Rockin' roller
Hi tech hi-fi for the iPod generation
When we at T3 throw a party, we usually have enough booze and tunes to keep things rocking steady. If all else fails to entertain, we can always flash a gadget or two to start up conversation. With the Oregon Scientific iBall, we've got an ace up our sleeve.
For starters, the iBall doesn't look like any other speaker system we've seen before – strangely enough, the ladies dig it. The ball houses two 1-inch neodynium drivers and a 2.75-inch baffled driver for mid-bass reproduction. It comes with dock adaptors for most, if not all, iPods. It can also charge and sync your white wonder. No iPod? No problem! The dock has a line-in jack for other devices, plus an S-Video out for viewing your videos or photos (from your iPod) on a larger screen. There's also a spare line-out for hooking up another set of speakers.
But the real magic is what's unseen, namely, the wires. The dock beams your tunes wirelessly to the iBall – up to 30 feet away. That means you can place the iBall virtually anywhere in your pad.
Pairing up the dock and speakers was a no-brainer, and we had the iBall belting out our choice playlists in no time. Independent bass and treble controls allowed us to adjust sound quality no matter what was on tap -– be it Elvis Costello's emotive God Give Me Strength or UpDharmaDown's multi-layered Lazy Daisy. At higher volume levels (75%), sound quality started suffering from distortion, particularly in the bass frequencies. Clearly we'd pushed the tiny drivers to their limits. The speakers will be drowned out by a room-full of people for sure, but if you're showing off your pad to a lady friend, this thing is the money ball.
We did some experimenting with different speaker placements, and guess what – the iBall sounded best when put near a corner, allowing the sound to reflect off the surrounding surfaces. It's a shame really, since this P19,000 appliance is just too pretty (and pricey) to be consigned there. Anton Lopez
OREGON SCIENTIFIC IBALL | P19,000
www.oregonscientific.com
TECH 2.4 GHz operating frequency with a range of 100 feet. 2 x neodynium drivers, 1 x mid-bass driver with reflex port. Adjustable treble and bass. Remote control for iPod. Six to eight hours playback time. Charge and sync iPod via USB or FireWire. Compatible with Apple iPod, iPod mini, iPod nano (adaptors included, iPod shuffle adaptor sold separately). Auxiliary stereo line-in. S-video and A/V stereo line-out.
LOVE Easy setup. Party conversation piece.
HATE Distortion at higher volume levels. Pricey.
WE SAY Not the cheapest, nor the best sounding iPod speaker system available, but it bowls us over with its ease of use.
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T3 Magazine Philippines - April 2006 Issue
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 OREGON SCIENTIFIC IBALL
Sizing up
It’s about as big as a bowling ball. Don’t worry, it won’t roll away.
292 x 287 x 66 mm
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