The Acoustic Energy WiFi Internet Radio does exactly what you'd expect: it plays radio streams from stations that are available online. The only two things you need to use the radio are a broadband connection and wireless access point.
It comes in the shape of a small, black and silver cube with a sloped top, and holds a pair of speakers for stereo sound and a compatible WiFi card. The design is hardly cutting edge, but it's functional and should look at home in most rooms. You operate the radio via a knob on the top and a row of 10 buttons. The buttons and dial work in conjunction with an LCD display to navigate settings and radio stations, and there's a 3.5mm headphone jack for more personal enjoyment.
That's the extent of the WiFi Internet Radio's external options, though. There are no digital optical outputs, no Ethernet ports for wired connections and no way to connect to the device to set it up from a Mac. This means you have to configure the device from its two-line LCD display. Its not a gargantuan task, but we'd have preferred some sort of web server option to speed things along.
Once you've set up the WiFi Internet Radio, it connects to the Reciva network of stations, gives you a list of countries to choose from and displays the number of stations available from that country. For example, there were 393 stations in the UK and 709 in the US to choose from when we tested the device.
One of its best features is the ability to pick up listen-again content. If you want to listen to The Archers omnibus from last Sunday, simply twist the dial until you reach Radio 4 and choose listen again over live radio. Obviously, the listen-again content is restricted by what the broadcaster chooses to offer, but it's a really fantastic way to get shows you might normally miss.
If there's nothing on the radio, you can select a folder on your Mac to share and fill it with MP3 files to listen to. You can't use iTunes or any playlists, but you can skip through the files with the dial on the radio.
Sound quality is fair, but by no means crystal clear on all occasions. There were some dropouts and gaps every now and again, and speech was sometimes a bit muffled. The overall sound quality isn't always the fault of the device itself, as the speed and quality of the output is to some extent governed by the station broadcasting the audio stream.
At £200, the WiFi Internet Radio's price is too high for our liking - at least £75 too expensive. If the Internet Radio had a more expansive list of features, such as digital output or a larger LCD for easier navigation, the price could be justified. However, with its lone 3.5mm headphone jack and small LCD, it's too pricey.
If you'd like to listen to WDBX Alabama, among many others, then this is the radio for you. It's not without its flaws and we would like it to be cheaper, but the Acoustic Energy WiFi Internet Radio is an interesting first venture that can only improve with subsequent revisions.
Verdict
An interesting first venture that can only improve with subsequent revisions
Author: Christopher Brennan
MacUser Online