mStation: Power Play in the Home Office

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By Jeff Zbar
www.chiefhomeofficer.com

About three years ago, my brother changed my life. For my birthday, he bought me a 20-gig iPod, and I immediately set out to load it with all my CDs and thousands of other tunes from my youth.

While the 1,500 (and growing) tunes were just as I’d remembered, something was always missing. My PC speakers just couldn’t deliver the bass response and the crisp highs. And ear buds weren’t designed to yield the rich, full sound that this audiophile was begging for in his home office.

Well, salvation arrived today in a big black box. It’s called the mStation 2.1 Stereo Tower iPod dock. From the same people who brought us the Orb iPod docking station, this is like no other iPod or MP3 “docking station” you’ve ever seen – or lifted – before. Weighing in at nearly 40 pounds of extruded aluminum, it took less than five minutes of set-up time to have this baby blasting out the decibels. It took me more time to choose and slip in the right dock cradle for my iPod (don’t have an iPod? A handy USB port and mini-stereo plug make it adaptable for any non-dockable MP3 player).

The free-standing, floor-standing design means the mStation doesn’t consume valuable desk or shelf space. But the 14-inch diameter base commands space of its own. With attachable speakers and a 5.25-inch subwoofer hidden in the cylindrical tower (which serves as a cannon for the subwoofer), it packs 100 watts of power that fill my 140-square-foot home office as if I’m sitting in a small theater. (Is that Government Mule playing Cortez the Killer live in my home office, or is it Memorex?)

It was just as crisp on Cheech & Chong’s Lowrider as it was on My Love’s Leavin’ by Steve Winwood. Beethoven and Blues Brothers alike took on a whole new sound. The Who’s Quadrophenia never sounded so good. The louder it went, the more the sound stayed true. No degradation here. My terrier – already a nervous wreck by virtue of genetics – was freaking out. His master was in a state of bliss. Sorry Riley. Bliss wins. So will any apartment or dorm dweller, though it lacks the power to fill a much larger room.

The handy, 10-key infrared remote is great. Turn the mStation on or up from 10 feet away in my home office (triple that in some other tests), and adjust bass and treble control. Syncs out of the box with my iPod (on, off, advance, repeat, navigate playlists, etc.). And when a client call comes in, I can pause or turn it down just as easily (so that’s why my phone has an indicator light for incoming calls…?).

It’s a good thing I work from home. It’s no accessory for the corporate office downtown (that’s the role of the Orb). And I imagine the mStation might get more play between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., than from 5 p.m. to 9 a.m. Then again, my music is living the high life again. Which leads to one question: Do they make the mStation in a design suitable for a Honda Odyssey? I may be living there if I have my way with this tower of power much longer… The mStation 2.1 Stereo Tower. ($299). Learn more at www.mStationAudio.com.

Jeff Zbar is – in no particular order – a newspaper columnist, a blogger and essayist on entrepreneurship and soloing, the author of four books (so far), a moderately engaging public speaker, the married father of three grade-schoolers, and a garage band drummer and singer. Since the early '90s, he has followed home officing and telework, and is the creator of Chief Home Officer.com, chronicling the trends, practices and products common to home and small business marketing, technology, telework and lifestyle. Want to learn more? Visit www.chiefhomeofficer.com.