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ATPM 12.01
January 2006

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Hardware Review

by Christopher Turner, cturner@atpm.com

iSongBook

verynice

Developer: Tivoli Audio

Price: $330

Requirements: iPod with dock connector

Trial: None

I have long been an admirer of Tivoli Audio’s products. I dig the postmodern retro styling of their designs, especially the wood cabinetry many of their models are clad in. Tivoli is one of those rare companies, much like Apple, that gets design.

I’ve been noting the many iPod music systems on the market, but none of has been particularly appealing. Most are simply portable speaker systems you plug your iPod into, with little more in the way of features. The iSongBook was the first of these systems that caught my attention, because it offered everything I was looking for.

isongbook1

The Ugly

Let’s get this out of the way so we can enjoy the rest of the review, shall we? The iSongBook is expensive, with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $330. A Froogle search yielded nothing available online below this price point. Granted, Tivoli’s iPod music system is full-featured and of the exceptional quality one would expect from a higher-end manufacturer like Tivoli. Still, I think a price over three hundred dollars is too much for most people, given what I didn’t like about the system. I think a price point of $199 would be reasonable.

The Bad

Other than bedside clock radios, there are two audio systems in our home. The first is a Bose Lifestyle home theater system, located in the living room. The second is an Aiwa shelf stereo system, hooked up to my G4 Cube via an Onkyo USB audio processor, in the study. This is the frame of reference I’m working from when listening to the audio quality of the iSongBook.

Overall, the audio quality of the iSongBook is very good. It’s not great, because it doesn’t do well with low frequency output—that would be your heavy bass sounds. I would slot it in as way better than your average clock radio, but not as good as the Aiwa shelf stereo sitting in my study. And no wonder, since the Aiwa’s speakers have separate treble and bass, and are about two-and-a-half times as deep as the iSongBook.

Tivoli recommends, in the manual, that you turn your iPod’s equalizer off when using it in the iSongBook. I can confirm this is needed. Listening to the same rock song with the EQ on, at the same reasonable volume, was annoying versus with the EQ off.

The Good

The two aforementioned issues—the price and the lack of good low-frequency audio quality—keep the iSongBook from getting an Excellent rating, the highest that ATPM awards. Otherwise, I love the Tivoli iSongBook. It looks great, and has proven to be very versatile. My wife remarked that she likes how sleek it looks, and how it takes up very little space for the volume it is capable of producing. With its “iPod white” fascia, it looks great on the island in our kitchen. We can crank the volume to 20 and easily fill the entire downstairs with music.

isongbook2

Like many Tivoli Audio products, the iSongBook features the distinctive singular speaker in the front, but your purchase includes a second speaker that attaches to the main unit for the full stereo experience. It has a very slick docking attachment, including a built-in cable roll-up, and the second speaker can be placed up to six feet away from the main unit. Looking at the front of the unit, the second speaker attaches to the right. The speakers are shielded, to protect your iPod and any other gear that may react negatively to the presence of magnets.

isongbook3

The iPod dock is on the left, and flips down from the main body. The iSongBook comes with a kit of seven different adapter cups for the iPod dock. The manual has a list that shows which adapter to use depending on which model iPod you’re using.

Unlike other iPod stereo docking units, the iSongBook has an AM/FM tuner built in, with a telescoping antenna. It got excellent reception on the full range of stations we listen to on both bands, including a particular AM station that tends to come in worse at night. There are five preset buttons on the front of the unit, so you can plug in five FM stations, and five AM stations. At the end of the row of preset buttons are tuning buttons. A headphone jack is on the upper left side of the unit, which accepts the 1/8-inch stereo male mini connector.

The iSongBook is powered in one of two ways. First, there is a 12-volt DC external power supply included. Second, the unit takes six AA batteries. Tivoli thought of everything, however, and not only can you use NiCad or NiMH batteries instead of alkalines, but the iSongBook will also charge those batteries when the power supply is connected. There is a switch on the rear of the unit that you set depending upon which type of battery you choose to use. The iSongBook also charges the iPod in the dock when power is connected.

The small digital display is located in the upper left of the front of the iSongBook, and shows the time when the unit is off. When on, the function dominates the display: “iPod” if switched to the iPod function, the station number if switched to AM or FM. The time then reverts to a smaller font in the upper right of the display. A blue backlight has an on-demand button on the front of the unit, as well as on the credit card-style IR remote. The remote duplicates the iPod’s controls, but you are unable to switch from listening to the iPod to the radio from the remote. This is due to classic Tivoli design with regard to the manual knob on the unit. The knob has four settings: Off, FM, AM, and iPod/Aux.

isongbook4

The iSongBook comes with an alarm function, and with the second speaker detached it makes a great bedside clock radio. The well-written manual details the alarm setup, which is very easy. You can choose to wake up to the radio station of your choosing, or any song on your iPod. Should you choose the latter, you’ll have to navigate to the specific song, press Play, then instantly press Pause. The other alarm caveat I ran into was if you’ve set the alarm, then change the function knob to something else, like from iPod to FM, the alarm is cancelled. This makes sense, given the interface Tivoli chose for the iSongBook, but I thought it worth mentioning.

One area Apple continues to dominate in is product design. People do care about design, about aesthetics, and Tivoli Audio gets this, too. If my wife, who normally doesn’t pay as much attention to such details, is telling me, unsolicited, how much she likes a product because of its design, I had better listen. Tivoli has a hit on its hands with the iSongBook; I just wish it would lower the price.

Reader Comments (10)

Daniel Edwins · February 2, 2006 - 12:11 EST #1
I love Tivoli audio too! If you want something more reasonably priced, I highly recommend the Tivoli Pal (they also make an iPal in the iPod white color). It's a little radio with a long-lasting battery in it. It has one auxiliary input, so I plug my iPod into it. It only has one speaker, but the sound is great for a speaker of that size. I use it for by my computer for near-field listening. Then I have a nice sound system for better listening. But I highly recommend it. And because of the battery, it makes it very portable.
Jon Hammer · September 30, 2008 - 09:46 EST #2
I paid $150.00 for the iSongBook at Sears. The reason I bought it was that I have the Tivoli radio in my kitchen, and I love it. The iSongBook seems to possess the same high quality and was a snap to set up. I didn't even have to refer to the manual. It's a lovely little machine both in design and sound quality.
Evelyn Moore · December 7, 2008 - 18:04 EST #3
I just bought this at Sears on Dec. 7, 2008 for $99.00. Wow. Thanks for the tip.
justme · January 10, 2009 - 18:16 EST #4
I own other Tivoli products and I was shocked to see the isongbook at Sears for $99. I thought that either Tivoli must have started puting out cheap low-end crap with their name stamped on it, or this was a killer sale. The latter turned out to be true. It has the high quality sound that I have come to expect from Tivoli.No it doesn't have bass that will shake the windows. But it has a great well balanced sound that puts it in the top of the class of ipod speaker docking systems
Do Luan · February 8, 2009 - 22:58 EST #5
Sears has a sale on iSong book for $79.99 staring 2/8/09.
ATPM Staff · February 9, 2009 - 10:23 EST #6
Do Luan - Nice, except that it appears the offer was only for last night and early this morning. Seems it's not available any more.
John Freeman · March 23, 2009 - 00:17 EST #7
March 27, 2009

Today,Sears is advertising the white edition of the Tivoli iSongbook for $49.99. I bought one right away! Great Deal!!

John Freeman
Bellevue WA
tom bodin · April 26, 2009 - 15:01 EST #8
Sounds wonderful. Does it work with an i-phone?
Chris Turner (ATPM Staff) · April 27, 2009 - 11:18 EST #9
Tom, the iSongBook reviewed here predates the release of the iPhone, so no, it will not work with an iPhone. From a quick look at Tivoli's site, it appears the current iSongBook model does not work with iPhones, either.
Steve June · September 21, 2009 - 20:20 EST #10
I bought mine brand new locally for fifty bucks, tax included.

I have it sitting atop my media rack, which contains components by Marantz, RBH, Ah!, feeding KEF reference speakers all around. Even with all this greatness, I couldn't get decent AM reception down there until I got this.

It sounds very good, and with Duracell Precharged NIMH batts it makes an excellent travel clock radio if you have room for it in your suitcase. I recommend leaving the wall wart at home and just bringing your ipod charger. a good set of NIMH batts will get you through a week of clock radio duty and even powered my Tivoli as multimedia speakers for a PowerPoint presentation in a small conference room.

My wife occasionally teaches church lessons and uses music to emphasize the lesson. The main reason I bought this was so she could bring her music on an ipod instead of burning cds and throwing them away.

Little did I know how much more use I would get out of this little wonder than she does.

If you want big, portable sound you'll have to spend a lot more than fifty bucks.

But if you're looking for high quality sound at reasonable listening levels, rechargeable portability, a great radio tuner, good looks and a good alarm to top off the package, this is a great gadget.

So your expectations about thumping sound should be backed down a couple notches. But you should know the sound that comes out of this thing is quite good, and will meet most needs in small rooms and desktop or kitchen placement beautifully.

It's a grownup's toy.

Highly recommended.

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