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As anyone who owns an iPhone can tell you, a slight problem becomes apparent when you want to replace the stock stereo headset; namely that the iPhone’s headphone jack is deeply recessed, and the average 3.5mm plug simply can’t fit inside without trimming the rubber shielding the plug. When you are considering dropping some serious coin on a headset, the idea of butchering it simply doesn’t appeal; that’s when a model made specifically for the iphone is the only “right” choice.

the culprit: the iPhone’s deeply recessed headphone jack

Today we’re going to take a look at two moderately priced headsets from Maximo Products, the iP-HS1 iMetal Stereo Headset for iPhone and iP-HS2 iMetal Isolation Headset for iPhone. The iP-HS1 is for those who prefer the traditional earbud style, and the iP-HS2 is for those who prefer a noise isolating in-ear headset.

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Are you sick and tired of people complaining that they can’t hear you during Skype phone calls?  Have people been telling you that you sound like you’re in a tin can? If so, then maybe this little microphone is for you.

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When I first saw these speakers I thought that they looked great, and the fact that they came with a remote was a bonus.  Let’s see if they stand up to my standards in regards to audio quality and compatibility with my favorite OS, Linux.

In the package was a sub woofer with two satellite speakers, as well as a Windows Media Center compatible IR remote control.

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I’m no Apple-basher. Sure, I use a Dell at work and an HP laptop at home, but my girlfriend is on Apple laptop number three in the past four years, and I went to college near Cupertino in the second half of the 1980’s. If you went to Stanford, you just accepted that you were supposed to pay three grand for a Mac SE and an Imagewriter. So I did.

iPod devotee? Yup, that’s me too. At last count there were four different models in my household, and iTunes should send me a Christmas card.

But there’s one thing that most people won’t admit for fear of waking the sleeping Jobs-Bear. So I’ll acknowledge the elephant in the room. Brace yourself fanboys (and fangirlz.)

The earbuds that come with all Apple products stink.

There, I said it. They are uncomfortable. They don’t fit in most human-sized ears. They fall out when you’re exercising, jogging or even walking. They hurt after thirty minutes of use, and they probably excessively damage your hearing because you have to turn them up so loud to get any bass response at all.

Remember those four iPods I own? I’ve purchased at least twice that many aftermarket headphones in an effort to improve my listening experience. You can’t swing a dead cat around my house without tangling Tabby’s claws in a set of white earbuds tangling themselves up on some random flat surface in my office.

But the good people at Comply have come up with a way to improve the fidelity quality of the iPod aural without completely abandoning the phones that Steve built. Behold, the Whoomp! Earbud Enhancers.

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SanDisk has recently announced their new Fuze MP3 Player and also a companion to the player, a card for a free MicroSD card that has music with no DRM on it to promote over 50 new artists.  This is called Sansa Sessions.  Some of the artists included on the MicroSD are All Time Low, Ladytron, Magnet, Nada Surf, Of Montreal, The Coup and many more.

Image courtesy of  SanDisk

Sandisk sent me the 512 MB MicroSD which not only had  55 tracks of music on it, but it also had 8 music videos and some low res bmp’s of the artists.

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I am continually surprised at the lack of external portable speaker gizmos for the iPhone. Plenty of them out there for the various iPods, of course, but the iPhone? There’s kind of a shortage.

DLO thinks they have the answer with their new portable iPhone speakers.

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I first heard about the Sling Box on Mobility Today. Dave Ciccone was in the process of reviewing a beta version of WM Sling Box client, and posted a video review of what he was looking at. I thought that the idea of a Sling Box was right on the money: I’m in a strange city on business/on vacation/etc., and I want to watch (what ever); but its not on here/on an unknown channel/blacked out/etc.

Enter the Hava Gold. With it, you can watch YOUR TV, anywhere you can get an Internet connection.  Does the Hava Gold give you what you want, or does it provide a gilded experience?  Let’s take a quick look and see how it goes…

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When I bought my new car in September 2007 I knew I would be keeping it for a few years, so I decided that I was going to take the plunge, and build a Car PC like those that I had read about on the MP3Car.com forums. The computer would replace the standard audio system, and add MP3 playback, video, GPS, GPS tracking and internet access to my car

After months of dreaming about such a setup my Car PC is finally installed. I’ve had the computer on my desk for over 3 mths now but time and money kinda pushed it WAY forward to this day. Since my dad was off work for the Australia Day holiday, we decided it was time to tackle it.

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I have reviewed a number of different higher end headphones, both here and at Just Another Mobile Monday. For the most part, these headphones have involved cramming a small speaker as deeply into your ear as possible, in order to a) block outside noise, and isolate you within the music; and b) get the music as close to your ear drum as possible. Given this background, you can imagine why I was a bit skeptical of the AirDrives. After so much time cramming things into my ear canals, it was strange to find earphones which instructed, “if the earphone blocks the ear canal in any way, the placement is not correct.”

These were going to be an adjustment for sure. Not only would I have to change my wearing patterns, but also my expectations. Not only was I used to cramming earphones deep into my ear canals, but I was also used to intentionally blocking outside noises. So, I was a bit perplexed when I read the AirDrive box, which brags about allowing you to hear outside noises and interact with others while listening. Huh?? Why would I want that? Typically, I put on my headphones in order to intentionally seal myself off from the outside world, wrapping the music around me like a cocoon. Then again, I started thinking about all of the times when I want to listen to music, but I can’t because I have to be aware of outside noises…like my children. OK, I thought. This is starting to make sense. I can listen for the kids (who are supposed to be sleeping) and hear the music at the same time. Let’s give them a try.

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