i.Sound Pink Audio Dock in Gift Box for iPod Shuffle 2G Model DGIPOD-671

At only $49.99 and $69.99 each, respectively, the i.Sound and i.Sound 4X are much less expensive than most portable speaker Docks marketed for the iPod. Moreover, their ultra-small size and compatibility with all standard audio devices, rather than just the iPod, make it easy to take them practically anywhere and use them with practically anything. That makes them a great accessory for portable video game systems, or for anyone who can't afford an iPod and would rather not pay for iPod-specific features that will be of no use to them. Since this would seem to skew the device's intended audience toward the youngest of consumers, I think durability is especially important, which is why the lack of speaker grilles seems like a particularly strange decision in this instance.
Similarly, these devices could be a good choice for people who use other audio devices but have no interest in buying an iPod, even for non-financial reasons—but unfortunately, the entire population of people who don't want an iPod was unavailable for comment in this review, because he was out to lunch.
Considering the small size of the devices, both the i.Sound and i.Sound 4X can achieve an impressively high volume level. The i.Sound's audio output quality is so "average" that it's hard to say much more about it than that. Pop music sounds, well, average, and so does virtually all other types of audio. Although there is no aspect of the audio they produce that is so spectacular that it really jumps out as being superior to the devices you've probably heard before, there is also no aspect of it that sounds unusually poor. The i.Sound 4X produces better bass results than the i.Sound does, but even the i.Sound's bass is still good enough to be usable, and even the 4X's bass is inferior to higher-end products like the Ignitek iCruiser 430 (which I reviewed previously).
The clarity of the audio output is good enough to discern all the aspects of a song or voice recording that you're probably used to hearing on other devices, but it doesn't approach the "high resolution" crispness that some audio devices provide—it might be best described as ... (scrambles through thesaurus looking for other words for "average.")