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Head to head: Fatman iTube vs SonicGear i-Steroid | | |
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iPod docks (and indeed docks for the legion of alternative MP3 players) are many and varied these days. Few however, are as different as the valve-driven beast from Fatman called the iTube. In the absence of a plethora of similarly valve-driven devices, we decided to put it up against SonicGear's peculiarly named i-Steroid, which uses similar technology, albeit in a markedly different way.
We know it's not a completely fair contest, but if you think your cold, hard bytes on your iPod could do with a little warming up, valve-style, give one or both of these a try.
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Fatman iTube
Letchworth-based manufacturers TL Audio are the people behind the Fatman brand, which has recently applied the knowledge gleaned from 15 years of making valve processors and preamps for recording studios to consumer products and that most ubiquitous of home entertainment devices, the iPod.
The iTube actually comes in two parts - a dock and an amp, linked by interconnect cables and comes with a set of lab-style white cotton gloves for keeping grubby fingerprints off the frankly gorgeous chrome finish. Another nice touch is the dust brush, included to help anyone who ignores the health and safety instructions and takes the cover off the valves - perfectly understandable as they do look lovely. Incidentally, both feel exceptionally solidly built, though you'll need that cover if you have kids around the house - those pretty valves get pretty hot.
The amp has three valves and offers 13 watts per channel into eight ohms - it won't blow up any houses but it's plenty powerful enough for the average UK listening room. A couple of new, bigger versions of amp and dock due in January promise 18wpc and 25wpc for £649 and £799 respectively.
There is also a brace of 1m speaker cables with banana plugs and there's an extra connection to run other sources such as a CD player through the amp. There's a single volume knob on the front and a switch between each of the two channels. There's also a headphone socket.
Cleverly, it gets around the need to supply all those different-sized cradles for the iPod by relying on an adjustable bracket which can be moved forward or back depending on the size of your 'Pod.
It's also available with a pair of Fatman two-way bookshelf speakers for an extra 200 quid, though we tried it with a pair of JPW 201s.
Performance
After an initial problem getting the dock switched on (it has to be done via the remote control) we were very impressed with the iTube. It warmed up quickly and relayed our music accurately and well.
Though the idea of matching analogue valve technology with something so defiantly digital as the iPod might seem like a contradiction in terms, it really does seem to work. Admittedly it seemed to work better with the acoustic jazz and folk elements of our record collection, and possibly took some of the edge off Dizzee Rascal or Basement Jaxx's defiantly digital experiments.
There is a general feeling of warmth and coziness about the iTube, which perhaps won't please those who're after the nth degree of detail, but for those of us who appreciate a comfortable listening experience, you know, for fun, it's a little gem.
The remote control incidentally is an impressive object on its own. It's got 27 buttons, no less, and appears to be perfectly well integrated into the iPod - we were able to navigate freely through the 'Pod's functions, including one-button access to shuffle mode and tone controls.
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Plus points
Great looks, very good sound
Minus points
Not so cheap considering you could just plug your iPod into your stereo…
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SonicGear i-Steroid 2
SonicGear is based in Indonesia and makes all kind of things, mostly related to PC speakers. Most of their models are variations on the standard 2.1 format and stylistically, the i-Steroid fits that mould, with an 18-watt subwoofer parked in the main box and two little 16-watt satellite speakers joined by single plug interconnects.
The big difference with the i-Steroid of course is that its amplifier has a single valve protected by the top of its piano black or pearl white casing.
Our one appeared to be optimised to go with the black n red U2 iPod, though it's also available in white. That faux scroll wheel on the front is in fact nothing of the kind by the way, it's just buttons, though you can also control it with a similarly designed, discretely sized remote which covers volume and tone. There's also an additional remote for iPod control, which covers most of the main functions, including shuffle and playlists. Since it's a proper 2.1 system you can tuck the amp out of sight and place the compact speakers and iPod dock wherever you fancy.
The speakers are cute but far from powerful and the connections only allow you to hook up to PC-style speakers rather than the standard hi-fi variety, which will suit some, but may prove limiting for others. You can plug in your iPod directly or get the separately sold cradle.
Performance
It's quite a chunky chap, though reasonably lightweight, but while it looks quite imposing, the plastic shell feels a bit flimsy when you pick it up. We were also disappointed that it took a good ten minutes to warm up.
Once there however it produced a sound that's rounded and well balanced, and goes a long way to smooth out some of those harsher edges at the further reaches of digitally compressed recordings. But while the sound is cosy, it's not especially dynamically impressive, and there was the suspicion that the i-Steroid is just a wee bit too laid-back for its own good.
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| | Discuss this article, 1 of 3 messages, read more: |  Will Wright | |
| Posted: 05/07/06 15:11:53 53 | | Wow, a valve powered ipod dock! This looks pretty neat. Maybe this will help improve the frankly rubbish quality of my MP3 collection... |
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Plus points
To get the most out of either of these systems, you'll probably be converting your music into a lossless codec like Apple Lossless or Windows Media Lossless, FLAC or even WAV. You'll need to in order to appreciate the extra bit of fidelity they can deliver. In terms of performance, build quality, flexibility and all-round desirability, the Fatman takes the cake. It's a little beauty that matches style with content to great effect. 
