I spend more time listening to radio than MP3s or TV broadcasts. Whilst that is probably different to most people, radio does have a lot to offer in terms of new music, amusement, news and many other things!
Some years ago, in about 2003, DAB was slowly becoming more interesting to retailers, and it was then that I brought my first DAB radio.
My reasons for doing so was my accomodation in Colchester was really quite bad for picking up FM signals, and for my tastes there was not a whole lot to offer on FM anyway. In an area where signal was not that great for radio and TV, going for DAB was a bit of a risk, but apparently there was coverage.
I decided to take the DAB risk as the previous year was spent listening to Virgin Radio on AM - which is not exactly hi-fidelity and can vary in signal greatly and be subject to all sorts of noises!
I continued listening to Virgin radio (now to be called Absolute Radio) for the beginning of my DAB days, and still do from time to time - mostly the spin off 'Virgin Extreme' station though. The re-branding will apparently focus less on the mainstream music industry though, so I'll have to return a few times!
The radio I brought was the Pure Evoke 1, not long after it was making 5 star reviews in quite a few magazines, praising it for its sound quality and simplicity.
As a starting point, it was great - and it delivered high quality sound which was better than I'd expected from a small speaker in a small unit, even at the price in those days! My Evoke 1 still works today, but now lives in my mothers kitchen.
DAB delivered, and I had much more choice of radio at better quality than before.
I spent most of the first year flicking between Virgin Radio and The Storm - which now no longer exists after being replaced with nationwide XFM
XFM used to be a London only station, which I often listened to when I was back at home from University during the holidays
Despite the loss of The Storm though (which was only ever music jukebox anyway), there is now even more choice, with several spin offs of Virgin Radio and lots of choice for those into other types of music.
The BBC also offers a lot of choice on DAB too, with 6 Music being my favourite ever radio station so far and for sure my most listened too.
The BBCs stations are actually very impressive, and well produced. They also don't suffer the 6-8 commercial adverts every 15 minutes too, although they lack the big competitions!
Even so, just like a TV, you can flick between different stations when a particular show doesn't suit you - and it's much simpler than twiddling through MHz until you get what you want... some of the latest models even have EPGs (electronic programme guides).
So that was a bit about my DAB radio listening history... here's some information about my radios.
I now own three DAB radios, and have owned 4 in total, details of all are below, most recent first.
Whilst listening to DAB powered by mains most of the time, going portable was another risk - and I was worried it wouldn't work.
However I decided to take the risk and ask for it as a Christmas present! ;-D
Portable DAB is still what seems a few years behind the (nowadays) faithful MP3 players, and most are bulky and only run for a few hours, and cost more!
These are the most off-putting reasons for portable DAB - the size and life - however it is getting better and the Nevada ND-01 is competive to its rivals on battery life and size, and costs less.
You don't get any more than DAB and a 'usable' FM radio and a hint for Nevada would be to squeeze in an MP3 player with a mini or micro SD slot and I'd buy an upgrade! - but for the meantime carrying around my Zen Nano Plus does not notice that much...
The greatest fear though was not size, or battery life, but the ability to receive a signal.
As an IT consultant, I travel a lot on trains and also do a fair bit of walking across London, since there is no way any radio will work on the tube, and walking is much less of a squeeze!
Nevada definately does not work on the tube but since when I do use it, it is not for very long and the sound of trains running through the tunnels and constantly telling us where they are terminating and to mind the gap will do :-)
The Nevada does however work for an acceptable time on train journeys, and buses and walking about. For more details, see below.
Apart from the ability of the Nevada to actually work, it has some other benefits too. After upgrading the batteries to some spare 2000mAh AAs I had spare, the battery life is pretty good, lasting 6 hours or more. It charges very fast too, and if you happen to forget charging it the night before, charging it in the hour it takes me to get ready in the morning seems to be enough to last for a trip to London and back. I still carry backup batteries though.
The other good quality I appreciate is the sound quality. You can't equalise the sound, but with good enough earphones - you don't need to. Bass and tone is all round good - the only problem I have is the volume is a bit too much of a jump for each step - i.e. it can be too quiet and with one volume up click, its suddenly a lot louder than you would expect!
Size is competitive with it's rivals too, and it fits in my suit pocket fine. No bigger than those Minidisc players I used to use back in my teen days!
I've not long learnt to drive, so I'm currently enjoying the delights of my first car. As it is a 1990's Ford Fiesta, I certainly didn't plan to keep the ugly Tape player and FM radio for long!
Fitting DAB to the car wasn't particularly simple, and ended up costing a tenth of the price of the actual car. I think DAB with the Unit, Aerial, speakers and adaptors cost around £180 in the end. It's a lot of money, but worth every penny in my opinion!
I went for the JVC external aerial and after removing the stock one, drilling a larger hole and running new cables through the roof and dash board - signal pick up is excellent. Having recently driven to Cornwall, we picked up 5 Live Sports Extra (for the Cricket, and England won too!) all the way down, with the only loss of signal being when you go into tunnels, or drive through a particularly narrow Cornish hilly valley.
I can't comment on how good the inside car/windscreen aerials perform, but I would definately recommend the outdoor aerials. We fitted it ourselves which took an entire day, but I'm sure fitting services are also available. I can also recommend upgrading Ford's door speakers and tweeters!
I won't list the journey's I've experienced with the car DAB, because of the journey's I've done, signal has not been a problem. I haven't been much north of Birmingham yet though, so I'll update when I do.
The Pure Tempus 1 replaced my Evoke 1. The reason is simple... the Tempus is also a clock radio.
The setup of using a cheap FM clock radio, which only ever backed up the time for a few weeks on one battery and then switching to the DAB when I woke up was not ideal.
My father was actually the first of us to buy a Tempus 1, and actually made me think I should do the same.
As a clock radio, the Tempus is very good!
Obviously the sound quality completely absorbs my old FM radio, and still does most clock radios for sale now days (why do they still use 2 inch 0.5W speakers??).
Not only that, it picks up the time from the radio waves, and remembers its setting even after weeks without power. As we are on metered electric - this is a bonus - the days of holding down two buttons at once until you get your time and alarm settings back are thankfully gone!!
You also get weekend, week day settings and radio volume setting for the alarm, regardless of where you left the volume knob the night before.
So it is a good clock radio, and it also does everything the Evoke 1 did - great sound quality again both from the receiver and the built in speaker. It can do stereo too, just buy the extra speaker, which is a lot of money I do admit but I'm happy I did so.
The Tempus 1 also has a line out, which drives my Hi-Fi via a long cable. Great when you do want a little more than the built in speakers.
Using DAB on the move is probably something that might influence someones decision to invest in portable or in-car DAB.
In this section, any new journeys that I make using my DAB radios I will add - detailing how good the signal is for that particular journey.
This is my weekday journey, and listening to 6 music on the way to work and on the way home certainly helps keep me sane! Signal is good, dropping out a little in the Harold Wood to Romford section, but still pretty much there. It also works on a walk or bus journey between Harold Wood and Harold Hill.
The journey is entirely within greater London though, and I'm not sure how the signal holds up on the rest of the National Express East Anglia mainline. Liverpool street platforms 11 onwards are a pain - it doesn't work there, but thankfully my service is every 10 minutes. Walking through London presents little problems, though some alley-ways are dead areas (for digital radio).
Getting a signal on South West trains largely depends on the train that you get! Believe it or not - the older the better with the Diesel trains being the better option - these will give you a signal for 95% of the journey.
On the electric trains, signal is only present for about 60% of the journey - up to about Surbiton. I'm not sure why this is, maybe a different type of metal density, after all a train does act as a kind of Faraday Cage. Keeping the headphone cable as straight as possible and outside clothing helps, as does sitting near the window.
First Great Western operates mainline services to/from Cornwall. These trains are older 'Intercity' trains (though still very comfortable). Signal West of Plymouth is not very good, mainly due to the hills I suspect! Otherwise signal is about 70-80% present - try and get the window side if possible as pickup is better there! I got radio almost all the way home and the batteries in the Nevada lasted the whole 5 hour journey.
Signal pickup on the airport buses was excellent, and I don't remember it dropping out much at all. If your working in Scotland's famous city, portable DAB works up there! It doesn't work on aeroplanes though!
No problems picking up DAB at Silverstone race track, or campsites nearby. I also used the Nevada to pickup Radio Silverstone FM and whilst not brilliant reception, it worked and the battery life on FM lasts many days!
Even near Land's end, right on the coast where many mobiles do not work, DAB was there and quite strong! I used the DAB before sleeping at night, though to get the best signal I hooked the radio on the clip at the top of my tent with the headphone cable running down to me in the sleeping bag, forming an effective aerial!
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