Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I picked up the HMDX Jam and was excited it didn't cost $200. It's debatable if it is worth ~$40, you'll have to be the judge if the annoying issues with this product aren't a big deal. PROS: 1. Small 2. Fairly Loud 3. Sound is OK 4. Rechargeable battery 5. Only $40 vs. a Jambox cost of $200 or others at $100 CONS: 1. Bluetooth sometimes requires powering the Jam on/off a couple of times to connect to my phone. Slight annoyance, but hey it's only $40 2. Loud (i.e. max volume) "duh, duh, duh" EVERY time you power on the unit with Bluetooth connected. You can't disable or reduce the volume of this notification. Again an annoyance, you can muffle the speaker once you know the sound is coming. 3. There is a very noticeable "humming" sound from the unit when using Bluetooth connections. It is most noticeable during acoustic type music (vs. busy, pop type music). It is somewhat covered when playing at loud volumes for busy music, but once I heard it I could hear it in every song. This noise is not there when using the line in, so it is likely tied to the Bluetooth module in the Jam. I actually took mine apart and tried to shield/filter out the noise without success (shielding didn't help, new filtering at 1st stage amp, which isn't used for Line-In, didn't help). It seems to be inherent to the analog output of the OVC3860 Bluetooth module HMDX is using. Talked to HMDX tech support about this noise and they confirmed it on one of their test units. They're response was "that's how it sounds when on, you should probably take it back". At least they were honest about the Jam's limitations and realized once you hear the hum/buzz/hiss it will take an effort to ignore it. I think this issue will end up being a deal breaker for me and I'll keep my eyes open for a sale on the Logitech mini Boombox or the Jawbone Jambox. Hey, you get what you pay for....especially with straight from Ch!na items. Oh, and here's another reviewer that called out this same noise as "electronic fax machine-esq"..... [...]