TDK iCubic iPod Dock

I remember owning TDK cassettes for my old walkman and player back in the day. The company seemed popular back then and somehow dissipated amongst the larger crowd of other manufacturers. We recently however received a couple of iPod docks from TDK and quite neat looking devices I have to say they are. But will they have the capability to take on contenders like Logitech or Altec Lansing? We reviewed it and here’s what I have to say.

Form Factor
Staying true to its name, the iCubic is indeed a cube in design. In the front is a mono 5W speaker and the bottom to the side of it is an IR remote sensor. On the top the first thing you see is a monochrome LCD display. In the center is of course the iPod docking port. TDK has included all the necessary adapters to fit any iPod you may have. The rest of the top is a little cluttered with buttons. It also has a handle and since it weighs just 1.3 kgs it’s easy to move around.

At the rear is a 3.5mm socket for Aux Input so you can connect any other audio device to the dock and even use it as a PC speaker. The DC adapter in (12V) is also located at the back. The adapter itself is rather large and bulky. Seems like that weighs more than the dock itself. The remote control has most of the features and some that don’t exist on the dock and vice versa.

Features and Performance
For a small dock it does come with quite a few features. For starters it has an integrated FM radio and storage for up to 20 stations. We don’t have that many but so what?! Reception is fairly good. It has no auto scan and store option. You’ll have to manually scan for stations and store them. You can use the remote to scan but you’ll have to store the preset from the dock. You can scan through presets from the remote but not from the dock though.

Since it’s an iPod dock it wouldn’t be complete without an Alarm clock. It features a dual alarm function, which allows you to use your iPod’s music player to wake you up or you could also use the FM radio. What I didn’t like is that unlike other docks with an alarm function the Snooze button is not oversized for easy access.

The last thing I want to do when I wake up and I’m groggy is go hunting around for a snooze button to shut off what ever it is that wakes me. The Snooze button on the iCubic, although it’s larger than the other buttons, is still not large enough in my opinion. There’s also a Sleep mode available so you can schedule the device to auto shut off after a little while and get a few tunes in your head before you go off to la la land.

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The dock itself has 5 EQ presets viz. Classic, Rock, Pop, Jazz and Normal on board which can be easily activated via the remote. They do make a significant difference in the output of audio. When it comes to overall audio quality though, the iCubic is not too bad as long as the volume is kept in check. With an iPod, if the volume is peaked, it gets horribly distorted. Soft tones don’t sound bad but anything with a thump in the bass line will have a jarring effect on the speaker. It’s not something that can get you tapping to some heavy dance music. Hip Hop with a hard hitting low range of audio does not come off too well. To sum it up, the iCubic is not designed to handle parties and just to add another corny clich