Review: Griffin radioSHARK
This product is described as a “TiVo for Radio.” It consists of a striking shark-fin-shaped USB device and software. When I first heard of the radioSHARK, over a year ago, it was just what I was looking for. I placed an order on the Griffin Web site and was told that the product would be shipped within the following month.
Apparently, the development of the product took a little longer than anticipated and I didn’t receive mine until a whole year later. I plugged the “fin” into my Indigo iMac G3 (running Jaguar) and installed the software. It was fun to play with but I had trouble with the scheduled recording function and setting the target directory preference. Just recently, however, I upgraded my iMac to Panther and ran the Check for Update… option within the software. Now, everything works swimmingly. I’m not sure which update made the difference but I highly recommend you run the updater as soon as you install the software.
The software has many features including AM/FM listening, station seeking, instant recording, scheduled recording, audio equalizer, time shifting and multiple preset options. The system records radio broadcasts as audio files in either the AIFF (uncompressed) or AAC formats. The interface is as easy to use as a car radio and can even sport custom colors. Recording in the AIFF file format uses about 10MB per minute and the ACC option provide you with several quality/compression options. Now I can zone out to my favorite space music program and capture a recording of it for later.