HoMedics SoundSpa
From HoMedics
Homedics SS400B Natural Sounds Clock Radio with Alarm - Clear your mind and focus your thoughts with the SoundSpa all-in-one Clock Radio with built-in selection of natural sounds. It filters out background noise to help improve your concentration as you read, work or study. Or you can listen to the radio. Awaken in the morning with the radio or with a selected nature sound. Auto sleep timer Snooze button Volume control Headphone jack HoMedics, Inc., guarantees this product free from defects in material and workmanship for a period of two years from the date of purchase, except as noted below. This HoMedics product warranty does not cover damage caused by misuse or abuse; accident
Amazon Sales Rank: #118963 in Health and Beauty Brand: HoMedics Model: SS-400B Dimensions: 2.20 pounds
Fall gently asleep or awaken to one of six programmed sounds with this lightweight, compact AM/FM clock radio. The natural, soothing sound options are wind, ocean surf, waterfall, night sounds, brook, and steady rainfall. In addition to the natural sounds, you can wake up to a buzzer or the radio itself. Powered by three AAA batteries (included) or plugged into a wall socket with an AC adapter (also included), the radio provides powerful sound either lying flat or propped up on its removable stand. There's a big snooze button on the front, an LCD clock, and a headphone jack. The radio measures 6 by 7 inches and carries a two-year warranty against defects. --Fred Brack
For the price, a good unit I've had more than my share of these things over the last couple of years. Either they're badly designed (I had one that looked like a flying saucer. Another looked like something you'd use to slice vegetables.) or unreliable. (The vegetable slicer went haywire within six months.) This time around, assuming the worst, but still wanting the option of some nature sounds, I chose this unit for the price, and I'm frankly glad I did.It's far more compact than the flying saucer or the slicer, which is great when space is at a premium. There's a retractable antenna, so you don't have to fool around with those long wires that I find so annoying. The controls are very simple; you can be operating this unit right out of the box without a moment's hesitation. The sound quality is decent; it's not going to be great with any tabletop unit, but it's as good as most of the other, more expensive tabletops. If I have a quibble, it's that the display is hard to see in the dark. Not impossible, just a little small and dim.If you're looking for an inexpensive AM/FM clock radio with a handful of "natural sounds" you could do far worse. Believe me, I have done. Recommended. Could have been good I've had the Sound Spa for a couple weeks and there's good and bad to report. The good: The antenna allows it to pick up stations that my old clock radio could not get reliably. Also, the rotary dials used to select the station and volume are faster and more direct than other radios, where the station dial moves a little selector bar through a separate display window and the volume dial has no feedback mechanism to tell you how loud it is set. I also like that the clock uses batteries so that you don't have to reset it if the power goes out. (I live in California, after all.) The radio and nature sounds are what you would expect for $20 -- not great but sufficient to drown out the crazy guy next door who makes chicken sounds all day. The bad: First, I could not figure out how to turn the alarm off until I emailed Homedics. The little booklet doesn't tell you anything about it. If you do nothing, the alarm will go off at midnight! Homedics replied to my email and I now know that you push the AL Mode button until none of the options (Buzzer, Sound, or Radio) are displayed. But be careful...that's classified information that cannot get into the wrong hands (like customers). Second, the speaker points out THE BACK of the unit, so my neighbor has an easier time hearing All Things Considered than I do (well, when he isn't clucking and cooing ). Third, forget about checking the time in the dark unless you get up close and personal with it. The LCD display is too faint to be any good. Finally, it's cheaply made. The stand broke as I tried to attach it to the unit. Not bad for the price Like most sound machines, the sounds choices are limited and most have a very noticeable cycle. The brook sound actually had a click at the end! However, the ocean and white noise had a good cycle.Unfortunately, only after a year, it broke. Now, I'm looking for a better one with more sounds.
