Grace Digital GDI-IRD4400m Wireless Internet Radio Featuring Pandora, NPR On-Demand and SIRIUS

by Grace Digital

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 12.5 x 11.5 x 4.8 inches ; 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 6 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B002AT6UVM
• Item model number: GDI-IRD4400M
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,239 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
  • #25 in Electronics > Home Audio & Theater > Radios > Internet Radios

Product Description

Grace Digital Audio Bravado GDI-IRD4400M Internet Radio GDI-IRD4400M Network Media Players

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't Contact Grace Digital Customer Support, December 3, 2009

By 

J. Golden (West Hartford, CT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Grace Digital GDI-IRD4400m Wireless Internet Radio Featuring Pandora, NPR On-Demand and SIRIUS (Electronics)

This radio is an excellent product. It set up in a couple of minutes and has proven to be reliable and very easy to use. My single complaint is the headset and stereo jacks on the device. There is an AM-like static present when I plug in headphones or connect in my stereo. The noise on the headphones is 'tolerable', but the stereo connection was terrible. I e-mailed Grace Digital Radio Technical support with my problem. They replied and stated that I shouldn't be having static on the audio output (I figured that out all by myself). They then suggested that I try alternative radio stations (AM and FM) and advise if I had a similar issue. I explained that the radio was not an AM/FM radio but internet and that all types of stations on the internet exhibited the same problem. They never replied back to me. I've attempted a couple of times to get a response from them to no avail. In one attempt, I suggested that, perhaps I should return the radio and obtain one from another manufacturer. Still no reply. In a word, customer support for this product - stinks.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review of Grace GDI-IRD4400m versus Sanyo R227, March 12, 2010

By 

R. Roth "guvno" (Elgin IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Grace Digital GDI-IRD4400m Wireless Internet Radio Featuring Pandora, NPR On-Demand and SIRIUS (Electronics)

I now own two Internet Radios, the Sanyo R227 and the Grace GDI-IRD4400m. Both are stereo radios, however I think that the Grace Radio is somewhat superior to the Sanyo. Many of the features of the Grace radio would be similar to their 1000 and 2000 models. I do question Grace's quality control as I had difficulty getting one that worked from Amazon. The display faded after two days with the first one, and the second one wouldn't initialize. The third has worked like a charm. Maybe it was just my bad luck, but I didn't sweat it as Amazon.com has an excellent defective return policy. Both radios are programmable on-line through Reciva.
You really need internet access to Reciva to easily set up both radios, although it can be done from the radio itself. The radio must be registered with Reciva for it to work. Sign up is easy. It is somewhat difficult to add a station to Reciva, if it does not already exist. You need to find out the URL for the internet radio station listen button, which is not easy to determine. The website is not user friendly with regard to adding a station. Try an email to [e-mail] if you have trouble. Wireless set up on both radios somewhat difficult, but you only have to do it once. To get an Internet radio to work, you may have to adjust your router for maximum signal. If you have DSL, the phone company makes the settings on their end. They are extremely helpful in doing that.
The software in both radios is very similar. However, "Configure" on the Sanyo Radio should have been labeled "Settings" as it is on the Grace radio to be less confusing.
What follows are the pros and cons of each radio.

SANYO R227
Pros:
1) Small table radio size, side firing speakers
2) Blue color of display, however display is small
3) Front mounted headphone jack, rear mounted fixed level line out
4) Good sound considering the size of the radio. Sound quality can be vastly improved by adding an inexpensive subwoofer computer speaker set
5) Can be used with home wireless wi-fi setup or direct wired Ethernet cable to a router, however the instructions say that once it is used with an Ethernet cable, the internal electronics will be change and can no longer be used as a wireless receiver.
6) Credit card sized remote control.
7) Has FM broadcast band, although switching to it can be a pain
8) FM pigtail antenna leaves a lot to be desired. Should have had a RF (F-connector) output for FM antenna
9) Can be programmed on-line at Reciva, which is much easier to do than from the radio itself. This also applies to Grace radio.
10) Defaults to mid range pre-set volume setting when you turn the radio on. Good idea for alarm set after low volume sleep setting. Because of long initialize time (or failure to initialize), I wouldn't trust the radio set to radio alarm clock. I'd only use buzzer setting. If buzzer setting is used while headphones are plugged in, wakeup sound and buzzer would only be heard through headphones, a drawback.
11) Has 3.5mm Aux input on rear.

Sanyo R227
Cons:
1) lacks tone controls or preset tone settings
2) Every time you turn radio on, it has to re-initialize which can take a minute or more. A serious drawback.
3) has LCD brightness control for "active" and "standby" states, but lacks brightness setting for "inactive" state. Serious drawback for a dark bedroom
4) does not have access to Pandora ([...]) which is another Internet radio service. Pandora does not program in specific radio stations as [...] does, but will play songs in a specific genre. Free, but may be limited to 40 hours/month. Subscription service available.
5) illogical remote makes it difficult to select various choices in the menu
6) Only 8 station pre-sets, but can be accessed from radio and remote
7) pre-sets on radio and volume controls not easily accessible. Big knob should have also functioned as a volume control. Illogical drawback.
8) For two months, the third line of the display, title and artist, did not work. Just continually read "Real Enabled". This is what is called the Metadata line. Didn't realize that the line should display title and artist until I got the Grace Radio. It now works, but I am not sure exactly how I got it to work. 1) Sent email to Reciva with a request to activate. 2) I found out from the Reciva forum that an older website than Reciva (do an Internet search for "Tangent Radio"), which you would also have to register on, has a setting under "my radios" that will activate the "real enabled" when you click on your radio ID. Both Tangent and Reciva are tied together so you won't have to re-register the radio. The next day the metadata line worked. Was it the email to Reciva or the Tangent website?
9) Almost non-existent customer or technical support from Sanyo.

GRACE GDI-IR4400m
Pros:
1) larger radio size, more like the size and shape of a stereo system component
2) large LCD display, white background, black lettering. Brightness settings for Standby, Active, and Inactive states (Sanyo lacks setting for inactive state). Also has contrast control, which the Sanyo lacks.
3) Upward firing speakers. You could stack something on top of this radio with a few spacers to let sound out. Good sound. Has bass, treble, and pre-set tone control settings. Best sound with full bass and treble. 15 watt amp that has provisions on back of receiver to add external speakers.
4) Logical remote. Sized like small handheld remote. Just about everything that can be accessed from remote can be accessed from the radio itself. Large knob on radio functions as volume control. Controlling radio from radio itself is easier than with the Sanyo, especially in the dark.
5) 10 pre-sets, but only first five can be accessed from radio itself. All 10 easily accessed from remote.
6) Also programmable from Reciva, but also has Pandora, and subscription services, Live 365 and Sirius, although every review I've read says that Sirius does not work.
7) Does not initialize every time you turn the radio on. Immediately plays last station you listened to.
8) Excellent customer and technical support.
9) No problem with all three lines of display working.

GRACE GDI-IR4400m
Cons:
1) Rear headphone jack. It should be on the front. Lacks line out jacks on rear, although headphone jack could be used for that purpose. However this method produces a variable line output (affected by volume control). Sound quality of headphone jack, even when used as an aux out, is not very good.
2) No Ethernet cable jack, thus can't hardwire to a router. Only works with home wi-fi system.
3) Alarm radio volume set to whatever you set it at when you turned radio off.
4) Does not have Aux input.

Before you buy an Internet radio, you should look at Reciva and Pandora websites. You don't need an internet radio to use the websites. They can be used with any computer. I've had a problem with trying to listen to a Reciva radio station on the computer. Get pop ups continually asking me "Do you want to view only the website content that was delivered securely". Select "no" at this prompt or radio station won't play. Sometimes the pop ups come up under the web page you are looking at. This makes using Reciva a pain as a computer Internet radio. The pop ups are not consistent.
I think I've covered everything I wanted to with these two radios. Since the price of each is very close, I'd go for the Grace Radio, although it's larger size might not be your choice for a nightstand. Amazon's dimensions given are incorrect. The radio is smaller. Investigate [...] for sizing.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Superior Sound, Features, and Usability... If It Powers Up, November 5, 2009

By 

Jeffrey Twain (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Grace Digital GDI-IRD4400m Wireless Internet Radio Featuring Pandora, NPR On-Demand and SIRIUS (Electronics)

November, 2009 - This radio has superior sound, features, and usability -- it has been a worthy replacement for my previous Bose Wave Radio. Reliability, however, has not been on par with its other attributes. The original unit, ordered new from Amazon, arrived with a dead internal power supply. After receiving a replacement unit from Amazon, the radio's internal power supply has failed a second time after only 60+ days of moderate use. This unit is located in our master bedroom, an environment that is regularly cleaned and fairly dust-free. While Grace Audio offers a 1-year warranty, it does not reimburse customer shipping costs for warranty repairs.