JetAudio iAudio4 MP3 Player

Gadgeteer Hands On Review by William Ray Jr.

January 04, 2005

Product Requirements:
Device:
Windows PC running 98, 98SE, 2000 or XP with USB port.
Jet-Audio Software:
Windows PC running 98, 98SE, 2000 or XP with sound card and speakers.

About three months ago I started going to the gym again in an effort to harden my physique. It was never my goal to make myself look like one of the muscle-bound individuals you might see at the Mr. Olympia contest. I just wanted male model washboard abs and a hard chest. Throw in powerful delts, glutes, quads, and all those other cool abbreviations you hear in the gym. Oh, and I wanted all of this in two months -- three at the outside.

OK. I have strayed far away from the theme of this venerable website. What does the resurrection of my forty-one-year-old body have to do with gadgets? A valid question, and one I am fully prepared to answer. Please bear with me just a bit longer...

The first morning I dragged myself into the gym to thrash my body on an elliptical machine I looked forward to catching up on the previous evening's important news (of course I am referring to ESPN -- the ONLY news of any consequence). Then reality set in. The gym has 20 television sets, so they use FM transmitters to allow the customers to catch the audio from their chosen TV. I watched ESPN for 30 minutes, but there was no "He ... Could ... Go ... All ... The ... Way!"

I needed a portable FM radio.

Julie reached down into her bag of gadget goodies and pulled out the JetAudio iAudio4 mp3 player. This miniature device does it all, mp3 recorder, mp3 player, FM receiver, etc. Just what I needed to take my mind off the physical toil of the cardio machines. In case you have ever wondered just how deep into a review you might get before a gadget was actually mentioned, refer to this review.

Here is a shot straight on the front. The rectangular area under the i AUDIO logo plays host to a short video when the player is turned on. The video is cool for about one power up and then I started wondering if the video caused the delay to be longer. That's just the way my mind works. Another example: I have noticed that my connection to Netzero takes exactly as long as their new Mustang commercial (the one with a deceased Steve McQueen returned to catch the keys and drive off in some guy's new Mustang -- takes place in a cornfield?). The commercial plays in the dialup window and invariably ends at the same time that login completes. What a coincidence I tell myself. My guess is that JetAudio's little video was produced to match the existing boot up time for the iAudio4 (about 10 seconds), but Netzero is definitely messing with the kid.

The majority of the controls are placed along the upper edge. From left to right: beginning of selection, play/pause, end of selection, mode, record, and hold. The first three and the record are just typical player controls. The mode switch brings up a menu in the video area of the screen which allows you to choose between mp3 player, FM radio, voice recorder, and line-in recorder.

Yes, you an actually plug another audio device into the iAudio4 with the included patch cable and use it to record mp3 files from an analog source. I didn't have another such audio device handy, but the voice recorder function works as advertised. It also records FM radio while allowing you to listen to the broadcast simultaneously.

The hold switch disables all the other controls -- including the volume and menu buttons on the opposite side -- so you don't accidentally change mode, etc.

A potential gotchya, if the hold switch is set to hold when the power is off and you hit the play/pause button which also serves as the power button, the unit will get about halfway into the power on sequence and then shut down. It looks like the battery is dead. I went without sound at one morning workout because I thought my battery had died. The battery was fine -- turned out it was my brain that had died.

Here are the aforementioned volume and menu controls. The menu provides access to a plethora of options and settings including the following:
-> JetEffect -- preset equalizer settings for rock, jazz, etc.
-> BBE -- improves brilliance and clarity
-> Mach3Bass -- provides deeper and tighter bass sound
-> and others
I basically stayed with the defaults and it sounded great to me.

To open the back you press in on the square to the left of center and slide the cover to the right. When I first got the player, this was extremely difficult because the plastic was stiff. After I used it for a few weeks and changed the battery a few times it became easier to open.

The USB jack is buried behind the battery cover. This can be a pain, but it also serves to protect the jack from dirt, moisture, etc. I found this to be a lot less annoying after the cover latch loosened up with use.

The JetAudio iAudio4 uses one AAA battery. They include your first alkaline battery, but I immediately purchased NiMH rechargeable batteries. I am thrifty like that. The initial alkaline battery lasted approximately fifteen hours with the player used primarily as an FM radio receiver. I wish they would have left a bit more space for the battery. The fit is extremely tight and it is difficult to remove the battery for those of us who bite our fingernails.

The headphone and line-in jacks are situated on one end of the iAudio4 mp3 player. Also pictured are the included ear buds. These sound really good and I use them when I will be stationary, but I had to get a pair of cheap Koss ear pieces with the wire that clips behind the ear for working out. The ear buds feel like they are falling out and occasionally do.

Here is the wrap around case included with the player. The case has cut outs for all of the controls, but must be removed to access the USB jack or battery compartment. The player comes with a couple of sticky plastic screen protectors, as well, but I just keep it in this case all the time. It has a clear plastic window over the screen (note the cutout for the built-in microphone. The case has a loop on the back, but no clip of any kind. A quickie belt clip of some kind would come in handy.

Here is the player with the included arm band. You have to thread the arm band through the loop on the back of the case,  clasp the ends of the band together, finally sliding the whole works up your arm. At first I did not like the hassle, but it is very stabile and the arrangement grew on me. In case you are wondering, there IS a bicep hiding under the folds of my sleeve.

Here is a shot of the unit in my hand for perspective.

Here is the JetShell interface that you can use to manage the audio files on your iAudio4. This program also allows you to rip CDs to mp3, convert wav or wma files to mp3, or convert mp3 files to wav format. There is an editor for the id3 tag header imbedded in mp3s that contains the artist info, album name, etc., that can be found under the tools menu.

The iAudio4 player also comes with a fully featured media player called Jet-Audio. Above you can see the 'rack' of components used to play CDs, mp3 files, etc.

Here is the remote control that can be accessed from the system tray when Jet-Audio is running.

This is the docking toolbar interface.

This is the floating equalizer-type readout.

And, finally, a customizable floating web resource toolbar. All of these components and toolbars can be turned on and off from the top portion of the Jet-Audio interface.

When I visited the JetAudio website to get the prices and options for the iAudio4 I was reminded that one of the features that sets this player apart from the competition is the 124 color LED screen. You can customize the interface to use different LED screen colors based on the mode or even set it to change on a random basis. This feature did not really matter to me and I almost forgot to mention it. If colors are important to you, you will surely find one of the 124 available that fills your needs.

Overall, I really like this player. It is easy to use and small enough to fit in my jeans pocket or in a side pocket on my gym bag. The battery life is great and the sound quality is excellent, too. Nothing much to complain about with this one.

Available Colors : Metal Silver and Metal Black

Price:    128MB      $99.00 (Metal Silver only)
              256MB    $149.00 (as reviewed)
              512MB    $199.00
                   1GB    $249.00

Pros:   
Ultra compact
Long battery life from single AAA battery
Excellent sound
Secure arm band
Useful multimedia software
Records mp3 from analog source

Cons:
battery compartment very tight
USB jack behind battery cover