Digital Trends

mStation 2.1 Stereo Orb

October 3rd, 2007 | by Jason Tomczak

Setup and Use

Setting up the mStation Orb-U 2.1 is very easy, although it can take a few minutes. Upon opening the box, one sees 11 separate parts. It's not as complex as it sounds, though. Six of those parts are iPod dock adapters, so you could set five of them aside, keeping the one you'll need.

First, pull all parts out of the box, remove them from any plastic bags and line everything up on a desk or table. Next, pull the volley ball-sized Orb speaker out of the box, remove the plastic wrapping and set the Orb on the table. The flat bottom of the Orb makes it terribly obvious which way is up. Ideally, face the front of the Orb away from you so you have access to the ports on the back.

First, pull all parts out of the box, remove them from any plastic bags and line everything up on a desk or table. Next, pull the volley ball-sized Orb speaker out of the box, remove the plastic wrapping and set the Orb on the table. The flat bottom of the Orb makes it terribly obvious which way is up. Ideally, face the front of the Orb away from you so you have access to the ports on the back.

The back of the mStation Orb

To ensure your iPod syncs with iTunes while docked on the Orb, connect the Orb to your computer by using the USB cable (mini-USB goes into the Orb, regular USB goes into your computer). Dock your iPod on the Orb and so long as the Orb and iPod are turned on, the iPod will sync with iTunes. You should note that while your iPod is docked on the Orb and connected to your computer (syncing), you will not be able to play music from the iPod. You'll have to eject the iPod from iTunes to use the Orb.

When tilting the Orb back to plug in the power adapter, you'll undoubtedly notice the FireWire 400 plug. mStation is awesome - they added the FireWire port to help you sync your old FireWire-based iPods. How cool is that?!

When using your iPod on the Orb, the volume level should be selected on the Orb itself, not on the iPod screen. Clearly, when the Orb is on, your iPod will charge when properly docked.