A slightly imperfect mega music machine
It wasn’t long ago that we turned our critical eye on another recently released Grace Digital Internet radio, the diminutive Solo Wi-Fi Receiver. Although we liked it in a general sense, we found its connectivity somewhat limiting and its controls challenging. We also weren’t sure what it wanted to be: It looked like a bedside radio, but it but needed external amplification and speakers to produce sound.
This time ‘round, we look at the substantially more sophisticated, substantially more focused Grace Tuner Wireless Radio and Media Player (Grace’s model number GDI-IRDT200, which sells for $220). There’s no doubt where this low-slung beast wants to be: Sure, it can be paired with powered speakers and reside virtually anywhere, but it’s most at home in your entertainment center.
Just about the size of a modern Blu-ray player and looking all black and sleek, the Grace Tuner clearly has the visual cues of a classic component piece. A subtle component piece. You’ll find just four controls on its faceplate in addition to its power switch. There’s a “previous/play” button, a “mode” button, a “back” button, and a multi-function dial/button for station selection, volume control, and making menu selections. Grace augments these local controls with an infrared remote and the free Grace Digital iPhone App (alas, they show no love for Android).
A large, backlit digital display resides in the center of that faceplate. We like that we can actually read it when we sit off-center, we appreciate that it automatically dims when it isn’t in use, and we think the giant clock that zaps into view when the unit is powered down is pretty cool. Yet with just two active lines of slow-scrolling text and one line of icons at our disposal—versus the four lines Grace advertises—we craved more information more quickly.
We couldn’t possibly, however, hunger for more listening alternatives. The Grace Tuner not only offers tens of thousands of free Internet radio stations, sorted by genre and geographical location, it also delivers podcasts, on-demand radio, and free and paid subscription services from the likes of Pandora, Sirius, and Live365. If you’d prefer to listen to your own library, you can stream audio over your wired or wireless network (although the device exhibited poor wireless range). And unlike the competition offered by Sonos or most of Logitech’s Squeezebox line, you can also plug in an SD card (conveniently in front) or a USB memory device (inconveniently located on the backplane) or even tune to ye olde FM radio.
We did encounter a few odd glitches during our time with the Grace Tuner. At one point, for example, its FM radio section temporarily stopped producing sound. Later, we encountered an “internal error” message that spurred a reboot, and on at least one occasion the display incorrectly told us there was no Internet connection.
We have no complaints about the Grace Tuner’s onboard digital-to-analog converter (DAC), which delivered great sound both when we plugged a set of headphones into its 1/4-inch jack and when we connected its analog output to our Panasonic SA-HE100 A/V receiver. If you have a higher-end outboard DAC, the box is outfitted with coaxial and TOSLink digital outputs.
Grace Tuner Wireless Radio and Media Player
Limber
Plethora of connectivity options; very good onboard DAC.
Rigid
Minor glitches; slow two-line text display.
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