I’ve been using the Griffin radioSHARk (PC / Mac, $69.99 USD) the last week and, as promised, am ready to sink my teeth into what under the fin. That’s a good place to start: the Shark’s fin is pretty cool looking measuring just over a foot tall.

 

On the radioSHARK fin a section glows either red or blue based on the recording mode — cool!



The instruction manual that comes with the radioSHARK is 35 small, but informational pages. It gives the direct rundown on the features that are included with pretty much no fanfare. To start the RadioShark you just navigate to APPLICATIONS -> radioShark and double-click.



Recordings are stored in the Music folder underneath the radioSHARK folder by default. The main interface looks a lot like a radio:



It comes with no preset stations of course, so you’ll have to move the radioSHARK around the room to find where the best reception will be. Fortunately, it comes with a USB extender cord so it will reach about 10 or so feet from the USB connection. I imagine you could get more distance by using some sort of wireless setup or perhaps even another extender but I didn’t try this out. I found the best reception in our office was down near the wall, with the fin facing parallel to the wall as pictured above. Even so, I could not receive a static-free connection to any of the main radio stations I listen to in the greater Seattle area: KIRO 710 AM, FOX SPORTS RADIO 850 or 102.5 FM. It was easy making presets for each of them and I found that by setting special equalizer settings this reduced the static to a point of where I could at least understand the broadcast.



The equalizer is fairly self-explanatory, in fact the radioSHARK as a whole is quite intuitive. In fact, I think it’s easier to use than most radios as far as programming goes. The equalizer comes with some different preset sounds and you can program your own to go along with certain stations (which I found necessary to do for the best reception).



There is a drawer (not shown in pictures) which pulls out and shows when time shifting of the radio is happening. Don’t know what time shifting is? This works similar to pause on your DVD player, when you press play you return to the show and you can lag behind or fast forward up to the live point in the broadcast. Handy if you are listening to something and the phone rings or you have to do something, you can just pause and then come back when done with the call and not miss anything. However, with over the air radio there’s so many commercials these days scheduling breaks that coincide with commercials isn’t a big deal. What is handy, though, is when your program is recorded to be able to fast forward past the commercials. However, since I don’t have a remote and the Mac is across the office when I’m working on my Windows box (Note: it does work with Windows, not just Mac, but I haven’t tried it out there yet for this reviw), this is a feature sorely missed. For the radioSHARK price it should come with some sort of remote, I think.

Programming a show (shown above) involves setting the time, date, station and format and the frequency (whether it repeats daily, weekly or monthly). No way to program for Mon-Friday shows, so you’ll have to manully adjust for that. AAC uses significantly less disk space than AIFF. For example, the Jim Rome Show which runs three hours takes 1.9 GB of space in AIFF but in AAC it’s around 80 MB. I’m curious what type of formats are available on Windows (MP3?)



Lastly, there is a mysterious input on the side of the radioSHARK that does not seem to be documented. I wonder if this is for a remote antennae? Anybody know what this plugin is for?Update: Griffin support:

Yes. The radioSHARK has a headphone jack on the back that doubles as an external antenna port. Usually plugging in an audio extension cable or even a pair of headphones to this port will help provide better reception. Griffin currently does not provide any external antenna with the radioSHARK at this time.

All in all I find the radioSHARK an intriguing device. If you do not listen to over the air radio than you’ll have very little reason to buy this. If you are like me and enjoy talk radio (sans the ridiculous amount of commercials), then this makes more sense. 

The radioSHARK does not support (yet, though they say it is coming) timeshifting and/or recording internet webcasts (aka podcasts). This is the kind of device that works good on a dedicated machine, so the radioSHARK will probably increase my overall Mac usage. I have not tried installing it on the PC, yet, but I’m going to give that a shot and see how it works there. As for pricing? I think it would sell better at $29 than $69, but for those who love local over the air radio and would like an easier way to TiVO-like your favorite radio shows, the radioSHARK is pretty much the only fish in the water. Grade: C+

Did this post make you go hmm?

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