TTR1 Review (By IRBS)

Tom Taylor asked me to write a review of the TTR1. He generously gave me a discount on the unit and sent it to me around Xmas time. I had some vacation and had a busy January so here is my review although a tad late.

[What is the TTR1?]
The TTR1 is a single purpose clock radio with only the ability to play Sirius Premium Internet Radio or from an AUX input. It has all the features you would expect from a clock radio and a few extras.

[My old setup]
I had a Timex XM Clock Radio. I did not have the XM activated as I had a Tao and found its portability to be prefered. I listened and woke up to it over FM. I had my SL2 plugged into the AUX input of this unit. I used it as my listening source in the bedroom/computer room.

[My needs -- why I wanted a change]
My son has become an XM radio addict particularly to the Kids Channel. He has asked repeatedly for a radio in his bedroom. I really didn't want to get yet another subscription. Then Voila, I heard about the TTR1. I could use my internet subscription and free up the Tao for my son. I also was having issues juggling recordings, sleep timers and alarms between the SL2 and my Tao.

[My first impressions]
The unit is big. The pictures give the impression that it is a medium/smallish radio. It is not. It is large. Most of this is speakers. It also doesn't look as unattractive as it does in the pictures.

[What I like]
I found the setup and navigation to be intuitive. I only had to look in the manual when I was having some trouble hooking to my WiFi network (more on that later). The manual also seemed to be well laid out. I like the way the sleep timer works as well as the variable time snooze. It allows me to snooze for variable time increments instead of the N minutes decided by some programmer in China that most clock radios have. I like the display. It is crisp and easy to read. I like how the alarms are displayed when the power to the unit is off. I like the auto-dimming feature as well. I like the 2 alarms which can be configured to have different channels and volumes. But the biggest thing I like about the unit is the sound. I did not have to play with any settings. It sounds great with the default factory settings although you can adjust it for various things such as loudness, etc. I use it as a general purpose radio that fills my bedroom/computer room with sound. I also like the presets which allow a change in channel. Alarms are easy to set, enable and disable. Also, there is no internet timeout.

[What I don't like]
The remote control of the unit shares simular frequencies to the SL2 (which is plugged into the AUX here as well). This is most annoying. I therefore have moved my SL2 behind the TTR1 and do not use the TTR1 remote at all. I would have liked a longer sleep time option (max is 60 minutes).

[What I had problems with]
Hooking the TTR1 up to my home network was a challenge. My network was set up to with WPA security and the router filtered units based upon MAC addresses. I was unable to hook up the TTR1 with this configuration. The issue was the WPA. I looked at the router logs and it indicated it had sent a success back to the TTR1 yet the TTR1 looked like it did an immediate retry after that. It just flagged the generic "Error" box back which was described as having wrong passcode or settings. When I removed the security, the TTR1 hooked up just fine. Since the MAC filtering is still active and we are on the 8th floor of an aparment building, this isn't a showstopper for me.

[My conclusions]
The TTR1 is, for me, a radio that meets my needs. Like others above me in this thread, I am very happy with this radio. If you do not spend the $2.99/mo or do not subscribe to Sirius, obviously this radio is not for you. It does not work with XMRO only Sirius Premium Internet Radio. Fortunatly for me, I am a Sirius subscriber and an Sirius Premium Internet subscriber.

Thanx again Tom Taylor (TSS Radio) for making this happen. I don't know what they do to/for the shipping guys to make the deliveries so fast (and I really don't want to know ) but it took 3 business days to make it here and that included customs. That is unheard of in these parts. Three cheers!

 

Moved your post to the proper location to TSS reviews!

Good review! I am glad you addressed the looks because the pictures make this thing look really ugly to me. How about some pictures for this review. A good review always includes pictures of it in action.

I really have no use for this radio having an Ipod Touch and iPhone as there is really nothing it does that I can't do with those devices. Still I can see for some the value of it.

Again good job!

 

I do have some pictures which I will post later today (if I can figure out how to get them uploaded).

I agree it will not suit everyone's needs. Fortunatly it did suit mine.

And Thanx. Compliments from the master are always the best.

 

Ttr1

I like the radio and use it both at home and in my office. Buy.com has it prices at $114, so not too bad. The alarm is easy to use and you can use it to wake up to Sirius or to an alarm tone. Overall its a pretty good unit.

 

I find this radio to be very attractive as a bedside, night table unit. It is great as both an alarm clock and an Internet radio player.

Also, it keeps time from the Internet, so no worries about programming the time.

 

I forgot to mention that. No worries about setting the time even the first time.

 

Where are the pictures? A review is incomplete without pictures!!!

 

My SD card reader in my computer is flakey. So I have to wait for the wife to download the pics on her computer and then burn me a CD. She does not share your priority on the matter.

 

Hi,
Could you possibly tell me what the input voltage is marked on the rear of the unit?
This may seem like a silly question, but I wanted to check before buying it if I`d be able to use the unit when I`m in Europe, atm I use the ipod app, and because Sirius don`t use any geographical ip restrictions, I can listen when I`m in Europe, or anywhere else for vacation, or work.

I just wanted to know if the voltage is marked 110v or 110-240v, that way I know if I`d need to go the expense of a transformer to make it work when I`m away or just a cheap travel adapter to make the plug fit.
I did look at the manual online, but it doesn`t list the input voltage.
i appreciate any help.


Thanks

 

It took me a while to find it but it says 100V-240V.

I did not realize that electronics were designed to take dual voltages. Good to know.

 

Thanks for that. I appreciate you looking for me!

: )

 

Not trying to hijack this thread, but I thought I'd add some pics.

Here is the TTR1 on my nightstand. You can see the tv remote controls for perspective. The top portion of the unit is all speaker, and the sound is pretty good.



This one shows the unit from the side so you can get a perspective on the height and width.



Here is what you see after you turn the unit on. With a strong wifi signal, it only takes 10 seconds or so to get it up and running.



This is what it looks like once your channel is buffered and playing:



Here is the menu. You turn the wheels and then press them to make selections. Presets are made in the usual way--by holding down the button for a few seconds.

 

Sorry about the size of the pics. I took them with my iPhone camera.

Last pic is of the alarm set screen. You can have it use the last channel you listened to or set it to a specific one every time. You can set the volume level. There are 2 different alarm settings.



This has quickly become one of my favorite satellite radios that I have owned ever. It looks great on my night table and keeps time from the Net, so I never deal with the "blinking 12:00."

If you like satellite and need an alarm clock, it's a great choice.

 

Thanks Shab... I glad to FINALLY see some actual pictures of this thing! It does look a lot better than the pictures I've seen on retail web sites.

I appreciate you posting these!

 

Yeah, it comes off appearing drab, but it's much more attractive in reality.

FYI, clicking on the pics makes them bigger and easier to read the screens.

 

Just curious what happens if the internet stops working during the night? Does it have battery back up to save your alarm and time if the power goes off? Nice write up BTW IRBS.

 

It does not have a battery backup. It loses the time if you lose power but does not lose alarms or presets or even last channel listening. I am not sure if it will catch the time eventually (it does get the time when you turn it on).

Not sure about loss of internet.

 

I haven't dealt with a power outage yet, but our crappy wifi goes out all the time. I think it just cooks along with the time that it has until it gets a chance to check it on the next Internet connection.

 

Had a lengthy outage today (9.5 hours) and the TTR1 restarted. Showed 12:00 for about 30 seconds then set itself to the correct time without any intervention or being powered on. All alarms and presets appear saved.

 

Just want to add to this review. It appears with all the changes that the SXM internet stream is undergoing, the TTR1 is not adapting well. Everytime SXM adds or removes an internet channel, the presets get messed up and sometimes direct tuning fails and a factory reset is the only option. This really is unacceptable when buying a product. I don't even know if they are still selling them but given this new information, I would strongly recommend that one not buy this product.

It's unfortunate because it has been a workhorse and doing everything I had wanted it to do until recently.