PRODUCT REVIEWS
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Product: Audiotron Manufacturer: Turtle Beach Website: url Purchase at: Amazon
The internet appliance was about as hyped as dot coms. At one point, there were email machines, web fridgerators, instant messenger toasters, and just about every type of product that didnt need to be connected to the internet, was. What a great idea! Now that those creative companies have gone belly up, what products are left standing? The Audiotron is one of the few actually useful internet ready products out there that serves a purpose, and serves it well.
At a fairly steep price of $299, this is a pretty big investment into music. What the Audiotron website claims (www.turtlebeach.com), is that this is the middle man between your computer and the internet. What does that mean? Turtle Beach tossed us a box full of Audiotron goodness. Here’s what happened.
The unit came inside a box, inside a slightly larger box with fancy packaging, and inside a bigger box. Inside the fancy box was yet another box, pictured above the unit, which houses manuals, setup CD, a remote with batteries. and four cables: power, two network cables and a pair of audio cables.
Not just any monkey can purchase this unit and get it running. You must fill a few requirements to have a fully working Audiotron: a PC running Windows 98 or better (Mac users are screwed), an internet connection (minimum modem but should be DSL/cable or better), a Ethernet or HPNA network (as in a hub ($20+) or router ($70)), and a stereo receiver. If you don’t have one or more or those things, this won’t work for you.
I’m a geek, so i just skipped the manual and started hooking everything up, which went well right up to setting up the software on my computer that talks to the Audiotron. See, the Audiotron’s purpose is to plug in to your existing network, just like a computer. It also plugs into your receiver, like a CD player would. Once it’s powered on, the setup CD is run on each computer that is plugged into the hub that would ‘talk’ to the Audiotron. Why?
It plays your music. To be more specific, once it’s software is installed on a computer, it will monitor your sound files (MP3, WMA, WAV) and, as your choice, add it to a software ‘jukebox’. So, factor in a house with 3-4 roomates, all with different computers, and a Friday night can consist of everybody’s music, as the Audiotron plugs into your steereo, allowing living room performance of computer room sound. Get it?
It also can stream internet radio from, well, the internet, giving you access to over 100 stations.
I found the software setup to be a bit tricky, but the whole install, from box to actual music being played, clocked in at under two hours. Although this is a cool product, the price makes it only conceiveable for audophiles and a dorm/roommate situation. But, if it was $99, we’d all have one.
PR!
