Which DAB radio

pigsonthewing

Someone I now has asked for advice about buying a DAB radio for someone else. Something like the Evoke model (as opposed to a hi-fi component), but there are plenty of others to choose from, including some nice new Roberts models.

Any recommendations, things to avoid, or tips?

steady__eddie

I treated myself a few months back to a Bush as it looked pretty rugged & I use it at work where it can be a bit mucky & rugged. No probs. with reception or quality of sound but......the volume control is not a conventional knob but a "bar" which you have to press to increase & another bar to lower the volume. I think that the "bar" to lower the volume is wearing out as it seems to take ages before any appreciable change can be discerned. I'm gonna give it till after the festive period, & if there's no change it's going back under warranty.

paullj_2

Check out Sainsbury's. Currently selling one for £49.95 and it's a belter... Well worth the cash.

Zaphod_Beblebrocks

Have the Evoke which is superb,3 people I know who have seen and listened to mine have bought one, also have a Matsui digital radio adapter from currys £59 or £29 if bought with a stereo over £100, it is very small and will plug into anything with phono inputs, hi-fi radio cassette,surround system etc, the performance is amazing for such a small package, mine sits on top of the hifi and has given it a new lease of life, remote control as well.

KK

I was going to ask this same question. I have realised that of the 3 radios in our house, I only use one which I can only get Classic FM on clearly. I listen to the radio on the internet when I am ironing - love Woman's HOur listen again site! - and I really miss not listening to the radio anywhere other than the car. The other one is a portable radio cassette which has rubbish reception and the one with our stereo system (sep component) I can't work out how to use anyway. Hubby has made the stereo so complicated (now the height of a small tower block) with 2 amplifiers, and 7 speakers etc that I can only work out how to play CDs and even then my 4 year old complains about the music. Needless to say, she is getting a portable CD/radio/cassette player for Christmas for her room. I was very impressed with my friend's DAB that she got at the weekend, but don't think I need the record facility to any great extent. She got one with a card big enough to record lots of programmes. Hers can also apparently be plugged into the main stereo system. I would like one that is fairly small, can be used as a clock radio to wake us in the morning, and works on battery and mains, so I can carry it around. It doesn't need to have any great memory capacity for recording, but I guess it could be useful. I would also like to have it so that it can be plugged into our stereo in the sitting room, just to add that teetering last story to the block...

Any recommendations would be great.

Plumpud_3

Before you buy one, please make sure you can actually receive DAB.

Most of the town where I live can't receive DAB, due to the geography and transmitters (lack of). My Mum wanted to buy one for her Sister, but I checked her postcode and she can't receive it either.

My Daughter lives in the centre of a very large town - she has only been able to receive DAB within the last 6 months.

A lot of the large electrical stores are refusing to refund on the radios if you can't receive the signal, on the grounds that you are supposed to check before buying. Unfortunately, their sales staff are so keen for a sale, they don't tell you of this when you are buying.

Check your postcode here

http://www.ukdigitalradio.com/coverage/search/default.asp

wolvesinwales

I bought one of the Matsui adaptors and have found i can only find about six stations, there is a number on the box to text your postcode to check reception but it was not working when i was in the shop.
So... if anyone wants to buy an adaptor for £30 plus postage pm me. :-/

Party_Animal

Hi WIW, so this is where you hang out. No probs with my Goodman's DAB radio ( Amazon) but I do live at the top of a very big hill. Does that make any difference with DAB?

royt

had a grundig dab radio for over a year now great radio great price now dixons on line £49.99
cost me over £80
very pleased with it
royt

Kisk_2

I had a bush DAB radio to start with but reception was pretty poor so I returned that and went for the Intempo PG01 which picks up DAB and FM. The main reason for choosing this model was the option to unscrew the fixed aerial and plug it into a TV aerial socket. This works a treat so wherever I have aerial sockets in the house I get great DAB reception. Although this model works quite well with its fixed aerial.

The latest models are in John Lewis sale for £69 in various colours and with removable aerials.

Kisk

albalad

This is copy of the which guide , updated 15/12/04

BEST BUY GUIDE

The number of digital radios has grown hugely in the last couple of years. But Pure is leading the way, with three Best Buys.

The Pure Evoke-2 is the best-sounding digital radio around; it plays all types of music and speech well, with good bass and clarity. It can pick up FM signals as well as digital, and there are six station presets for each.

It’s also the only Best Buy that works with both batteries and mains – the rest are mains-only. Battery life is quite short (18 hours), but that’s fairly typical for digital radios, which tend to get through batteries five to ten times more quickly than analogue radios. It is a bit tricky to insert the batteries, though.
It’s widely stocked on the high street for £150.

The Intempo PG-01 has the next best sound quality, according to our expert panel. It picks up both FM and digital radio; the FM reception is particularly good, but there is a slight high-pitched whistle in the background during some FM broadcasts. It has four FM station presets and four digital presets.

There’s also an alarm clock function; and you can set it to turn off after a certain amount of time, so you can go to sleep listening to the radio.
The best high-street price is £90, at Argos and Miller Brothers.

The Pure Tempus-1 has more pre-sets for digital stations than the other Best Buys – you can program it to go straight to any one of ten stations. There’s no FM reception, but the popular national radio stations – such as Radios 1, 2, 3 and 4 – now broadcast in digital anyway.

Sound quality’s good, considering that there’s only one speaker. You can buy an extra matching speaker for £30 if you want stereo sound. It’s packed with features, too. For example, the alarm clock has two settings – useful if you and your partner get up at different times. Like the Intempo, it also has a ‘sleep’ setting.

It’s small and light and, like the other Pure Best Buys, looks handsome. One drawback, though, is that the sound can distort at louder volumes.
You can find it for £100 at Argos, Currys, Dixons or John Lewis.

The new Pure Evoke-1XT is based on the earlier Evoke-1 model, one of the first popular digital radios. There’s a new white-on-blue display, which is easier to read than the old black-on-green one, and Pure has added a clock and kitchen timer.

Sound quality’s good, though you can’t turn it up particularly loud and there’s only one speaker. As with the Tempus-1, you can solve this problem by buying an extra speaker for £30.
There’s a choice of maple or cherry finish, and it’s available for £90 at Argos, Comet or Dixons

SUMMARY OF MODELS TESTED

Model Price (£) Total score (%) Battery life (hours) Digital presets Ease of use
Acoustic Solutions Portal 2 48 54 33 6
Bush TR2003DAB 70 48 21 10
Goodmans GSR80DAB 60 51 52 10
Intempo PG-01 90 66 mains only 4
Panasonic RF-D1 90 49 32 10
Pure Evoke-2 150 69 18 6
Pure Evoke-1XT 90 58 mains only 6
Pure Tempus-1 100 61 mains only 10
Roberts Gemini RD-1 200 53 59 6
Roberts Gemini RD-10 149 55 78 No presets
Roberts Gemini RD-3 115 53 19 10
Sharp FV-DBIE(S) 80 50 26 total of 20 FM or DAB

Price This is a guide price of what you can expect to pay on the high street or online.

Total score Based on expert listening tests (35 per cent), ease of use (25 per cent), reception tests (20 per cent) and features (20 per cent).

Battery life Approximate running time in DAB mode.

Correct at 15 December 2004