Customer Reviews

Sonic Impact IF1 Speaker System

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I recently bought one of these, and I'm thrilled with the whole package, the audio quality, bass response, intelligence of the design, form factor, and flexibilty of use.

What it is;
a. a great PORTABLE stereo system.
b. a replacement for your ipod dock
c. a well designed / small travel case for your ipod & headphones.

What it is not:
a. a boombox
b. a great replacment for a home stereo system
c. an audiophile's dream
d. a great outdoor stereo

Its intended purpose was for travel / portable use, and for that purpose, it's definitely best of breed. I bought it so that I could use my iPod around the house / garage / basement without having to use headphones, and it's perfect for that use. Many of the other base stereo systems for the iPod do not have built in rechargeable batteries, so they have to live in one spot unless you want to carry around the power plug. That may not be a major problem, but the i-Fusion has the added benefit of being able to close down for REAL travel in a suitcase or backpack. My all-around impression is very positive, and the few negative comments I can make are pretty standard for all small stereos in general.

Pros;
a. Carrying strap
b. Built in hard case
c. built in storage for ipod (that doesn't let the ipod slide around loose)
d. seperate storage for headphones / jacks
e. external rubber cover over the input ports
f. Easily visible battery recharge lights
g. Easily visible on / off indicator lights
h. easy access to controls
i. can sync your ipod to your computer
j. bass is deep and rich even at low volumes... especially considering the small speakers.
k. audio in jack for use with old iPods or Shuffles, or other audio devices.
l. the iPod can be recharged through the iPod dock connector cable even if the i-Fusion is not being recharged itself.
m. easy access to the battery if it needs to be replaced in the future.

Cons;
a. Price... as a base stereo for the iPod goes, it's fairly cheap... but for a similar sounding travel sized stereo without ipod connectivity, you'd probably pay $50. After lots of research I felt it was worth it, though
b. At normal volume the lows sound great, but the high-pitched stuff is a bit tinny.

Arbitrary, perhaps unimportant Cons;
c. No remote control
d. no audio out jack for headphones. I COULD remove the iPod and use it without the i-Fusion, but sometimes it'd be easier to just have a handy headphone jack if the i-Fusion is setting on my desk.
e. To charge the i-Fusion you must have its own power plug plugged in. It would be great if it could be powered off of the iPod dock connector plug, to reduce the number of cables. The iPod can be charged from the connector plug if the i-Fusion itself isn't plugged in however, so that's a consolation.
f. The i-Fusion power plug has one of those big transformers right at the end, making it difficult to plug into a crowded outlet or power strip. I wish they would have raised the price by 5 bucks and put the transformer a few inches further up the line.
g. (this might actually be a gripe about the iPod) Hitting the off button on the unit doesn't stop the iPod from playing... that's pretty standard with dockable add ons to the ipod. It's weird... if you disconnect headphones from the headphone jack the ipod will pause. If you disconnect it from a dock while it's playing, it continues to play. I'm sure the engineers at Apple had long discussions about this, but I'm still not happy about the outcome.

Final Word;
I really think that this is the absolute best of breed for iPod stereo devices. It has just the right mix of quality, features and price. For a stereo of its size, it has excellent audio output, including decent bass quality even at low volumes. It's great for travel & portability, and has little room for real improvement. Ultimately, I think it deserves 4.5 stars, but I'll settle for 5.... 4 is just too low.

This speaker system is perfect. Not only is it one of the only truly "portable" iPod speaker systems out there, it provides high quality sound, even better than I thought it would. It comes with a durable zip case with room to store your iPod & smaller accessories (headphones, iTrip, etc) right inside. It has adapters to fit all different size iPods.

I would absolutely recommend this system for anyone looking for a high quality portable iPod speaker system. I am so happy with this product.

My sister bought one of these a couple weeks ago after testing it out in the store. It just happened that it was plugged in and she had her ipod in her purse. In the store, the sound was quite good and we could tell that it would most likely sound good even louder than we were testing it out.

Her main purpose for buying it was to have something to use while she worked with her horse at the barn. So the 1st day we took it out, we plugged in the ipod and turned it up to probably about 3/4 full volume. The sound was great! It projected well in the outdoor arena and had a fantastic clear, rich sound. Neither of us thought it sounded tinny at higher volumes, as one reviewer mentioned.

In the little I have used it, the only negative thing I have noticed about it is that when using it with an ipod Mini, the play/pause button can be a little awkward to get to.. but that is almost insignificant, since it doesn't really pose a problem.

I know my sister completely loves this thing and I would definitely buy one if I had more of a need for it (rather than just really wanting one!)

Perfect in every way!...Hey boys and girls,this is the one!...Hallelujah!....Sim Sala Bim!....Oh Yeah!!!!!
Ok,I am not an I-PODER so to speak but my wife and kids are.I don't fiddle much with digital programming and the other so called modern computer conveniences of site and sound.....BUT .....that does not make me an illita-rat.I prefer analog everything.....but,that's enough about me.
My pre-requisite for buying this gift for my wife was sound quality.I had researched the JBL On stage and Imotion by Altec Lansing which seemed like average products ....but,I didn't want TINNY!!! anything.....soooooo...The MM50 by Logitech was the winner with its Bose like sound......I DIDN'T BUY IT!....WHY YOU ASK?....BECAUSE....at the very last moment, before anyone could buy a gift on line and expect to get it before mothers day,I saw this on the Amazon page.After reading the reviews and the points that sold me in this order were:1)The sound with good separation between bass and treble...2)Portability,which would include taking it anywhere...3)It has an adapter to recharge the battery PLUS it will recharge your Ipods battery while in the unit....4)It will download music from your mac.....5)It has a compartment for your Ipod that can be tucked away conveiently.Compared to all the other competitors,this wins hands down with the player built into the carrying case which makes it so convenient.When we fired it up this morning at our mothers day celebration,I was more than pleasantly surprise......the sound quality in HUGE!.I have a Bose radio which is tops and this comes in second.So,do I have any negatives?...not right now.
Your friend, A-Boo Ben Boo-Bee

I was very impressed with the cleaness of the sound from this product. I didn't expect a lot of bass or a very loud unit.The sound quality is good for it's size. But what's great is the battery life. It lasts a long time. I play mine at least an hour a day at around 3/4 of the volume and it easily lasts the whole week without recharging.

Overall I really like this product. With the hard case and the zip closure it is great for taking the ipod on the road, where it was designed to be. The fact that it also has storage for the ipod along with the fitted back that the ipod slides into while playing is also a plus. The sound quality is good and reasonably loud but I wouldn't call it great. There is not much bass no matter what the equalizer setting on the ipod is. Two weeks after I got mine, my wife made me get her one too. She loves to listen to opera at bedtime without the annoying earplugs. Mine stopped working however, only 2-1/2 months after I got it. The folks at Sonic Impact are nice enough and they offered me a new one. However, they made me send it back at my expense and will send me a new one only when they receive the defective one. I think their factory service could use some rethinking. I have been without it for four days now and still no e-mail telling me that they received it. So, if I was to score the i-Fusion, I would give it 2-1/2 pods (out of 5).

I bought this for use in the OR and have used it for 2months. It has good sound, good bass for what it is. It sounds better than an average boombox. I also have a JBL doughnut for home which will fill a room better. Pros: Great battery; I charge it and use it for 1-2 weeks at 4-5h per day. Easy to break down and store; protects the ipod with other people around, great hard case. Small and has storage for the ipod, phones and case.
Cons: No where to store plug. The ipod battery goes if not plugged in after 6-8hours of continuous use( will charge if plugged in). If it is off, need to hold increase volume down for a while to get good sound( when I go in and out of a case this is a small pain). Nonadjustable straps that dont allow it to open past 90 degrees( can close if bumped hard; the adapter does offer protection to the ipod however).
Wishes: that the dock would fold down with the ipod when closed. metal struts to hold the case open. storage for the plug.
This is the best portable system available , small with good sound and design. I get many positive comments about it. There are better more expensive systems but not better portable ones.

I bought this just before a trip to Argentina, and it worked great. It's quite small when the case is zipped up - it doesn't take up a lot of room in your suitcase, and it fits nicely into hotel safes. The sound is surprisingly good, however.

The specs don't mention it, but the plug can run on different voltages, so with an adaptor for the shape of the plug, you can use it anywhere.

And as Apple doesn't include a plug-in charger with the Video I-Pod, it doubles as a recharger, too, when it's plugged in to an outlet.

I'm very glad I bought it.

After researching this product for quite some time, the only dimensions I could find were here on Amazon. If you are as conscientious as I am about size, you might be glad to know that the dimensions Amazon lists are not accurate. The actual dimensions are 9x7x3, and the weight is very light. The speakers work very well, and they handle better than most at high volumes. If you're looking for a compact ipod stereo you won't find anything better!

We think this speaker system has great sound and is very easy to carry around. The only reason I couldn't give it 5 stars is the odd decision to include a storage bay, but not make it big enough to hold the power brick. So now if you need to bring the power cord, you have to worry about two things. I don't think it would have been very difficult to make the storage bay a little bigger, the brick a little smaller, to make it even more convenient. Still highly recommended!!!