If you’re concerned about the potential for issues, find a retailer with a reasonable returns policy before considering a purchase. Based on other devices we’ve tested, we’d call radio SHARK 2 very good or excellent overall, though as with all things radio, everything from the material your walls are made from, your distance from broadcasting towers, and the other devices in your home or office can wreak havoc with reception. editor found inconsistent reception quality in his area, where transmissions aren’t as powerful, and results will vary based on your location and local radio interference as well. There’s no need to coil the extension cable to boost the FM signal, as with the prior RadioSHARK – though the result isn’t static-free, it’s close enough as to be unobjectionable in almost all respects, at least in our U.S. In addition to the extension cable’s ability to let you place radio SHARK 2 roughly 8 feet from your computer, enough to get it near a window in most rooms, we found that the booster antenna improved signal quality at least modestly on its own. Griffin has helped matters by including both a USB extension cable and an optional external antenna in the package. When we moved the antenna close to a window, we saw the AM reception improve dramatically, and FM became impressively clean. Consequently, if you’ve used a RadioSHARK, you may or may not see an improvement in audio reception when using radio SHARK 2, but we did: in the United States, the new model tuned FM stations from 87.5 to 107.9 very well, and AM stations from 530 to 1710 pretty well, even if we didn’t have the antenna positioned optimally. Over the past two years, Griffin found a better radio receiver chip than the one it was using in the unit we reviewed, and said that it would be quietly updating subsequent RadioSHARKs to include that chip. That will happen a bunch on the first day you use it, but very seldom thereafter.Īs it turns out, the biggest enhancement to radio SHARK 2 is actually inside the unit. Consequently, radio SHARK 2 shows far more fingerprints and smudges than before, which should only be an issue if you plan or want to pick it up and move it around a lot. Griffin has made only one major cosmetic change, switching the fin’s color to black. Since radio SHARK 2 preserves the same size and shape, as well as the same blue (power) and red (recording) triple arc lights on its sides, you’ll have to decide whether you like the design or would prefer something smaller, as we now would. While not perfect, the new radio SHARK is a very solid option for those who want to bring terrestrial radio content onto their computers and iPods.Īt the time RadioSHARK debuted, the idea of attaching a relatively large white and chrome plastic shark’s fin to a computer was at least moderately amusing. Now Griffin has released the slightly renamed radio SHARK 2 ($50), a modestly revised version that fixes its predecessor’s biggest problem and offers additional software functionality, as well. Recordings could be left on your computer or automatically exported to iTunes for synchronization with your iPod. ![]() Billed as TiVo for radio, the original RadioSHARK allowed you to “time shift” live AM and FM broadcasts, pausing any station’s programming in mid-stream, rewinding, fast forwarding, and recording in real time. Nearly two and a half years have passed since Griffin Technology released RadioSHARK (iLounge rating: A-), a $70 AM/FM radio tuner and recorder for PCs and Macs. As with later revisions of the original RadioSHARK, radio SHARK 2 also comes with a USB extension cable to help you position the antenna fin optimally for radio reception. PC users get an additional piece of Windows XP- and Vista-compatible software called SnapTune One, capable of automatically IDing and tagging songs it records, then helping you find higher-quality, purchaseable versions and similar songs online. Now black and slightly retitled, the fin-shaped radio SHARK 2 ($50) is less expensive and a bit better endowed: an updated radio chip and an included but optional antenna together promise better reception than the prior version, while new software adds on to RadioSHARK’s prior abilities to pause, record, and schedule recordings of live radio broadcasts. Two years have passed since Griffin released RadioSHARK, a $70 AM/FM radio tuner and recorder for PCs and Macs.
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