One downside to the i525 is that sometimes adjusting the settings is cumbersome, requiring multiple taps of the Menu/Select or Alarm buttons. This adjustment is handy if you’re a light sleeper, like me, and you don’t need a air-raid siren going off inches from your head. In music mode, you can also adjust the volume and enable or disable any of the i525’s audio features. And you can choose the audio you wake up to: your iPod or iPhone’s music, the radio, or a very effective buzzer. Each can be set according to one of four schedules: one-time, weekdays, weekends, or every day.
![cambridge soundworks table radio cambridge soundworks table radio](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/5CQAAOSw14RgBxhr/s-l400.jpg)
Woe is the alarm clock that doesn’t have multiple alarms these days, and the i525 delivers with two fully configurable alarms. Fortunately, the i525 succeeds admirably in that regard. (These controls work with an iPhone, too, though unless the phone is unlocked and the iPod app is open, they aren’t as useful.) During playback, you can also hit the prominent Snooze/Mute button on the top of the i525 to mute the audio.Īs good as the i525’s sound is, the true test of a bedside unit is how effective and configurable its alarm clock features are. The i525’s remote allows you to navigate an iPod’s menus using four arrow keys, a Select button, and a Menu button. You can use the Play/Pause buttons on the top of the i525 to start and stop playback, as well as use the Tune buttons to go to the previous or next track. There was, however, a slight buzz when the iPhone was docked, the unit was fully powered on, and no music was playing. Unfortunately, the inserts aren’t labeled, leaving you to figure out which one fits your device the best.) I did run into one issue where the i525 required me to place my iPod in the dock, hit the i525’s On button, and press Play on the clock radio-in that specific order-before audio would work, but most of the time it seemed to work when I just hit Play-the issue cropped up only a couple times.ĭuring my testing, docking an iPhone 4 yielded a notice that the i525 wasn’t optimized for the iPhone and might result in interference-the system is certified as “Made for iPod” but not “Made for iPhone”-but the i525 still charged the phone and allowed me to play audio from the phone without any noticeable distortion. (The i525’s dock uses Apple’s Universal Dock design and includes several inserts for a variety of Apple iPod models. You just place your device in the dock cradle on top and hit the Play/Pause button. Playing tracks from your iPod or iPhone is easy as well. (Again, it’s a little faster to perform this action using the remote, which includes eight discrete preset buttons.) You can also configure up to eight presets per band by holding down the Preset 1-8 button on top of the unit to enter Preset mode, and then pressing the same button again until the LCD display shows the right number. Pressing either changes the frequency by one increment, while holding down either button seeks out the next strong station above or below, respectively. You choose a radio station using two Tune buttons-up and down-on the top of the unit. I had little trouble (in the Boston area) picking up local radio stations on either band. You cycle through audio sources, including radio bands, by repeatedly pressing the Source button-the Auxiliary option will appear only if a device is connected to the auxiliary-input jack.The i525’s FM and AM antennas are both external, though the included AM loop antenna is detachable and, as with most external antennas, you may need to choose their positions carefully to get the best reception for your location. You can also adjust the bass and treble levels, independently, by using the Menu/Select button to cycle through the i525’s settings menu and then using the scroll wheel to choose the desired level.
![cambridge soundworks table radio cambridge soundworks table radio](https://media.wired.com/photos/59eac832f3d04c2a20361104/1:1/w_357,h_357,c_limit/cambridge_soundworks_radio_cd_745i_f.jpg)
Personally, I found the i525’s audio to be more pleasing with the Crystalizer enabled, but I couldn’t hear a whit of difference with the Surround feature-your mileage may vary. You can toggle each of these modes on or off via buttons on top of the unit or on the remote, though doing so is easier using the remote, which has a separate On/Off button for each feature. While much of i525’s sound quality is due to the speakers themselves, Cambridge SoundWorks has added a few of its own audio technologies, as well, including a Multi-Speaker Surround Virtual mode that fakes multiple-speaker surround sound a Smart Volume mode that keeps the volume constant between tracks of differing loudness levels and the X-Fi Crystalizer, which supposedly improves playback quality.