MSI Mega Stick 1 - The Mini Wonder

The Interface (continued)

Switching to FM mode is as simple as holding down the function button briefly. There are 10 available slots for preset stations, and pressing the menu button forward/backwards allows for 0.1MHz increment increases/decreases in frequency. The problem we have is that tuning stations becomes really tedious because the rate of increase is slow and even after releasing the button for tuning, the Mega Station continues to increase/decrease the frequency. This leaves us to resort to toggling the switch briefly to get that exact frequency down.

One of the most interesting features of the Mega Stick 1 is the ability to record FM. It does so in the same way it does voice recordings. The only difference is that FM recordings use the “F” suffix for naming, while voice recordings use “V” instead. Because the audio decoder only supports the MP3 and WMA formats, the unit is unable to playback recordings.

Within the internal settings, the user is able to specify the recording quality for voice and FM. Though, there are several settings (8,000Hz, 11,025Hz, 16,000Hz, 22,050Hz, 32,000Hz, 44,100Hz, and 48,000Hz), the quality between the high and low setting is noticeable depending on the quality of the audio source. The FM tuner source seems to be of a higher quality than the microphone implemented, which is why we heard little difference in different quality voice recordings as opposed to FM recordings.

Powering off the unit is done the same method as powering on. The only difference is that the play/pause button needs to be held down for a few seconds to confirm power off. This prevents unintentional powering off and the need for a separate power on/off button.