The simple premise behind the Acoustic Energy Internet WiFi radio is that you should be able to listen to radio stations broadcast via the web on a purpose built unit not dissimilar to a DAB radio and that you need not have a PC running software somewhere in the house. So with this in mind we set about configuring our sample ready for review. Set-up was quite simple, first we had to get the AE WiFi unit onto our office network so that it could use our 24mbps broadband connection (god bless you be broadband).

The unit handles both WPA1 and WEP authentication so it is happy to live on a secured network and after about 15 minutes of adding the MAC address of the unit and inputting the WEP key the AE's screen reported that it was now connected to our network and the router logs showed the same. The WiFi radio itself is a fairly beefy unit and this became apparent as it required moving from one side of the office to the other. Measuring 165mm x 123mm x 120mm it's not the smallest of units and weighing over 900 grams it feels very well built, which is no bad thing.

Styling is rather cube like but not in a bad way and it does not look like a 1950's retro throwback like some DAB units. Instead the AE unit blends well with other modern home electronics kit, styled in silver with the obligatory backlit blue LCD screen and with a tapered top edge which houses the majority of the controls. We do like the rubberised base which makes it very easy to plant on slippery surfaces and ensures it sits where you put it, essential in a kitchen!

Tuning this internet radio is a simple affair with a large grey rotary control which allows you to dial through a list of available stations which is downloaded to the unit. Navigation is is in the form of a tree starting with world > continent > country > station which is a very logical way of finding a station. This does however mean the station you want needs to be on the list and there appears to be no way of adding a URL directly to the radio even if you know it. If you (like us) find a station you require but it isn't on the list you can use a form on the Reciva website (which is where the station list lives) to request it is added, this seems to happen within a few days so it's not too bad. However we also found some dead links which suggests that the list isn't scrupulously managed, but the upside is some 10,000 station and even some on demand or listen again links.

We spent several evenings listening to stations from all over the world and also BBC and UK commercial radio stations even dipping into the on demand sections and some really quite niche channels too. The overall experience is a good one with the choice and quality of the unit making the price tag seem worth while and we quickly felt that this unit would be ideal for ex pat communities around the world.

Sound quality is up there with the average DAB radios and is far beyond most FM signals, however this is totally dependant on the bit rate and quality of the stream which is out of your control. On stations using 128kbits or higher the audio quality was generally good with enough bass and quality of audio reproduction to keep but the most fanatical audiophile happy. The stereo image is a bit flawed as the 2 AE drivers are mounted right next to each other, but other than that we were quite happy with the audio capabilities of the AE radio.

Reliability was always going to be key for an internet radio and this would be the key concern of any would-be purchaser so we set some fairly complex tests to try and see how well the streams are maintained and if you really can bin your old radio. Firstly some longevity tests with BBC radio stations and the some more geographically diverse offerings. The BBC stations "tuned in" quite quickly with minimal time required for buffering, they then ran smoothly for hours on end. Some of the European stations took longer to buffer and may start to play and then need to rebuffer for another 30 seconds before eventually settling down. However on some stations (notably some from south America) we noted continual rebuffering through over an hours listening.

Most of the above is exactly the same as if you were using a PC but with the advantage that our PC was off and the WiFi internet radio was working using its own Linux operation system directly connected to our Linksys broadband home gateway. We did however note some clicks during quiet passages and these seemed to occur on many different streams.

We were able to diagnose this further while testing another feature of the Acoustic Energy internet radio which is the ability to connect to locally stored media with support for MP3, Real  and WMA files that are visible on a Windows share. It's not as sophisticated as what can be achieved by running a music server but it does work and you can navigate shared folders using the LCD screen. What this did enable us to do was to confirm that playing a 192kbps MP3 file the audio quality is as good as most MP3 streaming products like the Netgear MP101. Also it enabled us to confirm that the clicking was present on locally played files meaning that the issue is within the WiFi unit or its ability to pull in streams smoothly, it really is only just noticeable but it is there. Our hope would be that the latest firmware would improve this.

Priced at £149 the Acoustic Energy WiFi internet radio is a good buy and the only improvement we could suggest would be the ability to add stations directly via the interface and then submit them through the radio. In summary if you are looking for a device to stream radio from around the world and also from your own MP3 store then AE have come up with a corker.

Published - 10/07/2006

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