Hands-On Review--XtremeMac’s iPod shuffle Audio Kit

XtremeMac has a great audio kit for Apple's iPod shuffle, one that will allow use of an iPod shuffle in many new and different ways. One can connect an iPod shuffle to a car stereo, home stereo system, cassette deck, computer speakers and more.

The Audio Kit includes five items: a cassette adapter, a cable to connect to a home stereo, a cable to connect to computer speakers, an audio splitter that allows two sets of headphones to connect to one iPod shuffle at the same time and a car charger. It also includes a card that allows one to download three free audio programs from audible.com. No instructions came in our Audio Kit but, then again, none are really needed as all components are truly plug and play.

The cassette adapter allows one to listen to an iPod shuffle's audio output through a car stereo with a cassette player or any cassette deck for that matter. It features high-fidelity audio quality, according to XtremeMac, and its white design complements the iPod shuffle's white design. The home stereo and computer speaker cables are very thin and lightweight so they are as easy as possible to carry with an iPod shuffle. The XtremeMac The audio splitter is white to match the iPod shuffle and is very compact. The white car charger plugs into a cigar lighter or power port, has a red LED and has a USB port at the end of a thin cable. According to XtremeMac, the car charger has circuit protection that turns off when a fault or short is detected and a fuse.

Like with the AirPlay we reviewed last week, the white color of the pieces in our Audio Kit are slightly off from the white color of our iPod shuffle but it matches well enough--whites are very difficult to match. So how well does everything work?

First we plugged the cassette adapter's black (yes, not white) cord into our iPod shuffle's headphone jack and inserted the white cassette into the cassette player of our Jeep Grand Cherokee. Our iPod shuffle played nicely through the Jeep's Infinity Gold stereo system. Not much to add here, it just worked fine.

Next we plugged the white stereo cable into our iPod shuffle's headphone jack and the RCA plugs into our Sony home theater system and then our Bose Acoustic Wave stereo. We also used the white computer cable to connect to an old set of computer speakers. The sound from each was great.

Then we popped on the audio splitter. It also plugs into the headphone jack of the iPod shuffle and grips the top so it remains aligned. We simultaneously plugged in the iPod shuffle's standard Apple earbuds and our Bose QuietComfort 2 headphones. I am not sure that we would ever do this but with two headphones one can share the iPod shuffle with a friend. Both headphones worked fine with the splitter but we ran into a limitation. The Bose headphones required much greater volume from the iPod shuffle than the earbuds so adjusting the Bose correctly blasted one's eardrums with the earbuds and vice versa. We would strongly recommend the exact same headphones for this use or at least test them first to ensure they emit the same volume.

The car adapter worked fine to charge our iPod shuffle when it was plugged into the USB port and the adapter was plugged into our car's cigar lighter and power port.

Altogether, XtremeMac's Audio Kit is a very nice collection of useful adapters. They allow one to use an iPod shuffle in almost any conceivable situation. The sound through each is true and the kit's components are small, lightweight and, with the minor exception of the cassette adapter's black cord, they complement the iPod shuffle's design very well.

The XtremeMac iPod Audio Kit for the iPod shuffle is $49.95. They also have the kits for the iPod and iPod mini. [Bill Fox]