radioSHARK

Sadly, the software appears to have stopped working in El Capitan. I've found one workaround, which is to use an older version of Audio Hijack Pro, which does work with both the radioShark and El Capitan. I do worry about the future though. I love this thing, and it will be a major bummer if there ceases to be any software that works with it.

Ten years on, this hardware and software are still working. Using Yosemite, so I can't speak to El Capitan, but it's a way to listen to (and record) radio without streaming it through your Internet connection. Of course, it might be hard to find the hardware these days, but it's nice that the software still works. Reception is decent (I have a black one with included external antenna) but would probably be better with a better antenna. Software is dated, but still works, which is nice for a discontinued product.

The Griffin Technology radioShark with software version 2.0.2 has worked well for me with all OS X versions from OS X Tiger (10.4.11) up to and including OS X Yosemite (10.10.1) currently. I either use it alone or with Audio Hijack Pro.

Well, it seems to finally be broken in Yosemite. I guess it's too much to hope that Griffin will update the software after all these years. Looks like the last update was in 2007. Shucks though, cause It was a really great little desktop usb radio, while it lasted.

For my uses the Griffin radioSHARK has performed very well. It hasn't failed to wake my computer up and start recording programs. I have just set it up to start recording more shows with a somewhat complex schedule, so lets see how that goes. I'm also VERY impressed with the size of the resulting recorded files. Understand that I've only recorded AM shows in non-stereo and at a rather conservative setting (I believe 96kbs), but a 4 hour show is under 150 MB! And the sound is nice and clear. As far as reception... I've seen around that this has been an issue at least where this first generation (white), radioSHARK is concerned. When I first plugged in the shark I had nothing but static and was a little disappointed. I thought that the radioSHARK was its own antenna. I took advice that I had seen on a couple places and instead of buying a costly antenna I plugged in a cheap set of earbuds I had lying in a drawer. I don't know much about antennas so I'm not sure if the tiny magnets improved the reception but it was incredible! I must have quadrupled the stations that I was pulling in and they were strong and clear, both AM and FM. I would say try that first before spending money on an antenna. All-in-all very pleased. p.s. Got mine on amazon for less that $20 delivered!

Average rating 3.5, based on category scores. Overall a nice product, but I cannot quite give it a 4. because the FM reception is not as good as I would have expected...it is an antenna after all. Mac functionality is fine or better. Windows version needs a bit of work. New price deal got me to buy.

I also own one of theese's Sharkies and have experienced the same problem's that have been brought up on this tread, i.e. useless Ouicktime movie file, not recording a schedule program ect. A couple of things I found to work quite well are: (1) I keep two user's account's on my computer and when I'm not going to be around for a recording I log myself on first, then useing fast switcher I log on to the other user account, this seem's to work quite well. (2) I know this won't be a popular choice but also I set the hard drive to never sleep. I also found that you need to keep checking your schedule recourding's especially around the end of a month. Good Luck!

This product gets too much flack and bad press. There is nothing wrong with the Hardware; the initial (1.x) versions of the software were poor, but Griffin has stepped up to the plate with the 2.x betas (which are completly rewritten). Scheduling is 100x better, much less buggy... Only things that are lacking are: - Auto station preset - RDS decoding

actually, I have found the radio shark to work quite well, reception is good, easy to use

I've been trying to figure out just what to do with this expensive piece of plastic and its utterly useless software that is constantly in beta. I was thinking about letting my kid use it a shark fin in our pool. I hesitate to purchase any further Griffin products as they may look good and sound great on paper, but the reality falls short of end user expectations. Griffin needs to drop their radioSHARK and admit failure while giving us poor fools who bought the bloody thing some sort of discount on another Griffin products. Oh...wait a minute, why would I want another Griffin headache?

Hi - for those users frustrated with the radioSHARK's shortcomings, try this - hook up a cheap Walkman with a DC adapter to your audio input using a regular mini-jack...then use Amadeus's built-in timer feature, and you're set. I use this setup to record the Stern show, and it works great everytime. never a problem.

Bummer about RadioShark's mediocre reception; I live in an outlying area, where reception isn't THAT great to begin with, and in a basement to boot. I haven't given up on the fin though (yet). I bought an arial from RadioShack, along with all the proper gear for grounding and shielding, etc., and mounted it on my roof. Even without a signal amplifier, my new FM feed is remarkable; I pick up many stations that I didn't think that I EVER would. Despite this success, only my stereo receiver seems to register the signal, not the RadioShark. After giving up on the headphone/aux. out jack on the base of the fin (I tried soldering my lead to the ground vs. the left/right channels of a 1/8" audio plug, as Griffin tech support suggested), I pried open the top of my RadioShark fin, and straightened out its internal FM antenna so that it sticks straight out the top (even this minor alteration seemed to improve the fin's reception markedly). Then I hooked a 75 to 300 ohm transformer to my coaxial arial antenna feed, and ran the lead wire to the tip of my RadioShark's exposed antenna. Although the signal DOES improve, slightly, station reception, across the band, isn't nearly as good as from my Harmon/Kardon AVR 100 stereo receiver. Shouldn't a clear FM signal, with the proper 300 ohm impedance, improve the RadioShark's reception as well as it improves my receiver's reception?

I've been using the RadioSHARK for about 3 months on my G4 tower (10.3.8) and have had good days and bad. The original software was lacking in some basic features (ex: when to repeat recordings) but it was stable and would record whenever it was told to. By software version 1.0.5 there are most of the features one could want but the recording reliability has gone to hell. I'm regularly being left with .mov files that I can't do anything with and it's random (apparently) which recording will be lost. Oh, and the change to daylight savings time: Someone seemed to think that programming the time shift into the software was a good idea. It was not. The program read my computer's time (automatically corrected) and then added its own 1-hour shift! Result = 5 hours of recording dropped to 3 and I had to go and change my schedule back to what it was. I don't appreciate software modifying my information unless I specifically ask it to do so. *sigh* It is not a bad product so long as you want to do simple things. Poor reception inside of an office building is something I've seen (heard) from many radio devices, not just this one so I don't feel right blaming that on Griffin. If you want reliable scheduled recordings, though, I would think carefully before choosing this particular product. Their software can only improve, really. And why is the font in the scheduler so very small? The original encodings for AAC files were iPod Shuffle incompatible (don't know about the others). I've been using iTunes to make AAC files from the raw AIFFs and have had no trouble... when the files actually record ;)

I've had huge problems getting this thing to actual record a useable file. It apparently saves 5 files as it records, then combines them into the final AAC file. Unfortunately, mine usually leaves the 5 files (3 .mov files and 2 .m4a files) unfinished and uncombined, but NONE of these files can be played by anything -- they all return errors. The problem is intermittent so I can't figure out what is wrong. Of course, the Apple Store refuses to take it back and Griffin ignores my emails so I'm just junking it and sending a complaint to the Better Business Bureau. Of course, this is just one of several issues with this device. The software is crude and limited, the manual nearly useless ("troubleshooting" amounts to little more than the equivalent of "did you turn it on?") and there is no supplemental troubleshooting material on the Griffin website. The tuner sensitivity is poor -- I get better reception from a crappy boombox and a $5 flashlight/radio! In fact, I often get crosstalk from other stations. Frankly, this thing stinks. I consider myself burned and probably won't ever buy Griffin products again.

I too love my radioshark. I record 3 shows every day, 3 hours every day, without fail. I only wish we could select lower aac settins. I record am shows (jim Rome, Michael Save, local am show) and don't need even 64kbps. Overall great program with a few quirks. nees more presets in teh EQ, needs to continue to improve on AM radio reception. But, I'm very happy so far.

No problems with mine - vwell worth the wait.

Hint: Do Not Buy the radioSHARK if you have a G5 So I was really looking forward to using my radioSHARK in conjunction with iMac G5 20", but it is not to be. And this is too bad because if it had worked reliably, it would have been a pretty good product. I bought my radioSHARK after a year's wait. I develop embedded devices for a living, so I must admit I was thinking about developing my own. Actually, I'm still thinking about developing a competing product as I think there's a large market of Mac users that would like to have a product like the radioSHARK that works reliably. So when I bought my radioSHARK, I joyfully brought it home. I had heard that it had reception problems, but I held my breath after plugging it in and yes! I had pretty good reception. But after installing the software and setting up a recording schedule, I was very disappointed to discover the "skipping" problem. Instead of recording morning edition, I got a recording of a half second loop of... well... I don't know what it was recording. But the effect is that it sounds like Philip Glass caught in a tight loop. After weeks of discussing the problem with Griffin support, I was able to convince them that I had a problem. Their final resolution for the problem was... don't ever let your screen go blank. Well... that's great guys. I have a G5 iMac with a built-in 20" screen that's 4 feet from my bed. So if I want to be able to use the thing to record programs over-night, I have to keep the screen on while my wife and I sleep. No thank you. I would like a refund. Sadly the Apple Store couldn't care less that the thing didn't work, telling me I had to talk to Griffin. Griffin told me I had to speak to the Apple Store. So... this is the last product I buy from Griffin OR the Apple Store. Micro Center has at least as good a selection of Mac equipment, and if I want attitude from salespeople, I'll go to Neiman Marcus, thank you very much. Long story short... I'm doing a credit reversal through my credit card company and filling out a complaint with the better business bureau.

It works... but the recordings it dumps in iTunes have lots of hiss that is not there when listening off-air. (Wire tap recordings don't have the hiss but are not as convenient for recording at pre-set times). Has anyone solved that problem?

This thing has not worked correctly for me from day one -- after, no joke, more than a year waiting for it. First constant hiccups and now it doesn't work at all on my iMac G4. I generally think highly of Griffin, but they've really dropped the ball on this one.

I love it. Big fan of being able to record radio ala Tivo and Replay.