Ansmann Soundbooster

Do you love your iPod but find that it can’t quite blast the tracks out loud enough? Do you have a docking system that’s just too tame to get a party rocking? Then you ought to have a look at a very compact and potentially eardrum-killing little device called Soundbooster. It’s made by German company Ansmann, who makes everything from batteries to baby monitors. It’s effectively a tiny amplifier powered by an AAA battery that sits in between your sound source (iPod) and your speakers or earphones. It’s slightly longer than an AAA battery and as wide as three sat side by side. It has two mini jack connectors, one to receive and one to send the sound. It then simply adds volume to your iPod. The results are pretty impressive, especially when connecting to smaller speakers – though you need to be careful you don’t blow them. For roughly £10 this little white box of noise could save you upgrading an ageing speaker system. For use on the go it’s pretty good too, but really ought to be fitted with a belt clip. It’s also not at all suitable for use with the iPhone as it just sends those annoying buzzes you get from speakers directly into your ears when the phone is detecting signal. Overall this is a cool addition to your digital set up if you feel the need for more volume. But we recommend that, when using headphones, you keep the volume within safe limits so as not to damage your eardrums, which could easily happen!

Price: €11.50