Accessory Review:
C.Crane CC WiFi Internet Radio
by Jeffrey Reed, Editor, LondonOntarioGolf.com

Imagine having 11,000 radio stations at your fingertips – each broadcast as crystal clear as your own local AM or FM broadcasts. Thanks to WiFi radio – Internet-broadcast commercial radio transmissions – this is now a possibility.

Now, C.Crane, our favourite electronics supplier here at London Ontario Golf, offers its own CC WiFi Internet Radio, and it’s a gem. Even before you access radio broadcasts via your wireless network – or an Ethernet cable – you can’t help but admire this radio from C.Crane.

This jet black radio with red and silver controls weighs in at just 1 lb. 2.6 oz, and measures only 6.5 in wide x 3.9 in high x 3.9 in deep. It will most definitely compliment your professional work station or your home office – or any other setting, for that matter, thanks to its timeless yet contemporary design.

Now the important stuff. The C.Crane CC WiFi Internet Radio functions wonderfully and is controlled with ease, and its sound quality is outstanding. How else would you be able to listen to a radio broadcast in London, Ontario, Canada and with the turn of the dial a station in London, England – both boasting identical outstanding sound?

My work station doesn’t currently use a router, so I connected the CC WiFi radio to my Ethernet connection. Using the supplied power adaptor, I was listening to radio from around the globe in no time. Available file formats include RealAudio, Microsoft Windows Media TM Audio, MP3, AAC MPEG 4, AU, WAV and AIFF. The system output of 1.5 Watts RMS, using a 2.5 in. full-range dynamic speaker 8 ohms, 5 Watts was more than adequate. There’s a line out jack plus headphone jack, too.

After connecting to the Internet via Ethernet – or to your router when using the wireless route – a primary menu displays the four options of Stations, Configure, Media Player and Alarm Clock. Following the simple-to-follow instructions outlined in the product guide, locating stations is a breeze. The C.Crane web site provides a link to the www.reciva.com web site portal listing stations from around the globe. It lists 623 Canadian stations, and 6,323 U.S. stations alone. Amazing.

Connecting with the wireless route is a breeze, too. Just scan for and connect to a wireless network, using your password, and then follow the primary menu. Again, there are full directions in the C.Crane guide provided with the CC WiFi Internet Radio. C.Crane even provides a nifty little remote control with the radio. It’s a complete package, to say the least, thanks to an almost endless array of radio broadcasts available at your fingertips.

I appreciate the fact that you can choose an Internet-based radio station via genre. Whether it’s Classical, Jazz or Easy Listening music you’re after, you’ll be able to search for it thanks to the Reciva listings linked to the C.Crane web site.

As a communications hobbyist with a long-time love for tuning into commercial radio across Southwestern Ontario and the Northeast U.S., I really appreciate the addition of the CC WiFi Internet Radio to my hobby. It’s a solid, versatile and easy-to-use radio bringing the world into your home or office. The sound quality is outstanding, too, even with the built-in speaker – crystal clear.

I highly recommend the C.Crane CC WiFi Internet Radio. It’s reasonably priced at $214.95 – that’s a whole lot of radio for just a few hundred dollars. And the radio’s sound quality is equal to radios costing much more on today’s market.

For more information on this radio and the myriad of interesting offerings from C.Crane, visit www.ccrane.com.