Sound quality and conectivity
OK, so now we’ve had a look at the aesthetics of the inMotion iM600, how does it actually sound when in use?For the purposes of the review I hooked up my Nano and, through the genius of owning a 3.5mm mini-jack cable, I used my Shuffle to test the auxiliary input along with a ropey, old Aiwa personal CD player. I chose the latter because the volume potentiometer has all but gone and I wanted to see how well the inMotion iM600 amplified a weak input.
But first, let’s have a listen to the radio. The built-in radio is all-digital, so none of that dial-turning here and, of course, you don’t have to worry about ‘creep’ as there’s no physical contact to readjust as temperatures change and your radio detunes. Reception can be a patchy, though, as the telescopic aerial is, to my mind, too short. In certain parts of the house I can’t even pick up Radio 1 - which I know is a blessing - but it does mean the radio is of limited use if you’re looking to place the inMotion iM600 somewhere permanent in your home.
Click for larger imageNow I know this is supposed to be a portable system but I can’t help but wonder why a retractable wire aerial isn’t used instead. OK, you’d be stuffed for somewhere to hook a wire outdoors but the more I think about it, the more I see myself using this indoors and not outside. I’d most likely just use my iPod and headphones if I was out anywhere. However, when you do get a decent signal the sound is respectable enough, just as it is either through the dock or the auxiliary input.
As I usually do when testing audio equipment, I pumped my usual mix of classical, drum-and-bass, dance and pop through the inMotion iM600, to see how it handled a variety of tunes and frequencies. At low-to-mid volume, with the SFX off, the inMotion iM600 handles all frequencies very well. For such a slim unit and just 1.7in deep, the bass is surprisingly responsive and beefy. There’s plenty of mid-range tone but the high frequencies are a little over the top, giving everything a slightly-too-strong ‘hissy’ edge.
Easing the volume up to near full whack and the distortion starts to creep in but not until you get to around 35 or higher of the 40 possible volume settings. On less bassy tunes the distortion comes in later, but you can run the inMotion iM600 at full whack whatever you’re playing, if you like distorted music, that is.
Click for larger imageRather handily, the inMotion iM600 is compatible with the iPod alarm function, meaning you can set up your iPod to come on whenever and the inMotion iM600 will blast your chosen wake-up choon out at the appropriate time. However, the inMotion iM600 has to be plugged into a wall socket for this to work as it automatically shuts down after 4 minutes if it’s on battery power and senses no music is being played.
Now, one minor gripe with the inMotion iM600 is that the iPod dock and rear stand aren’t independent of each other, you either have to have both open or both closed. And there’s a small micro-switch on the back that shuts the inMotion iM600 off when you close the rear stand. What would’ve been nice would be to have the iPod dock independent of this so you could use the inMotion iM600 as a stylish radio when your iPod wasn’t connected, rather than have the dock open and gathering dust.
