Picked up a MyFi Today (first impressions)

[sno1man]

I had ordered it when they were first announced and Ultimate finally got some in to fill their orders.

So far I'm not very happy. Take the following in to account though, this is my first experience with satellite radio. One of the few gadgets I have managed to resist until now, precisely because it was not portable (which is 80% of my listening) until the MyFi came out.

Physically it was not as small as they would lead you to believe in the advertisements. It is tad taller and wider than the original ipod and quite a bit thicker. It is reasonably light though. Very plastic looking and the seams have some not quite lined up edges. Overall it has no where near the quality feel of an ipod or zen

The display is no where near as nice as any of the most current HD players and is somewhat low contrast. You pretty much have to be looking straight at it to read it. You can reverse the display from black letters on a white background to the opposite. Neither way looks better to me.

It does have a user replaceable battery though.

Other usability issues include requiring the use of one of two cradles for either the home antenna or the car antenna. Plus when it is sitting in the cradle you must use an external antenna. It disables the built in one. The other really irksome thing is they do provide a portable "personal" antenna that looks a lot like the battery sticks used with some CD walkmen, but that antenna has a special jack on the upper left side of the unit right where it constantly gets tangled with the head phone cable if you wear the unit on the left side like I do. This personal antenna is for use when the built in one does not work well. Also, the antenna jack is not the same size as that of the car or home antenna so you couldn't for example just get in the car and plug the car antenna directly in to it. You have to use one of the cradles. This also sucks for moving from car to car unless you want buy multiple cradles.

On the lone bright side here, both cradles have a line out jack whose output level can be set independently from the volume.

Because of the stupid arrangement of my apartment I had to stand outside with the thing for about 15 minutes in the freezing cold to activate it. Apparently while you can use the terrestrial repeaters for content, only the satellite provides the data updates required. My apartment literally has no southern windows so inside I have to rely on the repeaters and even they only generate two of three bars signal strength.

So far using it as a portable and relying on the built in antenna was not impressive either. The signal kept cutting out just walking around the block with it. I have not tried it with the "personal" antenna yet but as you can probably tell, it's already trying my patience.

Sound quality wise the results are mixed so far. Most of the time it sounds like music recorded on a minidisc at the 5 hour setting. I.E compressed and echoey sounding. However sitting here at my desk with the unit in the dock and connected to the home antenna (which is strung across a lamp and hanging in the window so I can get a decent signal...the wife aint happy) the sound quality listening to Franks place is quite good.

I had read a review where they stated that it did not get very loud. I don't know if that was a flaw in their unit or inefficient buds, but with my sony 71's the unit can get painfully loud. By the way the supplied buds...WORST EVER

The stock ticker and sports score feature are interesting but not useful to me. The unit has pretty base tone controls (bass and treble) on simple 7 stops setting (flat and +- 3 each way)

I have not tried out the recording function yet. I'm recording some now to try on the go tomorrow.

So far I'm really leaning toward taking it back due to high cost and all the other issues listed above but I am going to give it a little more time.

I'm hoping that a lot of this is due to my lack of experience with satellite radio and not fatal flaws in the unit. (like the first time all those years ago when I recorded my first cassette....bias, what's that? levels just turn them midway....)

Anyway I think that there is some interest in this unit from others in the forum and I'd be glad to answer them as best I can. And unfortunately right now I cant post any pics, I will try tommorow.

 

[blessingx]

Thanks much for the impressions. They're the first I've read.

Now I'm very curious about the MyFis quality versus larger units.

The MyFi comes with 128 MB of recordable space, right?

 

[sno1man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by blessingx Thanks much for the impressions. They're the first I've read. Now I'm very curious about the MyFis quality versus larger units. The MyFi comes with 128 MB of recordable space, right?

That's what I have read but the specs don't really list it that way, they talk in terms of hours recorded. By the way there is no setting that I can find that lets you adjust the compression versus recorded time either.

Quality wise so far another miss there. My dad is here who has been an XM user since day one and he says his units sound much better. Though there is variability in the channels with the jazz and classical sounding best and the pop sounding worst. I wonder if that's intentional

Last but not least, I tried to actually adjust the line output level. When I access that menu I get "feature not implemented"

 

[Tuberoller]

Thanks for the impressions. I was afraid that the MyFi was gonna be a let down. I trust you guys more than I do the folks over at XM Fan simply because they sell the stuff too.

 

[john_jcb]

I too worried about the reception while walking around. I have a home unit that works great, but I do have a South facing window where the antenna sits. I also use it in my truck. Great reception unless you are in downtown Chicago between the tall buildings. I think I will stick with my HD player for now.

 

[sno1man]

Well I finally gave up and took it back today after days of frustration. Even with the supplied home antenna I could only use it in one room.

As for portable/walking around; Just taking a 45 minute walk around the neighborhood it lost signal 11 times in most cases for at least 15 seconds or more.

That all being said after using it in the one room and in the middle of a park (two places it could get a signal) I decide that I am impressed with the programming and the sound quality while not stellar is better than regular broadcast FM.

So I am now considering one of the other units with a home kit (with an antenna that I can put outside). The two are the roady2 or the skyfi2. Does anyone have any opinions on these units?

Or should I go to Sirrius?

Thanks in advance

 

[blessingx]

Well look at the programming between the services and see which you prefer. If (or likely when) I jump it will be Sirius, but XM has a larger subscriber base.

Check out
It's On Sirius for listings there. I'm sure there's an XM equivalent.

For me I greatly prefer the talk/news (multiple PBS, Stern, etc.) on Sirius, but others likely feel differently.

 

[john_jcb]

As blessingx said it is not so much the hardware but program selection that is the biggest difference between the two services. I have XM but I imagine I would be happy with either.

 

[sno1man]

Thanks for the link. I am going to look again tonight at units.

I did like the programming on XM. One of the channels had a "Your Sunday Morning Hangover Cure" which was two hours of Cure and Cure covers that was pretty good.

Then again i do listen to a ton of PBS. Hmmmmm

Thanks again

 

[viator122]

Man, that's too bad. I was thinking about getting one of those once the price came down to a more reasonable level.

 

[uncle b]

I don't know, I'm sittin' here looking at a brand-new, Delphi MyFi, sealed, in-box, just waiting to be ripped open on Saturday as a gift from Santa.

I've never seen an item that has so many polarized opinions about it. LOVE/HATE.

I'm gonna try it, hopefully love it. I'm going in with an open mind, I've never tried XM or Sirius, and I've listened to NO broadcast radio, save for sports talk, in several years. Maybe I STILL won't like someone making my music choices for me, no matter how eclectic, or unheard.

I've heard a lot of great things, I've heard plenty of not-so-great things.

I did have a question: Is anyone here using a portable amp/will be using a portable amp when listening to the MyFi, and will it make a difference listening to the MyFi? I know for damn sure I won't be using the supplied buds when listening to it, so maybe the amp may help, too.

 

[uncle b]

I get the feeling that many of the head-fi'ers just are not that interested in the new Delphi MyFi. I finally opened mine and have been really enjoying it, though I'm still not sure how much I really enjoy having someone choose my music for me. That's really the reason I love my iRiver iHP-120 SO MUCH. Granted, this MyFi is a little tempermental, but I'm learning my way around it, and enjoying it. I'll post further impressions as I go...

 

[blessingx]

Definitely keep us informed.

HD players are nice, but they definitely suffer from a big limitation - our existing collections. Finding new stuff is so difficult on broadcast stations (even in some major cities like the one I live in), that satellite radio and CDs at a local library seem two of the few possibilities. Especially if you're kinda bored with most current music and searching through the past to find new stuff and fill old holes. If Sirius or XM come out with the right equipment, it could be great like in distant FM days. Listened to a three day trial on Sirius and there's some great stuff there including 'Sirius Disorder' which seems to be designed around breaking the genre playlist order (XM may have a similar station). Kinda all over the map, again like radio before Clear Channel and the other devils took over. Back in the days when there were more DJs and less programmers.

Okay, now let me gently step off my soap box.

 

[uncle b]

So far, what I've noticed is the sound quality through my car radio via cassette adaptor or FM modulator, is not real good, which is one of the things I think XM was really hypin' when they first entered the market. I've heard other people say the MyFi audio quality is not as good as other existing satellite receivers. The self-contained antenna has yet to pull in stations for me, though tonight I'm heading out for a chilly Michigan winter walk and I'm going to see what shakes out. I've mostly been listening to the MyFi from the home dock, through a Home Grown Audio Silver Braided Custom Cable with Switchcraft mini-to-mini connectors into a Tivoli Audio PAL radio, and that sounds pretty warm and enjoyable, it's just not being blasted or anything. I'm kind of a homebody, anyways. It's a pretty cool toy, and yes, I have been discovering/re-discovering music I didn't know about, but I've also been bludgeoned a few too many times by that new Ashlee Simpson tune...

 

[sno1man]

I did buy back in to satellite radio. After struggling with the MyFi and taking it back I ended up with a Skyfi2 unit with a home dock. I had to run the antenna out the window next to a fountain to get good reception.

The sound quality through headphones and my home system is noticeably better than the MyFi. It will do for now. I really wanted to like the Myfi, but for me it was too many gotchas and compromises for the price.

I am with Blessing X, I get bored and feel limited by my music collection and want to hear new things. For example I had heard of but never had heard Hoodoo Gurus until today when they were on "FRED". They are very good.

I grew up in southern Michigan and especially at night I could pick up stations in Detroit and Chicago. I remember vividly the night I heard Crossroads both by Eric Clapton and Robert Johnson. It was very cool and the DJ "just wanted to educate us".

Oh well, I have heard on one of the XM boards that Sony is coming out with a portable in the spring. Here's hoping