Grace Digital GDI-IRMSamp Microsystem Internet Radio Receiver and Amplifier (Black)

This is replacing a Squeezebox and Technics tabletop stereo. I was looking for something that played Pandora, could function as an alarm clock and that I could use the Technics' speakers with. This fits that bill pretty perfectly. I don't mind the monochrome display since I want minimal interaction with the radio. Problem is that no matter whether you interact via the radio, app or web-site you have to be willing to deal with a non-intuitive experience.Pros:- Sounds good.- Small- Can connect my own speakers.- Has alarm feature that can play different Presets - including Pandora stations. Not evident on Amazon info.Cons:- Power switch on front. Never want to completely power down but my wife used it to turn it off instead of the button on top. No alarms next morning...should be push button on back.- When On and you turn dial (thinking it is the volume) it asks "Turn On or Off". I didn't realize for a week that there were separate Volume buttons.- Settings are sprinkled about and unintuitively named.- Not always sure settings took - like Set Radio Location. When I select San Francisco it says "No Entries Found"- Doesn't remember brightness settings in different states - has to be set.- Can't control volume of alarm.- Information Architecture (Organization and Naming) of menus is confusing.- Painful to set the password to get onto wi-fi. Would like to pair to phone with Bluetooth and and finish setup with an easier to use environment.- Can't tell it when alarms should turn off (like Squeezebox)- Can't use phone/tablet to edit all settings (like Squeezebox could via web-site)- iPad app - graceMote - Information architecture is confusing and inefficient. - "Menu" is not a section. - Too many clicks to get to Pandora stations. Pandora link should go to a list of stations and Create should be a + button on the top right. Instead of "<Menu Menu " the Pandora link should end up at "<Pandora Stations +" where + creates a station. - Why is "Set Radio Location" in the middle of History, SiriusXM, MyLive365, etc. - "Alarm" should be Alarms and be part of managing the radio. - "Music Services" duplicates a lot of the content. "Menu" would be better off being named Services and push Settings to Manage. - Hundreds of stations and no search - just wanted to search for KQED, KFOG, etc. - Sign in shows buttons of remote but really can't control whole radio with it. - "Grace Remote app FAQs" in Radios list - why there? Made me not sure that "Grace Digital" was my radio since that isn't a radio. - Radios links don't let you Manage radios. Just lists info about them.- myradio.gracedigital.com site - Information architecture is confusing and inefficient...there is a theme here. - Confusing - Live265, Dar.FM at different level then Pandora, Rhapsody etc. - Why is information architecture of iOS app different than site .. or vice versa? - Pandora, Rhapsody, etc at top level when they just let you log in. Can't control from there - like Squeezebox. - Radios menu lists Reg/UnReg instead of radios. Reg/Unreg could be on Manage page since they are not used often and radios could be listed. - Cannot change settings of radios from web-site like Squeezebox.

This product appears to be well made but it does have some software-related annoyances which should be addressed by the manufacturer:1. My expectation for this kind of computerized product is that is should resume whatever it was doing if power is lost and is then restored. In particular, it should automatically reconnect to the internet station which was playing at the time of the power outage. It does not do this.2. The website is amateurish with basic HTML formatting issues (at least with Firefox). The station search function fails to find well known regional radio stations notwithstanding the fact the same stations can be found by the radio itself.3. The remote control capability via the website is virtually non-existent and not user friendly. For example, although you can create a list of stations for the radio at the website, you have to cycle power on the radio to transfer the list to it.4. The Android remote control app is laughably bad. Consider yourself lucky if it can even find your radio on the network! The manufacturer should either hire a competent engineer and make the app functional or just remove it from distribution. It's perhaps the worst piece of Android programming I've come across from what appears to be a major manufacturer. The Logitech Squeezebox was a good example of how to do an Android remote control app correctly.

It took about 45 minutes to set up. I haven't tried the Pandora feature yet, but within the hour I "tuned in" CBC1 in Montreal, Europe 1 in Paris, BBC London, KDFC, KFOG and KQED in San Francisco, Radio Prague, and Radio 1 in Prague and now have them in my pre-sets. The "button/dial" on top of the unit is not very ergonomic and just surfing for stations will be difficult. Also the on/off switch on the front of the unit is somewhat awkward, as if it were an afterthought of the design. The printing in the instruction manual is small, so go buy some reading glasses if your of a certain age, and on the back it says "Designed in San Diego, Manufactured in China". SO WHAT? I don't appreciate them trying to get forgiveness for not manufacturing in the USA. They are pandering. But thats on me, not them, because I'm very political in my beliefs and that does not affect the performance of this internet radio. The one thing that does affect the performance is the "RCA cable" is not really the full McGilla. On one end it is the red & white RCA connection, but the other end is just a single 3mm plug. The included cable was fine to plug into my Bose portable radio, but to plug into my Denon Stereo Receiver I had to borrow the RCA Cable (with red & white plugs at BOTH ends) from my CD player to make it work. So I have to buy another RCA cable. However, once plugged in to where I'm going to keep it most of the time, it works quite well and sounds great.***** UPDATE***** So, about a month after the 1 year warranty runs out, so does this......It powers up, but the display doesn't light up, and after a certain amount of time, pressing one of my pre-selected station buttons does nothing either, so its not just the display...NEW IN 2019**UPDATE TO MY UPDATE**...I was going to throw this in the garbage but before I did, I cracked open the case. You'll need a small Phillips Head to take off the back and a 3/32 Hex to take off the front, then the rest of the case just comes undone. with the front off, you can look under the card. When switching on a little green light should appear. If not, your'e getting no power. I was getting power but the display still was not lighting up. I removed the display from the front (small phillips head). and poked around. the display is held on by masking tape and looked a little loose, I pressed on it, and the display turned on....voila....I put back together, tightened it down (while you've got it cracked open you might as well replace the watch battery size C2505) and it is working again....but for how long? UPDATE FEB 13 2019, AFTER SCREWING WITH THE INSIDES EVERY FEW WEEKS IT IS NOW DEAD...AND I'M GETTING FLACK SO FAR FROM GRACE DIGITAL SUPPORT (DISCONTINUED, NO PARTS AVAILABLE, SORRY).

The Grace Digital internet receiver is a great addition to my home audio equipment. We do not get great over the air reception. I connected the Grace unit to my main receiver and now am listening to my favourite stations and discovering new favourites