Customer Reviews

Radio Your Way LX AM / FM Radio Recorder

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Fall 2008 update: In the last few months, this product has been discontinued. A new improved successor product (seemingly from the same factory in Korea) is available in the US as the C Crane Witness, and in Japan as the TalkMaster Slim.

Many, but not all, of the radio shows I used to record with this wonderful toy are now available by podcast. I still use mine to record over-the-air shows that I cannot get by podcast (such as Dean Edell), and it is still invaluable. There are other FM MP3 recorders, but at this point, the only AM MP3 recorders seem to be the Radio YourWay and the newer C Crane Witness.

Original review from May 2005:

I've been very happy with the capabilities and performance of this radio recorder, and I would give it 5 stars if the interface (and manual) were better. This product occupies a unique niche, at this time of writing, it is the only stand-alone (non-computer) solution to timeshifting radio that I could discover. Finally I can listen to Ira Glass and Terry Gross and Neal Conan and Science Friday and Elvis Mitchell (public radio geek shows), even though I'm busy when they're on.

It is basically like a VCR for radio, allowing you to timeshift radio shows that you want to listen too later, saving them as MP3 files, with a choice of kbps. You can record onto internal memory, or onto removable flash memory so it is easy to move things recorded to other computers. (There is also a USB interface, but that gives access only to the internal memory). Oh, it is a perfectly respectible MP3 player also.

The sound quality seems good at the higher sampling rates e.g. 256kbps (if there is a good signal). Some of my stations have poor signals where I live, so I record non-musical shows at a lower rate and use the hi-cut equalizer setting to reduce the hiss and static to listen.

But this little box has a few other tricks up its sleeve. You can play back at different speeds, 0.5x, 0.7x, 1.3x and 1.5x. I regularly use 1.3x to listen to spoken NPR shows a little faster than real time. And the 0.7x is good for slowing down someone who is hard to understand. (Fun to do this also with music.) You can fast forward over ads, you get to hear little bursts of sound as it passes over and when the sound quality changes you know you're back to the show.

Also, it will take mic or line in and save it as an MP3 file. This allows you to, say, use the headphone jack of your tv and timeshift the audio of shows you want to listen to later.

The box itself is about the size of a deck of cards, and is pretty lightweight (feels like it contains air), so it is easy to carry it around and use it as a portable source of music and spoken radio. It weighs much less than my iPod.

The interface is crufty, the buttons are numerous and do different things depending on what mode you are in. It is too complex to play with while driving (I pull over to adjust playback). It is also a mystery sometimes under which folder a recording is going to appear, and it doesn't match what the manual says. The file names are long number salads - you can figure out what part of the names are the date, which are the time, etc., but they are hard to read, especially since when you select a filename, it becomes so long that it doesn't fit on the screen and then starts scrolling. The filenames and folder names should be better done.

The manual I got was like reading a parts list with descriptions (gently translated from Korean); with few exceptions everything is there, but it is not well organized or cogent. I had to go back and forth through the manual and glean new info each time (I'm a computer person well accustomed to lots of complex interfaces). It could really use a "getting started" section. The pdf manual available in this Amazon listing is much improved with clear explanations and screenshots of how to do various operations. [Summer 2011 ETA]

All in all, I'm getting a lot of use and pleasure out of this product, and find it a great supplement to my iPod. I would like to see a combination product with a better interface design.

With many thanks to Book Fan for his very helpful review, I went ahead and purchased this very versatile AM/FM radio recorder/MP3 player from Pogo. I must say, I am very happy that I did. I would have given the radio a five star rating, but due to a few minor but fixable bugs in the firmware, as well as the cryptically written user's manual, I could not. Hopefully Pogo will take the hint from these reviews and strive to propel this amazing little device into Five-stardom territory.

First, I should tell you that I'm a high tech gadget guy (degree in computer science, etc.), and love devices like this. On the other hand, my wife is very gadget/tech-toy shy, and is very reluctant to change her ways, once she finds something that works well for her. Even so, after I sat down with the sorry excuse of a manual, the Pogo radio, and a cup of coffee, I studied and familiarized myself completely with the radio's operation. I then transferred my understanding of the radio's basic operation to my wife. To my surprise and delight, she quickly threw away her cassette players, recorders and tapes, and went out on her daily walks with only this very handy, lightweight radio.

I purchased the Pogo radio with 256MB internal memory and a separate 1GB SD memory card, since my wife records many hours of an AM radio show every late night/early morning. And because the radio's USB/PC interface doesn't enable direct access to the radio's external memory card, I also had to purchase a USB to SD card adapter to upload the resulting MP3 recordings to my PC's hard drive. I should not have had to make this purchase, and believe the ability to upload from the radio's external memory card should be considered an item for a future firmware bug fix by Pogo's programmers.

Another bug fix that Pogo should consider for this potentially excellent device should be to simplify the resulting filename for the recorded MP3s. As Book Fan stated, After the shows are recorded from the radio, they wind up in the "Voice" mode file list with their titles looking like very long, scrolling, binary bytes of data, instead of something looking like English. It should be a very simple matter to modify the title format into one with the month/date/day shown more intelligibly for the novice user.

The AM and FM reception of this unit is surprisingly good in our location, even better than the much larger radio we were using to record to my wife's cassette tapes. This is quite a pleasant surprise for us, since we can now have much more room available on our hutch shelves, with us now only needing this one very small device rather than a large cassette tape recorder and large AM/FM radio. The AM/FM to MP3 recordings are very clear, even with the voice sampling rate at the lowest setting. This low sample rate sampling also increases the number of 4 hour shows that we can record in a row without having to erase or upload them to the PC for storing, burning onto CD or e-mailing (as long as it's done legally, of course).

The unit is so light (unlike the iPOD) that you can easily carry it hung about your neck with the included lanyard, or in your shirt pocket. You'll hardly notice it's there, except for the high quality sound that will be playing in your ears from the very high quality ear buds that come with the unit.

Do yourself a favor and go ahead with this purchase. My wife and I are happy we did, as it has liberated us from making any more purchases of messy space-occupying cassette tapes and recorders. She really loves it, and we believe you will too!

This is a talk radio listener's dream. I shopped around for an mp3 player/recorder, specifically to record satellite radio. I record almost daily. RadioYourWay is everything I want. A VCR for radio.

The menu/display is quite intuitive. I read the directions for specifics anyway. The only time I was frustrated was when set up a timer schedule and later, couldn't figure out how to `delete' the schedule! Turns out, there are 20 slots for schedules and you can't delete them. Not technically - you `Disable' them. ANd the bookmark feature; haven't figured that out yet.

Sound quality: Great for talk radio. (Join the Revolution!) Records to MP3. Pick your speed and equalizer mode. I can go as low as 32 kbps and sound quality is good. Record many hours and still have room for some music mp3s. My music sounds good too. Although, not excellent -- I'll repeat what other reviews state: This is NOT a player for solely listening to music mp3s. This is for recording radio programs.

FF/RW/Speed/Repeat A-B/TIMER/Sleep: Excellent Features.

Modes: There are 4 modes you listen by: AM, FM, Line/Mic, and Schedule. AM and FM - (Ten presets each.) Line/Mic: any Mp3 you've recorded. Schedule: Any timer recording. Once you start listing to a recorded MP3 (In either Line/Mic or Schedule mode) if you hit stop and turn the player off - it will hold your place. Unless you switch modes. Then you start over again. But there's something call Bookmarks - I haven't taken the time to figure those out yet. (!) Sounds like those will solve that issue and keep a `bookmark' in the file(s).

Computer connection: Couldn't be easier. I have a Mac and RYW plugs just as any external hard drive does. No special software needed to install (on my Mac anyway, not sure about PC). Transferring files is easy - to AND from - as I please. It's not proprietary, ithank you very much. I don't believe I could transfer `a folder' at a time; it had to be a `file' at a time. Small glitch.

Accessories: Pleased. Headphones are OK. The unit's cover for the USB port is tiny. TINY. When I opened the package I left it in there because I imagined that will get lost in no time. It would be nice to have the USB cover attached to the unit somehow, so you could just `flip' it open for a connection. I wish a case were included with the package. I might buy that later. Would like to see an FM transmitter function.

AM/FM reception: I live outside the downtown area. Reception is generally great. However, in city, AM is not as good. A big consideration if you're in a big city. The antenna is just OK. I have to place it carefully at times to make sure I'm recording clearly.

Battery Life: Good. I love not using batteries. Recharge every couple weeks. I have to record my 5 hour program with the power plugged in. Works out great.

One last note, for comparisons sake: I bought an iRiver IFP-899 mp3 player/recorder. It's great. However, it lacks some of the functions and ease of the RadioYourWay. I love my iRiver, but not when I have 5 hour show to listen to. Reasons: 1. When I power off, I lose my place. 2. Takes forever to fast forward / rewind. (iRiver is for music. And/or 5-10 minute recordings.)

Alrighty, then. Happy Recording!

I don't own this product, yet. But i felt like I needed to clarify something in the previous review. The previous reviewer noted that the Radio Your Way was now obsolete, because the iRiver H10 20 GB MP3 can do the same thing, better. Um no. The iRiver (and every other MP3 player to the best of my research) still is missing the one critical ingredient that makes the Pogo absolutely unique - AM Radio! It's unbelievable to me that not one of the major MP3 makers make a portable AM/FM MP3 player. Still don't understand why this is so difficult. There have to be alot of people in the world like me, that like to listen to talk radio and also listen to my own music playlists. Until other manufacturers are on board, the Pogo Radio Your Way is the ONLY game in town and that's why I might own it soon myself.

I have been using this Pogo for about 3 months and I have to say that this little guy still impresses me. The player itself does a marvelous job, but the accesories are almost laughable. It still deserves 5 stars hands down, just for its functionality and all the useful features that are packed into something the size of a deck of cards.

I'll start off with a rundown of what I like. It does MP3's, FM and AM, you can record both radio stations and through the line input. I can also store PC files via the USB interface. Which BTW DOES give access to the internal memory card(bios updates are available online). There was no software to install, I just plugged it into my XP machine and wallah!!... two more drives popped up ready to use. One was the 128 megs internal memory and the other was the removeable 1 Gig SD card I bought seperate. Transfering music is a breeze, I simply drag and drop the mp3's or whatever other files I need to carry with me from my hard drive onto the player's drives and they are copied over. It really can't get any easier than that. No messing around with restrictive software.

The interface is a little clunky to set up the first time, but I love the display information. It show's everything I would want to know about what I'm listening to in one glance, including battery life, song title, media type(AM,FM,MP3), there is a little equilizer bar pulsing, a gauge that show's how full the memory card is, and the sample rate. Something you'll almost never find on an mp3 player, it displays the TIME and DATE. Ya it's a small thing, but so often good players could be great if they just paid attention to the details. Oh ya, one more almost amazingly useful feature you'll never find on another mp3 player, it has built-in alarm clock functionality. Couple that with the builtin speakers and you can start to see how versatile this little guy is.

A couple drawbacks, the buttons feel cheap when I press them, kinda like calculator buttons from the 80's. A rubberized attached cover for the usb port would have also been nice. It comes with a little plastic usb cover that was lost almost as soon as I took it off.

The sound quality is more than acceptable and I found the battery life to be true to about 12-15 hours with standard behind the ear/neck rested earphones. I usually have the volume around 7 or 8 out of 30 and it very clear. I can't comment on the included earphones as I don't use earbuds because they are not comfortable to me. I plugged in some high quality studio headphones and it was able to power them no problem but I had to turn the volume up to around 18 for normal listening,and about 27 for the sound to be really loud, but not distorted. Which is really what I would expect for big power hungry headphones.

I almost forgot about the builtin speaker. It sounds just like an old transistor radio but the signal is crystal clear with no crackling. The sound cuts through nicely, especially for talk radio and audio books. A volume level of 15 is sufficient for a quiet room. I listened to the radio for 2 hours tonight at volume 15 and the battery meter still reads full. The AM antenna is built into the unit, but it uses the headphones as the FM antenna. If you want to listen to FM through the speakers, you have to unplug the headphones and plug in a special antenna that's included. But who wants to drag around a spare antenna all the time. I just put the player on the table and insert the headphone plug into the jack far enough so that it makes contact and can act as an antenna, but not far enough to disengage the external speakers. That little trick works nicely.

There are only two optional accessories available that I've seen, the charging cradle and the protective leather case. I'll comment on each.

The optional cradle has little functionality. It charges/powers the player and allows it to stand upright. You can power the cradle via USB or the power adapter. The cradle provides no PC connectivity at all. It draws power from the USB cable and that's it. So in order to hook up the player to the computer I have to take it out of the cradle and lay it down on my desk, then take the usb connector out of the cradle and plug it into the player. It doesn't seem right does it?? Obviously the cradle was an afterthought.

The optional leather case is the other accessory. From a functionality point of view, it's very accessible. I have no problems getting to any of the buttons or ports. It does a good job of protecting the player from nicks and scratches. The clear plastic(on the leather case) covering the buttons and screen is starting to warp a bit, making it difficult to read the screen depending on glare. Why is it warping? I'll get to that later. Aesthetically, the case is ugly and only comes in black. It really does nothing to compliment the player itself. It looks like an old style cell phone case that's been converted. A clear rubberized case would have been better for this player. There is also a metal belt clip attached to the back of the case that is clunky and gets in the way. I'm always getting the headphones tangled up in it. It would be nice if this was removeable so that people like me who carry it in my pocket don't have to feel it. It makes the device a little thicker and it doesn't lay flat. I took a pair of pliers, pulled out the rivot holding the clip to the case and managed to yank the belt clip out. It definitely wasn't meant to come off so if you like the belt clip, I can vouch for it's sturdiness. It's not flimsy. With a little more effort the clip could have easily been made removeable.

I'm not trying to rant, because I really like the player alot, and I rave about it to my friends. I just find it funny that a device which seems to be designed so well, can have optional accessories that are so awful. I'm only going to say one more thing about the accessories, and I hope someone from the company reads this, because if they ever fix this stuff, I'll be first in line to buy the new model.

Earlier in the review, I said how the clear plastic on the leather case, covering the buttons has started to warp. That's because, when the player is inside the leather case, it's too thick to attach to the cradle. I have to take the player out of the case in order to use the cradle. Not to mention, there is no access to the charging holes through the leather case. I would cut holes in it if I could, but it wouldn't do any good anyway since it's too wide. So taking the player in and out of the case so much has caused the clear plastic, covering the buttons and screen, to start to warp. I would rather leave it in the leather case all the time. Consequently the only two accessories in the whole world for this player do not work together. Using one causes defects to crop up in the other. I really do find it hilarious and hopefully these problems can be addressed in the future.

Keep in mind, the case and cradle are optional accessories, but the player is worth every penny!! You won't regret buying one.

One comment I need to make in regard to this unit is that there are basically 2 types of individuals who are interested in MP3:

The first is the person who's primary interest is music - this is not the MP3 player you want.

The second is the person who listens to talk shows or downloads podcasts and listens to it one time. This is the unit for you.

I have only had this unit for a week now, and it does everything I want. I am not finding the user interface crude. It needs this functionality to deal with all the things it can do. It doesn't take very long to learn.

I have mostly used this to listen to podcasts downloaded from the computer. I could listen to them either on this or a conventional MP3 player. I choose the Pogo LX because I can speed it up. It can play MP3 files at 1.3X and 1.5X and the pitch of the voice does not change. Voices don't sound like the chipmunks. I do wish it would retain this speed as it finishes one file and moves to the next!

I find navigation easy when I download files by putting them in directories that I know what they are. I is easy to navigate thru directories if you have this unit in the correct mode. Difficult to navigate if you don't.

The built in speaker is useful, but not great sound quality. It is fine to listen to voice. Pathetic for music.

For the intended audience, this unit is great!

I hope the Pogo people are reading these. Others have already mentioned the poor file naming convention and that a better technical writer should be hired to redo the manual. It could be better. I use my Pogo strictly as a recorder and not as a player so I don't have much experience with carrying it around... but it's solidly build unlike some others I've seen. As a recorder, it does an OK job with some minor quirks.

When we transfer these files to our computer, unlike my digital camera files, they don't retain the date they were made. I'm sure they can do it the same with mp3 files somehow.

The AC adapter is only 3.5 feet which I feel is too short and forces you to use an extension cord. It should be at least 5 or 6 feet.

I read somewhere that the USB port comes with a cover that is detachable so I guess I've already lost mine. Maybe it's not important, but why isn't it attached like the SD card cover?

I don't trust the programing to start/stop something while I'm away if it's a radio show that's important to me. I've programmed something that runs Monday through Friday but it skips Monday. I check the date and time carefully but SOMETIMES it still doesn't start at all and I'll miss the program.

The quality of the mp3 encoding, in the lower bitrates, is not that good. I use the next higher bitrate than I would normally use for the type of program I record. For example, instead of 32 kbps, I'll use 64 kbps. Then, if I want to keep it, I'll convert it down to 32 kbps on the computer (running CDex using using Lame codec) and it will sound MUCH better than the Pogo codec at 32 kbps. There is a HUGE difference that you must hear and compare for yourself! However, at 128 kbps and above, it seems OK.

I'm not sure how much more they can fix it in firmare. The most recent one, as I write this, is 1.02 (not 1.03 as another review mentioned) and it is essential. It seems to have fixed the clock that used to drift and not stay put day after day. I've not heard any popping or clicking as the other reviewer has.

Despite all the problems, I recommend it because there's nothing else like it for recording your radio programs. I also use it to convert vinyl records and cassette tapes to mp3 files. A real time saver and does an excellent job of it. The manufacturer is on the right track with this second model. The third one should be a charm. But until then, I'd recommend this one even with its shortcomings.

This is like a Tivo for radio. It is so small that I initially had doubt, but it works and does a great job recording radio program. I don't have static voice problem with using my SD card, but I did notice a few improvements that can be made: the battery life can be extended a little bit more, the speaker can be made a little bigger and more powerful for those like me who does not use ear phone. (by the way, the sound coming thru ear phone sounds great!) Finally, the up and dn arrow keys should be assigned to some other function other than switching files. It is very easy to accidentally press it and lose the current pointer in the play-back, although fast forward/rewind is quite easy to do and quick, and useful in skipping commercials. Setting current re-play pointer can be done using the on-screen menu, but I prefer to have a dedicated button for this very very useful function. Nothing is more frustrating than pressing the wrong key accidentally and have to re-search to where I was left off listening. Overall great product and even better idea!

I thought for quite awhile before making this purchase, and after reading the reviews I expected it to be somewhat problematic. However, with reservations, I went ahead and made the purchase, thinking that I might have to send it back. Fortunately, I am happy to say that I am pleasantly surprised with its performance and ease of use. It is MUCH better than I expected.

Most people seem to complain about the interface/manual. I guess with so many products these days that are completely idiot proof, people come to expect things to be self explanatory, so complain when you actually have to read the manual to use it. Yes, you will have to read the manual to use this, but you should expect that. This isn't just an mp3 player, it performs many other functions as well. You can record any AM/FM station. You can set to record one time only, weekly, including presets for mon-fri, mon-sat, every day, etc. Any combination is possible. You can also record by line in (plug in any audio cable), and you can even record by microphone. You can even set it to record by microphone at a scheduled time (spying device?). You control the quality of the recordings as well, 32kbps, 64, etc. You can set the unit to act as an alarm clock. You can choose which programs are stored on internal memory vs a flash card. This unit performs many different functions, and all with only like 8 buttons, as the unit to too small to have many more than that. I received it and set it to charging while I read the manual. An hour later, I was setting the record schedule without any difficulty at all, and I haven't had to use the manual since. It is all very intuitive once you get the idea. That being said, the manual could be written in a better, more user friendly manner, but it is certainly adequate as it is.

The interface with windows couldn't be easier. I plug it into USB, then use explorer to moves the files where I want them. I can delete them, rename them, copy, move, etc, all through windows like you would any file.

One reviewer complained that you couldn't record AM while it is plugged into an AC outlet. This is partially true. When I first set it up, I put it by my computer in the basement where the signal is quite weak, and the interference from the transformer made too much noise in the recording. However, when I moved the radio upstairs to where the signal was stronger, this disappeared. Even better, I set the unit up on a standard lamp timer so that the battery only charges in the middle of the night when I am not recording, so I don't have to worry about this at all. This is only a minor annoyance, easily circumvented.

My only other complaint is that it doesn't have enough built in memory (mine is the 128meg version). Memory is so cheap these days, I would rather pay $20 more and have a gig or two so that I don't need to buy another flash card. But it does have a slot for a 1gig flash card, so again, this complaint is only an annoyance, easily circumvented.

One other issue people mentioned with the small USB port cover that wasn't attached to the unit. I agree, it will get lost, but really, who cares? My other mp3 player never did have a cover for this port. It is also the port you use to charge the unit, so mine is either plugged into AC power or a computer at all times. If the cover was attached, I would probably cut it off, because I just don't need it.

It has performed flawlessly since I purchased it, and it seems to be very well constructed. I have not had any problems with a "popping" noise that other reviewers mentioned. I also get good AM and FM reception. I hope to get many years of use out of it. I am thrilled with it's performance, and don't regret my purchase in the slightest. It's worth every penny.

A good product for the AM radio buff. I have read complaints about this unit not being easy to use, instruction manual being poor, unit size being too big, etc., etc. It's all true! I imagine this is the unit the engineers at Apple might have produced if Steve Jobs wouldn't have ordered them to make it simpler. But it's the only MP3 unit with AM radio, and I think the only one that records up to 10 programmed events, just like a VCR. If you're a bit of a techno geek and don't mind spending some time to figure it out, this unit is definitely worth it. PS - Be sure to go to their website and upgrade the firmware. Older versions have had some bugs, but the good news is that the unit IS upgradable as these bugs are discovered and worked out.