Reviews

61

For several days now I've been testing the Airplay out. Always switching back and forth between it and the iTrip. I tried EVERY station on both devices. I really wanted the Airplay to work out because it's a much better interface then the iTrip. BUT, it just plain sounds bad. The reception is weak and fuzzy, and the fidelity is crap. The iTrip just sounds much louder and cleaner. And there's this faint hiss that never goes away. Luckily I picked it up at the Apple store and was able to, sadly, return it.

Posted by youngnastyman on March 10, 2005 at 10:23 PM (PDT)

62

I whined in my Dakota, a Ford Escape and on a new Kenwood Radio after market radio whether the vehicles were stopped engine not running or with engine running.

Posted by dacbeth in Bethlehem PA on March 11, 2005 at 8:27 AM (PDT)

63

I bought an Airplay, and no, I don't work for Griffin, or Xtreme Mac, or anyone affiliated with this or a competing product.

I first tried the Airplay in my office, just using my little Tivoli Model One Radio. The good thing is I can hook the IPOD up through a line in connection and compare the sound between the transmitter and line in.

The sound via the transmitter was what I would expect; flatter, lacking dynamics, and a bit of static from the empty station (no, there was no high pitched whine). But certainly what I've heard from transmitters before, so it was acceptable.

The car was different. I couldn't get a clear sound without the static from the empty station dominating the music. (There was NO high pitched whine). Now, I do have tinted windows in my car, this may make a difference. Also, my antenna sits on the side of car, right above the driver's side door. I tried another car with a rear windshield antenna and got similar results. The radio market in Albuquerque is suprisingly heavy for a small city, so there are a lot of stations taking up space.

It was interesting the the cheap generic tuner I bought ages ago for my Mini-Disc (around $20.00, with an analog tuning dial) was far better in sound quality, with only a bit of static from the empty station. I think this is because the tuner itself is powered by the power input in the car, but I'm not sure.

Bottom line, I didn't find the product adequate for my uses. Does this mean I think it's a bad product? No, not really, it's well made and durable. But for my uses it doesn't do the job.

I haven't tried an Itrip, but I may, just because it's a little less of a hassle to have digital tuning versus the little analog wheel on my cheap tuner, which I have to adjust every now and then to maintain a strong signal. If I do, I'll report back.

Hopefully this helps some of you out there.

Posted by dtp on March 14, 2005 at 12:55 PM (PDT)

64

Add me to the list of folks who are very disappointed with AirPlay because of poor sound quality. This would truly be an iTrip killer if the sound were equal, and the tuning range the same. But the sound is significantly poorer, and I'm really annoyed to learn that you can't tune the AirPlay below 88.1, a fact that is NOT sufficiently clear when you order. Definitely not an A.

Posted by Ghenghis on March 18, 2005 at 3:07 PM (PDT)

65

I have an older Belkin transmitter that is pretty big but works well. I wanted the smaller size and was tired of burning up AAA batteries so I bought an AirPlay at the Dallas Apple store today. I took it out to my car and tried it and was extremely disappointed. I compared them side by side on several different frequencies and the Belkin blew the AirPlay away. I took it back into the store to return it and the guy at the register nudged the guy next to him and said "we got another one back". When I asked him about his comment he said that there have been a very large number of AirPlays being returned. Maybe these were a batch of the early models-I don't know how to tell-but the one I had sounded lousy. I'll keep my old Belkin for now.

Posted by jwr on March 19, 2005 at 3:27 PM (PDT)

66

I have had an iTrip since buying my 40Gb iPod and have been quite happy with it. I bought an Airplay on the recommendation of this review. Direct comparison of the two devices puts the iTrip WAY ahead in clarity and frequency response. Mine is being returned!

Posted by evanb in Australia on March 19, 2005 at 5:06 PM (PDT)

67

Does anyone know if the Airplay will fit a 4G 20GB iPod with a Speck Toughskin case on, without having to perform "surgery" on the case itself? Thanks.

Posted by BDron on March 19, 2005 at 10:22 PM (PDT)

68

After the initial adjustment of learning how the AirPlay works, I found it to operate satisfactorily. Although I have to agree with JohnnyRoaster on the lack of bass quality. It would be nice to have a deeper bass sound. It definitely does not have a CD-like crisp quality sound, however, I don't know if it's possible using a wireless device. At this point I'm just happy to be able to listen to my songs through my vehicle's radio.

Posted by Mr. Anderson in USA on March 20, 2005 at 6:04 AM (PDT)

69

I just picked up the Airplay at the Apple store last night. I love it. I also had an Itrip and I returned it to Best buy to get this. In terms of sound quality this is equal to an itrip. The pros-you can use the "HOLD" button, you can use shuffle, switch stations easily, and you know what station you're frequency is on. The cons-doesn't look as cool as the itrip, and doesn't fit on my silicone case (#### exo case). The itrip fits on my case but, this doesn't. I have to stretch the top of the case off to be able to use the Airplay. But it's all worth it.

Posted by crisa in california on March 20, 2005 at 12:18 PM (PDT)

70

I just received an updated AirPlay from XtremeMac. This one works great! No high-pitched whine anymore. It gives off a bit of interference when the hard drive on my iPod spins up or down but it is not nearly as noticable as before.

I really wish the XtremeMac would put out an official recall on these. They have a nice device but there are SO many bad ones out there. If there was a serial number on them, that would help identify them.

Posted by OrangeWhip on March 21, 2005 at 11:33 AM (PDT)

71

My airplay works great! Same as an itrip-just smaller. But, it doesn't fit on my ipod when I have my #### exo case on.

Posted by crisa in california on March 21, 2005 at 6:20 PM (PDT)

72

I received my AirPlay last week. Contrary to other posts, I am very satisfied! I'm not a hardcore audiophile, but that's not to say I don't have standards. Keeping in mind the shortcomings of any wireless transmitter, I find the AirPlay a useful, compact, and complementary accessory. It fits well in my STM Cocoon case alongside my earphones. Also fits just fine with my Vaja case on. In my home, in my car, it's all good. I'm glad I got it!

Posted by reginar on March 22, 2005 at 10:13 PM (PDT)

73

My AirPlay does not fit my iSkin Evo2.

Audio sucks on my device. A friend of mine bought one together with me the same day. and produces different audio quality. This one with different distortion.

I called support and they are sipping me a new one. I have now waited 10 days and have still not received it. I live in Norway so I guess I have to be more patient.

I am looking forward to get a good product.

Posted by Samuel on March 23, 2005 at 12:00 AM (PDT)

74

I've had the AirPlay for about a month now and chose an FM transmitter because I don't have a cassette player unfortunately. I bought AirPlay knowing full well the issues on quality of sound and background whine. I'd be interested to see if a replacement will improve the whine, but otherwise the results met expectations - nothing more, nothing less. I do notice a faster battery drain, but it also comes down to choosing hooking up a charger to the iPod vs. radar detector...I choose the radar detector. I haven't compared the AirPlay against other brands, but suspect that any differences wouldn't be significant (or would be too biased). So having said all that, if I had the choice, I'd choose the cassette if that were an option; but otherwise am content with the AirPlay in order to listen to my iPod. It still outweighs the negatives to listening to the radio or the same CD over and over again on the same trip. Last but not least, it seems that AirPlay (and possibly FM transmitters in general) suffer the most when parts of songs/music are soft (e.g., acoustic intros), but sounds the best during louder parts of the song.

Posted by drewhead in Massachusetts on March 23, 2005 at 7:58 AM (PDT)

75

I just purchased an airplay and I have to say that I enjoy it. I find iTrip's method of tuning unacceptable and confusing, and when you are listening to your iPod on shuffle, running across the iTrip station is extremely annoying. I have yet to have any problems with the sound quality, which I dont think is any better or worse than iTrip. I LOVE the way it tunes, and haven't noticed any difference in battery drain. The iTrip does look much sleeker; maybe in future models AirPlay could make an attempt at a more beautiful design. At least making the AirPlay's matte white match the high gloss shine of the iPod. My only issue thus far isn't one with AirPlay itself, but it doesn't work with my iSkin because iSkin's top is curved in the shape of iTrip. The silicone pushes AirPlay enough that it disrupts the connection and a half connected FM transmitter makes a very scary noise.

All in all I have to say that I am very satisfied with this product.

Posted by cheshireluna in Ohio on March 23, 2005 at 9:11 AM (PDT)

76

I hope you guys are wrong as I have just bought two Air Play units for me and my son.
Will let you know what I think soon

Posted by Lobby in Australia on March 24, 2005 at 3:57 AM (PDT)

77

i recently recieved the airplay i ordered and i have to say im very diappointed in the sound quality . i do have a itrip that has much better sound quality but needs a lcd screen for easier tuning. i understand one may be coming out this summer.i returned the airplay even though i may have recieved a defective unit and did not ask for a replacement

Posted by jhonsberger on March 31, 2005 at 5:32 PM (PDT)

78

I have to update my review on the airplay. It seems that the first week I used this it worked very well. I've been driving the same route to and from school and now it seems that the sound has worsened.

I also contacted xtrememac about the problems with the fit on my case. I told them that a lot of ipod users probably buy the case from the apple store and the most popular case at that store is the iskin and that I wanted to let them know that it didn't fit. The Customer service person replied with "well that's not my problem" attitude. I told her that I just wanted to let their company know so if in the future they wanted to re-design they could keep that in mind. I mean as a customer I wouldn't mind having it fit on my case. I think the company is unprofessional and rude. I understand that of course they want you to purchase their case to work with their product.

Posted by crisa in california on April 3, 2005 at 10:34 PM (PDT)

79

I was very disappointed with the Airplay. I had a hard time getting any decent sound quality, and mine had a very noticable squeal to it. I took it back the next day.

If I become sufficiently convinced that the manufacturer has resolved the squeal issue, I'll probably try one again. I like the design far better than the iTrip.

Posted by SlackerCS in Dallas, TX on April 5, 2005 at 10:42 AM (PDT)

80

I was very happy at first when I got the Airplay. It sounded good. But then I heard a high-pitched noise. After hearing it once, I cannot not hear it.

I borrowed a friends tunecast which worked well on the 4 choices with no noise.

I tried it in my other car as well. The high pitched noise disappeared. But alas, so did the good sound. It was tinny, and i could not hear the passenger side speaker very well.
Some stations even produced a fluttery sound.
Again, I tried the tunecast with the same stations. No noise and good sound.

I will be returning it. I hope it will be improved because i really like the small size and ease of tuning.

Posted by judyray on April 12, 2005 at 3:43 AM (PDT)

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