TDK iVibe iPod dock speaker system

The TDK iVibe is an iPod dock with two flat-panel speakers, a large LCD screen and an alarm clock function. If you’re looking for a slim, wall-mountable dock, the TDK iVibe is worth considering.

We like the way the TDK iVibe iPod speaker system is designed, with a single slim speaker panel accented by two thin chrome strips. Along with the dark chrome stand, the design is simple and stylish. We wish the speaker panel was made out of higher quality plastic though; it looks slightly tacky when viewed front-on.

The large LCD screen of the TDK iVibe is useful, despite displaying only a few characters at a time. Each character is around an inch high, so the display is easy to see from across a room. The screen is bright enough to read even in direct sunlight (though it’s uncomfortably bright in a dark room).

The TDK iVibe won't work with MP3 players apart from iPods, but it does come with an integrated FM tuner. We didn't have any problems when we tested it with an Apple iPhone 3G mobile phone, an Apple iPod touch (2nd generation) MP3 player and an Apple iPod Nano (4th generation) MP3 player. The dock will charge your iPod or iPhone while you're listening to music, so it’s a good way to get some battery power back in your music player before you head out for the day.

Sound from the flat-panel speakers is surprisingly good. Despite being little more than an inch thick at their deepest, they have accurate mid-range response and good bass resonance at higher volumes. Treble representation is also good, with crisp, high notes created without too much harshness or brightness. There’s no adjustable equaliser, but the four presets ⏼ rock, jazz, classic and pop — do a reasonable job. You can use the included remote to set two alarms. There's also a sleep function that let's you specify how long the system should play music for before turning itself off.

The TDK iVibe speaker system can be wall mounted with either two or four screws.

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