Reasons to get DAB and which reciever to get

[Ikki]

The reasons in favour of DAB are:

clear, reasonable sound quality, free of interference.
Many more stations than FM including local stations.
no knob twiddling to find precise frequencies.
Station information.
No need to find space for a TV + Freeview/SKY box in the kitchen, bedroom etc.
The decent sets have very good reception.
Some have inbuilt recording and live pause functions.
There are now clock radios with DAB receivers built in.

What DAB is not is a 'HiFi' source, get your vinyl or cd out for that, besides who needs to listen to gardners question time' in superperfect 'HiFi' sound. So don't be put off by all the comments about poor sound quality, it's great for most things that you would use a radio for.

Like any other electronics based medium, some of the DAB receivers are great, others are rubbish. Don't be put off when it is quite obviously a lousy DAB set that has negatively clouded a users opinion of DAB.

As a service to prospective purchasers, it would be great if users could write mini reviews of their receivers below. Please don't clog the thread up with 'Don't get DAB because the sound quality is poor' type posts.

n.b. I don't have anything to do with the DAB industry.

[Ikki]

This receiver looks good and is well made, the ideal kitchen radio.

The reception is very strong and resolves all the available stations in my area with ease on the telescopic aerial. The telescopic aerial can easily be replaced with an external aerial via an F type connector.

Sound quality is good, there is plenty of volume available with no noticeable distortion at normal listening volumes. There are no tone controls, but the need for them hasen't arisen yet. A second speaker can be fitted for stereo sound. The receiver has a line out connection as well. A USB port is fitted for the potential of upgrading the firmware.

Stations can be accessed either by turning a rotary knob or through six presets. The display is a clear blue colour and can show radio info or signal strength. The set is powered from a mains adaptor and is therefore not portable. It also has a built in timer for use while cooking.

Thoroughly recommended.

[Ikki]

A big disappointment. The looks are in the eye of the beholder, but build quality didn't impress.

The reception was so poor that an active external aerial had to be fitted. This is possible via an F type connector after removing the telescopic aerial and a plate.

Sound quality was muddy at best, the tone controls couldn't sufficiently improve it. Maximum volume is low, especially on R4 and the whole case resonates at certain audio frequencies causing the case to vibrate and buzz when in contact with the work surface. A line out is fitted and I only improved the sound quality by fitting active speakers.

Station access is by rotary knob (which rubbed on the case during part of it's rotation) or via up to ten presets. The radio also has an FM tuner built in.

Power is by mains or battery, so the radio can be used as a portable.

It died after a year and a half.

I cannot recommend this radio.

[ad47uk]

IKKI, the problem is with the system, you can have the best made DAB radio, which could produce the greatest sound, but it will never do so, well not in this country anyway. The other problem is price, £30 for a clock radio, just to listen to a radio staition in bed is a lot of money. I can pick up a AM/FM clock radio for £7, which will do the job. for a bit better quality, I could get a FM/AM one for just over a tenner.

As for local stations, we can not get out local stations on DAB here.
FM is beter, the only advantage of DAB is if you want to listen to a station that is not on FM. But then I would prefer to use the FReeview box or the Sky box.

[Jules]

I've got a quality Sony 777ES DAB/FM tuner (£600).
However, I think I've listened to DAB no more than half a dozen times as FM's soudn quality is miles better.

Like others have said, its only really of use to get stations that aren't on FM, and even then you're better off with freeview/sky.

I'm afraid DAB really is big saggy pants IMO.

[Scunnyjack]

Have a Woodstock53 in the car, very rarely use the cd/mp3 player,do use the SD card record facility to record programmes for listening to later in the week.Usually listen to the ARROW classic rock,59 min's music, 1minute chat per hour-great!
Just bought a new Roberts Gemini 1 off Ebay for £90,good sound but eats D cell batterries(less than 24hrs).The SD card recorder is ok but the record timer is very fiddley,often hasn't recorded what I wanted.It records as a ramfile that will play on the Woodstock in the car.The SD card playback in the Gemini leaves a lot to be desired, you can't fast forward or back and if you press stop it goes back to the start again.Also it will only allow one recording per card regardless of card size,theWoodstock allows up to 99 or until the card is full, 7-8hours on a 512mb.How Dixons etc sell the Gemini 1 for almost £200 I don't know.
Also have a Grundig Opus that I use at work on shifts.Stations such as Virgin,Magic & Classic Gold that only transmit on AM radio are pretty good on DAB.If you want The Arrow or Planet Rock away from home it has to be DAB,loads more stations, good clean reception!.

[Ikki]

Jules and ad47uk, you obviously didn't read the start of the thread. It was a depressing inevitability that DAB naysayers would post here. This isn't a thread to moan about DAB, if you want to do that there are other threads. The Freeview/SKY argument is totally fallacious in this context and I'll say it again,

it's not about 'HiFi' sound quality,

just normal listenable sound quality and other plus points.

Please, if you want to moan, do it elsewhere. If you have a receiver review please post.

[Jules]

ok, sorry! I admit to getting a bit carried away.
Happens to us all at some point.

[Ikki]

That's ok

[LFC_SL]

The only DAB-only stations I'm interested in is 1xtra and that 5 live sport thing

Until the digital switch over, FM more than caters for my needs. I'm not spending £50-£100 just for a handful of channels.

And I think I speak for a lot of people

[ad47uk]

Originally Posted by LFC_SL

The only DAB-only stations I'm interested in is 1xtra and that 5 live sport thing

Until the digital switch over, FM more than caters for my needs. I'm not spending £50-£100 just for a handful of channels.

And I think I speak for a lot of people

The only digital station I do listen to is BBC7, I use the Freeview or Sky box for that. Normally the Freeview box, as I can record the programme onto the hard drive. then I stick it onto DVD and rip the sound track off. It is the only way I can think of doing it.

As for FM, I don't think there is any talk of it being switched off and if there is, it wll be many years before it happens. I don't think it will be in my lifetime.

[AMc]

I do that with a Psion DAB Wavefinder - its a USB accessory which I bought for £25 off the net. It does scheduled recordings directly to MP3 (doesn't work with the latest version of XP).
I believe the Pure Bug also does timed recordings direct to MP3 on a memory card.

[Dr Diversity]

Originally Posted by Ikki

it's not about 'HiFi' sound quality,

I thought it was about sound quality when compared to medium wave, otherwise whatis the point?

[Big Adam]

Originally bought a 1XT for my Dad for his birthday after auditioning a few sets in John Lewis.

Have to say that after an hour's playing around, the Pure range was the only one I would consider spending my money on as almost all the others sounded very hollow or tinny. I found the Pure radios to be much more warm and rich in their presentation.

Anyway, bought the 1XT but quickly took it back after realising that this 'portable' radio wouldn't run off batteries!

Was going to pick up the Evoke 2 but read some horror stories r.e. battery life so held out for it's successor, the Evoke 2XT.

It arrived today (£136inc from Go-Electrical) and all I can say is "Wow". Not only does it look special but the sound is much improved, even above the 1XT. Battery life has yet to be tested but I'll leave that up to my pop. Blurb says 25hours from 6x C cells which isn't bad. I guess it'll be around 15 hours using rechargeables. Don't think I'll be shelling out the £30 for Pure's "Charge-pak".

Hopefully Dad'll be a happy bunny doing the gardening with Capital and Classic Gold in the background.

[JOHNSTEPHEN]

Hi
I recently bought the above Sony and i have to say that it is a fantastic tuner.

The FM reception is crystal clear and sounds very warm.I mostly listen to classic fm and it is a joy.

As far as the DAB goes that is fine.Much better than AM but obviously not as good as FM.

I use DAB to listen to BBC Radio 6.
As far as i am concerned it was worth the purchase just to be able to listen to some great music played by DJ's who are informed,unlike the muppets that are employed by radio 1 and the majority of local commercial stations !

John