Fame: Gear4 Street Party 4 iPod Dock

Description

The Street Party 4 iPod dock designed by Gear4 is a speaker system that plays music off of iPods. It consists of:

·         One fold out front dock

·         Two internal speakers

·         Two internal bass ports

·         Sliding on/off switch

·         Volume controls

·         AUX and DC port

·         Power indication light

The dock is approximately (H, W, D) 141x241x33(mm), weighing around 580 grams and is compatible with seventeen different formats of iPods. The dock can either be powered by 4x AAA batteries or through a mains adaptor. This report will be analysing the systems sound output and user experience.

The Product: What makes it good?

The Gear4 dock is designed to be above all a portable speaker system for iPods. The name given ‘Street Party 4’ aims to convey this as a system that you can take anywhere you like, to places where main supplies are not available (such as streets). To reinforce this products portability capabilities, the dock can be powered by batteries to allow functioning in any location. Not only this, but the dock is light weight, slimly designed and allows for the dock to be folded into the rest of the product to provide a very smooth, sleek, easy to carry object.

Consistency

The docks’ functioning applies generally to other iPod docks in today’s sound industry and to the more basic functionality. Located on the front of the system is the iPod dock. For the user, i

t is easy to tell how to insert the iPod onto the dock, simply push the iPods dock down onto the base dock.

The power switch is located on the back of the dock, which may be difficult to find on first attempt, but is clearly recognizable afterwards. It also functions in a general consistent way the most on/off switch work. The switch slides from left to right to turn the system on or off. The sides are labelled ‘ON’ and ‘OFF’, but there is also a LED on the front of the dock which turns on when the entire system is powered.

The mapping of the volume controls is suitably placed on the top of the dock to provide easy access. The volume controls are concise in that they are linked together and it can be easily identified which button turns the volume up and which one down. The ports for this dock are also located where most other products feature theirs, which is on the back on the dock. Again these are clearly labelled. The sound system clearly displays great affordance by being a relatively simple product to use from taking it straight out the box.

User Shortcuts

Upon docking you iPod with the speaker system, instead of the user having to go through and manually choose which music to play, the dock automatically plays the first playlist provided on the iPod. This means that the users’ time between docking the iPod and their music playing is reduced to the minimal time possible, providing better user experience. If the user does not want the default playlist to play, then they can easily navigate to music of their choice.

The volume controls also provide a user shortcut. When either of the volume buttons are held, the volume is increased/decreased at a much greater rate compared to pressing the button repeatedly.

Feedback

The dock provides feedback to users in a couple of ways. Firstly when the power is activated, the user is provided with a lit up LED on the front of the dock to show that the system is receiving power. Also if the iPod is already docked, the user will be greeted with sound feedback coming from the iPods music.

Control

In no way does the system feel like it is taking control away from its user. The system is only a simple one, but it ensures that it only outputs functions that are directly inputted by users. The dock may power down by itself due to low power supply, but this would be a result of either the batteries or mains, not the system itself.

Aesthetics

The speaker system is designed to be very portable as mentioned earlier and therefore is given a very sleek, shiny look to reinforce this. The system consists of three main parts, the front, back and dock. The back on the dock is comprised of a shiny, black, plastic, curved plate that reaches over the top and bottom of the dock. Its texture is smooth and cool and the power switch plus ports are embedded well into the system.

The front is where the speakers and dock are held. The entire speaker system is well protected by plastic grating that does not imbue the sound at all. The dock is foldable, so that it may sit within the system when not in use making it more portable and easy to store. When unfolded, the base of the dock does not stick out very far from the body to greater improve aesthetics. The dock also acts as a stand for the entire system which is very cleverly done and therefore means that there is no need for any extra material to be added to the design.

Sound Output

Usually the main reason why people buy a speaker system is because they want sound, therefore it is only suiting that the sound output is analysed. For such a small speaker system, it provides excellent, room filling sound. Although it wouldn’t be fitting for larger rooms/halls or big outdoor areas, it certainly does the job for the average bedroom or lounge. It provides an impressive volume level, but can seem strained when performing at maximum volume.

Conclusion

The Gear4 Street Party 4 iPod dock speaker system is an excellent purchase for users who are wishing for a simple speaker system that is sleek, portable and outputs a decent amount of sound.