[dds14]

Hi,

I'm looking for quite a specific set of criteria to get a DAB and can't find anything which comes close.

Ideally I'd like in order of need:

Stereo (unless under £50 - though I mainly listen to Radio 5 there's no way I'm paying £50 to only get mono)

Ability to record onto SD card/rewind/stop live radio

Preferably under £100 (I like DAB over AM, but not that much!)

A remote control

Futureproof (so ability to get to DAB+ if/when needed)

Bedside radio style (like a clock/radio)

You would think this would be easy but nearly everything falls down on one of the first three options.

If anyone has anything which even comes close to these criteria and likes it, please let me know - would be much appreciated and would save me getting more annoyed every time I look..!

If there are any manufacturers reading and you'd like someone to trial your new model which covers all of the above...

[ProfessorYaffle]

I wouldn't get hung up on DAB+. By the time that is put in place (and traditional DAB is dropped), we'll be quite a few years down the line.

So look for something that suits your requirements now and enjoy it.

The only one (and I'm sure you've already eyed it longingly) that ticks all the other boxes, is the Pure Evoke-3. I've had mine for a year and it's proved invaluable and well worth the investment. Managed to get mine for £130 via a discount code at Dixons Online, so if you search long enough it won't set you back the RRP of £199.

The only thing to add is that they seem to be out of stock in a lot of stores - is this Pure preparing the gound for a DAB+ version I hear you ask? Only Pure know that.

[medicalgiant]

Originally Posted by dds14

Hi,

I'm looking for quite a specific set of criteria to get a DAB and can't find anything which comes close.

Ideally I'd like in order of need:

Stereo (unless under £50 - though I mainly listen to Radio 5 there's no way I'm paying £50 to only get mono)

Ability to record onto SD card/rewind/stop live radio

Preferably under £100 (I like DAB over AM, but not that much!)

A remote control

Futureproof (so ability to get to DAB+ if/when needed)

Bedside radio style (like a clock/radio)

You would think this would be easy but nearly everything falls down on one of the first three options.

If anyone has anything which even comes close to these criteria and likes it, please let me know - would be much appreciated and would save me getting more annoyed every time I look..!

If there are any manufacturers reading and you'd like someone to trial your new model which covers all of the above...

Yes, at last someone who thinks like I do. My requirements would be for the following:

Reasonably sized screen ie: one that doesn't require the eyes of a hawk to see it from across the other side of the room. One like the Avanti Flow ie: Yellow on Black would be ideal.

Chase recording (that's the one where it buffers what's playing so if a neighbour calls you can hit record and capture the whole recording),

EPG (electronic programme guide afterall, I'm not going to sit there waiting for a radio programme to start, when it can be programmed to damn well record itself! )

SDCard backup Recording,

DAB, FM & AM

Oh yes and the Holy Grail, at least it would seem so judging by the number of Radio's without one: a decently sized (as in NOT Credit Card sized) Remote Control.

Form factor: to use the Pure range as a guide, similar to the Avanti Flow or the Milano (on the German site) but with a larger screen!

Unfortunately, it never seems like anyone is going to bring out such a thing. I've virtually given up, I emailed Pure and asked them if there was any hope of a sdcard addon for the Avanti Flow, afterall they produced the add on for the ipod to sit in, I couldn't see why they couldn't produce something similar that had just a sdcard input that could capture the output from the radio. I even suggested that they might like to use the Ipod as a device to record too, so to save some of their Research and Development budget. All I got in reply was a 'we could do that, we have a lot of plans for the Avanti Flow range in the future, I'll add this to the list'.

I even posted here in a bid to get more people to post to Pure and request information on the idea: Recording Radio wish I could add more, like maybe some feedback or even a timeline, but I get the idea that either 'Pure' is a small company or they just can't be bothered to produce anything too quickly, or even update me, afterall I would be the one with the idea and the one in the market to buy one as soon as it was available, but alas no, nothing yet.

If you find such a thing in the near future, maybe you could update the thread with your findings?

I would have purchased the Evoke 3 afterall it's going more or less everything I could ask for, but the form factor. I've not got alot of space to stick things, and that which I do have hasn't got the space to have a radio that high placed in it. I was going to stick it next to the media centre, but lets face it it doesn't fit in between the average space between two shelves, which is a shame.

Good luck.

[dds14]

Originally Posted by ProfessorYaffle

I wouldn't get hung up on DAB+. By the time that is put in place (and traditional DAB is dropped), we'll be quite a few years down the line.

So look for something that suits your requirements now and enjoy it.

The only one (and I'm sure you've already eyed it longingly) that ticks all the other boxes, is the Pure Evoke-3. I've had mine for a year and it's proved invaluable and well worth the investment. Managed to get mine for £130 via a discount code at Dixons Online, so if you search long enough it won't set you back the RRP of £199.

The only thing to add is that they seem to be out of stock in a lot of stores - is this Pure preparing the gound for a DAB+ version I hear you ask? Only Pure know that.

Hi - that does seem to be the closest to what I'd like. I'm not a massive fan of the shape but other than that it ticks all the boxes.

As you say they're often out of stock (there's a few "b" grade ones on Play.com) - I'm keeping an eye out as if they do bring a new one out then that will probably lead to a price drop of this one.

I've also looked at the evoke 2 - it looks to have similar features without the remote, but loads of reviews have pointed to issues with the firmware - anyone know if this has been sorted?

[dds14]

Originally Posted by medicalgiant

Yes, at last someone who thinks like I do. My requirements would be for the following:

Reasonably sized screen ie: one that doesn't require the eyes of a hawk to see it from across the other side of the room. One like the Avanti Flow ie: Yellow on Black would be ideal.

Chase recording (that's the one where it buffers what's playing so if a neighbour calls you can hit record and capture the whole recording),

EPG (electronic programme guide afterall, I'm not going to sit there waiting for a radio programme to start, when it can be programmed to damn well record itself! )

SDCard backup Recording,

DAB, FM & AM

Oh yes and the Holy Grail, at least it would seem so judging by the number of Radio's without one: a decently sized (as in NOT Credit Card sized) Remote Control.

Form factor: to use the Pure range as a guide, similar to the Avanti Flow or the Milano (on the German site) but with a larger screen!

Unfortunately, it never seems like anyone is going to bring out such a thing. I've virtually given up, I emailed Pure and asked them if there was any hope of a sdcard addon for the Avanti Flow, afterall they produced the add on for the ipod to sit in, I couldn't see why they couldn't produce something similar that had just a sdcard input that could capture the output from the radio. I even suggested that they might like to use the Ipod as a device to record too, so to save some of their Research and Development budget. All I got in reply was a 'we could do that, we have a lot of plans for the Avanti Flow range in the future, I'll add this to the list'.

I even posted here in a bid to get more people to post to Pure and request information on the idea: Recording Radio wish I could add more, like maybe some feedback or even a timeline, but I get the idea that either 'Pure' is a small company or they just can't be bothered to produce anything too quickly, or even update me, afterall I would be the one with the idea and the one in the market to buy one as soon as it was available, but alas no, nothing yet.

If you find such a thing in the near future, maybe you could update the thread with your findings?

I would have purchased the Evoke 3 afterall it's going more or less everything I could ask for, but the form factor. I've not got alot of space to stick things, and that which I do have hasn't got the space to have a radio that high placed in it. I was going to stick it next to the media centre, but lets face it it doesn't fit in between the average space between two shelves, which is a shame.

Good luck.

I agree with what you're saying - it is annoying to find faults with virtually all DABs out at the moment.

How people will pay £50 for a bedside radio that only broadcasts in mono is beyond me.

I have a feeling that I will bite the bullet and get the Evoke 3 but at that price I'm really struggling to justify trading in my AM sound system for something which admittedly will sound better but when Radio 5 is on, will I care?

An interesting point about AM reception on DAB tuners - don't think I've ever seen one which will get all three bands (AM, FM, DAB) - I'm sure I once read somewhere that you can't get DAB and AM in the same radio for some technical reason but I'm not actually sure if it's true or not.

It would be a useful thing to have - I certainly live in a "borderline" area for DAB reception at the moment and would be very annoyed to finally but one and get worse reception in DAB than AM and have no option to switch back - but I suppose the reason is that you wouldn't want to go back to AM if you can get a DAB signal and you wouldn't keep the radio if you couldn't get DAB. Doesn't explain why they do offer an FM option though...

Will keep you informed if anything else does turn up but I'm also minded to just either splash out for the Pure Evoke 3 or go the other end and get a £30 mono Asda one - after all it will only be for my bedside and I could live without the flashy features...but probably not...

[johnjackthom]

Originally Posted by dds14

I agree with what you're saying - it is annoying to find faults with virtually all DABs out at the moment.

How people will pay £50 for a bedside radio that only broadcasts in mono is beyond me.

I have a feeling that I will bite the bullet and get the Evoke 3 but at that price I'm really struggling to justify trading in my AM sound system for something which admittedly will sound better but when Radio 5 is on, will I care?

An interesting point about AM reception on DAB tuners - don't think I've ever seen one which will get all three bands (AM, FM, DAB) - I'm sure I once read somewhere that you can't get DAB and AM in the same radio for some technical reason but I'm not actually sure if it's true or not.

It would be a useful thing to have - I certainly live in a "borderline" area for DAB reception at the moment and would be very annoyed to finally but one and get worse reception in DAB than AM and have no option to switch back - but I suppose the reason is that you wouldn't want to go back to AM if you can get a DAB signal and you wouldn't keep the radio if you couldn't get DAB. Doesn't explain why they do offer an FM option though...

Will keep you informed if anything else does turn up but I'm also minded to just either splash out for the Pure Evoke 3 or go the other end and get a £30 mono Asda one - after all it will only be for my bedside and I could live without the flashy features...but probably not...

I'd guess that computers and DAB radios are probably equally good (or is that bad ) at radiating lots of interference over the entire HF band. So any AM receiver nearby would only be able to pick out the strongest stations.

[Letsgetalane]

I bought the Phillips MCB204 microsystem for around £60. The sound quality for the radio is good, but the CD player is not much cop. It can read USB, so you might be able to use an adapter for the SD. It is cheap and you do get what you pay for.

I listen to football on digital BBC berskhire and it's fine for that. It also come s with a remote.

[madeline]

Pure AVANTI Flow - Good but Costly

iLuv iNT170

[mike7]

How people will pay £50 for a bedside radio that only broadcasts in mono is beyond me.

The sets don't 'broadcast' they only pick up transmitted signals!. You are unlikely to get much of a stereo effect from speakers that are only inches apart anyway. What is worth checking is the headphone socket. I have a mono bedside radio which is very adequate for the purpose. However, when I plug in headphones the signal is in stereo. If I chose to connect this to an amplifier I would have stereo. Take some earphones along to the dealer and check.

I agree that buying a DAB is frustrating. I feel that a lot of them are very overpriced and generally look awful. It would be nice if someone makes a decent job of a recording facility with a card that can be slotted into a MP3 player.