Tunebug Vibe brings big sound in small space

With the ever-growing popularity of audio devices like iPods and cell phones with built-in media players, many RVers are joining the ranks of those who download their favorite music and take it with them. Teenagers aren't the only ones seen with their ears stuffed with plastic bugs, engrossed in a world of sound.

But like most everything else that's really good, music is even better when shared. For RVers, sharing the music from your pocket device gets a bit dicier; space is often at a premium, and weight considerations also come into play. It's not always possible to port the iPod into a big sound system and crank the gain. Enter the Vibe from Tunebug.

The Vibe allows you to share audio from your portable devices, music-enhanced cell phones, laptop computers, MP3 players--anything that produces audio through the standard headset jack that's 3.5 mm. Link up your audio player to the Vibe with the included audio cable, and settle the device down on any handy flat surface, turning the surface into a flat projection speaker. What makes the Vibe an attractive bring-along for RVers is its small profile. Scaling in at less than six ounces, it certainly shouldn't tip you over your rig's Net Carrying Capacity. And the Vibe's--how do we describe it--curvaceous triangle profile that's only 2.3" wide by a slim 1" in height will slip in just about any stowage space available.

We wondered about how well Vibe projected sound, and Tunebug provided us an evaluation unit. While theoretically any available flat surface can (and does) provide sound, better quality shines when a hollow surface is used. For us, a "shelf" formed over the area where our rig's propane tanks live gave some of the best sound, easily rivaling our laptop computer speakers--much greater range of sound here. It'll play on a countertop, table, even a TV tray. Short on appropriate surfaces? The Vibe storage box (itself somewhat akin to a work of art) makes a good platform, but we found the sound from the box a little short on bass notes.

While the sound reproduction seemed pretty credible, music lovers may miss the stereophonic quality of multiple speakers. The Vibe does play both left and right music channels, but as a single transducer, it is strictly mono. The Vibe takes it's power on board and stores it in a non-replaceable Lithium Polymer battery that the company says should last for several years. When the battery gets low, the Vibe plugs into any USB port, or you could (as we do) plug it into a USB wall charger.

With a suggested retail of about $70, we also found that by shopping around, you could drop about $10 off the price by shopping on Amazon.

For more info, visit the Tunebug website.