{"id":20592,"date":"2016-08-14T08:44:31","date_gmt":"2016-08-14T12:44:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=20592"},"modified":"2016-08-14T08:46:27","modified_gmt":"2016-08-14T12:46:27","slug":"wi-fi-radio-primer-part-3-review-of-the-grace-digital-mondo-and-amazon-echo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/08\/wi-fi-radio-primer-part-3-review-of-the-grace-digital-mondo-and-amazon-echo\/","title":{"rendered":"Wi-Fi Radio Primer Part 3: Review of the Grace Digital Mondo and Amazon Echo"},"content":{"rendered":"

I originally wrote this three-part WiFi radio primer and review series\u00a0for the April<\/a>, May<\/a> and June<\/a> issues of\u00a0The Spectrum Monitor magazine<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0Each part of this series will be posted with the tag: WiFi Radio Primer<\/a>. You can read Part 1 by clicking here<\/a>\u00a0and Part 2 by clicking here<\/a>–I hope you enjoy Part 3 below:<\/em><\/p>\n

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\"WiFi-Radio-Lineup\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve finally arrived at the final part of our three-part primer on WiFi radios. <\/strong> By \u201cWiFi radios,\u201d of course, I mean Internet radio devices that have the sole purpose and dedicated function of streaming radio audio\u2013\u2013devices which have now won over this die-hard radio traditionalist, not to mention, his entire family.<\/p>\n

In Part 1<\/a> of our WiFi Radio Primer we discussed what makes WiFi radios \u201ctick\u201d\u2013\u2013their ability to find radio stations via radio station aggregators. We also discussed the comparative merits of the most dominant aggregators on the market, and took a look at one easy alternative to the WiFi radio, namely, streaming from your smartphone or tablet. <\/em><\/p>\n

In Part 2<\/a> we took a quick look at the WiFi radio market and the various manufacturers and models available that use proper aggregators with market longevity. We also reviewed the CC WiFi and Sangean WFR-28 WiFi Radios.<\/em><\/p>\n

In Part 3, our final part in this series, we\u2019ll investigate the Grace Digital Mondo and the Amazon Echo.<\/p>\n

The Grace Digital Mondo<\/h2>\n

\"Grace-Digital-Mondo-Front-Angle\"<\/a>When I mentioned to TSM<\/em> publisher Ken Rietz (KS4ZR) that I was in the process of reviewing several WiFi radios, he encouraged me to check out the Grace Digital Mondo<\/strong><\/a>, which is his personal favorite. Upon unboxing the radio, I could see why Ken likes the Mondo\u2013\u2013the unit is stylish, easy to carry, sturdy, and features a rather exceptional color display. It also offers more functions and buttons on the control panel than any other radio I tested (a very handy thing, indeed).<\/p>\n

\"Grace-Digital-Mondo-Front-Panel\"<\/a>

The tuning control knob cycles through selections on the display with ease; the buttons all have a tactile response and are backlit. The Mondo even includes thumbsup\/down buttons for music service like Pandora.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Mondo also ships with a small, full-functioning remote control, which fits easily in the hand and is more tactile than the CC WiFi\u2019s mini-remote control. Since I had already established a Reciva<\/a> aggregator account (for the CC Wifi<\/a>), getting the Mondo \u201con the air\u201d was quite simple: I simply registered it as a new device at the Reciva website<\/a>, restarted the radio, and all of my station memories, folders, and notes were instantly there. Indeed, even if I hadn\u2019t already established a Reciva account, I feel confident that the process of finding stations and organizing them with Reciva would have been easy.<\/p>\n

\"Grace-Digital-Mondo-Front\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Mondo has a built-in speaker that delivers beautiful, rich audio. It\u2019s certainly a notch above the CC Wifi and Sangean WFR-28<\/a>. The Mondo also has a built-in dual band equalizer with five preset modes, a nice touch. If I have a criticism of the Mondo\u2019s audio, it would be that it caps the volume a little too low. While the radio is loud enough for day-to-day listening, some may find that it can\u2019t reach the levels that may be desired if you want a bit more volume\u2013\u2013for example, music for a party. For me, this is not a deal breaker, as its loudest setting still fills the main living area of our home with sound. I imagine the radio designers capped the volume to maintain the excellent overall fidelity of the internal speaker.<\/p>\n

\"Grace-Digital-Mondo-Top2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I love the color display screen, but do wish that it was a touch screen. When using the front panel to navigate the radio, you must cycle through the option with the main tuning knob. It\u2019s fairly painless, to be honest, but I hope their next radio does employ a simple capacitive touch screen; at the $145 price level, I feel like this could be implemented.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The Mondo has a USB port, RCA composite line out, 1\/8″ stereo Aux In and a DC power connector on the back of the unit.<\/p><\/div>\n

I also love the fact that that the Grace Digital iOS<\/a>\/Android<\/a> app serves as a remote control (much like that of the Sangean WFR-28) that can be used anywhere within WiFi range. The app has a lot of user-friendly features and makes searching through stations quite easy. My only complaint about this app is that many of the listings are in a fairly small font, thus touching to select an individual station name or category can be challenging on a small smartphone screen. Changing orientation from vertical to horizontal does not, unfortunately, increase the font size. I hope that a future update will allow for larger print, as my larger fingers have a hard time selecting stations and folders accurately.<\/p>\n

Pros:<\/strong><\/p>\n