Customer Reviews

HoMedics SS-4000 Sound Spa Classic Deluxe Clock Radio & Sound Machine with Time Projection

5 star:		(82)
4 star:		(81)
3 star:		(28)
2 star:		(31)
1 star:		(41)

 

 

The HoMedics SS-4000 Sound Spa Classic Deluxe Clock Radio and Sound Machine is a handy little device to have around. It features a pretty good radio and six natural sound settings. The nature settings are Ocean, Summer Night, Rain, Rainforest, Thunder, and Waterfall. Of these settings, Ocean and Rainforest are my personal favorites. Rain and Waterfall are pretty good as well. Since I live in Louisiana, I only have to open my window at night to hear the real Summer Night setting. Thunder falls short due to the fact that it really doesn't sound much like thunder. It's more like a constant roar.

The clock is very easy to set up and use. Like another reviewer, I found no need to use the instructions to set up the time, alarm, projection focus and placement or any of the sound settings. I did double check myself by reading the instructions after I set up the clock, but I had everything covered.

The time projector is great for folks like myself who don't even want to turn over in the morning. When the alarm goes off, all you need to do in order to see the time is swing your left or right arm (depending on the location of your clock in relation to the bed) to the snooze button, press it and look up. The projector will display the time for five seconds on the ceiling. That's long enough for you to decide whether or not to get up. You also have the option of keeping the projector on at all times. It gives off a nice warm blue glow in a darkened room.

A sleep timer is also provided on the clock. If you need some soothing sounds to block out reality in order to get to sleep, this feature is really nice.

The only shortcomings I find with this clock radio are that the radio reception is iffy at times (but then again, most clock radios are) and the alarm isn't very loud even though I have the volume cranked up. I need a very loud alarm to wake me in the morning. The buzzer on this clock just doesn't wake me very well. You can also choose the radio or nature sounds to wake up to, but I need an annoying and loud sound to get me going.

Overall, this is an excellent purchase for folks who need white noise in the background in order to get to sleep, do a little work, or just to relax. It's also pretty handy in getting and keeping the kids asleep at night. If you need a loud buzzer to wake to in the morning like I do, you might want a different clock. However, I think the positives outweigh the negatives with this clock radio. I like it and recommend it.

I hate having to roll over at night to see what time it is. I bought this clock so that I could just glance at the ceiling to see the time.

Pros:
The projection is truly top quality. I love the manual focus which allows me to achieve a sharp display customized for my ceiling height. Furthermore, the display is visible and sharp without creating extra light in the room at night.

Cons: It doesn't function well as an alarm clock. First, the radio quality is definitely subpar. But most importantly, the machine itself is reasonably lightweight, and if you roll over to hit the snooze, you are very likely to knock the projection mechanism. Then you will have to readjust it if you want the display to appear at a specific spot on your ceiling.

In sum: If you are looking for projection, this is a wonderful product. But use it as a secondary machine to your alarm clock or you will have to continually adjust the projection. I keep this on a shelf and continue to use a different machine as my actual alarm clock.

I bought the HoMedics Sound Spa Clock Radio for use as a travel alarm-clock and sound machine. It works well for both purposes. The six different soothing-sounds come through a good-size speaker, given the unit's light weight, and ensure a restful sleep in a hotel room or other noisy location. The rain sound is particularly pleasing.

I like the radio because the manual volume and frequency dials are easy to operate compared to more cumbersome digital controls on other clock radios. The buttons on the radio are also easy to use. The sound quality is acceptable for music and fine for talk radio.

The clock projection feature is useful and aesthetically pleasing though a bit bright for my eyes in a totally dark sleeping area. It also works as a night-light casting a beautiful, blue glow over the room. The power adapter is small with ample cord length. The unit packs easily and I take it with me almost everywhere I travel.

(Dr. Simeon Hein is the author of OPENING MINDS: A Journey of Extraordinary Encounters, Crop Circles, and Resonance and PLANETARY INTELLIGENCE.)

I bought this today and am taking it back tomorrow. First of all, there is no way to tell what radio station you are on. There is a dial to change the frequency, but no display showing the station, digital or standard.

I could live with the radio part, but the nature sounds were the deal breaker for me. I like the ocean sounds, but I noticed a repeating pattern almost right away. I got out my stop watch and timed it. It's 10 seconds before it starts over.

We purchased this product primarily for the sound machine. Our house is extremely quiet...too quiet if you can believe that. Our children had difficulty staying asleep. The slightest sound seemed to disrupt their sleep patterns. We tried classical music CDs, which would work great until the music stopped. Rather than leave a radio playing music or have a CD repeat over and over, we opted for white noise. Using the "rain" function works far better than we anticipated and we intend to purchase one for each bedroom. As far as problems that have been mentioned...ours keeps time fine and if the ceiling projection is upside down when you turn it on, try pushing the button on the back that flips the projection before you disassemble the product, at least on the model we purchased.

We got this clock mainly for the sound machine and couldn't be happier. We often have troubles sleeping at night because we live in a noisy college apartment. This machine does a great job at drowning out that noise with pretty nice nature sounds. We had looked at other sound machines but most had pretty cruddy sound quality or were a water feature as well. The sound loops are done pretty well and I haven't really noticed the looping. All the sounds a pretty great with my favorites being Rain, Ocean, Summer Nights (crickets), and Thunderstorm. The time projection does cast a blue glow in the room but it isn't hard to get used to and I like that the blue time can be seen during the day as well unlike our old red time projector we had.

This is an excellent product for those that want soothing ambient sound. I checked out several similar products locally, including the cheaper clock/radio model and the waterfall model. This has the nicest sound (by far) and is compact and easy to use. The sounds are natural, and the loop time is well done so that it's not obvious. This surpassed my expectations and is a great product for helping us sleep soundly. All the features worked well and it's easy to use. Overall, I'd highly recommend it.

I purchased the HoMedics SS-4000 Sound Spa Classic Deluxe Clock Radio & Sound Machine for the purpose of creating a nighttime/daytime oasis (without tying up my stereo or iPod, which I reserve for music). First off, I am inclined to agree with others that this unit is, in fact, lightweight and potentially easy to knock out of place if used for its alarm clock functions. I paid $30 and while it has a nice selection of nature sounds to choose from, the build quality is only consistent with something roughly half the price. Example: There were sharp plastic nodules left over from the manufacturing process along the edge of the plastic housing along the bottom front. The tuner and volume knobs also feel flimsy, and the speaker a bit tinny. Radio reception on the SS-4000, however, was considerably better than that attained by the SS-7000 HoMedics Sound Spa Sound Machine Clock Radio with iPod Dock costing nearly three times as much. Still, the HoMedics was no match for the tuner on the Conair SU7 (an inexpensive soothing sounds infant product, also listed here on Amazon, which, ironically, offers more grownup functionality than the stripped-down model Conair apparently markets to adults under the name Obus Forme).

Focusing on the HoMedics SS-4000, I was first struck by the poorly balanced audio levels. If, for example, you set the volume and then switch from thunder (very faint) to rain (relatively loud) you may have to adjust the volume level again. In addition, one sound, in particular, is somewhat annoying when it shouldn't be. The rainfall sound has a foreground drip that sounds as if it is coming from a spout or drainpipe on an eve or roof. As a result, what one hears is not a pure rain sound, but the sort of sound you get from rain coming off a structure (remedied by turning the volume down lower to make it less noticeable). In other cases, the sounds lack realism. The "waterfall" sound, for example, sounds more like white noise than an actual waterfall. Also, as other reviewers pointed out, you cannot set the nature sounds to wake you independently of the sound level used for the buzzer/radio. Unfortunately, this appears to be a common oversight among products of this type, and is a flaw by no means unique to the HoMedics brand. Hence, the nature sounds may be too soft to wake you, while the radio level loud enough to wake the dead. (If you leave it on only one setting, you will be unlikely to experience a problem, however.)

The projection clock is advantageous insofar as it allows you to see what time it is without straining your neck. Having said that, however, it is far too easy to knock it out of focus given that the buttons you need to hit are set lower than the projection arm. Even while in focus, the readout is not nearly as crisp as, say, my La Crosse weather station projection in another room. In my opinion, the unit also puts off too much ambient blue light. If you are the type to sleep with a nightlight, you'll be able to unplug it after ordering this product. If you can't stand nightlights while you are sleeping, all bets may be off, however. Also, as other reviewers have pointed out, there is a slight ghosting effect of what should be non-projected LCD characters. (This appears to be normal, and not an indication of defect, however.) On the plus side, the bright green LCD characters are easy to read against the black background at all hours of the day and night. Unlike other clock manufacturers, who have erred in their assumption that black digits on a backlit blue or amber background are "cool" -- when, in fact, the backlighting makes it nearly impossible to read the time from any distance, even with 20/20 vision -- the HoMedics SS-4000 gets it right by sticking to the tried-and-true LCD display type.

The six nature sound choices -- ocean, thunder, rain, summer night, waterfall and rainforest -- are good in the sense that they do not leave anything out that is pleasant to hear. I particularly like the rainforest setting because none of the birds are too annoying. (I'm a bird owner but even I don't want to hear one bird steal the whole show.) Similarly, the ocean loop is not overkill where seagulls are concerned. (These are two sounds that I believe HoMedics implemented better when compared to the similarly priced Conair SU7 model, which features cuckoo birds in their rainforest loop, and pronounced gull sounds overlaying the ocean setting.) Overall, the HoMedics nature sounds are also presented in a relatively low pitch that blends well with background environmental noise. (The Conair sounds are higher pitched, but also somewhat more realistic and distinct from one another.) The tradeoff for HoMedics' use of blunted audio samples, however, is a lack of clarity and realism.

On the one hand, there is really no excuse for using anything short of CD-quality sound samples. In my post-purchase research, however, I have discovered that unless one moves up to the likes of Sharper Image or Brookstone sound machines -- at $100+ -- poor audio reproduction is seemingly par for the course. Moreover, when comparing HoMedics nature-sound alarm clocks against similarly priced Conair offerings, there is always some degree of white noise in the background of each sound sample no matter what the selection. The inexpensive nature of the speaker, and the fact that units in this price range rely on a single speaker, may explain why sound quality generates a less-than-satisfactory first impression (except, perhaps, at low background volume levels). On the other hand, there may be a slight advantage to inexpensive models such as the HoMedics SS-4000 Sound Spa Classic Deluxe Clock Radio & Sound Machine over pricier, CD-quality nature sound generators. What advantage, you ask? Ironically, less distinct sound samples against a flatter sound stage seemingly make for less noticeable looping (although the loops are still quite short). In effect, the pricey models are great for daytime ambiance -- as would be a far less expensive CD containing nature sounds -- whereas the relatively inexpensive department store brands, such as HoMedics and Conair sound machines, may be more conducive to sleep.

Bottom line? Nature sound CDs would be a better option if one prefers realistic audio or daytime use (and with "Echos of Nature", a five-disc CD set also sold here on Amazon, CDs would be the most cost-effective solution providing you have a CD player handy). Likewise, an air purifier -- which will further aid one's sleep by keeping the air circulating and fresh -- is a better choice if all one really desires is nighttime white noise.

After reading the reviews and trying this unit myself, I think I can see why someone was having problems with the unit keeping time. All you need to do is press the "hour" or "minute" button and the time changes, unlike some clocks where you have to hold a button down in order to change the time. For people like me who blindly smack the clocks until you find the snooze bar in the morning, this could create a problem. Also, by hitting any of the buttons other than the snooze bar when the alarm is going off, you turn the alarm off for the day (it's reset for the next day). Again, if you're a snooze slapper you risk turning the thing off without realizing it and oversleeping. I'm a little concerned about this, but I kept the receipt so I'll give it a shot.

Otherwise, it's not bad. The sound quality is about par for a clock radio speaker, and the projection is a nice feature. For those worried about the time set and alarm issues though, I'd recommend Timex, who has 4 or 5 models of nature sound clock radios ranging in options from basic to loaded. None of them have projections, but I'd rather roll over and look at the time than risk running late.

This clock has some very nice features and it was not alot of money. However, as soon as I removed it from the box and plugged it in I noticed the projection mechanism was showing the time backwards. Rather than be without a clock, I opted to fix it myself. I removed the four screws, partially pulled the two plastic sections apart, turned the projection mechanism around the correct way and re-assembled it.It works fine now. Lastly, it does not look as good in person as it does in the photo. Finally, it is way cool to not have to constantly be looking sideways to find out what time it is. It is very soothing and non-obtrusive.